Editorial Content for Departure 37
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Scott Carson, the pseudonym for New York Times bestselling author Michael Koryta, dedicates DEPARTURE 37 to three of my personal heroes: Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson and Rod Serling. Even if you have never read Carson’s work before, just knowing that you are stepping into a story inspired by these legendary figures should make you aware that you are about to read something special.
The book completely captures the feel of “The Twilight Zone,” which presented brilliant morality tales often filled with ironic and unexpected twists. The timelines switch between 1961-62 and the present, but in many ways they overlap and tie both of these periods in our existence together.
It all begins on an October evening in 2025 when pilot Brian Grayson receives a call in the middle of the night from his mother urging him not to fly the next day. She sounds frightened but does not provide any details. It turns out that hundreds of pilots receive a similar warning from their mothers, as nearly every domestic flight in the US is grounded the following day. None of these women remember making those calls --- and some of them are dead.
"Scott Carson has another winner on his hands with DEPARTURE 37, an unforgettable novel that very likely will be one of the best of 2025."
In 1961, Dr. Martin Hazelton is working on a project that will forever change the world by manipulating planes in flight via a combination of elements like storm clouds, magnetic force, and the clever use of graphite. In 2025 Ash Point, Maine, a 16-year-old girl named Charlie watches an odd-looking, silvery balloon fly overhead. This is also occurring on the day when most planes are grounded, and it will be a harbinger of other bizarre events to come. Even more frightening to Charlie is that she hears the voice of her deceased mother warning her not to fly that day.
Another storyline features an employee of DARPA, Layla Chen, who is watching the odd aviation circumstances of October 25, 2025 very closely and is in touch with the highest military authorities, as well as the President, throughout the day. She realizes that Hazelton had worked wonders never before seen, and he may have been behind the disappearances of a handful of planes over the years, some containing nuclear bombs. The rumor is that one of them, a B-52 armed with a nuclear weapon intended for a flight to Cuba in 1962, is on its way back from limbo into the skies over the East Coast of the US in 2025.
The number “37” is tied to the greatest moment in artificial intelligence. An AI program used Move 37 to defeat the world’s premier chess player at the time. Layla is well aware of this and how it plays into the events she has been asked to sort out. Back in 1962, Hazelton meets a woman who will have a major impact on his work and place in hidden history, a reporter who some believe to be a Russian spy.
When the B-52 that departed Loring Air Force Base on October 28, 1962, arrives just before noon on October 25, 2025, that “Twilight Zone” feeling becomes quite strong. Charlie and her friend, Lawrence, will interact with the three-man flight crew of the B-52, which maintains a special connection to Hazelton throughout.
To divulge anything more would spoil this wondrous book that is nearly impossible to put down and presents ideas, thoughts and its own morality tale. Scott Carson has another winner on his hands with DEPARTURE 37, an unforgettable novel that very likely will be one of the best of 2025.
Teaser
On a clear October day, the American skies empty after hundreds of pilots refuse to fly, triggering a complete ground stop as authorities seek to explain an act of baffling coordination that the pilots insist was anything but planned. The pilots received disturbing, middle-of-the-night calls from their mothers, and each mother had a simple and urgent request: Do not fly today. But none of the mothers remember making them --- and some of them are dead. While the nation’s military chiefs and artificial intelligence experts mobilize in search of answers, a 16-year-old girl named Charlie on the coast of Maine watches a strange, silvery balloon drift across the water and toward her home. Her father’s dream of opening a craft brewery on an old airfield has been a disaster, and all she wants is an escape back to Brooklyn. She’s about to get much more than that.
Promo
On a clear October day, the American skies empty after hundreds of pilots refuse to fly, triggering a complete ground stop as authorities seek to explain an act of baffling coordination that the pilots insist was anything but planned. The pilots received disturbing, middle-of-the-night calls from their mothers, and each mother had a simple and urgent request: Do not fly today. But none of the mothers remember making them --- and some of them are dead. While the nation’s military chiefs and artificial intelligence experts mobilize in search of answers, a 16-year-old girl named Charlie on the coast of Maine watches a strange, silvery balloon drift across the water and toward her home. Her father’s dream of opening a craft brewery on an old airfield has been a disaster, and all she wants is an escape back to Brooklyn. She’s about to get much more than that.
About the Book
Horror meets coming-of-age in this thrilling novel in which forgotten Cold War mysteries make a terrifying reappearance, from a writer Stephen King has called “a master.”
On a clear October day, the American skies empty after hundreds of pilots refuse to fly, triggering a complete ground stop as authorities seek to explain an act of baffling coordination that the pilots insist was anything but planned. The pilots received disturbing, middle-of-the-night calls from their mothers, and each mother had a simple and urgent request: Do not fly today.
There are a few concerning elements to the calls. None of the mothers remember making them --- and some of the mothers are dead.
While the nation’s military chiefs and artificial intelligence experts mobilize in search of answers, a 16-year-old girl named Charlie on the coast of Maine watches a strange, silvery balloon drift across the water and toward her home --- a place she loathes. Her father’s dream of opening a craft brewery on an old airfield has been a disaster and all she wants is an escape back to Brooklyn.
She’s about to get much more than that.
Her new home is ground zero for a story that begins at a remote naval base in Indiana during the winter of 1962, when a physicist named Martin Hazelton discovered something extraordinary --- and deadly. All Hazelton wanted was time to seek an explanation, but pressure from both American and Russian actors forced him into a perilous race.
Moving between the two characters and timelines, Scott Carson deftly weaves Cold War espionage with contemporary terror in a story that explains why #1 New York Times bestseller Joe Hill has declared himself “a fan for life.”
Audiobook available; read by Mia Barron, Johnny Heller and Catherine Ho
