New from Down & Out Books: CANNIBALS, Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrons by Jen Conley

TAMPA, Fla. - May 19, 2016 - PRLog -- Down & Out Books is pleased to announce that Jen Conley's short story collection CANNIBALS: Stories from the Edge of the Pine Barrons is published this week in trade paperback and ebook formats.

"Jen Conley is an up and coming author," said Eric Campbell, publisher of Down & Out Books. "Though her collection of interconnected stories is centered on a specific region, it will have wide appeal to readers everywhere."

About CANNIBALS …

Here you are in New Jersey, but not Soprano-land New Jersey, this is central Jersey, the edge of the Pine Barrens, where the everydayness of life is interrupted by devils and angels, murderers and saviors, cheaters and music fans.

Bobby Kovacki adores his married girlfriend but is compelled to search for Janine, his hard-partying former classmate who has gone missing. Metalhead Marty, odd-looking and shy, has the chance of a lifetime when he joins the band Dark Beast. Tyrell Colton uses a two-foot-long pipe to avenge himself from a bully. Eleanor Webb, eighty-four, deals with her low blood pressure and a violent neighbor. In the title story, scrappy soccer player, Jade, veers down a path in the woods and stumbles upon a trio of terrifying drifters. And in several different tales, police officer Andrea Vogel, widowed and quietly brokenhearted, attempts to rescue the elderly, help an old boyfriend out, and connect with a young rape victim.

Brutal and fierce, the characters in these linked stories search for meaning in their lives but more importantly, they search for the humanity in themselves.

Meet the Author …

Jen Conley's short stories have appeared in Thuglit, Needle: A Magazine of Noir, Crime Factory, Beat to a Pulp, Out of the Gutter, Trouble in the Heartland: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Bruce Springsteen and many others. She has contributed to the Los Angeles Review of Books and is one of editors of Shotgun Honey. She lives in New Jersey.

About Down & Out Books …

Founded in 2011, Down & Out Books (http://DownAndOutBooks.com/) is an independent publisher of crime fiction based in Tampa, Florida. For more information about the book, or to request an interview with the author, contact lance@downandoutbooks.com.