Escape!

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Description

A propulsive debut novel following a has-been reality TV star and a disgraced producer who get one last shot at redemption on a show set on a remote island, only to discover that the plot twists are beyond what they ever imagined. Everybody gets the story arc they deserve. Kent Duvall, a faded reality show winner, just wants another chance at glory--to find his way out of his depressing life and back to his highlight reel. When a scandal is captured on camera at a charity event, he gets his shot, on a new jungle survival show with seven other contestants. Each of them has been cast as a type--Ruddy the bully, Miriam the nerd, Ashley the love interest--but everyone is more than they appear. The contestants' goals seem simple--survive the wild, build a raft, win treasure. But Beck Bermann, a reality producer who suffered her own public shaming, sees them as characters in her redemption arc. As the schemes and strategies spiral out, breakout camps sabotage each other and rival producers struggle to control the storyline. Soon the question becomes less about who will win than who will make it out in one piece.

Author Bio

Stephen Fishbach is a Pushcart Prize-winning writer and former television executive. A two-time Survivor USA contestant (voted onto the show the second time by more than ten million fans), he's worked on the network side as a vice president at MTV and freelanced for a reality producers' trade group. He cohosts a weekly Survivor podcast as well as the literary podcast Paraphrase. Stephen graduated with honours from Yale and received an MFA in fiction at NYU. In 2009 he was named one of People magazine's hottest bachelors. His short story "To Sharks" - an excerpt from Escape! - was published by One Story and garnered Stephen the Pushcart Prize. He lives in Washington, DC, with his wife and two daughters.