Alan Gartenhaus releases second novel Into the Crater

Alan Gartenhaus has released Into the Crater, his second novel, set in Haleakala’s volcanic crater on Maui and centered on two former friends facing old wounds, forgiveness and redemption. The book is now available through major retailers as the author continues a literary career shaped by New Orleans, Smithsonian and Hawaii ties.

Why it matters: - Into the Crater adds a new work from Alan Gartenhaus, an author whose fiction draws on lived experience in New Orleans, Washington and Hawaii. - The novel centers on reconciliation, grief and moral repair, themes that can broaden its appeal beyond a standard literary drama. - The book is set in Haleakala’s volcanic crater on Maui, using the landscape as part of the emotional stakes.

What happened: - Alan Gartenhaus released Into the Crater, his second novel. - The story follows two former friends and romantic rivals who reunite for a camping trip through Haleakala Volcano on Maui. - The book is available through major retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. - The hardcover retails for $29.99, the paperback for $18.99, and the ebook is priced at $2.99 for a limited time. - Review copies and interviews with the author are available on request. - More information is available on the author’s website.

The details: - One character returns hoping to atone for past actions. - The other arrives with what the release describes as an enormous and possibly presumptuous request. - Deception and unanswered questions force the men to confront long-running emotional rifts. - The book explores youthful exuberance, maturity, mortality, identity, reconciliation and courage. - The narrative balances tragedy with the possibility of healing. - Gartenhaus’s background includes work as a New Orleans Museum of Art curator, a Smithsonian Institution education specialist and a former director at Cornish College of the Arts. - His first novel, Balsamic Moon, focused on New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. - Gartenhaus now lives in Hawaii and says his island hiking experiences informed the new novel. - The book’s ISBNs are 9798950391040 and 9798950391033.

Between the lines: - The novel appears to lean on place as a storytelling device, with Haleakala functioning as both setting and emotional pressure point. - Gartenhaus’s professional background suggests a writer who mixes cultural history, visual sensibility and lived geography into his fiction. - The publisher is positioning the book as literary fiction with commercial accessibility through familiar retail channels.

What's next: - The publisher is seeking review coverage and author interviews. - The ebook price is temporary, suggesting a launch promotion aimed at early readers. - The book’s broader reception will likely hinge on how readers respond to its mix of relationship drama and rugged setting.

The bottom line: - Into the Crater is a character-driven novel built around a reunion, a difficult request and a landscape that mirrors the emotional fallout.