Quotable Tuesday

It's Tuesday, and it's the day my publisher likes for us to post quotes from one of our books. Today I've selected an excerpt from my steampunk adventure, Cannibal Island. As we join Richie Armstrong and Angus Callahan in the library of the Armstrong Estate, Angus is relating the story...

Angus patted the monkey’s head and leaned back in his chair. “You see, it was more than a fog bank. It was an island. An uncharted one. Had we known in advance that an island existed in that location, we could have dropped anchor and perhaps prevented what happened next. Nevertheless, we didn’t realize it was anything more substantial than a cloud of mist—until the ship ran aground. Several crewmembers were thrown overboard because of the sudden stop when our keel hit the rocky reef. Those of us fortunate enough to have remained on deck began tossing lines into the water. But it was of no use.”

“Why not?” I interrupted. “Surely they could swim to the ship and get back aboard.”

“There wasn’t time. In the darkness, with the fog covering the sea like a thick blanket, we couldn’t see the sharks. But we could quite easily hear the frantic splashing and the terrible screams of our mates as they lost a leg or an arm to those ravenous beasts. Fortunately, it didn’t last long. In a short time, the screaming stopped and became nothing more than a fading memory.”