Featured Author

Gene Helfman

Gene Helfman is an animal behaviorist turned conservation biologist. With a PhD in ecology from Cornell University, Gene was on the faculty of the University of Georgia for thirty years, authoring four books on fish and marine conservation and dozens of related scientific papers. He spent much of his professional career underwater demonstrating that fish are smarter than conventionally thought. In an effort to get the message to a larger audience and on the premise that more people read fiction than nonfiction, he has turned to writing screenplays and novels. Gene and his wife, Dr. Judy Meyer, an aquatic ecologist, live on Lopez Island in Washington State.

Titles by Gene Helfman

  • FINS

    A Novel of Relentless Satire

    Released: June 2023

    Genre: Novels

    Pirates catch sharks in a marine reserve, lop off their fins, and discard the sharks for dead. A series of puzzling, apparently related shark attacks follows, suggesting that sentient, compassionate, maternal, and goal-oriented sharks are cooperating to exact more than revenge. The carnage escalates until a brilliant, beautiful, beleaguered forensic technician, in league with an African-American tech wizard, battle malevolent white guys. Risking probable death and certain dismemberment, the heroes discover the secret behind the attacks, revealing much more than was bargained for.

    Profits donated to shark conservation.

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  • Beyond the Human Realm

    Released: July 2021

    Genre: Novels

    Time is running out for the iconic killer whales of the Pacific coast. Orca families have been decimated by humanity’s greed and folly, their food supply wiped out, their infants dying from starvation and tainted mother’s milk.

    Captive male orca Makai is destined for freedom, but a human-caused tragedy upends his world. Plotting revenge, acceptance into orca society, and reversal of his adopted family’s decline, his success hinges on fellow orcas, whale researchers, and a runaway teenager with Orca Clan roots. But Makai’s radical plan must first overcome millennia of orca cultural tradition.

    Profits from the sale of Beyond the Human Realm will be donated to orca conservation efforts.

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