Books published by publisher Toby Neal

For fans of The Glass Castle and Educated, comes mystery author Toby Neal’s personal story of surviving a wild childhood in paradise.We never call it homeless. We're just "camping" in the jungle on Kauai...We live in a place everyone calls paradise. Sure, Kauai’s beautiful, with empty beaches, drip-castle mountains, and perfect surf...but we’ve been "camping" for six months, eating boiled chicken feed for breakfast, and wearing camouflage clothes so no one sees us trespassing in our jungle hideout. The cockroaches�leave rainbow colors all over everything from eating the crayons we left outside the tent, and now a tractor is coming to scrape our camp into the river.Standing in front of the tent in my nightgown, clinging to my sister as we face the tractor, I know my own truth: I just want to be normal.But Mom and Pop are addicted.Addicted to Kauai’s beauty, to drugs, to surfing, to living a life according to their own rules out from under their high-achieving parents’ judgmental eyes. I’m just their red-headed, mouthy, oldest kid. What I want doesn’t matter.But I’m smart. I will make a different life for myself someday if I keep up my grades no matter what happens.No matter how often we run out of food.No matter how many times I change schools...or don’t go to school at all.No matter how many bullies beat me up for the color of my skin.I might be growing up wild in Hawaii, but I have dreams I’m going to reach, no matter how crazy things get.“An affecting and riveting chronicle of a singular childhood that evokes the contradictions of hippie utopian ideals in an unspoiled Hawaiian landscape long since lost.” ~Kirkus Reviews

Paradise holds deep secrets.She just wants to save the reefs...and it gets her killed.Five years after the events of Rip Tides, Lei Texeira gets into hot water investigating a crime scene ninety feet down off of the tiny atoll of Molokini, where the death of a beautiful marine biologist is anything but an accident.He’ll do anything to beat his demons.Lei’s husband, Michael Stevens, is desperate to kill an enemy from within, and it drives him to make a choice his wife will never sanction.Can Lei and Stevens find the answers they need before their different directions tear them apart?“Bone Hook is a masterful, gripping story, destined to become a favorite journey into the darkness of selfishly deceitful human machinations set in the paradise of Hawaii.” ~R.S. Guthrie, author of Blood LandGrab this fast paced mystery with a twist of romance, and take a trip to Hawaii with the series that’s sold more than a million copies!

Paradise has a dark side.She can’t stop thinking about a drowned girl’s face... because it reminds her of her own.Overcoming a past filled with scars, Lei makes a life for herself and her dog, Keiki, as a cop in the sleepy Big Island town of Hilo. When a routine patrol turns up two murdered teens, Lei’s world is rocked. She knows one of the girls, and she can’t rest until she finds answers—not only about the victims, but about her own shadowed past as well.She’ll look so beautiful...once she’s dead.He knows he’s twisted. He knows he’s wrong. He just doesn’t care. But now there’s a female cop on his trail that won’t give up, and she’s gonna be next."Blood Orchids satisfies on every level. A powerful talent is on the scene, whole-heartedly recommended."-Drew Cross, former police officer, author of BiteMarksGrab this fast paced mystery with a twist of romance, and take a trip to Hawaii with the series that’s sold more than a million copies!

Paradise can be merciless.Does she really want to bring down the bandit? Lei made a difficult transition from detective on Maui to the FBI on Oahu. Her first big case as an agent draws national media attention as a teenage Robin Hood robs from the rich and gives to the poor, hopping from island to island in a stolen airplane.Someone has to make things right.Impoverished and orphaned, the Smiley Bandit isn’t going to take it anymore. The angry teen steals a private plane and sets off on a crime spree fueled by social media and designed to draw attention to the income gap in Hawaii…but things soon spiral out of control, and lives are at stake.“Crisp, well-written and full of local color - Broken Ferns is another page-turner from Toby Neal.” Greta Van der Rol, author of Morgan’s ChoiceGrab this fast paced mystery with a twist of romance, and take a trip to Hawaii with the series that’s sold more than a million copies!

Paradise holds deep secrets. She just wants to save the reefs...and it gets her killed. Five years after the events of Rip Tides, Lei Texeira gets into hot water investigating a crime scene 90 feet down off of the tiny atoll of Molokini, where the death of a beautiful marine biologist is anything but an accident. He'll do anything to beat his demons. Lei's husband, Michael Stevens, is desperate to kill an enemy from within, and it drives him to make a choice his wife will never sanction. Can Lei and Stevens find the answers they need before their different directions tear them apart? "Bone Hook is a masterful, gripping story, destined to become a favorite journey into the darkness of selfishly deceitful human machinations set in the paradise of Hawaii." (R.S. Guthrie, author of Blood Land) Listen to this fast paced mystery with a twist of romance, and take a trip to Hawaii with the series that's sold more than a million copies!

I never realized how much I wanted to live until the choice was no longer mine.I’ve spent my entire life unraveling mysteries of the human mind as a police psychologist, but somehow, I’ve ended up here: drunk, mostly naked, and locked out of my own house in the rain. I think I might be an alcoholic.I refuse to enter rehab like my station chief wants. I’ll do it my way, by hiking Haleakala on Maui and kicking the booze on my own in the crater.Only, I’m not alone.There’s an unusual man on the doorstep of my cabin, and he wants his own brand of therapy. With me.Alcohol is no longer my biggest problem.Now I have to survive long enough to escape.“This psychological thriller pits one woman’s personal demons against those of her stalker to create a compelling, well-told dual confession.” Kirkus Reviews“Toby Neal weaves a spell-binding suspense (novel) that pulls you in with breathtaking scenery, flawed characters, and brilliantly twisted psychology.” Gae-Lynn Woods, author of the Cass Elliott Crime Series

Winner of the 2015 Gold eLit Book Award for best mystery/thriller. "A strong, savvy dissection of how two people's lives are intertwined by violence, psychology and grief." - Kirkus Reviews Only a volcano can cure some things. Dr. Caprice Wilson, police psychologist, has spent her life unraveling the mysteries of the human mind - only to find herself in a deep crisis. Caprice prescribes herself a walkabout and goes hiking in Maui - but the solitary retreat she has in mind does not go as planned. Caprice faces an enemy she never knew she had and wrestles with questions of hope, identity, loss, and the nature of psychopathy in a cat-and-mouse game with survival at stake. "Toby Neal weaves a spell-binding suspense that pulls you in with breathtaking scenery, flawed characters, and brilliantly twisted psychology." - Gae-Lynn Woods, author of the Cass Elliott crime series

Hawaii is palm trees, black sand and blue water-but for policewoman Lei Texeira, there's a dark side to paradise. Lei has overcome a scarred past to make a life for herself as a cop in the sleepy Big Island town of Hilo. On a routine patrol she finds two murdered teenagers-one of whom she'd recently busted. With its echoes of her own past, the murdered girl's harsh life and tragic death affect Lei deeply. She becomes obsessed-even as the killer is drawn to Lei's intensity, feeding off her vulnerabilities and toying with her sanity. Despite her obsession with the case and fear that she's being stalked, Lei finds herself falling in love for the first time. Steaming volcanoes, black sand beaches and shrouded fern forests are the backdrop to Lei's quest for answers-and the stalker is closer than she can imagine, as threads of the past tangle in her future. Lei is determined to find the killer-but he knows where to find her first.

In the very near future, on the tiny island of Lanai, teens from very different worlds must find a way to survive when all technology is destroyed.Bea and Sam, Hawaiian kids isolated by a paranoid, alcoholic father, are thrown together with orphaned big-city pickpocket Nick when a disaster fries all technology. Aided by a mysterious `aumakua dragon that may or may not be Bea’s imaginary friend, the kids face fire, plane crashes, gangs, pit bulls, thieves, sharks, hunger, thirst and abuse in a coming-of-age that explores a post-technology world where only the strong and connected survive."Danger, love, fear, absolution, bravery and strength in a fascinating world are shown through wonderful characters in this absolutely beautiful story." G. S., reviewer“Deep, fast-paced, filled with action, suspense, and heart, this little book is huge!” B. Morrison, middle school teacher

***FINALIST: Best Multicultural Novel, International Book Awards 2016*** Maui's ocean is beautiful, wild... and deadly. It's been five years since the events of Rip Tides, and Sergeant Lei Texeira gets into hot water much deeper than she's used to at a crime scene ninety feet down off of the tiny atoll of Molokini, where the death of beautiful marine biologist Danielle "Lani" Phillips is anything but an accident. More suspects than a school of sharks circle a case that takes Lei into territory that hits dangerously close to home as husband Michael Stevens heads into his own uncharted depths. "Toby Neal has delivered another preeminent novel in the irresistible and popular Lei Crime Series. In this tenth addition, Neal is better than ever, not waiting a moment to dive into a scintillating murder mystery set on the island of Maui among its resplendent coastline treasures.Don't miss the best of Toby Neal and the hottest Lei Crime addition yet. Bone Hook is a masterful, gripping story, destined to become a favorite journey into the darkness of selfishly deceitful human machinations set in paradise."~R.S. Guthrie, award-winning author of Blood Land, James Pruett Mystery Series.

"Danger, love, fear, absolution, bravery and strength in a fascinating world are shown through wonderful characters in this absolutely beautiful story." G. S., reviewer In the very near future, on the tiny island of Lanai, teens from very different worlds must find a way to survive when technology is destroyed. Bea and Sam, Hawaiian kids isolated by a paranoid, alcoholic father, are thrown together with orphaned big-city pickpocket Nick when a disaster fries all technology. Aided by a mysterious `aumakua dragon that may or may not be Bea's imaginary friend, the kids face fire, plane crashes, gangs, pit bulls, thieves, sharks, hunger, thirst and abuse in a coming-of-age that explores a post-technology world where only the strong and connected survive. "Deep, fast-paced, filled with action, suspense, and heart, this little book is huge!" B. Morrison, middle school teacher

For fans of The Glass Castle and Educated, comes mystery author Toby Neal’s personal story of surviving a wild childhood in paradise.We never call it homeless. We’re just “camping" in the jungle on Kauai...We live in a place everyone calls paradise. Sure, Kauai’s beautiful, with empty beaches, drip-castle mountains, and perfect surf...but we’ve been “camping" for six months, eating boiled chicken feed for breakfast, and wearing camouflage clothes so no one sees us trespassing in our jungle hideout. The cockroaches leave rainbow colors all over everything from eating the crayons we left outside the tent, and now a tractor is coming to scrape our camp into the river.Standing in front of the tent in my nightgown, clinging to my sister as we face the tractor, I know my own truth: I just want to be normal.But Mom and Pop are addicted.Addicted to Kauai’s beauty, to drugs, to surfing, to living a life according to their own rules out from under their high-achieving parents’ judgmental eyes. I’m just their red-headed, mouthy oldest kid. What I want doesn’t matter.But I’m smart. I will make a different life for myself someday if I keep up my grades no matter what happens.No matter how often we run out of food.No matter how many times I change schools...or don’t go to school at all.No matter how many bullies beat me up for the color of my skin.I might be growing up wild in Hawaii, but I have dreams I’m going to reach, no matter how crazy things get.***THIS VERSION CONTAINS COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS AND IS PRICED ACCORDINGLY.***“An affecting and riveting chronicle of a singular childhood that evokes the contradictions of hippie utopian ideals in an unspoiled Hawaiian landscape long since lost.” ~Kirkus Reviews"As much a meditation on inner strength as it is on family dynamics, T.W. Neal's gorgeous memoir Freckled isn't one to be missed. I read it two great gulps, and I can still see the palm fronds swaying above a girl who wouldn't give up. Highly recommended." - Rachael Herron, author of Fast-Draft Your Memoir: Write Your Life Story in 45 Hours"Children live in unseen spaces created by contradiction. Freckled is a raw, compelling, and ultimately hopeful memoir of growing up haole on Kauai where the idyllic freedom to surf, climb trees, and play Barbies on the beach runs counterpoint to a reality of homelessness, food insecurity, prejudice, violence, and the need be the adult when parents can't. As outrageous as of some of the events may seem to outsiders, I know firsthand of the truth she speaks. A celebration of the best within each of us as well as a witness of both human frailty and resilience, T.W. Neal's memoir is a must-read." --Lehua Parker, author of One Boy, No Water