Douglas Cole, THE INVISIBLE HAND

Local poet and novelist Douglas Cole visits the store for his second novel, The Invisible Hand. Inspired by the spirit of 1970s culture, the pandemic years, and the dread of the present, this genre-bending novel explores the journey of the spirit out of and from beneath the weight of the world's pressures.

For readers of Praiseworthy and My Friends, The Invisible Hand unfolds a cityscape of unseen forces and entwined lives, where the margins of society converge and hope re-emerges in the cracks.

After her testimony sends her father to prison, Sara finds herself on the road with a newer stranger, but fractures appear, threatening her new freedom. The season of childhood is slipping away as little by little an unseen force rips the world and Gabriel's family apart. And Jones may be an artist of money with a talent for helping others get ahead, but war within is tearing up the city around him as he stumbles through its gothic nightmare. What strange power is working to bring them together, with Arl, who seems to know the way out?

Douglas Cole has published eight poetry collections, including The Cabin at the End of the World, winner of the Best Book Award in Urban Poetry and the International Impact Book Award. His novel, The White Field, won the American Fiction Award, and his screenplay of The White Field won Best Unproduced Screenplay award in the Elegant Film Festival. His work has appeared in journals such as Beloit Poetry, Fiction International, Valparaiso, The Galway Review and Two Hawks Quarterly.