Imagine your world becoming one in which your memories and reality blurred until it felt like everything seemed to be full of mystery and magic. Anderson County resident Rickey Powell’s debut novel, Unit 000, dropped on July 29, 2026. It is a 212-page southern suspense novel.
A blend of supernatural mystery and heartfelt emotion, the story explores loss, love, hope, and the unseen connections that binds us across generations of family. Miles Peterson inherits a family-owned storage facility in the small town of Longshire, Georgia. After the sudden death of his father, Miles discovers a hidden storage unit marked 000. Inside the unit he discovers an ancient stone, a letter that shatters everything he knew about his father and the entire Peterson family.
Suddenly strange events began happening around Longshire, and strange characters began showing up. With best friend Nolan by his side, Miles begins a quest to uncover the truth about his father’s past and about unit 000. That quest soon becomes filled with twists, numerous unpleasant truths, and danger at every turn. Home no longer feels like home. Miles’ mental, physical, and emotional reserves are challenged constantly as each obstacle leads to another.
We’ve long heard “don’t judge a book by its cover.” My first comment is that Unit 000 has a stunning cover. Every important detail of the story is included and in high-gloss colors. That’s very compelling to mystery and supernatural suspense readers.
Unit 000 is a fast read because Powell’s writing style is built on using short, concise sentences, one over the next, instead of one after the other, margin-to-margin. In a clever way, this style keeps the reader engaged and helps sustain the needed critical tension in scenes, dialogue, and narrative. For example:
Miles looked back at the stone.
His hands still tingled.
His voice barely escaped.
“It showed me everything.”
Powell writes profound messages that cause the reader to pause, think, and remember long after reading it. For example:
“Some doors should never be opened.”
“Changing the past comes with a price…and some mistakes were never meant to be undone.”
And “Never trust the one that smiles first.”
Powell demonstrated the ability to create vivid imagery and build suspense over the thirty-four chapters. I found, however, that the layered sentences did tire me at times, especially in the middle where most all stories tend to sag or drag. A few layered sentences containing dialogue also confused me about which character had just spoken.
I especially appreciated that there were only a few characters to keep track of. They were all interesting. I would have enjoyed more backstory and interactions with best friend Nolan, Granny Gwen, and John Perkins. But even without more backstory and interactions, I found the ending satisfying – a must for a mystery of any genre. No loose ends or head scratching over where a few pieces of the puzzle fit.
Overall, there were plenty of reasons for enthusiastic supernatural suspense and mystery readers to look forward to Rickey Powell’s next books. Unit 000 is available on Amazon in paperback and ebook formats. While there, you may also want to follow him. Anderson Magazine supports South Carolina authors, especially our local ones.