Hunt for the Troll

“Mark Richardson’s impressive debut novel, Hunt for the Troll, is a wonderful hybrid of high-tech noir and Murakami-like magical realism.”
- Al Riske, writer of Precarious, Sabrina’s Window, and The Possibility of Snow

"Mark Richardson has achieved the stuff of dreams for debut novelists. Hunt for the Troll is an artfully told, utterly original and wonderfully quirky genre-bender that is unpredictable in all the right ways. My prediction? Readers will say, 'Where did this guy come from?'"
- Greg Bardsley, author of the novel Cash Out

It all starts when twenty-something software programming genius is visited while he sleeps by a mysterious figure referred to as the Troll. “We’re going to change the world,” the Troll tells the narrator. Soon we’re introduced to an assortment of off-beat characters: a red-haired, one-eared, female temptress; a pot-smoking tech reporter; a computer-generated Halfling; and a few venture capitalists who are all interested in finding the Troll. Mostly taking place in San Francisco, Hunt for the Troll is a quirky hybrid of mystery, pulp, and modern fairy tale.

Mark Richardson has published short fiction in numerous literary and crime journals, including Hobart, Fugue, Segue, Crime Factory, Switchback, Prime Number Magazine, and Nth Position. After graduating from the University of Iowa, he spent a number of years living in Los Angeles, and now calls Northern California home where he is a writer, marketer, and communications strategist for tech companies in Silicon Valley. He is married with two children.