"Show Time" A New Reality TV Book

To grab such large ratings, this is how it begins: seven people, each scarred by a traumatic past, are dropped on an island in the middle of Lake Superior. Given just the bare necessities and the posted reward of a $400,000 cash prize for surviving, three women and four men risk death by starvation or freezing as the Great Lakes winter looms.

The island is wired for high definition stereo sound and flying drones overhead capture live state of the art video. Everything each contestant says or does is captured for a global TV audience. Whoever makes it after seven months is the winner. But they can't help each other – or risk losing the prize. The fewer survivors, the better – for the ratings and the money.

In a recent interview, this is what Phil Harvey said about the core focus of Show Time:

"The centerpiece of the novel is those seven people with their idiosyncrasies, lust, belligerence, and desire to survive. How they are attracted to each other, how they fight with each other, how they sometimes undermine and then strengthen each other. One character – his name is Rudy – makes an especially dramatic sacrifice for the group, but so does the beautiful Maureen. It's not a violent book, very little that's too gruesome, but it is a book about the ideas surrounding violence."

Phil Harvey's Show Time is available from Adam & Eve and other book sellers.