September 25, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Reston, VA – Content development firm Waterhaven Media, LLC has launched a new espionage adventure franchise, author Mark Parragh’s John Crane series. Spearheading the launch is the release of Rope on Fire, the first John Crane novel, for Amazon’s Kindle platform.
Waterhaven is supporting the launch with the release of a John Crane novella, Bird Dogs, and the Hurricane (Reading) Group, an online community for fans. Currently, Bird Dogs is only available for free to Hurricane (Reading) Group members. Readers can join the group and find additional content at the John Crane web site, agentcrane.com, or at MarkParragh.com.
The John Crane series updates the spy adventure genre to reflect 21st century sensibilities and challenges while reclaiming the style and excitement that characterized the golden age of cool, heroic secret agents.
“I think spy novels have largely lost their sense of fun,” says Parragh. “I wanted to evoke the spirit of the Connery Bond films, or the Modesty Blaise books. But we live in a very different world from theirs, so the fun for me was in adapting that cool, sexy style so it works in the modern world.”
The series’ premise inverts one of the genre’s most basic tropes. When the government suddenly shuts down the covert Hurricane Group, agent John Crane finds himself unemployed and adrift until he meets young, idealistic Internet billionaire Josh Sulenski. With plenty of money to indulge his James Bond fantasies, Josh has decided he needs his own secret agent to tackle the problems of an increasingly troubled world. To his surprise, Crane discovers he likes working for Josh, and an unlikely partnership is born.
“Mark Parragh has a very clear vision for the Crane franchise going forward, and a fresh take on the spy thriller,” says Nina Sullivan, Director of Strategy and New Product Development at Waterhaven Media. “That vision made the Crane series an obvious fit for our content strategy.”
Waterhaven is pursuing a two-pronged growth strategy, Sullivan explains. “We’ll team up with other creators on projects that leverage their IP and add breadth to our portfolio.” Waterhaven previously partnered with Deep7 Press to develop author E.J. Blaine’s Assassins of the Lost Kingdom, the first novel set in the world of Deep7’s Airship Daedalus comics and audio drama franchise. Deep7 will publish Assassins of the Lost Kingdom in November, 2016.
“The other part of that strategy is giving our portfolio depth by developing our own properties,” Sullivan adds. “The John Crane franchise is an ideal vehicle for us because it offers a strong core vision we can build on. Mark Parragh has big plans for the Crane franchise, and we see a lot of opportunities to help build a new audience for the genre.”
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Waterhaven Media is a boutique content development firm located in Reston, Virginia. The company can be contacted through its web site at waterhavenmedia.com or by email at inbox@waterhavenmedia.com.