ARCTIC CONSPIRACY MEETS GLOBAL STAKES — NEW THRILLER FROM AWARD-WINNING BAY AREA CRIME NOVELIST LISA TOWLES

Bay Area crime novelist Lisa Towles launches Arctic thriller The Weight of Cold Things Aug. 7, on the heels of three industry award wins.

OAKLAND, CA, UNITED STATES, August 4, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A missing sheriff. A frozen frontier. A conspiracy built to bury the truth.

Award-winning crime novelist Lisa Towles announces the release of her new standalone thriller, The Weight of Cold Things, available August 7, 2026 from Indies United Publishing House. The novel marks Towles' sixteenth published book and delivers a fast-moving fusion of Arctic noir, psychological suspense, and espionage-driven conspiracy.

When Wyoming Deputy Sheriff Gree Gooding is sent to investigate the disappearance of her boss, the trail leads four thousand miles north to Deadhorse, Alaska—an isolated oil outpost at the edge of the Arctic Circle, and the same remote region where her geologist husband vanished six months earlier. What begins as a missing-persons case unravels into a decades-old cover-up, forcing Gree to confront a conspiracy with the power to destroy anyone who gets too close.

Set against the real-world backdrop of oil extraction and petroleum geology at the edge of the habitable world, The Weight of Cold Things taps into a genuine industry fault line, where environmental abuse and edge-technology operate far from public scrutiny. Towles mirrors that tension as one woman's search for the truth becomes a collision course with power and corruption.

If you love the frontier darkness of Yellowstone and the covert espionage of The X-Files, welcome to Deadhorse. Try to get out alive.

Industry Acclaim:
Early critical acclaim has already positioned the novel as one of Towles' most powerful stories. The Weight of Cold Things earned a Silver Medal in the 2026 Readers' Choice Book Awards for Adult Fiction and received the Literary Titan Gold Award for Fiction ahead of publication. The news comes on the heels of another honor: Switch, the third book in Towles' E&A Investigations series (September 2025), was named an American Fiction Award WINNER in the Thriller: Techno category.

"An elegant fusion of Arctic noir and psychological suspense." — The Prairies Book Review

"Reading this book felt like watching a slow-motion avalanche: quiet, heavy, and utterly unyielding." — Literary Titan

Upcoming Events and Media Appearances:
• Monday Morning Sonoma radio program on KSVY 91.3 FM – August 10, 2026
• What Are You Reading, What Are You Writing? Podcast – August 12, 2026
• Sisters in Crime Author Branding Workshop, Santa Cruz – September 19, 2026
• Solano County Library Foundation Speaker, Annual Authors Luncheon – November 1, 2026

When she's not writing, Towles hosts the Story Impact Podcast, where she interviews authors about books, meaning, and purpose. She also edits and produces Story Impact Magazine - a quarterly literary journal featuring author profiles, interviews, industry articles, and poetry.

About the Author
Lisa Towles is a Bay Area crime novelist. Across sixteen thrillers, her protagonists expose shadow governments, corrupt systems of power, and the buried secrets that unravel families from the inside. She is also the founder of the Story Impact platform, home to her long-running author interview podcast, a literary magazine, workshops, and her book coaching practice. Her April 2026 nonfiction title, The ME Factor, was an Amazon #1 New Release and supports authors with branding, market intelligence, and audience-building. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers, and the California Writers Club.

For interview requests, speaking engagements, or media inquiries, contact Lisa Towles at lisamarietowles@gmail.com or visit her author website.

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1-Minute Book Trailer for The Weight of Cold Things

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