“A twisted, dark mystery with heart and humor”
“Completely unpredictable.”
“It’s got it all: action, humor, pulse-raising suspense, pathos and warmth.”
“Lots of writers have stories to tell—but can’t. Box has stories to tell—and can.”
“I thought this was going to be a typical Florida crazy book … what a huge surprise … Great story and great characters, well told and believable.”
About Psycho-Tropics
Writer’s Digest Award Winner in Genre Fiction
A high school reunion in a South Florida beach town unburies the past (literally) in this dark mystery of revenge and redemption.
Lottery-winning surfer Danny Teakwell seems to be living the life, but he’s been hiding a terrible secret, punishing himself for two decades. Now he’s hit rock bottom. So he thinks.
The ghosts from his past show up at the reunion, launching him on a mayhem-filled race through the Sunshine State to save a missing woman, and his soul. The odds aren’t good. He only has three days and his main allies are a pill-popping lawyer, a crusty barkeep, and a seven-year-old embalming expert.
Heart and dark humor combine with page-turning action and a twisty plot that will keep you guessing.
Psycho-Tropics Reviews
“Marrying humor with suspense is not easy, but it comes across masterfully … A truly enjoyable read.” — Judge, 23rd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards
“An engaging thriller with plenty of humor, good characterization, and a memorable villain …” — Kirkus Reviews
“A genuinely creepy sadist is the high point of Box’s dark thriller set in Florida in 1995.” — Publishers Weekly
“Clues are tossed out like bait, twisting and turning the storyline along … The characters are brilliantly constructed … The dark humor serves to lessen the tension in all the right ways before it heightens again … Effortlessly captures the wonderful eccentricities of life in South Florida ….” — IndieReader (Official Seal of Approval).” — IndieReader
“Psycho-Tropics is like riding Pipeline with a hangover. It’s jaw dropping, heart thumping and addictively exhilarating, but with a hint of disorientation, dizziness and an unsettled stomach. But by the end you’ll be smiling ear to ear and bursting to tell your mates how good it was.” — Andrew Norton, Surfer Dad UK
Editorial Review Excerpts:
“Marrying humor with suspense is not easy, but it comes across masterfully …. A truly enjoyable read.” — Judge, 23rd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards (2015 Award Winner in Genre Fiction)
“Psycho-Tropics is like riding Pipeline with a hangover. It’s jaw dropping, heart thumping and addictively exhilarating, but with a hint of disorientation, dizziness and an unsettled stomach. But by the end you’ll be smiling ear to ear and bursting to tell your mates how good it was.” — Andrew Norton, Surfer Dad UK
“A genuinely creepy sadist is the high point of Box’s dark thriller set in Florida in 1995.” — Publishers Weekly
“Clues are tossed out like bait, twisting and turning the storyline along … The characters are brilliantly constructed … The dark humor serves to lessen the tension in all the right ways before it heightens again … Effortlessly captures the wonderful eccentricities of life in South Florida ….” — IndieReader Reviews (Official Seal of Approval)
“An outstanding debut novel with a lot of heart and soul. So much so it’s going in my top 10 reads for being an example of how good indie novels can be.” — Rupert Dreyfus, Author of Spark and The Rebel’s Sketchbook.
Amazon.com Customer Review Excerpts:
“A brilliant mystery thriller, masterfully written.”
“Carl Hiaasen on steroids.”
“I stayed up late to finish this book. I hate to use the tired phrase–page turner–but I couldn’t put the book down. Lots of ‘writers’ have stories to tell — but can’t. Box has stories to tell — and can.”
“It had me at hello. It’s got it all: action, humor, pulse-raising suspense, pathos and warmth.”
“A fantastic thriller with wonderfully off-beat characters …. Suspense and comedy are hard to make work in novels, but Dorian Box has pulled it off beautifully. A great read!’
“As zany as this book is, it is intelligent and witty all the way through. The author has a knack for nailing the details of this well-crafted mystery about murder and mayhem in Florida firmly into place so that it remains believable.”
“When a seven-year-old embalming expert and James Garfield, the twentieth president, play roles in solving the case, you know something different is up.”
“Perfect beach book!”
“My daughter heard me laughing from across the house as I read this one. Don’t let the humor fool you, though. This book has serious messages about forgiveness, redemption and self-examination.”
“Best book of the year!”
“Character growth is so important in a story. In this story, all characters develop–not just the protagonist. It’s as if we are sitting back and watching children mature through the years.”
“I am drawn to books with heavy character development. If there also happens to be a compelling story, all the better, but I’ve come not to expect it. It seems like most authors can’t do both. This book has marvelous, complex characters, but also moves along at a fast pace and is completely unpredictable.”
“This book drew me in from the first sentence. … Every time I thought I figured out what was going on, I was wrong. Every time I wanted to finish a chapter and put it down, the dramatic ending would propel me to the next chapter.”
“The plot of the book twists and turns like a mountain road, and the reader is never certain what is coming around the next bend. As with a head of lettuce whose leaves are unpeeled one at a time, here there is always something more beneath what you see.”
“You will finish this book with a tear in your eye, a smile on your face, and very glad you took the time to read this incredible mystery thriller.”
“You look at the cover of this book and think, ‘Wow, looks like a good beach read.’ While there are beaches in the book, Psycho Tropics is far deeper, much funnier and suspenseful to the extreme.”
“The mysteries were difficult to solve which caused me to be unable to put it down, not even to rest my eyes. I was very anxious to come to the end and it was a big surprise.”
“The author has an original voice, mixing humor and warmth with murder and mayhem in a way that fits together.”
“One oddball character after another.”
“Psycho-Tropics is like riding Pipeline with a hangover. It’s jaw dropping, heart thumping and addictively exhilarating, but with a hint of disorientation, dizziness and an unsettled stomach. But by the end you’ll be smiling ear to ear and bursting to tell your mates how good it was.”
— Andrew Norton, Surfer Dad UK