Bloodline (a haunted crime story) is noir-style novel set in the suburbs of a mid-size North American city. The plot concerns a series of murders that involve young, female hitchhikers along a stretch of mountain highway. A string of coincidences, shaky evidence and interference by an unscrupulous female newspaper reporter lead police to suspect a man who may or not be innocent. In the meantime, a head-strong fifteen year old girl continues to tempt fate on several levels.In a more metaphorical vein, it's a tale of people haunted by their past and how this manifests itself in dreams, nightmares and reality; a story of family and family lineage and how things stick or get passed on from generation to generation even as people attempt to slip their roots and move forward with their lives. A struggle of nature vs nurture. As well, it is the story of how the press not only reports the news, but plays a hand in creating it, whether for better or worse.

Born in Vancouver, Stan Rogal now lives in Toronto. He ran the popular Idler Pub Reading Series for ten years, was co-creator of Bald Ego Theatre, and is now the artistic director of Bulletproof Theatre. He is the author of the novel, The Long Drive Home (Insomniac, 1999), and numerous poetry collections, including Geometry of the Odd, (Wolsak & Wynn, 1999), In Search of the Emerald City (Seraphim, 2004) and Fabulous Freaks (Wolsak & Wynn, 2005). Lines of Embarkation is Stan's fifth book of poetry.

Stan Rogal's profile page