A dark and startling psychological thriller.
Available summer of 2023
WHAT IF YOU SUSPECTED YOUR ADORING SPOUSE MURDERED YOUR FIRST HUSBAND?
Skye and Thomas Westbrooke’s wedding is a celebration like none other. Eagle Bay’s beloved widow marries the dashing businessman and philanthropist of the renowned Westbrooke dynasty. After years of a loving union, Thomas’s behavior grows bizarre. Then, shocking. But he’s got money, power, and a stellar reputation, so will the Eagle Bay community believe Skye’s claims of betrayal and wicked deeds?
Trapped in a husband’s web of deceit and deflecting public scorn for tarnishing the Westbrooke legacy, another woman might relent and accept her fate. But Skye is stronger than Thomas realizes and will fight like hell to protect her family from the brilliant and cunning man she believes is a killer. This gripping and emotional drama will keep you up too late, even after its startling conclusion.
Eagle Bay Reviews
Eagle Bay can compare to a spider’s web. Its attractiveness lures its reader into a tightly woven trap, and they find they cannot walk away from the danger in their pathway. It’s a book that will keep readers on edge, guessing what will unfold next.
Ken Cruickshank has proven that he is a master of suspense and intrigue. How he combines all the elements this book showcases is brilliant. The plot of this story cries out to become the next Lifetime Movie. This author has presented a strong voice that has dramatically impacted the literary world.
Midwest Book Review
Cruickshank sets this multi-generational thriller in a small Oregon town where the Westbrooke family has long wielded power over its neighbors. Despite his cold and tyrannical father’s rep as a ruthless businessman, Thomas Westbrooke, single and focused on his career in the family firm, is lucky to call the solidly middle-class John McCloud his best friend. One day, John, a happy father and husband, shows Thomas an old newspaper clipping that features an image of their grandfathers together. Unbeknownst to John, the unearthing of that connection will destroy everything that he holds dear. Thomas isn’t the steadfast friend everyone thinks he is. Lies will be exposed, families will be broken, and people will die in the name of protecting the Westbrooke fortune.
The story is good and fast-moving, with welcome moral weight offsetting some dark material. The swings of sanity and madness in Thomas are scary, and Cruickshank’s portrait of the insulating—and possibly deadening—effects of wealth and power often chill, and not just when Thomas performs dark acts. “Love, integrity, and goodness are relative qualities for people like me,” he declares to a priest, seeming truly to believe it. Cruickshank’s decade-spanning portrait is damning, inviting readers not to wonder whodunnit but just how much worse he’ll still do—and whether a new generation can set things right.
Takeaway: Generation-spanning thriller of murder, power, and a wealthy family’s secrets.
Booklife Reviews
Cruickshank offers up this eerie story that will have readers turning pages well into the night. This is my first experience with Ken Cruickshank and his work, which puts me in an interesting position. My gut reaction is that he knows what he’s doing and has some wonderful abilities to craft stories that are sure to impress readers. I hope others feel the same about Ken Cruickshank when they read this or other things he has published.
Kudos, Mr. Cruickshank, for a reading experience well worth my while.
Discovery
Stand Up: a memoir of disease, family, faith & hope
Friends and family expected Ken Cruickshank to continue playing sports, traveling, engaging in mischief,
and raising an active brood after marrying his soulmate, Karen. Indeed, all was proceeding to plan until
an invisible enemy strengthened its grip on his body and mind. Goals, abilities, and many dreams grew
forever affected by progressive disease. After an accident crumpled his weakened body, the author dug
deep to rediscover the optimism and hope he’d once considered his essence. Ken realized that the
illness he blamed for stealing his identity was also the path to wisdom and a life of fulfillment. Stand
Up: a memoir of disease, family, faith & hope is not a story of the science and medicine of chronic illness; instead, it is a poignant and engaging revelation of how families and loved ones can overcome nearly any trial set before them. But most of all, Stand Up is an entertaining memoir of perspective, perseverance, and hope.
Stand Up Reviews
…reflective passages…ring with an unpolished authenticity that marks the best memoirs. (Cruickshank) writes about losing control of his body with a brutal sincerity. His sense of personal triumph is contagious. An affecting account of chronic illness.
Kirkus Reviews
A candidly compelling and ultimately inspiring memoir, “Stand Up” is a simply riveting read from start to finish and a very highly recommended addition to community library Contemporary American Biography collections.
Midwest Book Review
Ken Cruickshank wrote this memoir using speech-to-text software, yet he writes with the ease and grace of a master wordsmith. His stories are captivating, emotional, gut-honest, and above all inspiring, not just because of what he writes about, but the example he sets.
David Aretha, award-winning biographer and editor