Lee Vance/Animal Instinct combo

In the gritty underbelly of 1990s Columbus, Ohio, Lee Vance-long-haired 5-string bassist for the hard-rocking band Animal Instinct-lives for the stage, the roar of the crowd, and the neon haze of Doug's Bar. But when a shadow begins creeping through his mind, everything starts to unravel.

What begins as a simple medical scare spirals into a nightmare of paranoia, betrayal, and violence. A mysterious red-haired woman in a white dress appears at the bar one rainy night, pulling Lee into a dangerous web of secrets that threatens the only family he has left: his band brothers. As the "demon" inside his head tightens its grip, Lee must navigate rigged gigs, suspicious cops, blood-soaked back alleys, and the thin line between reality and delusion-while the band fights to keep their dream alive and the music playing.

Raw, dark, and unflinchingly honest, Animal Instinct is a semi-autobiographical rock noir thriller that blends pulse-pounding suspense, Gen-X sarcasm, and psychological horror with the authentic sweat-and-leather energy of the 90s underground music scene. Inspired by real events, real people, and real demons, this is a story of loyalty, loss, redemption, and the animals-both literal and figurative-that pull a man back from the edge.

The Lee Vance Story: A Mini Novel serves as the gripping prelude to the full-length saga. The complete Animal Instinct series continues in Animal Instinct 2 (coming soon), where the hunt for truth-and the fight to keep the band alive-grows even darker.

Perfect for fans of dark thrillers, rock memoirs, and atmospheric noir like The Devil All the Time or Blacktop Wasteland, this is a raw, blood-stained love letter to the 90s rock life that refuses to let go.