Coming soon! The Soul Marionette! Look for it this fall!
About John Desmarais
My Writing Journey
Writing has always been a passion of mine. Growing up, I would write poetry, song lyrics, short stories, and plays—all purely for my own enjoyment. I’ve always been captivated by movies, losing myself in them as I immersed in the characters, connecting with them on a deep, emotional level. The same would happen with books, where I’d fall into the world the story created, living within the scenes through the lens of my imagination.
This love for storytelling eventually led me to try my hand at writing a novel, just to see if I could actually finish one. Around 2001, I made that attempt and came incredibly close to completing my first manuscript—until disaster struck. My hard drive crashed, and I lost everything. Not only did that setback make me cynical about the writing process, but it also taught me a valuable lesson: always have multiple backups. I swore I wouldn’t pour that much effort into something so fragile again, and for years, I didn’t.
Then, in 2023, the writing bug bit me again. I found myself wondering why I hadn’t tried again all those years. Why had I allowed that one experience to steer me away from writing? Determined to give it another shot, I dove in, and the result was my first self-published novel, The Project.
There’s very little more rewarding than hearing from a reader who is genuinely excited about your characters, eager to discuss the journey you’ve taken them on. It’s an incredible feeling to know your work has touched someone else and sparked their imagination.
Creating a world for others to explore is a unique joy. Reading is a personal experience, one that lets readers build their own interpretations of the world beyond the pages. I’m honored to provide that canvas for someone’s imagination.
Happy reading!
Available Books by John Desmarais
The Project - An Ethan Crawford Novel
Ethan Crawford, head of security at a cutting-edge genetics company, is tasked with overseeing security on a project that seems too far-fetched to be true—creating hybrid beings using DNA recovered from a mysterious alien ship. As the hybrids begin to take shape, Ethan’s personal history becomes intertwined with the project in ways he never expected.
When a rogue hybrid escapes from the lab, Ethan is drawn into a dangerous hunt. This particular hybrid has the ability to clone itself by absorbing humans, physically and mentally, before splitting into multiple versions of itself. As the creature wreaks havoc and threatens to spread across the world, Ethan must confront the darkest parts of his own past to uncover the truth behind the experiments—and the twisted legacy of his own DNA.
In a heart-stopping finale, Ethan is forced to make an unthinkable choice to save humanity, risking everything to destroy the lab and stop the hybrid infestation before it becomes a worldwide pandemic.
Shift - An Ethan Crawford Novel Book 2
After leaving his high-risk job as head of security at a Dynes Corporation, Ethan Crawford has embraced a quieter life as a private investigator, specializing in the strange and unexplained. When a string of mysterious disappearances of hikers in the Black Hills lands on his desk, Ethan’s curiosity is piqued. What starts as a routine investigation soon pulls him into a web of myth, legend, and dark secrets that threaten to unravel everything he thought he knew.
The missing hikers lead Ethan to Three Rivers, a remote town that is home to the Hazipco Tribe—an offshoot of the Lakota Sioux, long believed to be lost to history. With only a handful of true members left, the Hazipco are guarding a dangerous secret—one with the power to change everything.
Ethan’s investigation takes a deadly turn when he learns of two recent hikers’ brutal deaths. One survivor has a chilling tale to tell, and as Ethan delves deeper, he uncovers the Hazipco’s dark agenda.
Meanwhile, he uncovers an even more disturbing truth—the genetics company he thought he had left behind is once again involved under a new name. This time, they’re seeking the Hazipco’s rare DNA to create super soldiers for sale to the highest bidder, weaponizing a power that should never be controlled.
Caught between the supernatural legacy of the Hazipco and the corporate greed of his past, Ethan must confront his own demons and expose the truth before more lives are lost—both human and shapeshifter. But in the end, Ethan discovers that some secrets are better left buried… because the truth may be far more dangerous than he could have ever anticipated.
Imprint - An Ethan Crawford Novel Book 3
Some secrets don’t stay buried. They wait.
It starts quietly.
A remote scout camp.
A forest that won’t stay still.
A report that vanishes before it can be explained.
For Ethan Crawford, it’s a familiar pattern—and a warning.
For years, Ethan has exposed the things no one else would touch: corporate cover-ups, black-budget science, and the blurred edge where myth collides with reality. But nothing in his past prepared him for the truth behind Imprint—a classified program hidden beneath a New Mexico mountain, designed to rewrite what it means to be human.
The discovery pulls Ethan back to a moment he barely remembers: a childhood abduction that was never random, never accidental. What was done to him decades ago left a mark written into his DNA—and now that same genetic signature has become the foundation of a project capable of weaponizing evolution itself.
As reports are buried and witnesses silenced, Ethan begins to see the pattern connecting the forest, the facility, and his own past. Inside the Department of Non-Terrestrial Recovery, loyalties fracture and a covert civil war ignites. Underground corridors become battlegrounds. Containment protocols fail. Ancient creatures engineered for purposes long forgotten are dragged back into the light.
With time running out and chaos spreading through the mountain complex, Ethan is forced to confront an impossible choice: destroy the program and erase the truth forever—or survive long enough to expose it, no matter the cost.
Because Imprint isn’t just a name.
It’s a legacy—one written into DNA.
And some legacies were never meant to awaken.
The Soul Marionette - Coming Soon!
A long life sounds like a gift… until you realize what it costs.
Eli has been alive for far longer than any man should be.
For centuries, he has drifted from place to place, never settling, never staying long enough to be known. Not because he fears people—but because of what happens when he gets too close.
He doesn’t age.
He doesn’t heal the way others do.
And sometimes… he loses time.
When Eli awakens, it’s never where he expects to be—and never without consequences. Blood on his hands. Faces he doesn’t recognize. Lives that ended while something else wore his skin.
He is not alone inside his own body.
Buried deep within him is a parasitic presence—ancient, patient, and impossibly hungry. It does not speak. It does not reason. It simply waits… and when it takes control, it feeds.
Now, in the quiet desert town of Winslow, Arizona, Eli feels something shifting. The blackouts are getting worse. The hunger is growing stronger. And for the first time in centuries, the thing inside him is no longer content to remain hidden.
As bodies begin to surface and local authorities close in, Eli is forced to confront the truth he has spent a lifetime running from:
He is not surviving.
He is being used.
And whatever is pulling the strings… may have been guiding him all along.
Contact Me
Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions, comments about my novels, or just general interest in who I am, shoot me a message!
I will do my best to get back to you soon!
John Desmarais - Author
