When a life means the world, there is no letting go.
She’s visible through the window, sitting on the front passenger seat, waiting. The window is filled with spidery cracks and several holes. He pulls on the handle to no avail; the door is jammed, crippled from an unknown impact. He pulls again, harder, and after more resistance a mechanism inside makes a pop and the door comes ajar. He forces it open far enough to get his arm inside, the bent metal near the hinges screeching in protest.
She knows he’d never leave her here, thinks Brook. He takes her gently in hand and lifts her out of the car.
Itsuki is a story about many things, not the least of which is disaster, both on personal and far greater scales. Released on May 1st, 2020, amidst the global Covid-19 pandemic, it finds its way into the world at a disastrous and trying time for many, as we wrestle in our own ways with a new reality that has befallen us.
Every single moment builds on what came before, a perfect chain of causality where everything is paid off by the end and not a single sentence is wasted.
Nick Olson, author of Here’s Waldo
As a night-reader, I found myself thinking about Brook throughout the days I was reading Itsuki—the characters, the setting, the thematic threads all resonating powerfully with my own lived life.
Joshua Harris, author of Unorthodoxy
Zach MacDonald achieves what all writers dream of achieving–making his readers feel a sense of loss without having any memory of this loss.
Daniel Gutstein, author of Buildings Without Murders
The description of a natural disaster is brilliantly done and really made you feel as though you were there, running for your life along with the characters. The threads of plot were cleverly constructed and had you thinking all the way through.
Angus Silvie, author of The Mysterious Fall
MacDonald isn’t scared to tackle the ambitious challenges of including death cults and tsunamis in his fascinating first story.
Bielsa Queckle, Goodreads
Strangely à propos to the current global situation, this is so much more than a brief jaunt through a post-apocalyptic British Columbian wilderness. It is as much a journey of self-discovery as it is a tale of survival against all odds, for better or for worse.
Jonathan Chouinard, Goodreads
The final chapters are so cleverly mind-bending that the reader can expect to post-analyze the ending. I simply can’t believe this is a debut book.
David, Goodreads
… just enough mystery to hook you into the plot early on, and quickly you find yourself spending hours at a time reading chapter after chapter because it’s such an enjoyable experience.
Josh, Amazon
Fresh, unique, mysterious, and fun . . . Both Brook and Geoff’s past lives stalk them through the tale, leading to a climax that is both devastatingly emotional and surreal.
T, Amazon
I enjoyed the story so much I would actually love to see it adapted to the big screen.
David Guillory, Goodreads
Where to order
Itsuki is available just about anywhere you order books from, including:
