It took Douglas Volk nearly 37 years to write his first novel. Here it is just two years later, and the 1966 Swampscott High grad has become downright prolific, releasing his third psychological thriller.
“Destiny Returns,” the final edition of his trilogy, “The Morpheus Series,” came out last month and is a hit with readers and critics.
“Volumes II and III each took me only five years to write,” Volk said. “All they needed was one good rewrite. The first book took forever. I was a CPA. I ran a family business. What did I know about writing? But I had the story idea, and did lots of research. I strive for authenticity.” He even studied dream therapy and spent a few nights at a sleep lab at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, observing patients, many of them veterans, and asking questions.
Volk is chatting from his winter home in Naples, Fla. The retired CEO of Biddeford, Maine-based family-owned Volk Packaging Corp. and his wife of 48 years, Revere native Gail Charak, plan to return to the Pine Tree State next week.
He is proud of the three-book series.
Volume I, “The Morpheus Conspiracy,” the psychological thriller he started in the 1970s that was eventually self-published in 2018, focuses on a paranormal curse that gives a Vietnam veteran the power to invade other people’s nightmares … with deadly results. Its main character, David Collier, returns home from the battlefields of war, feeling betrayed by his country, his girlfriend and citizens who offer no respect or thanks for his service. This combat veteran developed a new form of PTSD that somehow gave him the power to travel in and out of human dreams and kill his victims as they sleep. A reviewer said it is “a great work of terrifying horror and unrelenting suspense.”
In Volume II, “The Surgeon’s Curse,” the dreaded Curse of Morpheus has infected a new host, demented VA psychiatrist Dr. Michael Rogers, who uses it to attack his victims by invading their nightmares. Once again, a scientist must confront a killer who relies on “Somnambulistic Telepathy” — the paranormal ability to sneak into the dreams of sleepers — and then kill them. A reviewer said “Volk is a marvelous storyteller and excels at writing realistic dialogue.”
In the new Volume III, “Destiny Returns,” the curse has taken over the mind of a powerful politician in Chicago, who infiltrates foes’ nightmares and drives them to suicide. “He made me do it” farewell notes are found near most victims’ bodies. “Destiny Returns,” which brings back many characters from Volume II, is filled with blackmail, murder, kinky sex, suicide. … and humor. Readers have called it action-packed, romantic and comical. … with a twisted twist at the end.
The plight of America’s veterans was a central theme in the first book and plays a part in the other two. The president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1044 in Biddeford said Volume I is “full of horror and suspense … and full of compassion for America’s often struggling Vietnam War veterans.”
Volk said he has “immense respect and admiration” for veterans. He finished his military service with the Army Reserve in 1976 after serving with the Transportation Corps at the South Boston Army Base and a facility in Auburn, Maine. Last year, he and his nephew Derek Volk, who is company president, raised money to build a Heroes Wall” on the front lawn of their corporate offices. Derek Volk was able to raise funds by creating a series of commemorative tiles that were placed on the 7-foot-tall, 50-foot-long cement wall. The Volks also raised more than $20,000 in donations for the renovation of the local VFW Post.
What’s next? Does Douglas Volk have a fourth book in him? After a chuckle, he said “You never know. I’m very pleased with this trilogy. It took me a while to finish them, starting when I was working full time and raising a family, but I’m proud of how they turned out.
“I retired last year, so I definitely have the time to tackle a fourth book. I’m trying to find an agent. I realize these are not stories that will be taught at a Harvard literary class. I’m not Ernest Hemingway. But response has been good … even if my friends who read them see me on the street and run to the other side of the street (because of the weird subject matter),” he said, then laughed.
For additional information, go to www.themorpheusseries.com. One dollar from every paperback book sold is donated to veterans organizations.
