Giant man-eating alligators, huge water moccasins, oversized lizards and alligator snapping turtles attack unwary boaters. At night, loud roaring noises and mysterious blue lights often disturb the once tranquil evenings. A terrifying beast screams and stalks the shoreline. People and boats suddenly vanish without a trace. Something strange is happening to Lake Ruskin! When Buddy and Ruthie Gilly disappear, Buddy’s brother Tommy asks his closest friends for help. His friends, and their wives, join Tommy on a search-and-rescue mission. Together they, along with Sheriff Adams and Scotty Campbell, venture into the dreaded Suicide Swamp. On an island concealed deep within the swamp, several of the search party members are captured. To save them, Kevin Johnson and Jimmy Ciba must risk their own lives. But once they discover and board the disc-shaped vessel, their problems have only begun. Will their names be added to the missing victims of Skunk Ape Lake?
Karl Joseph Eckstein grew up in the Washington Heights section of uptown New York City. Exploring the densely forested areas of nearby Inwood Hill Park, fishing from the rocky shoreline of the Hudson River, exploring the remains of old historic forts, spending numerous days roaming through the Museum Of Natural History, searching out the mysteries of the abandoned Dykeman Street pier after dark, and visiting many other historic areas in and around New York provided Karl with both inspiration and material for his future novels.
As an adult, those boyhood adventures had kindled in him a desire to investigate other strange and exciting places.
In 1965, after receiving an honorable discharge from the U.S. Marines, Karl and his wife lived in Roswell, New Mexico. Learning about the UFO that supposedly crashed near Roswell in 1947 sparked an interest in UFO's, which, years later, led to the writing of The Dykeman Encounter; the first of his Sasquatch/UFO series.
In 1967, they moved to Florida, where Karl wrote wildlife and nature photojournalism articles for Florida Living and other publications.
While hiking and camping in places like Wikiva River and the Ocala Forest, Karl heard about frightening encounters that several people had with huge, foul-smelling creatures called Skunk Apes. Local fishermen also spoke about a lake that was inhabited by large, aggressive alligators.
Excursions into both areas, followed by research relating to Florida's cousin to the creatures called Sasquatch or Bigfoot, inspired the writing of his second book, Terror On Skunk Ape Lake.
Karl's work has led to numerous experiences such as wading through 'gator infested waters in the Florida Everglades. He and his wife have hiked and canoed through swamplands, explored underground cavern systems, climbed the pyramids of ancient Maya ruins in Central America, and explored Anasazi Indian cliff dwellings in Arizona. These, and other adventures have provided Karl with ample fodder for the Action-Adventure spirit of his books.
Recently, he released Akanis - Lost City of Amazonia; a Kindle E-book publication. He has also published a new, revised E-book version of The Dykeman Encounter. Another soon to be released E-book version of Terror On Skunk Ape Lake is in the works, as is his third book in the Sasquatch series entitled Cave Creatures of Spuyten Duyval.
Although Karl's science fiction and adventure stories are fictional, they are all based on historical facts and on his personal experiences. Many of the settings have been taken from places that he has actually visited. The technical data and other information written into his stories are the result of untold hours of ongoing research.
In the non-fiction genre, he has published an informative writer's manual in an E-book format entitled How To Write Exciting and Believable Science Fiction and Action-Adventure Stories.
His print books are available through Amazon, your local bookstores; or they may be ordered through various bookstores' individual online sources.
Thank you kindly for visiting.
E-books presently available at Amazon.com
Akanis - Lost City of Amazonia
The Dykeman Encounter
How To Write Exciting and Believable
Science Fiction
And
Action Adventure Stories
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Future E-book Titles
Terror On Skunk Ape Lake
Cave Creatures of Spuyten Duyval
