LOCK 7

Dean Serravalle • Literary Fiction / Crime Fiction / Philosophical Fiction

Book Description

Leo Meurso is a condemned man. A mercenary and assassin gone AWOL, he returns to his hometown on the Welland Canal after two decades in the shadows — but he has only one day. His best friend's wake. His high school sweetheart's wedding. Both on the same day, in the same small canal town where every face holds a memory and every memory holds a reckoning.

What follows is a journey through the ghosts of a life: family, old friends, enemies, past secrets, sexual deviances, and nostalgic memories — all rising to meet Leo as he navigates the narrow lock between judgment and redemption. Dean Serravalle channels Camus and the existential tradition into an edgy, poetic, modern-day literary parable. The prose is lean, evocative, shot through with metaphor — a voice that knows exactly when to strike and when to let silence do the work.

LOCK 7 asks the question that haunts every life: can a man accept the consequences of his past, or will he find an epiphany that releases him from judgment before the lock gates close forever?

Recognition

• Dean Serravalle's short fiction has been nominated for the National Magazine Award and the Journey Prize
• His novel Chameleon (Days) was shortlisted for the 2020 ReLit Award

Author Bio

DEAN SERRAVALLE is a Canadian author whose work spans fiction, poetry, and criticism. His short stories have been nominated for the prestigious National Magazine Award and the Journey Prize, two of Canada's highest honours for short fiction. His novel Chameleon (Days) was shortlisted for the 2020 ReLit Award. His fiction is characterized by existential depth, lyrical precision, and an unflinching engagement with moral consequence. He lives in Ontario.

Book Details

Also by This Author

CHAMELEON (DAYS), WHERE I FALL, WHERE SHE RISES

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