In Pool Fishing, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett brings us into a world with characters who live on the fringes of society-physically, psychologically, or financially. The setting is either the wrong side of town in coastal California or the California desert where characters have the freedom to act out dark schemes they wouldn't imagine, or even dare, in the dense confines of the city.

The stories are woman-centered, location-driven, and connected by place-a converted motel in Orange County, California, and the desert in and around Palm Springs, two hours away. Bodies of water figure in most of these pieces while quirky, sexy, and dark characters are held captive by their own desires, until something shifts and they break free, finding or creating opportunities where none seemed to exist, and making choices, though not necessarily the best ones.

In "The Water Holds You Still," Greta drives from Orange County to Palm Springs to help her mother and meets a pool cleaner who has a motive and a weapon-the pool itself. In "Blue Martini," Pepper escapes a controlling boyfriend only to confront him at the end in the bar where she works. And in "51 Winfield," a young widow obsessed with her consignment store's wares is visited by her dead husband who talks to her via a bowler's shirt. Dark, vivid, and unsettling, Pool Fishing is a crowning achievement.

"Stories that sizzle with dark humor, wisdom, and seduction. An irresistible read."

- Candi Sary, author of Magdalena

"In prose that crackles, DeMarco-Barrett spins the most deliciously noir stories spanning the deadly undertow of Palm Springs pools to animal rescue missions turned eco-terrorism. I loved it!

- Halley Sutton, author of Hurricane Blonde

Wryly perceptive depictions of characters and their unyielding situations, this collection of short stories by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett vibrate with life, loss and intensity. Pool Fishing is first rate.

- Gary Phillips, author of Ash Dark as Night