Publication Date: January 11, 2025
A chance encounter strands Vince in the town of Blackwater, setting his life on a treacherous path from which it may never recover. Filled with strange characters, missing people, and a biker gang hell bent on killing him, Blackwater is a town like no other. Join Vince on his journey of love, death and redemption, as he battles his inner demons and fights for his very soul.
Authors Beth Warburton and Selene Kapsaski pen a bit unusual tome with their mystery, To Hell or High Water.
While a bit unique, I certainly don’t mean this in a derogatory way. It almost felt like I was in a dream when I read it. One scene would end, and another began, and this reader felt as if I landed in the middle of a scene as if one were in a dream. Nothing and nobody were what they seemed, yet things were what they appeared to be. Does this sound like how most people’s dreams occur?
I have to admit that this book is not something I would have read had I not reviewed books, and I have to say that I’m glad I chose to read it because it was good. It got me out of my comfort zone and tried a new book genre.
I liked that Vince, who had a difficult childhood and adult life, wanted to redeem himself. He didn’t blame anyone else for his mistakes and wanted a clean slate with his life.
I also liked Julien and Solomos. They helped Vince by providing guidance and encouraging him to make the right decisions and not to take the easy way out. They were just as strange as the town of Blackwater, but they served a purpose. I think all the characters we were introduced to serve a purpose, though the reader doesn’t realize what that was until the end.
My review is nondescriptive, but I don’t want to give away “the big reveal.” Nothing was said when I looked at the book on Amazon, so I don’t want to be the goofball that gives something away. Just know that things will make sense. Keep reading, enjoy the story, and all will be revealed. One may even suspect what the “big reveal” could be before the end of the book.
Unique in its delivery, To Hell or High Water will be enjoyed by those willing to take a chance on a bit of sci-fi mystery strangeness with no scary scenes.
Selene Rafaela Kapsaski is a writer, filmmaker, and producer living in Manchester.. Selene is the director of the cult Horror Musical Spidarlings (2016) released by Troma Entertainment and the upcoming Sci-Fi film The Moon is a Hologram. Selene directed the documentary Laganja’s Dance School (2019) featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race star Laganja Estranja as well as several short films including My Head Hurts (2000), Waxhouse Rock (2017) and Mephisto’s House of Ill Repute (2021). Her debut novella Nazi Sniper was published in 2015 by Sleazy Viking Press. In 2021 she wrote the supernatural horror novel Sisters of Manchester with pulp author Jeff O’Brien.
Beth Warburton is an author, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Manchester. For many years she played and toured with several bands before turning her focus on being a solo recording artist. She is currently working with Selene Kapsaski on the upcoming Sci-Fi film The Moon is a Hologram filling many shoes including as a First A.D., composer and actress. The two have many more exciting book and film projects on the way. Her debut album Two Names One Soul will be out in 2025.
