Lost River

by John M. Dunn, Andy Fielding (Illustrator)

Jason O’Donnell is a journeyman reporter of little faith whose big dreams of finding the elusive, career-altering Story have been blunted by the relentless demands of daily, big city journalism. Once transfixed by the sight of his articles rolling off the press, he has now lost hope after being relegated to his paper’s lifestyle pages where he coaxes awkward poetry out of stories about prize-winning pumpkins and the best way to floss one’s teeth. In the newspaper business, where the high node of success almost always portends the deep trough of failure, Jason has clearly hit bottom. In a moment of rare impulsiveness, Jason decides to give his faltering journalistic career one last chance. In search of “the shock of new material,” he flees the suburban conformity of the south to work for the Lost River Journal, “the best daily north of 60" and the central nervous system of a small but byzantine town on the country’s northern flank.Jason soon meets the enigmatic Roxanne, who has recently fled a secretive religious commune nestled in the mountains that encircle Lost River. He discovers that she is the Rosetta Stone to his biggest Story yet. Her renegade path has directly challenged the isolationist mission of a subterranean network of influential citizens who direct the affairs of Lost River, and her behaviour threatens to expose decades-old crimes and transform the political development of the territory. Jason seeks a Story of transcendent importance, while Roxanne wants to find the God she thought she knew. Together, they must decide how far they will allow the corruption of small compromises to deter them from their quest in a tale that depicts the search for a higher calling with compassion, humour and a touch of mystery.

189 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 13, 2012

About the author

John M. Dunn is an Ocala, Florida-based freelance, writer, journalist and author. He has published over 350 articles for more than twenty periodicals, such as Europe, Overseas Life, Sierra, Off Duty, New Shelter, the Rotarian, LadyCom, the Executive Review, Florida Trend, Business Florida, the Ocala Star Banner, UF Today, and the St. Petersburg Times. In addition, he has written numerous scripts for audiovisual productions and a children’s play which was professionally performed on stages in North Florida. His non-fiction young adult books were published by Lucent Press (Thomson/Gale.) Dunn also edited Union Soldiers, Confederate Soldiers, Southerners, and Northerners, which are part of the Voices of the Civil War series for juvenile readers, published by Blackbirch Press.

The New York Public Library recognized the first edition of Dunn’s book on the removal of North America Indians in its Books for the Teenage List; the second edition received a stared review from the School Library Journal in May 2006. The Pennsylvania State Library Association included Dunn’s book on computers in its “Young Adult Top Forty Nonfiction 2002 Titles.” In addition, The Barahoma Center of California State University San Marcos features his book on Castro in its list of “Recommended Books in English about Latinos.” . In February, 2020, Dunn’s book, Drying Up. The Fresh Water Crisis in Florida was selected as winner of the Florida Historical Society's Stetson Kennedy Award for writing about Florida's natural environment. The book also, has won the Bronze Medal in the 2019 Florida Book Awards, Florida Nonfiction category He has also been profiled in Something About the Author.

He is a father and grandfather and lives with his wife in Ocala, Florida.