P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal>Brandon Galloway, a 29-year-old nobody with a history of dead-end jobs, lands a position with a pest control company. When he meets 21-year-old wild child Melanie Blaxley while fumigating her apartment for bed bugs, her vulgar sensuality and reckless promiscuity both attract and repulse him. Before long her world of crazy sex and petty crime starts to take its toll on Brandon’s sanity, and he wonders how much more of her he can stand. Then she disappears, and Brandon must find out if it is all just a prank, or if Melanie’s wild ways finally led her into danger. A hair-raising thrill ride through the bars and backstreets of a fictional small town, this fast-paced and darkly funny debut novel explores obsession, fear, and the threat of other people.

Stacey Madden was born and raised in east Toronto, where he still resides. He holds a BA in English Literature from the University of Toronto, and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. His first novel, Poison Shy, was published in 2012, and he frequently reviews books for Quill & Quire. He enjoys books, beer, and quiet reading time. He owns a cat.

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"Deeply entertaining and delightfully cringe-worthy, inhabiting spheres both mundane and surreal."  —Sarah Gardner Borden, author, Games to Play After Dark

"Pacing is everything, and it's hard to think of a recent novel with less dead air . . . a thoroughly enjoyable treat for fans of seedy urban squalor, eccentric characters, and stories as tightly coiled as mattress springs." —Quill & Quire (October 2012)

"This is a gory and troubling literary creeper about a dull small town with dark secrets deeper than the sewers. It moves fast and is amusing throughout—you're smiling even when you're grimacing."  —Russell Smith, author, Girl Crazy 

"[Madden] displays a commendable ear for dialogue and a conscious effort to entertain. The reader's attention is sustained despite the book's formulaic premise, a tip of the hat to Madden's terrific pacing. Atmospherics, including the everyday tedium of life in a small town, are also well-drawn. These pages are a joy ride." —Georgia Straight (October 24, 2012)

"A literary Blue Velvet for the millennial generation, Stacey Madden's Poison Shy is gripping neo-noir: a thriller populated by small town characters driven not by the usual genre motivations of money or power, but by the need to feel alive."  —Andrew Pyper, author, The Killing Circle 

"Madden's novel is a riotous romp and a brash contemporary tragedy. Read Poison Shy and see something of yourself in all its beautifully damaged and lost souls."  —Matthew Firth, author, Shag Carpet

"[A] solidly written thriller. . . . This is Madden's first novel, and he's clearly got the hang of creating full-bodied characters and giving them interesting things to do." —www.BooklistOnline.com

"The writing is noirish and gritty, filled with sex, violence and despair. . . . Stacey Madden has written a well-paced and gritty novel that's hard to put down." —Broken Pencil (October 2012)