In a flash, the world Ted Callan knew exploded. The fire on the patch had burned everything to the ground, including his marriage and now he's on the road looking for a fresh start. What he finds is a mysterious young woman named Tilda in the middle of the highway who tells him he's destined to either become a hero or die a quick and painful death.

Later that evening, when three stout men break into his hotel room, bind him to the bed and proceed to carve his skin with a stylus Ted wishes that death would come quickly. When he wakes, his body is covered in an elaborate norse tattoo, complete with Hugin and Munin, Mjolnir and Yggdrasil, not to mention the power of the Gods. As Ted seeks out the three men who assaulted him, he learns that the creatures of Norse mythology walk in the world of humankind and some of them want to see it burn.

Accompanied by the trickster Loki and the bequiling Tilda, Ted wants nothing more than to have his old life back. No more tattoos. No more smart-ass Gods. No more mystic powers. The problem is, if he succeeds, it might just be the end of the world.

Originally from Morden, Chadwick Ginther has been a bookseller with McNally Robinson's booksellers for the last ten years and has been twice nominated for the Harper Collins Handselling Award, which he won in 2008. Previously, he was Aqua Books” Emerging Writer-in-Residence. Chadwick is a regular contributor to Quill & Quire, the Winnipeg Review and Prairie Books NOW and has done guest blogs for Manitoba Scene. His short fiction has also appeared in On Spec Magazine. He lives and writes in Wpg.

Chadwick Ginther's profile page

Thunder Road is a gritty, two-fisted action fantasy jammed with Norse mythology and the unique atmosphere of the Canadian prairies. The imagination and attention to detail make this book a compelling and exciting read. By the time I finished I needed a stiff drink, a smoke and a shower. Chadwick Ginther is one of those authors that gets under your skin. I'm looking forward to his next book.

J.A. Pitts, author of Forged in Fire

"An excellent first novel, Thunder Road is ultimately a creative fantasy about a human thrust into the role of a peacemaker between mythological forces....Imagine True Blood crossed with Thor and Beowulf."

The Winnipeg Free Press

Chadwick Ginther is a major new talent. His stunning debut novel grabs you by the throat and shakes you mercilessly; his prose is vivid and sharp and his settings are gritty and terrifyingly real. This is serious fantasy for grownups.

Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award?winning author of Triggers

"...the action in the story is fast-paced and, at times, almost heart stopping. There were many times I found myself holding my breath, wondering what was going to happen next."

MyWithershins.com

"Unique and brilliantly crafted, Thunder Road leaves the reader salivating for the next book in this trilogy and the next installment in the life of Ted Callan."

-- The Winnipeg Review

The Winnipeg Review

... After reading the first two chapters, I flipped back to the front of the book and said “thank goodness” as I read “Book One of the Thunder Road Trilogy”. I can look forward to two more books in this world that Ginther has created.

In Thunder Road, Chadwick Ginther opens a doorway to the mythical in the modern world, letting his reader almost believe that at the edges of our reality, in the most mundane of places, there lurks the remnants and lingering presence of the Otherworld....

Specilating Canada