THE SMALLEST CREATURES: a fateful road trip full of murder, mystery and suspense

by Dan McNay

A young man agrees to drive an older woman and her grand-daughter from New Orleans to her trailer in Nashville... a road trip that goes from bad to worse.

Exhausted from over-work and suffering from the humidity of a scorching summer , David has little idea what awaits him when he agrees to this act of kindness.

As he drives the decrepit overloaded car north, hungover and agitated David attracts the unwelcome attention of the traffic police , suspicious of his intentions.

Further, he is drawn into the strange world of Martha, who begins to confuse him with her daughter's partner, recently killed in a road accident.

As cabin fever sets in, and his companion's behavior becomes increasingly erratic - flirtatious, salacious, hostile, vindictive - David begins to realize he is in danger .

Quite what type of danger will come as a nasty surprise . The trouble is, David is so caught up in the situation that even when he clearly sees the threat coming, he drives straight into it.

THE SMALLEST CREATURES is the second novel by Dan McNay. Readers will love his original style and captivating voice. Look out for his first novel, UNDER THE COLD STONES, plus its recently published prequel LET HER GO, LET HER GO, and his standalone ALMOST.

All available on Kindle and in paperback, and free with Kindle Unlimited.

246 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2017

About the author

Dan McNay has lived in LA 25 years and for a lot of that time has worked at USC. He has been active in numerous writing workshops and studied in USC’s Masters of Professional Writing Program. He has purchased millions of dollars worth of computers for USC, won the staff speed calculator competition at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, paddled around Catalina Island with a bunch of Boy Scouts, sold used and rare books in the French Quarter, collected blood from unborn calves in a Utah slaughter house, lectured on Robbe-Grillet, worked the night shift in Monterey, San Francisco & Tucson, and owned and ran a cemetery in Illinois- not necessarily in that order.

Reviews

[Wayne Turmel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Louisiana and the deep south in the early 1970s, The Smallest Creatures defies categorization. That's a shame because it will be a hard book to find by accident. It's not an easy read--the characters are all damaged and behave badly, and the story has numerous unexpected and unsettling twists. The writing is at times deeply emotional and moving, at other times a little annoying and over-written. The road trip itself is well told , but several flashback scenes lack the same crispness and depth.
This was a solid read, from a small press and I hope it finds readers. I'll look for more from Dan McNay.

[Sandra Knapp · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most depressing books I've ever read. And when I finished it, I was glad to see the end of it. I must have been "out to lunch" through the entire story because it made no sense to me at all why anyone would expend so much energy to write such a tale that was more meandering thought than a story of any real content. I do not recommend this book to anyone unless you enjoy being bored out of your mind. Senseless in every way. I can't imagine who would take pleasure from reading it. The only reason I stuck with it was that I kept hoping that eventually, it would become something worth spending my time on. WRONG!!

[Bob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m halfway through chapter three and I’m giving up. I know that some stories can take a little while to get my interest but there’s already too much I don’t like about this one. First, it’s not an easy read. It’s as if the author used a thesaurus to find the most esoteric verbs and adjectives when more common ones would do. The beginning was rather abrupt. How did David and Mrs. Greenly meet? When did David agree to help her move? It’s like there’s a complete chapter missing in the beginning, and there’s no character development. Maybe it’s all explained later but I’m not sticking around.

[Jen Elwood · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m one of those people that keep reading waiting for the book to get better

After forcing myself to stick with it to the end I was beyond annoyed how it turned out. Good luck, hoping it will be an easier read for you.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a crap book that has no point. Nothing happens, nothing at all.