Trigger Warning: An Academic Thriller

When does freedom go too far?

Doctor Rowena Halley has finally found a job that pays enough to live on. Too bad it’s a continent away from one of the men in her life, and an ocean away from the other. Plus, the campus she’s teaching at is not the idyllic haven it seems.

There are the usual problems of academia: busywork, embarrassing extracurricular activities, a difficult department chair. And then there’s real danger. A Gamergate activist has been invited to speak at the college, and a campus Men’s Rights group has threatened to protest the event. Are the rumors of violence swirling around the speaker “just talk,” or are they going to become action?

When Rowena gets drawn into organizing the event, she is called on to find out before something tragic happens. Her dive into the campus’s incel culture just threatens to stir the pot, though. Rowena is worried that she’s going to lose her job. With tensions on campus running this high, however, it may be more than her contract that is terminated. The college is concerned about freedom of speech. Rowena is concerned about the freedom to stay alive.

Combining suspense, dark humor, and a touch of romance, Trigger Warning is a sharply satirical examination of modern higher ed reminiscent of Robert B. Parker’s investigations into the dark side of contemporary college life, written by someone with years of experience in the trenches of academia.

*Content warning: Along with the kind of adult language you should expect from mouthy undergrads and battle-scarred Iraq vets, this book also contains a serious discussion of bullying, incel culture, and gun violence. You’ve been warned.*

© 2020 Helia Press (Audiobook): 9781952723063

Release date

Audiobook: 3 August 2020