'Swan Dive' meets with success

PENGILLY—Inspired by the success of his first two books, a local author recently released his third.

“It’s gaining traction,” John Benson, a retired pharmacist who splits his time between Swan Lake in Pengilly during the summer and winters in Arizona.

He said his latest book, “Swan Dive,” was met with success at a recent book signing held at a restaurant in Pengilly and is also selling online. Another book signing is being planned from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9, at the Hibbing Senior/Tourist Center in Hibbing.

Benson ‘s latest work, “Swan Dive’’ is set in the early 1900s right here on the Range in Minnesota. It has some of the same characters as his first two books, “Swan Scream,’’ released in 2022 and “Scout Scream,’’ released in 2023, but is not a continuation, noted Benson.

“Swan Dive’’ takes readers through the trail of a killer and would-be rapist who, upon conviction, issues an apparently empty threats against the lawyers and judge involved in his trial.

“As time goes by, Bridget Shaunessy Boucher and her new husband, lawyer Clint Sullivan, find themselves living a nightmare,” reads a synopsis on the website for Benson’s books. “Could it be that the supposed empty threat wasn’t empty after all?”

Benson said he was inspired to write his first book after finding a 1934 license plate washed up on the shore of Swan Lake, where he and his wife, Sharon spend their summers.

There was something about that license plate that Benson discovered in 2008 that stayed in his mind, he recalled.

It wasn’t until three years later, in 2011 that Benson started working on “Swan Scream.’’

“I was six chapters in and I developed writer’s block,” he recalled. “I couldn’t see how the story was going to go forward.”

Fast forward to 2022 and while glancing through his computer memory, “like a bolt of lightening it hit me and I wrote it in six weeks or so.”

Benson said his first book started in the very early 1900s and was about two immigrant families—one from Finland and the other from Sweden— coming to the United States, the issues they faced, and their kids getting together.

“The second book had some of the same ones (characters) but took place entirely in the late 20s and early 30s,” he noted.

“It is not a continuation but it has many of the same characters,” he said.

At the end of his second book, Benson said he hints there could be a third book.

Nobody has to read one in order to read another, they all stand on their own,” Benson stated.

Benson said he conducted a lot of research for the historical accounts that are included in his book.

“I tried to be as historically accurate as possible,” Benson said “I’ve done research for all of the books in terms of dates and events of things that were factual, of course, there was fiction in there as well.”

That 1934 license plate that started it all, now hangs on the wall on Benson’s summer home, alongside an old fishing pole, tackle, and other item’s he’s found at the lake.

Benson was born and raised in Minneapolis and while growing up his parents used to rent summer cabins, and once in high school they rented one for a whole season.

“At 17 I pledged that I was going to have a lake house—it took about 60 years to make it happen,” Benson said.

Originally Benson had hoped to purchase a lake home in Brainerd, where his dad originated from but he couldn’t find anything in his price range.

One of his friends happen to mention, “there’s nice lakes on the Range—you might want to look there,” he recalled.

“We discovered Swan Lake and we’re happy that we did,” Benson said.

Benson’s books are available online at booksbybenson.com. They can also be found at the Red Ore gift shop at the Hibbing Senior/Tourist Center and the Wildflower Book Store in Grand Rapids.