After three years writing, researching, and editing, Granny Boo ~ Legacy of the Puma Man has been completed and placed under contract with R.J. Buckley Publishing. The story evolved from my first novel, Keechie, which was published in 2005. I wrote it as both a prequel and a sequel (which was a difficult concept, but very rewarding). Written as a stand-alone, it is not necessary to read Keechie first, but it my hope that reading either one will cause readers to want to read the other.

The story goes back in time to Keechie's ancestors who first came to the southeast from Mexico in the early 1500s - and were the first to occupy the cave that continues to protect Brian, Mary and their daughter, Alexis. Through alternating chapters, it follows their lives in a post-apocalyptic world, surviving by the skills that Brian learned from the old half-breed Indian woman, Keechie, when he was sixteen.

The Puma Man had always been the archetypal spirit guide and protector of Granny Boo and Keechie's clan, and for some mystical reason continues to protect both the cave and its inhabitants. That reason will be revealed to you when you read...

~ Granny Boo ~ Legacy of the Puma Man ~

The terrorist attacks have subsided, the sickness has passed, and the smoke from the firebombs has begun to settle, and the one lesson that everyone learns is that life must go on. In his post Apocalyptic America, Phil Whitley has given us an extraordinary look at a life that is hardscrabble and tough, filled with dangers and obstacles that make it impossible for civilization to go on as it once had. Making the best of a bad situation, survivalist Brian brings his wife Mary and daughter Alex to live in the spirit cave of their ancestors, where they must learn to live life as it was 150 years ago. They grow their own vegetables, kill their own meat, make their own medicine, and learn that the only people they can depend upon are themselves. When they are joined by their friend Maurice, they find that they cannot completely cut themselves off from the world, and that sometimes tough decisions must be made. The hardest decision of all is the one that will send them back into the very heart of the land they have been avoiding, but it is a decision they must make, and one that they will have to learn to live with.

Out of the chaos of a world that has reverted to its basic instincts, Whitley brings us a tale of sacrifice and survival, of challenge and courage, of hardship and hope. With Granny Boo and the Puma Man as teachers, mentors, and role models, Brian and his family learn to cope with anything and everything that the new world throws at them, and learn that with love, strength, and conviction, they can survive whatever comes their way.

You don’t want to miss this book.

E. Don Harpe

Harpe is a novelist, poet, and songwriter who now lives and writes from his home in Georgia. His memoir “The Last of the South Town Rinky Dinks” has become a local success story, and he is currently writing the third in the Harpe series and co-authoring a brand new adventure novel with Phil Whitley.

Granny Boo is scheduled for release in December, 2009 by R.J. Buckley Publishing