Dondi M. Day co-owns Crystal Coast Beachside with his family. He writes pirate adventures, coastal thrillers, a police memoir, and practical nonfiction.
Reader questions about the books
What is Across Bogue Sound about?
Across Bogue Sound is coastal apocalyptic fiction by Mike Anthony, the pen name of Dr. Dondi M. Day, and Book One of The Bogue Banks Chronicles. As illness and uncertainty threaten North Carolina’s coast, mechanic and former Coast Guardsman Evan Mercer faces difficult choices about duty, survival, and protecting his family. Bogue Banks offers refuge, but island life brings its own limits.
Is Bogue Banks a real place?
Yes. Bogue Banks is a barrier island on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast, between the Atlantic Ocean and Bogue Sound. Its communities include Emerald Isle, Indian Beach, Salter Path, Pine Knoll Shores, and Atlantic Beach. Across Bogue Sound uses this real coastal geography as the setting for a fictional apocalyptic story.
Where should I start with Mike Anthony’s books?
For coastal apocalyptic fiction, start with Across Bogue Sound, Book One of The Bogue Banks Chronicles. For coastal crime and corruption, start with Betrayal, Book One: A Cedar Shoals Thriller, followed by Surge, Signed, and Privilege as they become available. If pirate adventures appeal to you, explore the Calico Creek books. Choose the story type that interests you; these are separate series.
How is The Bogue Banks Chronicles different from A Cedar Shoals Thriller?
The Bogue Banks Chronicles begins with Across Bogue Sound and explores family, survival, and the vulnerability of coastal communities during an apocalyptic crisis. The Cedar Shoals thrillers begin with Betrayal and focus on small-town policing, corruption, and dangerous secrets. Cedar Shoals is fictional; the two series tell separate stories rather than continuing one shared plot.
Which Crystal Coast locations inspire the stories?
Bogue Banks, Bogue Sound, Emerald Isle, Atlantic Beach, Morehead City, Beaufort, and Calico Creek help inspire the coastal landscapes and atmosphere. Across Bogue Sound draws on the island, sound, bridges, and mainland connections; the Calico Creek adventures draw on the area’s waterways and pirate lore. Betrayal uses a fictional community shaped by coastal life. Inspiration does not mean every real location appears in every book, and fictional events are not claims about real residents.
Explore coastal apocalyptic fiction · Read about the real Bogue Banks behind the books
Crystal Coast Adventures
Three distinct series inspired by North Carolina’s Crystal Coast: stories of survival, summer adventure, and coastal suspense. Choose a series and follow its numbered reading order.
The Bogue Banks Chronicles
Coastal apocalyptic fiction on the real Bogue Banks. Begin with Across Bogue Sound.
Book 1
Across Bogue Sound
Book One of The Bogue Banks Chronicles
Apocalyptic Fiction · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
Paperback release on Amazon: October 16, 2026
The island offered shelter. Survival demanded sacrifice. When a search for an overdue fishing boat exposes the first signs of an unfamiliar illness, boat mechanic and former Coast Guardsman Evan Mercer must balance his duty to his neighbors with protecting his wife and daughter. An apocalyptic story of family, duty, and survival on North Carolina’s Crystal Coast.
Release details
Book 2
The Mirador Season
Book Two of The Bogue Banks Chronicles
Apocalyptic Fiction · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
Scheduled release: October 28, 2026
The water came with terms. Someone inside had already signed. Bogue Banks faces dwindling water, raiders, and a call from Harkers Island in this coastal apocalyptic sequel to Across Bogue Sound.
Release details
Calico Creek Series
Coming-of-age and pirate adventures inspired by the Crystal Coast. Begin with The Summer We Found Everything.
Book 1
The Summer We Found Everything
Book 1 of the Calico Creek Series
Coming-of-Age / Coastal Adventure · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
Morehead City, North Carolina. Summer, 1977. Twelve-year-old Dondi Smythwick discovers an old cedar box holding the name of a pirate ancestor and a family secret buried for nearly three hundred years. A dual-timeline adventure for readers ages ten and up, and adults who remember summers spent exploring with friends.
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Book 2
Calico Creek: The Legend of the Howling Marauder and the Pirate's Secret
Book 2 of the Calico Creek Series
Pirate Adventure / Middle Grade & YA · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
The Calico Creek crew returns for a darker, deeper pirate adventure that pulls Dondi and his friends past the safe shores of Beaufort, North Carolina, and into the wreck-strewn waters where the Howling Marauder still rides the storm. It adds 28 new GPS-tagged locations to the free Crystal Coast scavenger hunt. For middle grade, YA, and adult readers.
Illustrated by Haiden Powell
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A Cedar Shoals Thriller
Coastal crime and suspense set in fictional Cedar Shoals on North Carolina’s real Crystal Coast. Begin with Betrayal.
Book 1
Betrayal
Book One: A Cedar Shoals Thriller
Coastal Crime Thriller · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
Paperback release on Amazon: October 16, 2026
On North Carolina's Crystal Coast, small-town police officer and Coast Guard reservist Luke Garrison sees an unlit plane drop bundles on a forgotten island airstrip, and county deputies arrive to collect them. He tells one person. By sunrise, the Sheriff's Office knows. When a county cash receipt surfaces bearing his forged signature, Luke must prove what he saw before someone else finishes writing his story.
Release details
Book 2
Surge
Book Two: A Cedar Shoals Thriller
Coastal Crime Thriller · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
Scheduled release: October 29, 2026
A hurricane hits Merritt County. The recovery money starts moving before the water goes down, and the people asking where it's going start disappearing in the wreckage.
Release details
Book 3
Signed
Book Three: A Cedar Shoals Thriller
Coastal Crime Thriller · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
Scheduled release: November 28, 2026
The storm leaves a thirty-year-old secret lying in the marsh. The report that closed the case carries a signature Luke never expected to see.
Release details
Book 4
Privilege
Book Four: A Cedar Shoals Thriller
Coastal Crime Thriller · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
Scheduled release: December 28, 2026
Nora Garrison takes on a case powerful people want buried. The retaliation comes from inside the courthouse.
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Memoir & nonfiction
The badge, the 2 a.m. call, contracts, and the dream you keep putting off.
Ghosts, Smoke, and the Badge
A Police Memoir
Police Memoir · By Dondi M. Day
A raw, honest police memoir from a former North Carolina law-enforcement officer: the foot pursuits and fender-benders, the calls that haunt every shift, the people you carry home in your head, and the badge you take off at night. A first-person account of modern policing, post-traumatic stress, brotherhood, faith, and the cost of running toward the smoke.
Dondi Day's story offers an incredibly authentic glimpse into the realities of law enforcement. The stories are honest and raw, painting vivid pictures of police work that resonate deeply with anyone who has worn the uniform. — NYPD, Retired
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Stoic in the Storm
Resilience for First Responders: Leading Through Chaos
First-Responder Resilience · By Mike Anthony, Dondi's pen name
A working philosophy built for the 2 a.m. call: stories from the field, Stoic principles adapted for real crises, and practical tools for first responders. Seventeen chapters pair field scenes with operational principles and exercises, plus a field guide for before, during, and after the calls that stay with you.
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Operational Contract Risk & Claims Management
The Complete Series: Parts One through Five
Business / Contract Risk · By Dondi M. Day
A five-part treatment of the contract lifecycle, from formation through claims and disputes: risk allocation, documentation, notice, escalation, and the evidence needed to support a claim. A companion workbook and study guide offers structured exercises and worked examples.
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Loyal Ground
Building Teams People Won’t Leave
Business · Leadership · By Dr. Dondi M. Day
Coming Soon in December 2026.
How do leaders build teams people choose to stay on? Loyal Ground offers practical guidance on trust, fairness, honest communication, and everyday decisions that earn loyalty rather than demand it.
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The 17-Day Dream Blueprint
A Step-by-Step Plan to Take Action on the Dream You Keep Putting Off
Personal Development · By Dondi M. Day
A 17-day personal development plan for anyone tired of waiting on the right time. Daily prompts, exercises, and small commitments that turn the dream you talk about into one you act on. For first-time founders, mid-career pivoters, and anyone ready to move from idea to action.
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