a Soul Catcher novel

coming in 2024
from Castle Bridge Media

Zoltan Josef makes jewels, but they turn out to be far more than magnificent gems: they link the gem owners with sinister forces that inflame the owners’ most barbarous instincts. When Barbara, a customer fleeing an empty life and loveless marriage, tracks Zoltan down and pushes the gem maker from his complacency, they discover the evil cabal they are a part of. Operating out of the Market – a refuge for eccentrics, geniuses, shapeshifters, and keepers of ancient knowledge in the ruins of an abandoned subway station – the two form an unlikely alliance. Together, they risk everything to discover and destroy the ruthless conspiracy that has enslaved Zoltan for a century. And they must do it before the Mester, the hideous ringleader, and his sadistic thugs destroy them.

This exciting fantasy adventure, which plays out just beneath our feet, has already garnered praise for its characters and fast-paced plot:

In The Burning Gem, accomplished storyteller and author Don Sawyer gives us a meticulously crafted, richly imagined, complexly plotted, deep and magical allegory creating a world that mirrors the dark forces at work on our planet today. Entertaining and compelling, I enjoyed inhabiting its realm.”

– Charlie Price,
Edgar Award-winning author of
The Interrogation of Gabriel James

From a wondrous world in the bowels of a long-forgotten New York subway station to London's Meat District and the ancient brick cellars of Budapest's Jewish Quarter, The Burning Gem takes the reader on a one-of-a-kind journey through the forces of good and evil that have forever underlain human existence. Sawyer's deft interweaving of elaborate descriptions, an absorbing plot and intriguing characters has resulted in a unique, sophisticated, and alluring novel.”

– Carmen Rodriguez,
award-winning author of
Altacama, a novel

As each page of The Burning Gem turns, the alternate reality draws us in ever closer. Don Sawyer's deft research blends fact with magical possibility and it begins to really matter to us that the forces of evil that can control others' souls can be surmounted. Hope, love, and the courage to face death give these compelling characters exactly what we all might wish for ourselves.”

– Calvin White, author of
Letters from the Land of Fear
and Facing the Sweating Horse