Eugene Elcik of Lisbon Falls has self-published a novel blending romance and crime titled “Challenges.”

The protagonist, Rob, is fresh out of college and is determined to follow in his father’s footsteps as a commercial lobsterman working along Maine’s rugged coastline. But will economic obstacles crush his dream and result in a gamble that could land him behind bars?

Rob falls deeply in love with Lisa, the beautiful daughter of film magnate Clarence Canterbury, who has contracted to produce an adventure film to be shot in coastal Maine. Lisa encourages her father to hire Rob as a stuntman.

Mobsters kidnap Lisa and hold her for $3 million ransom. Rob’s “challenges” have just begun. 

Elcik has written several novels with a Maine flavor that blend adventure, crime, romance and drama. “Challenges” and two other novels, “Desperation of Souls” and “The Lobsterman of Deep Cove, Maine,” are available on Amazon.com/books and Kindle and at Barnes and Noble.

Elcik is working on another novel, “Shiloh, the Deception of a Cult,” set in the late 1800s and early 1900s in Durham.