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Craven Fork
In the rugged foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Craven Fork State Park is a sanctuary of natural beauty and hidden dangers. When sixteen-year-old Maddi Everett vanishes during a family hike, the search for her uncovers a web of secrets, lies, and long-buried truths.
Park Ranger Owen Sinclair, still grappling with his own past, is thrust into the heart of the investigation. As he delves deeper, he discovers that Maddi’s disappearance may intertwine with the unsolved mystery of a botanist who vanished decades ago under eerily similar circumstances.
With the help of his colleagues and a determined sheriff’s deputy, Owen follows a trail that leads to the enigmatic world of American Pioneers, a reality show that brings its own share of secrets to the park. As the investigation unfolds, Owen must navigate the treacherous terrain and the even more dangerous landscape of human deceit.
In a race against time, Owen uncovers a chilling connection that could bury the truth forever. Craven Fork is a gripping tale of mystery, survival, and the dark secrets that lie hidden in the wilderness.
Park Ranger Owen Sinclair, still grappling with his own past, is thrust into the heart of the investigation. As he delves deeper, he discovers that Maddi’s disappearance may intertwine with the unsolved mystery of a botanist who vanished decades ago under eerily similar circumstances.
With the help of his colleagues and a determined sheriff’s deputy, Owen follows a trail that leads to the enigmatic world of American Pioneers, a reality show that brings its own share of secrets to the park. As the investigation unfolds, Owen must navigate the treacherous terrain and the even more dangerous landscape of human deceit.
In a race against time, Owen uncovers a chilling connection that could bury the truth forever. Craven Fork is a gripping tale of mystery, survival, and the dark secrets that lie hidden in the wilderness.
235 pages, Paperback
Published April 23, 2024
About the author
John B. Marek
12 books3 followersJohn B. Marek is an Amazon bestselling author, rural advocate, certified outdoor guide, and semi-reformed songwriter. A North Carolina resident for over three decades, he swapped the Lake Erie coast of his youth for the Blue Ridge Mountains, where his authentic writing explores the raw, absurd, and sometimes macabre intersections of nature and the human heart.
Marek is the creator of the North Carolina-set Owen Sinclair mystery series, which currently includes Craven Fork and Hellbender, and will continue with Dark & Deep in November 2026. His nonfiction work ranges from Breakfast at Midway, a bestselling meditation on quality of life, work, and place, to Ben and the Art of Lawnmower Maintenance, a tribute to his greatest-generation father.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Marek spent twenty years as a rural economic development director before turning to full-time writing in 2023. That career taught him to read a town—how legend, legacy, and ambition grind against one another—and those mechanics show up in every small community and backcountry holler he puts on the page.
Today, he balances a 5,000-word-a-week writing habit with the maintenance of an off-grid mountain camp and volunteer work at a faith-based community garden. He also produces Reveries, a weekly audio essay that examines modern life through a decidedly rural-retro lens. A self-described "semi-reformed" songwriter, he recently released Uncanny Valley, an AI-assisted concept album that resurrects lyrics he first scribbled into notebooks in the 1970s and '80s.
“I’ve spent half my life trying to build communities from the outside in,” says Marek, “but I’ve realized the real heart of a place is found in its hushed mysteries and its dark corners. My stories live in a world of gravel roads and quiet regrets. They find a home where the shadows are long, and secrets run deep, and the only thing that cuts through the darkness are those sudden, sharp flashes of courage.”
Marek lives in North Carolina and can be found online at www.loose-gravel.com.
Marek is the creator of the North Carolina-set Owen Sinclair mystery series, which currently includes Craven Fork and Hellbender, and will continue with Dark & Deep in November 2026. His nonfiction work ranges from Breakfast at Midway, a bestselling meditation on quality of life, work, and place, to Ben and the Art of Lawnmower Maintenance, a tribute to his greatest-generation father.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Marek spent twenty years as a rural economic development director before turning to full-time writing in 2023. That career taught him to read a town—how legend, legacy, and ambition grind against one another—and those mechanics show up in every small community and backcountry holler he puts on the page.
Today, he balances a 5,000-word-a-week writing habit with the maintenance of an off-grid mountain camp and volunteer work at a faith-based community garden. He also produces Reveries, a weekly audio essay that examines modern life through a decidedly rural-retro lens. A self-described "semi-reformed" songwriter, he recently released Uncanny Valley, an AI-assisted concept album that resurrects lyrics he first scribbled into notebooks in the 1970s and '80s.
“I’ve spent half my life trying to build communities from the outside in,” says Marek, “but I’ve realized the real heart of a place is found in its hushed mysteries and its dark corners. My stories live in a world of gravel roads and quiet regrets. They find a home where the shadows are long, and secrets run deep, and the only thing that cuts through the darkness are those sudden, sharp flashes of courage.”
Marek lives in North Carolina and can be found online at www.loose-gravel.com.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 4, 2025
I loved the setting of this captivating thriller—a fictional state park in the Appalachian mountains. The descriptions were spot on and added a very cool ambiance to the mystery of a missing girl. Marek knows how to paint a beautiful picture of the Carolina wilderness that feels immersive and legitimate. Overall it was a fun, compelling read, highly recommend for thriller junkies who also love the outdoors!
Displaying 1 of 1 review