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Snowblind
October 1980. Richard MacCarter is a hard drinking, down on his luck Vietnam vet working as a chopper pilot in the Florida Keys. Lured by money and adventure, MacCarter finds himself sliding fast into the wild and treacherous drug smuggling underworld.
Inside a whirlwind freefall of risk and revenge—caught in a double cross pinned between the DEA and the powerful Medellín Cartel—a lethal game of cat and mouse ensues stretching from the sun-drenched Bahamas to the sleepy barrier islands of Florida’s Gulf Coast.
An unexpected twist sends MacCarter north, seeking refuge in a snowy Canadian mining town where he meets a woman named Nicole . . . who inadvertently leads them into dark and deadly waters. A fatal turn of events has MacCarter headed for the coldest place on the planet, Antarctica.
Inside a whirlwind freefall of risk and revenge—caught in a double cross pinned between the DEA and the powerful Medellín Cartel—a lethal game of cat and mouse ensues stretching from the sun-drenched Bahamas to the sleepy barrier islands of Florida’s Gulf Coast.
An unexpected twist sends MacCarter north, seeking refuge in a snowy Canadian mining town where he meets a woman named Nicole . . . who inadvertently leads them into dark and deadly waters. A fatal turn of events has MacCarter headed for the coldest place on the planet, Antarctica.
561 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2021
10 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Todd Cameron
5 books12 followersTodd Cameron was raised in a small town, far from the ocean and tropical latitudes. His early pursuits were athletic before an injury finally settled him down to focus on writing—a yearning he has had since childhood. His debut novel, Snowblind, published in 2021 and became a bestseller on Amazon. He has since founded Shark Island Press and published three more novels, Hurricane Hole, Devilfish Key, and Twisted Straits.
Influenced heavily by nautical adventure novels and a passion for sharks, Todd acquired his scuba certification on his 17th birthday at Fathom Five National Marine Park in Tobermory, Ontario, the freshwater diving capital of the world. Shortly thereafter he ventured south for an inaugural shark dive in The Bahamas. The experience was a life-changing dream come true—he was hooked!
As a former elite athlete Todd competed successfully in open water swimming in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean, with sponsorships from Arena Swimwear and Orca Wetsuits. He completed a 1430-mile (2300km) swim challenge to raise awareness for sharks, swimming the same distance as the Great Barrier Reef. He was the first person to swim the 9-mile (14.5km) channel between Whitsunday Island and Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia. He retired from competitive swimming on a high note, placing first overall back-to-back in his final three races.
Todd, his wife Valerie, and their daughter Isla, divide their time between New York and Florida.
Influenced heavily by nautical adventure novels and a passion for sharks, Todd acquired his scuba certification on his 17th birthday at Fathom Five National Marine Park in Tobermory, Ontario, the freshwater diving capital of the world. Shortly thereafter he ventured south for an inaugural shark dive in The Bahamas. The experience was a life-changing dream come true—he was hooked!
As a former elite athlete Todd competed successfully in open water swimming in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the Caribbean, with sponsorships from Arena Swimwear and Orca Wetsuits. He completed a 1430-mile (2300km) swim challenge to raise awareness for sharks, swimming the same distance as the Great Barrier Reef. He was the first person to swim the 9-mile (14.5km) channel between Whitsunday Island and Hamilton Island in Queensland, Australia. He retired from competitive swimming on a high note, placing first overall back-to-back in his final three races.
Todd, his wife Valerie, and their daughter Isla, divide their time between New York and Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 13, 2021
A thrilling read- lots of immersive action, plot twists and a protagonist (MacCarter) who won me over. Highly recommended!
July 20, 2021
Wow, I'm very impressed with this debut novel and look forward to many more! I was drawn in and rooting for the protagonist from the beginning. I thought it would take a while to finish, but didn't want to put it down. Excellent plot, colorful characters, and a variety of settings made this an interesting read.
June 16, 2021
It was a great experience to be one of the first readers of this suspenseful novel. I never knew what would be waiting on the next page, and I enjoyed the unexpected turns. Each twist made me want to keep going to see what would happen; I became emotionally invested in MacCarter. Florida becomes a place of darkness lurking behind its sunny facade.
Snowblind is packed with action while maintaining an ongoing storyline that continuously pulls you in deeper.
Snowblind is packed with action while maintaining an ongoing storyline that continuously pulls you in deeper.
January 14, 2022
New read
Found many sites in this book. It took me on a journey from the 60's through the 80's. Several countries and continents. All with ties to my own travels. I hope there is more to come!!!
Found many sites in this book. It took me on a journey from the 60's through the 80's. Several countries and continents. All with ties to my own travels. I hope there is more to come!!!
November 12, 2021
Todd Cameron's debut novel, Snowblind, is a stand alone narrative that functions as a prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing. Unlike the existing "official" narratives, this is no rehash John Campbell's Who Goes There.
Ambitious, well written and researched, it is wholly original, never utilizing material from Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of the original screenplay, nor the back stories in the voice over narration from the odd 1987 television edit.
Snowblind exudes the breakneck excitement of '80s action films, pays homage to the era's horror, and perhaps most importantly, never betrays the integrity of its protagonist.
It also containing numerous subtle inside references to the source material (including, if I'm not imagining things, a significant one to the 1951 film), while ignoring the 2011 film entirely.
A must read for fans of The Thing, and '80s horror.
Ambitious, well written and researched, it is wholly original, never utilizing material from Alan Dean Foster's adaptation of the original screenplay, nor the back stories in the voice over narration from the odd 1987 television edit.
Snowblind exudes the breakneck excitement of '80s action films, pays homage to the era's horror, and perhaps most importantly, never betrays the integrity of its protagonist.
It also containing numerous subtle inside references to the source material (including, if I'm not imagining things, a significant one to the 1951 film), while ignoring the 2011 film entirely.
A must read for fans of The Thing, and '80s horror.
May 27, 2024
I had been waiting for this book to be released and it was just around my birthday in late June. I ordered my copy through Amazon Prime and had it delivered in less than 2 days. From the minute I picked it up and started reading, until the last page, it was a page turner that kept me up late into the early AM hours, because I could not put it down. Like to hell with sleep, I needed to know what happened next and could not put it down. On a par or even better that Clancy's books, although the latest ones have put me to sleep:-) What you have done here Todd, with a first book is simply amazing and I believe it to be certainly cinematic and would make one hell of a movie.
Bruce Claxton
Bruce Claxton
October 30, 2025
I read this as a Kindle ebook I purchased from Amazon. This is an odd book, odd because it is intended to tell the backstory of a character in the 1982 cult sci-fi/horror movie "The Thing" directed by John Carpenter. The movie is a classic with legions of fans. The character in question is RJ McCready (played by Kurt Russell), a helicopter pilot working at a remote research base in Antarctica. In the movie, McCready is portrayed as a world-weary, unflappable copter jock who somehow keeps his wits about him when the base is invaded by a shape-shifting alien intent on destroying the human race. This guy must have an interesting backstory, right? This book is intended to provide that backstory. Here's another odd thing - I guess the author didn't have permission from the owners of the movie intellectual property to use characters from the film, so names have been changed. RJ McCready of the film is now Richard J. MacCarter in the book. The book begins in 1971, when MacCarter is serving in Vietnam as a search and rescue helicopter pilot. On one mission his helicopter is shot down behind enemy lines. He is captured by the North Vietnamese Army and makes a daring escape. In the course of the escape he acquires a distinctive, battered campaign hat, which he wears during subsequent adventures, and which features prominently in the 1982 film. Next the story shifts to the Florida Keys in 1980, where MacCarter is eking out an existence flying tourists on sightseeing helicopter tours. He is haunted by his wartime experiences and self medicates with generous doses of J&B whiskey, which is another callback to the 1982 film. After losing his sightseeing tour job, he is approached by two mysterious men who offer him fantastic sums of money to fly light planes from an island in the Bahamas covertly to Florida, carrying cocaine. MacCarter accepts and is now an employee of the infamous Medellin drug cartel. We follow him through various drug running adventures. Eventually things turn sour between MacCarter and his cartel employers, forcing him to flee to the far north on the Canada/Alaska border where he finds work flying helicopters for a mining company. Here he meets the love of his life and things seem to be making a positive turn. He also meets mine employee Morris (renamed from Norris in the film) who offers him a job flying at a research base in Antarctica. MacCarter and his new girlfriend are intent on resettling from Canada to the South Pacific, but first he must return to Florida to retrieve a trove of hidden cash. And there he has a final deadly confrontation with the cartel, things take a turn for the worst, and suddenly Antarctica looks more inviting than the South Pacific. The book ends with MacCarter on a plane heading south. I am a big fan of "The Thing" movie from 1982. If this book hadn't been a thinly-disguised prequel to that film, I would have enjoyed it more. The pacing is fast, the writing is not bad, but hanging over the whole reading experience was a set of expectations on how MacCarter/McCready would behave and speak, all informed by Kurt Russell's performance in the film. So I found it impossible to completely enjoy the book, and am giving it a rating of three out of five stars.
June 16, 2021
Author Todd Cameron's first novel takes us on an adventure from the jungles of Vietnam during the war, and right to the war on drugs during the 80's in Florida.
Meet Richard MacCarter, a no-nonsense non-bullshit helicopter pilot trying to get through his tours of flying rescue missions. We learn that MacCarter is a loner, by choice, preferring his war to be seen from the air and not down "in the mud and the blood of the jungle below;" but that is unfortunately where fate would take him. Shot down and captured by the VC, MacCarter is caged like an animal.
Cameron's language for the war is authentic and to-the-point. You cannot help but to find yourself locked in the cage with MacCarter, starving and desperate.
A unique hat worn by one of his captors comes into play for MacCarter, and he does manage to make his escape, starving, shoeless, and on the run both from VC soldiers and a lurking tiger. Rescued, MacCarter makes it out and back to his home state of Florida, and with him comes his lucky hat; it is one of his "most cherished possessions, a personal totem;" he will not fly without it.
At this point Cameron shines in the novel with his descriptions of Florida and its waters; the Atlantic "lay endless and flat, an expansive bed of turquoise shot through with emerald and indigo." MacCarter now flies charter service for tourists out of Key Largo, but there is still a metaphorical tiger that stalks the pilot - he has turned to the comfort of the bottle to dull the nightmares of his past, and MacCarter cannot escape this time. Circumstances lead to the loss of his job, his woman, and bring us to the major turning point in the novel - MacCarter finds an opportunity to fly cocaine for the Medellin cartel from the private island in the Bahamas called Norman's Cay. It is the heyday of the eighties' drug trade across the Florida Keys; there is money to be made, and the offer is too intoxicating for MacCarter to walk away from.
Cameron takes the reader on a ride here with his crisp prose that takes us into the world of the Florida drug trade - the Cartel, the FBI, sunken ships, hired killers, beautiful women, and mountains of cash. We go from the Bahamas to the murky swamps of the Everglades, and then make our escape to the frozen lands of Antarctica. Cameron never takes his foot off the gas.
Will MacCarter escape the FBI and hired killers? Will he get away with millions in cash? Will he even get the girl? Cameron keeps the reader guessing. Dark, twisted and moody - an unexpected ride from this first-time author who takes his hard-luck protagonist on a page-turning adventure.
Meet Richard MacCarter, a no-nonsense non-bullshit helicopter pilot trying to get through his tours of flying rescue missions. We learn that MacCarter is a loner, by choice, preferring his war to be seen from the air and not down "in the mud and the blood of the jungle below;" but that is unfortunately where fate would take him. Shot down and captured by the VC, MacCarter is caged like an animal.
Cameron's language for the war is authentic and to-the-point. You cannot help but to find yourself locked in the cage with MacCarter, starving and desperate.
A unique hat worn by one of his captors comes into play for MacCarter, and he does manage to make his escape, starving, shoeless, and on the run both from VC soldiers and a lurking tiger. Rescued, MacCarter makes it out and back to his home state of Florida, and with him comes his lucky hat; it is one of his "most cherished possessions, a personal totem;" he will not fly without it.
At this point Cameron shines in the novel with his descriptions of Florida and its waters; the Atlantic "lay endless and flat, an expansive bed of turquoise shot through with emerald and indigo." MacCarter now flies charter service for tourists out of Key Largo, but there is still a metaphorical tiger that stalks the pilot - he has turned to the comfort of the bottle to dull the nightmares of his past, and MacCarter cannot escape this time. Circumstances lead to the loss of his job, his woman, and bring us to the major turning point in the novel - MacCarter finds an opportunity to fly cocaine for the Medellin cartel from the private island in the Bahamas called Norman's Cay. It is the heyday of the eighties' drug trade across the Florida Keys; there is money to be made, and the offer is too intoxicating for MacCarter to walk away from.
Cameron takes the reader on a ride here with his crisp prose that takes us into the world of the Florida drug trade - the Cartel, the FBI, sunken ships, hired killers, beautiful women, and mountains of cash. We go from the Bahamas to the murky swamps of the Everglades, and then make our escape to the frozen lands of Antarctica. Cameron never takes his foot off the gas.
Will MacCarter escape the FBI and hired killers? Will he get away with millions in cash? Will he even get the girl? Cameron keeps the reader guessing. Dark, twisted and moody - an unexpected ride from this first-time author who takes his hard-luck protagonist on a page-turning adventure.
July 1, 2024
What a blast! For a debut novel, Todd Cameron did a superb job of hooking me into this wild ride of a thriller. I couldn't put this book down because of the action and intrigue.
I initially read Devilfish Key, and had so much fun with it, that I went back to read this first novel of Todd Cameron's. He has a way of writing believable hard-luck characters and thrilling situations that make it hard to put his books down. He creates varied and believeable characters woven into a twisting plot which is highly entertaining, but also a moral warning that crime doesn't pay. There are elements of humor which made me laugh throughout the whole novel, and his scene settings and descriptions are excellent for readying the canvas of the reader's mind.
I also loved the tie-in to one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time, so it was super fun to have a bit of backstory on the characters.
Im really looking forward to reading Hurricane Hole next and Twisted Straits when it is released!
I initially read Devilfish Key, and had so much fun with it, that I went back to read this first novel of Todd Cameron's. He has a way of writing believable hard-luck characters and thrilling situations that make it hard to put his books down. He creates varied and believeable characters woven into a twisting plot which is highly entertaining, but also a moral warning that crime doesn't pay. There are elements of humor which made me laugh throughout the whole novel, and his scene settings and descriptions are excellent for readying the canvas of the reader's mind.
I also loved the tie-in to one of my favorite sci-fi films of all time, so it was super fun to have a bit of backstory on the characters.
Im really looking forward to reading Hurricane Hole next and Twisted Straits when it is released!
September 1, 2021
A fantastic first novel from Todd Cameron. The book kept me reading every chance I could get and is very well written. Snowblind keeps you guessing all the way to the end... well, until we already know where he ultimately ends up. Highly recommended even if you don't know it's connected to The Thing (1982). After you finish, make sure you read The Thing by Alan Dean Foster as a sequel.
May 4, 2024
The adventures of Richard MacCarter, the novel's central character, begins in the jungles of South East Asia, moving from there to Florida, the Bahamas, and back via Canada, to finish elsewhere.
Throughout this odyssey, the narrative holds our attention as we follow the fortunes of the fundamentally decent, albeit flawed, hero playing the hand that life dealt him. We may not approve of his actions, but we can certainly relate to his struggle to prosper, or just stay alive.
MacCarter is a survivor, and I look forward to learning what he'll do next.
Throughout this odyssey, the narrative holds our attention as we follow the fortunes of the fundamentally decent, albeit flawed, hero playing the hand that life dealt him. We may not approve of his actions, but we can certainly relate to his struggle to prosper, or just stay alive.
MacCarter is a survivor, and I look forward to learning what he'll do next.
December 2, 2025
A Thrilling Descent into Danger
I was hooked from the first page! Richard MacCarter’s wild ride through the drug underworld had me on edge the whole time. From the sun-soaked Florida Keys to the icy extremes of Antarctica, the tension, danger, and unexpected twists kept my heart racing. A gripping story of survival, betrayal, and the choices that push a man to his limits.
I was hooked from the first page! Richard MacCarter’s wild ride through the drug underworld had me on edge the whole time. From the sun-soaked Florida Keys to the icy extremes of Antarctica, the tension, danger, and unexpected twists kept my heart racing. A gripping story of survival, betrayal, and the choices that push a man to his limits.
February 21, 2022
Good stuff! Great lead in story for MacReady and The Thing.
Todd Cameron does a great job here of giving us a look into the turbulent life of R.J.MacReady (MacCarter in the book for obvious reasons.) The story is a whirlwind from beginning to end, always something going on even in its calmer moments. Was definitely fun to read.
Todd Cameron does a great job here of giving us a look into the turbulent life of R.J.MacReady (MacCarter in the book for obvious reasons.) The story is a whirlwind from beginning to end, always something going on even in its calmer moments. Was definitely fun to read.
February 21, 2025
I loved it.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews