When the time comes for humanity to be its own salvation, will we rise to the occasion? Or let greed and selfishness stand in our way?

Deep Sea Feline follows Charlie Potichny, a failing musical artist living in Toronto, when a mysterious creature from another world visits him in his deceased mother's painting, gifting him with a song that will turn his life and musical career upside down. Charlie, not understanding the power and implications of the other world, upsets the delicate balance between ancient forces. Slowly, Toronto falls into chaos: the seasons go through drastic change, people are disappearing, and birds threaten to overtake the city.

To restore equilibrium and save their city, Charlie and a colourful cast of artists and musicians must uncover the mystery of Charlie's mothers mysterious suicide at her Cabin in Algonquin park, face their darkest fears, stage an epic opera, and navigate the strange and wondrous realms of the ancient gods.

Dave Hurlow grew up in Toronto and studied English Literature and Critical Theory at King's College University in Halifax. From 2006 to 2014, he played bass and synthesizer in the Juno-nominated band The Darcys. He has published a collection of short stories in Hate Letters from Buddhists (Steel Bananas Press, 2014) and facilitaties creative writing programs in underserved communities in Toronto through Story Planet. He is also playing bass in the Toronto band Nightshades and working on his first solo album.

Dave Hurlow's profile page

Hurlow's written one hell of a book. It's weird, wild, funny, thrilling, fun, deep, operatic. I just don't get what he has against birds. -Morgan Murray, author of Dirty BirdsDeep Sea Feline is mesmerizing and exhilarating. It sneaks into your psyche and sticks with you throughout the day, the month, the year... just like a great song you just cannot get out of your head. -Jennifer Morrison, filmmaker/actor/Jen's BookshelfDeep Sea Feline is a wild bag of an opera, full of digital piano tracks, art gallery visits, and musicians on tour in mid-life. There's a train running through a Manitoba landscape -- a mysterious connection between science and art. Dave Hurlow pierces the membrane that separates this world from another world that runs under it: a lake of ice and, below, a world where mothers depart, friends question life choices while still attempting to reach a truth, through both figurative and sonic art. You might have to be on ketamine to read Hurlow correctly, or maybe just a long sleepless night on Nyquil, but you'll learn how to live inside a painting and a piece of music. Deep Sea Feline is funny, adventurous, and a break from the reality we know as the normy 9 to 5 - everyone will agree the more interesting hours in life usually occur between six in the evening and eight the next morning. -- Michael Winter, author of The Death of Donna Whalen and Minister Without PortfolioSerious fun. Loved it. Dave Hurlow is one of those rare writers who can dig deep into the bag of weird but still somehow engineer a brilliant plot with lovable characters. A bright crackling sparkler of a mind. -Charles Spearin, musician (Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene)In a Toronto of the not-too-distant future, robotic pets have replaced cats and dogs, birds haveturned into Hitchcockian homicidal maniacs, and potholes have become portals to anotherenigmatic realm. In David Hurlow's Deep Sea Feline, the line between reality and fantasy is washed away in this remarkably imaginative read, epic in scope, and filled to the fringes with a bustling menagerie of opera singers, musicians, and painters battling to save the world from amean-spirited pelican god. Yet, for all its offbeat humour and fantastical layering, at its core,Deep Sea Feline is a wake-up call for humanity. -Rod Carley, award-winning author of Grin Reaping and Kinmount