LowcountryRisingA high-speed car chase in the dead of night, a love triangle, drug dealers gone wild, a vengeful cousin, and a disembodied spirit returning for retribution . . . Will there be devotion or betrayal? A descent or ascension? A rebirth or painful death? Or all of the above?

            Funny things are happening in the Lowcountry this summer, but they’re nothing to laugh at: Sticker, a mild mannered yet rugged middle-aged man is trying to make sense of a life filled with pain and abuse. Candy, his beautiful yet cantankerous neighbor, has her hands full trying to raise her nine-year-old daughter by herself. And Tom, Candy’s second ex-husband and Sticker’s cousin, is dealing drugs with the help of the local sheriff. Then the night before the biggest drug deal the South has ever seen is set to happen, Tom is caught doing something a lot more heinous than dealing drugs—setting off a whirlwind of events that become, at once, a struggle for survival and a hopeful retribution of Candy’s and Sticker’s battered and shattered lives. The secrets buried in the swamps generations ago may save them—and you—but only if they are believed. It’s a clear summer’s night. It’s hot. It’s sweaty. And they’re all alone. And those secrets of the past are starting to bubble up out of the swamps. Decisions must be made and made swiftly. But if the choices are wrong? Well, the swamps have a funny way of concealing not just the past, but the dead . . . and the dying. The secrets in the swamps are calling . . .  down in the Lowcountry.        

         Lowcountry Risingis a fast-paced action/adventure novel written by Samuel Othello Barlow, a former resident and frequent visitor to this area. Born in the mountains of South Carolina in 1966, he eventually landed here, in the total antithesis of the mountains, the Lowcountry. Although he never attended college, Barlow’s studied a myriad of subjects, including calculus, physics, astronomy, athletics, music, survival, anatomy, physiology, microbiology, psychology, nutrition, yoga, karate, and economics. He’s worked as a painter, construction worker, lab assistant, office manager, printer, and pizza delivery boy. He’s worked on fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico and dug his own outhouse while living in a mountain shack. His eclectic experiences give him unique and provocative opinions on history, humanity, science, and life in general.     

                Lowcountry Rising is Barlow’s debut novel, and he’s currently working on the next book in an envisioned trilogy, titled Upcountry Crossing. Its release date is scheduled for the fall of 2015, but that’s a tentative date, because Mr. Barlow says he’ll finish it, “When I darn well feel like it.”

         Samuel Othello Barlow will be signing book at McIntosh Books in Beaufort on Sunday, August 30 from 11-2 pm. Lowcountry Rising is also currently available an amazon.com and also from the author’s website at www.lowcountryrising.com