Novel Pursuits

My first novel, Immaculate Deception, came out in 2010 after a long and painful gestation period of about 20 years. Since then it has been favorably reviewed by readers and critics in the U.S. and overseas. In writing it, I hoped to create for readers something like I would like to read myself.

You can order your very own signed copy here to see what all the fuss is about.

Here’s what some of the reviews have said:

“…full of action, suspense, and wonderfully sexy.” – Reader Review

“If Tom Robbins, Christopher Moore, William Gibson and Robert Heinlein got together one night, had a few beers, started joking around and decided to collaborate on a book, the result would probably look a lot like this.” – Reader Review

“Immaculate Deception ping-pongs between a storyline that has the feel of a William Gibson cyber-quest and that of a grown-up’s version of Heinlein. It moves from straight sci-fi to erotic thriller to social satire almost as quickly as one can turn the pages.” – Reader Review

Loaded with heart-pumping action and whodunit intrigue, Scott B. Pruden’s debut novel takes readers on a suspenseful journey through the eyes of down-on-his-luck ex-newsman Jon Templeton, whose postmortem mission comes with an earth-shattering twist. –Main Line Today magazine

That Sounds Weird. What’s It About?

Yeah, it does sound a little weird, but only in the best possible ways. Here’s the synopsis:

Jon Templeton has three days to reunite with his wife, save the universe and return from the dead. It’s going to be a busy weekend.

In a near future ravaged by killer hurricanes, rampant overdevelopment and increasingly underdressed waitresses, ex-newsman Jon Templeton has had the worst Thursday of his life.

He’s forced to fight off an amorous co-worker at the PR job he hates, only to have his wife discover his admirer’s panties in his pocket.

Now he’s dead, interrupted on his way to his heavenly reward by Eli, an elderly Rastafarian surfer who claims to be the Supreme Being.

Still reeling from having lost any chance of redemption in his human life, Jon is offered a mission: Discover for the surprisingly clueless deity the true identity of Lucas Scheafer, deputy to the Rev. Lawrence Whitaker and his sultry wife, Veronica, leaders of the sexually free-wheeling Church of the New Revelation, headquartered in America’s new Sin City, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Jon’s quest is paralleled by that of Mako Nikura, reluctant heir to a weapons and aerospace fortune, who hopes to find the secret to his father’s death and its connection to the domestic terrorist organization SHAG. Little do Jon and Mako know, but their paths lead to the same exceptionally odd – and potentially cataclysmic – destination.

How Do I Get A Copy?

Great question! You can order signed (and inscribed, if you’re nice) editions directly from me by clicking here. You’ll be redirected to PayPal, and charges will appear as Write On Time LLC. Please note that this is the only way, other than by buying a book from me or the Codorus Press crew at an event, that you can receive a signed edition.

Or, if you’re into plain, boring, vanilla ordering, you can get your (woefully bland and ordinary) unsigned copy through Amazon. That’s also where you’ll find the Kindle e-book version for your fancy mobile device.

What’s Next?

In case you’re interested, I am working on my second novel, Mystery White Boy, which will be set in the present day with at least one of the characters from Immaculate Deception making a return appearance. It is not, however, a sequel or prequel and will very much stand on its own. I hope you check back here to keep up with my progress and purchase a copy when it is published sometime in 2018 (we hope). Here’s a little taste of what you’re in for:

Bond DeLoach is less than thrilled about his first big story as reporter at his hometown newspaper, The Carlton Call – a business puff piece on a ghost tour company started by two entrepreneurial Junior League ladies.

But Carlton, S.C. – known as the second most haunted town the state – holds secrets, not the least of which is that the restless spirits who inhabit it are suddenly turning it upside down and causing the residents to doubt their own sanity. Stranger still, the dead – who include a repentant Confederate general, a slave girl, a randy Redcoat, his forlorn lover, a colonial-era Native American chief and a Basset hound from hell – are communicating directly with the tour guides and informing them of a criminal plot being hatched in Carlton’s historic cemetery.

Bond, assisted by his neighbor, flamboyant photographer Yashica D, and a host of colorful small-town characters, must defy his own skepticism while maintaining some semblance of journalistic integrity to find out the truth behind the alleged plot. It’s The X Files meets Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil in this rollicking and hilarious paranormal thriller.

And Now For Some Video

Check out the book trailer below!

And if you’d like to know even more about me, check out this brief “documentary” produced and shot by my fellow Codorus Press author and good friend Tom Joyce.