Show Time

by Phil Harvey

Future TV audiences have become totally desensitized to violence and entirely dependent on sensation to escape their boring workaday lives—an addiction nurtured by the media with graphic portrayals of war and crime and with so-called reality programming. Now, TV execs in pursuit of the only things they care about—higher ratings and bigger paychecks—have created the ultimate reality show: Seven people, each bearing the scars of his or her past, are deposited on an island in the middle of Lake Superior.

Given some bare necessities and the promise of $400,000 each if they can endure, the three women and four men risk death by starvation or freezing as the Great Lakes winter approaches. The island is wired for sound, and flying drones provide the video feed, so everything the contestants do and say is broadcast worldwide. Their seven-month ordeal is entirely unscripted, they can’t ask for help or they forfeit the prize, and as far as the network is concerned—the fewer survivors the better.

“Phil Harvey elegantly dissects the plummeting values of 21st-century America, while his plot twists seize the reader by the lapels. A great read!”

—David Stewart, best-selling author of
American Emperor: Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America

“A vision of the future that is laugh-out-loud, until we realize how much it looks like the world we live in now.”

—Frank S. Joseph, award-winning author of To Love Mercy

“Phil Harvey has crafted a psychological thriller that takes reality shows, and in fact much of our popular culture, into a realm of true horror. His skill in delving into the psychology of the characters keeps the reader turning the pages. And Harvey does it not through any heavy-handed interior monologues but through the dialogue and interaction of the individuals. The book would easily lend itself not only to a successful movie script but to an intense stage play. The reader comes to know these individuals, to sympathize with them despite—eventually even because of—heir flaws, and to root for them in their fight against not only nature but also the unnatural culture that has put them in their situation. Show Time is a thinking reader’s thriller and a thoroughly entertaining read.”

—Darrell Delamaide, author of The Grand Mirage,
for the Washington Independent Review of Books

“A thrilling immersion in the emotional, physical, and sexual reality of characters who thought they were playing a game but find they must fight to survive.”

— Linda Morefield, senior review editor,
The Washington Independent Review of Books

“A modern-day Lord of the Flies with grownups.”

— Solveig Eggerz, author of the award-winning Seal Woman

“Show Time is erotic and chilling in its portrayal of human survival. Entertainment serves government by dishing up the ultimate reality program to sate a nation of voyeurs and ensure the continuance of our most civilized of societies. Check your calendar—the future is already here.”

— Sal Glynn, scriptwriter, and author of The Dog Walked Down the Street

“Show Time is a gripping page-turner. Reality TV has never been more frighteningly real.”

— John Fremont, author, Sins of the Fathers

“How far can reality TV go to satisfy the lust for sensation? Show Time delves into our primal instincts. It’s an exciting novel, hard to put down, and highly recommended.”

—The Midwest Book Review

Available from Ingram, Partners/West, Baker & Taylor

Published by Lost Coast Press

ISBN 978-1-935448-11-2 • Paper • 5.5 x 8.5 • 256 Pages