Skip to Main Content

Salvagia

Published by Diversion Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

A near-future, sci-fi mystery reminiscent of Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 and inspired by John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series, in which a salvage diver discovers the body of the most infamous man in the Florida yoreshore, putting her in the crosshairs of both feds and corporate mafias.

Triss Mackey was flying just under the radar, exploiting a government loophole that let her live quietly on the Floating Ghost—her rented, sentient CabanaBoat. In exchange, she merely had to dive for recycling recovered from the underwater, formerly-coastal cities. If she happened to find some Salvagia—nostalgic salvage, valued artifacts from the beforetime, which is to say our present—well that's just between her and the highest bidder. It's not a glamorous life, but it's not so bad.

That is, until the federal government begins pulling out of the Florida coast and retreating to their OrlanDome. The corporate mafias are poised to seize power, none more so than Mourning in Miami, led by the legendary Edgar Ortiz, owner of the Astro America megahotel. Triss needs one last score, something worth enough to buy the Ghost outright and keep her free from both the feds and the corporations. And she needs it now, before the Ghost is sent to a watery, insurance-scamming grave.

But when she discovers the chained up, drowned corpse of Ortiz on a dive, Triss finds herself stuck between the investigating government agents and the Mourning in Miami elites until Riley, Ortiz’s son, offers her a third door: if she can help him unravel Mourning in Miami's conspiracy and solve his father’s death, they can track down a valuable piece of Salvagia, a score worth well beyond what Triss needs to save the Ghost and, maybe, find a new, better way of Florida living.

About The Author

Tim Chawaga is a writer and playwright whose short fiction has been featured in Interzone and Escape Pod and whose work has been performed in New York and Philadelphia at many venues that have either closed or been converted into gyms. He has a BFA in Drama from the Tisch School of the Arts, is a 2019 graduate of Clarion West, and is the recipient of George R.R. Martin’s Worldbuilder Scholarship. He works in tech and lives in a co-op in Brooklyn with his partner and dog.

Product Details

  • Publisher: Diversion Books (August 12, 2025)
  • Length: 272 pages
  • ISBN13: 9798895150375

Browse Related Books

Resources and Downloads

High Resolution Images