After the sudden death of his wife, famous horror writer Gavin Corlie retreats from New York City to a secluded house on Lake Caldasac. But his new life in the country is far from idyllic; when a thirteen-year-old wheelchair-bound boy named Finn Horn nearly drowns in the lake, Gavin discovers a startling secret: people in this peaceful lakeside community keep vanishing. Is the corrupt, Benzedrine-fueled town sheriff to blame? Or is Finn’s account of a lake-dwelling monster more than a near-death hallucination? Racing against time and Mother Nature, Gavin and Finn embark on a quest to catch a nightmare that seems to have evolved with a single frightful purpose: to feed on human prey. An homage to the blockbuster Jaws and the classic American novel Moby-Dick , Mannheim Rex is a deep dark thriller that switches seamlessly between heart-warming friendship and heart-stopping action. A book that tries to one-up Peter Benchley’s Jaws (1974) is always going to be a tough fish to land, but Pobi uses a full tackle box of tricks in this valiant effort. Horror author Gavin Corlie, who hasn’t written a word since his wife’s death, moves on impulse to the small upstate burg of New Mannheim and a house perched alongside the cold black waters of Lake Caldasac. Soon Gavin befriends 13-year-old fishing fantatic Finn, a kid dying of cancer who has one wish before he dies—land the big one. Meet the big one, a gigantic fish at least a century old that, in the book’s opening scene, takes its time dismembering a man joint by joint and even rips the face off the decapitated skull for good measure. Add a Liverpudlian antiques dealer to the monster-hunting mix, and you have a trio straight out of Jaws (or, even closer, Benchley’s Beast, 1991). Pobi even hat-tips with a familiar line, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” The page-count alone should warn you that Pobi has a lot to say about everything, but his long-windedness is generally forgiven thanks to a Stephen King–like congeniality that keeps the pages flipping. Pobi’s characters, in fact, seem plucked straight from a King casting call, including a successful writer; a spunky, wheelchair-bound kid; and a psychotic, drug-addled sheriff who acts as chief antagonist. Though the leviathan itself never develops into the kind of mythic force Pobi is grasping at, the cynical Gavin and relentlessly cheery Finn make for a fun, unconventional team. This creature feature does not disappoint. --Daniel Kraus “Robert Pobi gives Stephen King a run for his money in Mannheim Rex …This is a wicked page turner that veers between human drama and emotion, to bloody horror, to heartwarming story about friendship and back to terror. It is full of deeply rich characters that readers will enjoy cheering for and both “monsters” are terrifying.” ―Amy Phelps for Graffiti Magazine “Readers who are fans of Stephen King (especially his early-mid career work) will find Pobi’s work to be very readable.” ― Novelnaut Praise for Robert Pobi’s Bloodman: “A very suspenseful novel.” ― O, The Oprah Magazine “A Sixth Sense -like take on Thomas Harris in his prime” ―Sarah Weinman for The National Post “Pobi boldly announces his arrival as a cunning novelist” ― Publishers Weekly “A fantastic new voice in the thriller genre” ― New York Review of Books “There’s a new gun in town; A deft combination of edge-of-your-seat terror and heartbreaking pathos, Bloodman is one of the strongest debuts I’ve seen in a very long time.” ― Spinetingler Magazine “Bloodman should come with a halogen nightlight. This Stephen King meets Michael Connelly thriller is scary, creepy, page turning, original, bloody.” ―The Mystery Site “Robert Pobi gives Stephen King a run for his money in Mannheim Rex….This is a wicked page turner that veers between human drama and emotion, to bloody horror, to heartwarming story about friendship and back to terror. It is full of deeply rich characters that readers will enjoy cheering for and both "monsters" are terrifying.” -Amy Phelps for Graffiti Magazine "Readers who are fans of Stephen King (especially his early-mid career work) will find Pobi’s work to be very readable." -Novelnaut Praise for Robert Pobi's Bloodman: "A very suspenseful novel." —O, The Oprah Magazine "…A Sixth-Sense-like take on Thomas Harris in his prime…" —Sarah Weinman for The National Post "Pobi boldly announces his arrival as a cunning novelist…" —Publishers Weekly "A fantastic new voice in the thriller genre…" —New York Review of Books "There's a new gun in town… A deft combination of edge-of-your-seat terror and heartbreaking pathos, Bloodman is one of the strongest debuts I've seen in a very long time." —Spinetingler Magazine "Bloodman should come with a halogen nightlight. This Stephen King meets Michael Connelly thriller is scary, creepy, page turning, original, bloody." —The Mystery Site Robert Pobi is a former antiques dealer and an avid fisherman. Originally from Montreal, he no