A Glimpse Beyond... is an introduction to my work and more specifically to my anthology of dark poetry, Beyond the Mask. By its very nature poetry is a subjective medium and as such one person's taste is no guarantee of another's. Therefore this short collection is presented as a representative sample to allow the reader to form their own opinion rather than rely on the views of others.**Note to reader: I'm making my novel available to all in order to share my story to all those who stumble upon it. Over four years of work went into this project. Please respect the art of writing, and please, no plagiarism. Thank you. Enjoy. -Michael LoCurto.The sea is dead—fishless—and Long Island fisherman Jon Brand is to blame. With his greed of overfishing for years—he is surely the cause of the current famine. According to Jon Brand, that is.Elea, Jon’s wife, sees things differently. An oceans-worth of famine cannot be pinned down on one man alone. And she wishes Jon would man-up and find work inland if the sea can no longer provide for the family.But Jon has faith in the sea. His sea. And he cannot simply turn his back on Her.To Sea explores numerous beaches spanning across the Island where Jon seeks the answers of his fate—of his dry ocean—of his God. But the sea is silent. Time after time. Visit after visit. And with each trip to a differing shoreline passing, Jon finds himself closer and closer to a life changing revelation: To land, or, to sea.

A Prelude to Apocalypse is an introduction to my work and more specifically to my anthology of dark poetry, Apocalyptic Visions. By its very nature poetry is a subjective medium and as such one person's taste is no guarantee of another's.Therefore this short collection is presented as a representative sample to allow the reader to form their own opinion rather than rely on the views of others.Zombies. The outbreak began in New York. Soon it had spread to the rest of the world. People were attacked, infected and they died. Then they came back. Nowhere is safe from the undead.As anarchy and civil war took grip across the globe, Britain was quarantined. The press was nationalised. Martial law, curfews and rationing were implemented. It wasn’t enough. An evacuation was planned. The inland towns and cities of the UK would be evacuated to defensive enclaves being built around the coast, in the Scottish Highlands and in the Irish Republic. Bill Wright broke his leg on the day of the outbreak. Unable to join the evacuation, he watched from his window as the streets filled with refugees, he watched as the streets emptied once more. He watched as they filled up again, this time with the undead. Then the power went out.He is trapped. He is alone. He is running out of food and water. He knows that to reach the safety of the enclaves he will have to venture out into the wasteland that once was England. On that journey he will ultimately discover the horrific truth about the outbreak, a decades old conspiracy and his unwitting part in it.This is the first volume of his journal. (74,000 words)