“Before the Flood” is a letter from my past to the present me. It depicts the painful trials of adolescence at an inflection point in our history, between the assassination of JFK and the coming of the Beatles. 

I framed it as a psychological thriller to make those times stand out even more. 
It was written to be a small movie 40+ years ago, but, like most screenplays, it never got made. I always liked it, though, and wanted to honor it so that it could have a shot at life, not just die in darkness. So now that I write novels, I travelled back in time and returned with it for a new audience. I do hope you enjoy it.

Alex Lasker, July 2023

 
 

The dorm was buzzing with pent-up energy after the test, and some of my usual Upper friends decided to hit town to celebrate. It was dusk by the time we made it to the town bandstand and crossed the bridge to one of our favorite spots, a pool hall across the river from an old textile mill and its manmade waterfall. 

 

SYNOPSIS

President Kennedy has just been assassinated. Still in shock, sixteen-year-old Brian Reed and all of New England’s Harkness Academy are even more stunned when they learn of the drowning of a naive freshman, Ted Merrifield. The autopsy reports that "Merry" was legally drunk, something that seems totally out of character and way beyond his years.

Brian is wracked with guilt at how he turned his back on "Merry," and sets out to learn what really happened. He is aided by--actually goaded by--an unknown figure leaving him cryptic clues.

Harkness Academy is a well-oiled machine that has turned out America’s leaders and captains of industry for 250 years. A clique of four powerful upperclassmen rules much of the campus--even some of the teachers--and they will stop at nothing to hide the truth.

Seeking to uncover what really happened at great personal risk, Brian discovers a terrible secret.
Order your copy of this gripping psychological, coming of age thriller.