Anyway, before I get to the main event, I should note a few things that happened this past year.

First, I released a new novel, The Chateau, written under my pen name Avery Bishop and published by Audible as an Audible Original, which spent four weeks on AP’s Top Audiobooks List, hitting #3. Which is kinda wild, seeing as the book is essentially a free download for Audible Plus members, but who am I to quibble?

And yes, there will be an ebook and paperback released later in 2026, for those who are not audiobook fans.

I had nothing new released under my own name this year, but back in March I had the great honor of being one of the guests of honor at AuthorCon V.

As is usually the case at these types of events, I hardly took any pictures, so I don’t have much photographic evidence of the convention.

I did have a blast hanging out with a bunch of writer friends, but the highlight of the weekend, hands down, was shortly after arriving late Thursday night I received an email from my entertainment lawyer that read, “Look out for DocuSign in next 30 min or so, thanks,” and then, thirty or so minutes later, I received said DocuSign, so I rushed up to my room to grab my laptop and, well, I took a selfie because I figured why not.

Anyway, I can’t really say much, but I will say a very well-respected TV network optioned The Killing Room. In fact, the offer came in on May 29th of LAST YEAR. Blake Crouch had told me the process would take forever, and he wasn’t kidding, as after all the back-and-forth between my reps and the network, nearly ten months passed before I actually signed a contract.

And while I’m absolutely thrilled at the prospect of the series being turned into a TV show, I’m also keeping my expectations very low, as the truth is 99.9% of stuff that gets optioned never gets made — and even some of the stuff that does get made, like into a pilot, is never seen by the world.

Still, fingers crossed.

Speaking of The Killing Room, I still get asked if there will be a third book, and the honest answer is … hopefully someday, but it won’t be happening any time soon.

As I noted last year, the longevity of a book series all comes down to sales, and the truth is the sales for the series have been atrocious. In fact, I’d be shocked if I ever manage to sell a book to a publisher again, as a writer’s sales record follows them like a nasty fart.

Which is a shame, really, because I absolutely love The Killing Room and am very proud of the book. But, well, when it came out, it was pretty much DOA — zero trade reviews and no bookstore distribution, so right out of the gate the writing was on the wall. That made the fact the book ended up winning the ITW Thriller Award and being optioned for film/TV all the more sweeter — not to mention validating — because at least it proved it wasn’t just all in my head.

Finally, I signed a contract with Bookouture for two new Avery Bishop titles, so you have that to look forward to in 2026.

There are a few other things in the works that I can’t talk about right now, but as is always the case, when I can, I will … though probably not on this blog until the end of next year, so be sure to follow me on social media.

Now, without any further ado …

This past year I read 76 books, between novels, graphic novels, and audiobooks (yes, audiobooks count as reading!), and these are the ones that I really enjoyed and think others might enjoy too (in no particular order other than when they were read):

NOVELS

• THE BIG EMPTY by Robert Crais

• BROWN GIRL DREAMING by Jacqueline Woodson

• JAMES by Percival Everett

• LONG BRIGHT RIVER by Liz Moore

• CAPE FEAR by John D. MacDonald

• THE NIGHT OF THE BABA YAGA by Akira Otani, translated by Sam Bett

• FEVER DREAM by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell

• THE LAST TO VANISH by Megan Miranda

• THE LAST ONE AT THE WEDDING by Jason Rekulak

• ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK by Chris Whitaker

• LINE OF VISION by David Ellis

• LOOK CLOSER by David Ellis

• CHINA LAKE by Meg Gardiner

• I BECOME HER by Joe Hart

• ONE OF US by Dan Chaon

• THE GRAVE ARTIST by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

• CROOKS by Lou Berney

• QUEEN MACBETH by Val McDermid

• PICKET LINE by Elmore Leonard

AUDIOBOOKS

• THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah, read by Julia Whelan

• THE ANGEL OF ROME by Jess Walter and Edoardo Ballerini, read by Edoardo Ballerini

• PERSUADER by Lee Child, read by Dick Hill

• WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING by Alyssa Cole, read by Susan Dalian and Jay Aaseng

• WILLIAM by Mason Coile, read by Honey St. Dennis

• THE AMATEUR by Robert Littell, read by Scott Brick

• THE LYING GAME by Ruth Ware, read by Imogen Church

• HEROINE by Mindy McGinnis, read by Brittany Pressley

• THE PARIS WIDOW by Kimberly Belle, read by Marni Penning and Patrick Zeller

• INFLUENCER by Adam Cesare, read by Isabela Merced, Christopher Briney, and Brittany Pressley

• LISTEN FOR THE LIE by Amy Tintera, read by January LaVoy and Will Damron

• THE BITTER PAST by Bruce Borgos, read by James Babson

• SHADES OF MERCY by Bruce Borgos, read by James Babson

• A FLICKER IN THE DARK by Stacy Willingham, read by Karissa Vacker

• FATAL INTRUSION by Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado, read by Aida Reluzco and Andre Santana

• THE FAVORITES by Layne Fargo, read by Christine Lakin, Louisa Zhu, Amy Landon, Elena Rey, Valerie Rose Lohman, Suzanne Toren, Graham Halstead, Julia Emelin, Layne Fargo, Eric Yang, and Johnny Weir

• ATMOSPHERE by Taylor Jenkins Reid, read by Kristen DiMercurio and Julia Whelan

• THE ROOM NEXT DOOR by Wendy Walker, read by Julia Whelan, Elizabeth Evans, Bebe Wood, and full cast

COLLECTIONS

• THE AWKWARD BLACK MAN by Walter Mosley

• 13 WAYS OF LOOKING AT A FAT GIRL by Mona Awad

• AMONG THE MISSING by Dan Chaon

STORIES

• THE HUMAN BULLET by Benjamin Percy

• JACKRABBIT SKIN by Ivy Pochoda

• BYSTANDERS by Benjamin Percy

• THE CODE by Gregg Hurwitz

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• DEVIL’S HIGHWAY, Vol 1 by Benjamin Percy, Brent Schoonover, and Nick Filardi

And there you have it. Now, what about you? Any books you read (or listened to) this past year you really enjoyed?

That award ceremony took place at ThrillerFest in New York City. Other winners included S.A. Cosby, Gregg Hurwitz, I.S. Berry, Luke Dumas, Lisa Unger, and Elizabeth Wein, so I was in good company.

Then, in August, the second book in the Killing Room series, Enemy of the State, came out.

The book received nice reviews from both Best Thriller Books and The Big Thrill — though I don’t recommend looking at those reviews if you haven’t read The Killing Room yet, as it’ll give away some major spoilers.

Now, the question some readers have asked: Will there be a third book?

The answer: Maybe.

It all depends, really, on how well the first two books in the series do.

If they sell enough copies, the publisher will decide to publish more books.

If they don’t sell enough copies, the publisher will decide to cut its losses and say no thanks to any future books.

That’s publishing for you.

So then what’s in store for 2025?

I’ve got a new Avery Bishop novel that’ll be released as an Audible Original (I thought it would come out this year, but stuff happens, ya know?).

And … that’s all I can really talk about at the moment. But some cool stuff is in the works, and I can’t wait to share it all when the time comes.

Anyway, I’ve read and listened to a lot of books this year, and while I’ve enjoyed most of them, only a few did I really enjoy. And so, without further ado (and in no particular order except which they were read), here are the books I enjoyed very much in 2024, which I think others might enjoy too. But as is the case with everything, your mileage may vary.

NOVELS

• CALIFORNIA BEAR by Duane Swierczynski

• CHAIN GANG ALL-STARS by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

• SING HER DOWN by Ivy Pochoda

• ANOTHER BROOKLYN by Jacqueline Woodson

• HOW CAN I HELP YOU by Laura Sims

• HIDDEN PICTURES by Jason Rekulak

• CATCHPENNY by Charlie Huston

• EILEEN by Ottessa Moshfegh

• WE THE ANIMALS by Justin Torres

• SHE RIDES SHOTGUN by Jordan Harper

• THE LAST KING OF CALIFORNIA by Jordan Harper

• SHELL GAMES by Bonnie Kistler

• THE LONG AND FARAWAY GONE by Lou Berney

AUDIOBOOKS

• FUN & GAMES by Duane Swierczynski, read by Pete Larkin

• FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston, read by Saskia Maarleveld

• LONE WOLF by Gregg Hurwitz, read by Scott Brick

• THE IMPOSSIBLE FORTRESS by Jason Rekulak, read by Griffin Newman

• WHAT LIES BENEATH by Joe Hart, read by Kate Rudd

• NEVER COME BACK by Joe Hart, read by Kate Rudd

• LESLIE F*CKING JONES by Leslie Jones, read by Leslie Jones

• PLAYING WITH FIRE by Tess Gerritsen, read by Julia Whelan and Will Damron

• THINK TWICE by Harlan Coben, read by Steven Weber

• REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt, read by Marin Ireland and Michael Urie

• LOCAL WOMAN MISSING by Mary Kubica, read by Brittany Pressley, Jennifer Jill Araya, Gary Tiedemann, Jesse Vilinsky

• COLD IN JULY by Joe R. Lansdale, read by Brian Hutchison

• SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE by Claire Keegan, read by Aidan Kelly

• THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY: AMERICAN EVANGELICALS IN AN AGE OF EXTREMISM by Tim Alberta, read by Tim Alberta

• BROKEN by Don Winslow, read by Ray Porter and Kaleo Griffith

• CONCLAVE by Robert Harris, read by Roy McMillan

COLLECTIONS

• THE BEASTS YOU ARE by Paul Tremblay

• ROMAN STORIES by Jhumpa Lahiri

• YOU LIKE IT DARKER by Stephen King

• SAFE ENOUGH AND OTHER STORIES by Lee Child

STORIES

• STORIES STOCKHOLM by Catherine Steadman

• HUNTER/GATHERER by Benjamin Percy

• THE CHRISTMAS GUEST by Peter Swanson

POEMS

• UNSHUTTERED by Patricia Smith

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• BREAKNECK by Duane Swierczynski, Simone Guglielmini, Raffaele Semeraro, Lovern Kindzierski, and Chris Chuckry

Now, what about you? Any books you read (or listened to) this past year you really enjoyed?

Before that, though, I should recap what I did in 2023, at least writing-wise.

I released only one book, The Killing Room, published by Blackstone Publishing in August. Those who have read it seem to have really dug it — it’s one of my best reader-reviewed books so far, hands down — but as there was pretty much no bookstore distribution and zero trade reviews, the book pretty much flew under the radar.

Anyway, I spent this past year working on two projects — a new Avery Bishop novel, which Audible will publish sometime next year, and the follow-up to The Killing Room, which Blackstone will release in August.

I also wrote a short story, which I haven’t done in a long time, and between working on edits for both of the projects mentioned above, I also started working on a new Avery Bishop novel (about a third of the way through so far; I hope to finish it in the next few months, then write a new standalone thriller under my own name, and then, if I find the time, write a new Holly Lin thriller).

So yeah, I’ve been staying busy (though obviously I haven’t been updating this blog because I’m pretty sure nobody reads it anymore), and I’ve been reading and listening to audiobooks whenever possible. I’ve read and listened to a lot of books, and I’ve enjoyed most of them, but only a few did I really enjoy. And so, without further ado (and in no particular order except which they were read), here are the books I enjoyed very much in 2023, which I think others might enjoy too. But as is the case with everything, your mileage may vary.

Novels

• THE CABIN AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Paul Tremblay

• LUTHER: THE CALLING by Neil Cross

• THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden

• BLACK-EYED SUSANS by Julia Heaberlin

• AMERICAN CRIMINAL by Benjamin Percy

• COUNTDOWN by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois

• FOSTER by Claire Keegan

• EVERYBODY KNOWS by Jordan Harper

• CHILD OF GOD by Cormac McCarthy

• THE THIEF by Fuminori Nakamura, translated by Satoko Izumo and Stephen Coates

• 48 CLUES INTO THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MY SISTER by Joyce Carol Oates

• THE QUIET TENANT by Clémence Michallon

• NONE OF THIS IS TRUE by Lisa Jewell

• LION & LAMB by James Patterson and Duane Swierczynski

Audiobooks

• THE OVERNIGHT GUEST by Heather Gudenkauf, read by Brittany Pressley

• THE LAST ORPHAN by Gregg Hurwitz, read by Scott Brick

• TRUE BELIEVER by Jack Carr, read by Ray Porter

• HELLO, MOLLY! by Molly Shannon and Sean Wilsey, read by Molly Shannon

• NAMELESS: SEASON TWO by Dean Koontz, read by Edoardo Ballerini

• MY DARKEST PRAYER by S.A. Cosby, read by Adam Lazarre-White

• WHALEFALL by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne

• HOW CAN I HELP YOU by Laura Sims, read by Carlotta Brentan and Maggi-Meg Reed

• COME CLOSER by Sara Gran, read by Julie McKay

• HOUR OF THE ASSASSIN by Matthew Quirk, read by Will Damron

• THE SPY COAST by Tess Gerritsen, read by Hillary Huber and Brittany Pressley

• ALL THE SINNERS BLEED by S. A. Cosby, read by Adam Lazarre-White

• CONFESSIONS ON THE 7:45 by Lisa Unger, read by Vivienne Leheny

Stories

• FEN by Daisy Johnson

• LOT by Bryan Washington

• NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZ by Morgan Talty

• LUSH AND OTHER TALES OF BOOZY MAYHEM by Duane Swierczynski

• THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES by Deesha Philyaw

• LOVE AND OTHER STORIES by Jordan Harper

• WALK THE BLUE FIELDS by Claire Keegan

Now, what about you? Any books you read (or listened to) this past year you really enjoyed?

the-worst-jerry.gif

So yeah, my newest thriller The Killing Room came out two weeks ago, and … I guess it’s going okay?

Typically when I release a book, I have access to immediate sales data — even my Amazon Publishing stuff has a real-time sales numbers dashboard — but not here.

Oh, trad publishing, you so silly.

A few days after The Killing Room was released, I was a guest on my local news’s daytime morning show to pimp the book and my signing at Midtown Scholar that took place that weekend.

Speaking of Midtown Scholar, if you’d still like to order a signed copy and get one of the very few remaining limited-edition prequel chapbooks, you can do so here.

The signing went as well as could be, and I even had a special guest show up!

Marshal Zeringue was kind enough to ask me some questions about The Killing Room and take the Page 69 Test.

Oh, and if you’re an audiobook fan, be sure to check out the audiobook which is narrated by the one and only Edoardo Ballerini.

david-spade-let’s-look-at-a-clip.gif

What else, what else …

Oh!

Barnes & Noble Press named The Killing Room as one of their top five favorite ebooks of the week!

And then even better, the ebook managed to get this special tag for a few days.

And for whatever crazy reason, today I learned that on Amazon (in the US at least) the hardcover and paperback are priced at 50% off, so now’s the best time to grab physical copies if you’d like — plus, it helps build my print sales track record, as I was told the reason Barnes & Noble decided not to place an order for the book was due to the fact my sales track record is primarily in digital sales.

Again: oh, trad publishing, you so crazy.

Finally, today The Big Thrill (the monthly magazine for the International Thriller Writers) had this very nice review of The Killing Room, in part which says “An ultra-fast-paced thriller, claustrophobic in its essence and as suspenseful as they come...possesses all the merits of a top-notch thriller destined to leave the readers reeling. Excitement guaranteed.”

Sweet!

And … I think that’s it for now.

Does anyone actually look at this thing?

If so, be a dear and leave a comment so I know I’m not wasting my time.

Blogs are so, like, 2015.

Almost two months away until Blackstone Publishing releases my newest thriller The Killing Room.

It’s the first book in a new series, and if you’re so inclined to preorder, that would be amazing.

Why?

Well, preorders show publishers, booksellers, algorithms, and more that there's enthusiasm for an author's work and they deserve more visibility. Based on the strength of preorders, a lot of things can happen or not happen for an author's career: book tours, advertising, media attention, etc.

And as this will be my very first novel widely available in bookstores, I want to promote the hell of it.

Which is why I wrote an exclusive prequel story that clocks in at just over 9,000 words. And if you preorder the hardcover or trade paperback, I'll send you the story as a limited edition chapbook. (More on that below.)

The Killing Room is being released in hardcover and trade paperback, as well as ebook and audio. Ebook links will be available at a later date, but below are the links for the hardcover.

I also teamed up with my local independent bookstore, Midtown Scholar, which is taking preorders for signed and personalized copies. You can preorder the hardcover or trade paperback, and they'll include the chapbook with the order. Easy peasy!

So as I mentioned, I wrote a special short story that's a prequel to the novel. I have no plans for it to be republished anywhere, so the only way to read it is to preorder The Killing Room.

Again, if you preorder the hardcover or trade paperback, you'll get a limited edition signed chapbook.

If you preorder the audiobook or ebook (again, ebook links coming at a later date), then you can still get the story, though only as an ebook.

Once again, if you preorder from Midtown Scholar, the chapbook will be included with the book. If you preorder elsewhere — Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon, your own independent bookstore — we'll mail you the chapbook, along with a signed bookplate (a label with my signature that can be affixed to the inside of the book; I'll even personalize the bookplate if you'd like).

All you have to do when you preorder is forward the confirmation email to me at robert (at) robertswartwood (dot) com along with your address. That's it.

In fact, even if you order directly from Midtown Scholar, please forward along the confirmation so that way we can keep track of how many chapbooks we'll need to print, as the print run will depend on the number of preorders.

Chapbooks and bookplates will be mailed out the first week of September. Which is ideal, because while Maniac is a prequel to the book, it's highly recommended you read the novel first as otherwise the story will spoil a major twist in the book.

Trust me, it'll all make sense in due time.

I've got a new thriller coming out this August from Blackstone Publishing, the first book in a new series, and if you’re so inclined to preorder, that would be amazing.

Why?

Well, preorders show publishers, booksellers, algorithms, and more that there's enthusiasm for an author's work and they deserve more visibility. Based on the strength of preorders, a lot of things can happen or not happen for an author's career: book tours, advertising, media attention, etc.

And as this will be my very first novel widely available in bookstores, I want to promote the hell of it.

Which is why I wrote an exclusive prequel story that clocks in at just over 9,000 words. And if you preorder the hardcover or trade paperback, I'll send you the story as a limited edition chapbook. (More on that below.)

The Killing Room is being released in hardcover and trade paperback, as well as ebook and audio. Ebook links will be available at a later date, but below are the links for the hardcover.

I also teamed up with my local independent bookstore, Midtown Scholar, which is taking preorders for signed and personalized copies. You can preorder the hardcover or trade paperback, and they'll include the chapbook with the order. Easy peasy!

So as I mentioned, I wrote a special short story that's a prequel to the novel. I have no plans for it to be republished anywhere, so the only way to read it is to preorder The Killing Room.

Again, if you preorder the hardcover or trade paperback, you'll get a limited edition signed chapbook.

If you preorder the audiobook or ebook (again, ebook links coming at a later date), then you can still get the story, though only as an ebook.

Once again, if you preorder from Midtown Scholar, the chapbook will be included with the book. If you preorder elsewhere — Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Amazon, your own independent bookstore — we'll mail you the chapbook, along with a signed bookplate (a label with my signature that can be affixed to the inside of the book; I'll even personalize the bookplate if you'd like).

All you have to do when you preorder is forward the confirmation email to me at robert (at) robertswartwood (dot) com along with your address. That's it.

In fact, even if you order directly from Midtown Scholar, please forward along the confirmation so that way we can keep track of how many chapbooks we'll need to print, as the print run will depend on the number of preorders.

Chapbooks and bookplates will be mailed out the first week of September. Which is ideal, because while Maniac is a prequel to the book, it's highly recommended you read the novel first as otherwise the story will spoil a major twist in the book.

Trust me, it'll all make sense in due time.

Check it out!

My quasi-superhero thriller Temple is currently on sale for a limited time on all platforms.

Kindle US | Kindle UK | Kobo | Nook | iTunes | Google Play

Even better, Barnes & Noble Press has been kind enough to name the book as one of their five favorite indie ebooks for the week!

Before that, though, I should recap what I did in 2022, at least writing-wise.

I released two titles: one novel under my own name, Bullet Country, and a novella under my pen name that I released as an ebook and paperback which was initially released as an Audible Original.

What does 2023 have in store? Well, a couple of things, some of which I can’t announce quite yet, but there will be a new thriller by me that’ll be in bookstores, so that should be fun. Oh, and will there be more Avery Bishop? You better believe it!

So yeah, I’ve been staying busy, and I’ve been reading and listening to audiobooks whenever I can. And so, without further ado, here are the books that I enjoyed in 2022 which I think others might enjoy too. But as is the case with everything, your mileage may vary.

Novels 

• THE COLLECTIVE by Alison Gaylin 

• THE DAMAGE by Caitlin Wahrer

• NO EXIT by Taylor Adams

• THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY by Walter Mosley 

• THE SHINING GIRLS by Lauren Beukes

• ALL THE OLD KNIVES by Olen Steinhauer

• OCEAN STATE by Stewart O’Nan

• BLUE BILLY by Laura Ellen Scott

• THE SENTRY by Robert Crais

• CHILD ZERO by Chris Holm

• THE OBSERVANT by Ravi Mangla 

• NORTH BORDER by Benjamin Percy and Francesco Francavilla

• HEAT 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner 

• SLEEPWALK by Dan Chaon 

• THESE SILENT WOODS by Kimi Cunningham Grant

• RACING THE LIGHT by Robert Crais 

• EVERYTHING I NEVER TOLD YOU by Celeste Ng 

Audiobooks

• I AM NOT WHO YOU THINK I AM by Eric Rickstad, read by Steven Weber

• DARK HORSE by Gregg Hurwitz, read by Scott Brick 

• VERITY by Colleen Hoover, read by Vanessa Johansson and Amy Landon

• THE GRAY MAN by Mark Greaney, read by Jay Snyder

• COMEDY COMEDY COMEDY DRAMA by Bob Odenkirk, read by Bob Odenkirk

• ONE OF US IS DEAD by Jeneva Rose, read by Andi Arndt, Hillary Huber, Elizabeth Evans, Brittany Pressley, Cassandra Campbell

• WHY WE DID IT: A TRAVELOGUE FROM THE REPUBLICAN ROAD TO HELL by Tim Miller, read by Josh Bloomberg

• 56 DAYS by Catherine Ryan Howard, read Alana Kerr Collins

• THE SUMMER HOUSE by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois, read by Ari Fliakos

• TELL HER STORY by Margot Hunt, read by Dakota Fanning

• TELL ME LIES by J. P. Pomare, read by Aimee Horne 

• ON TARGET by Mark Greaney, read by Jay Snyder

• RAZORBLADE TEARS by S. A. Cosby, read by Adam Lazarre-White

• BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED by Lisa Gardner, read by Hillary Huber.

Stories

• UNCLEAN JOBS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS by Alissa Nutting

• TWISTED: THE COLLECTED STORIES OF JEFFERY DEAVER by Jeffery Deaver

Now, what about you? Any books you read (or listened to) this past year you really enjoyed?

Second, speaking of Barnes & Noble, I was wandering around the one in Exton, Pennsylvania, on Friday and happened to pick up the most recent The Best American Mystery & Suspense and received a pleasant surprise.

Of course, the novella is available as an ebook and paperback as well as a free download for Audible Plus members.

Finally, happy birthday to this little goofball!

Is this thing on?

*clears throat*

So it’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I’ve mostly abandoned this blog in favor of social media — Twitter, for the most part.

But if you’ve been paying attention to, well, the world, you know just how much of a shitshow Twitter has become (and will inevitably continue to be) so I figured I might as well dust off this here ol’ blog and see if I can squeeze any juice out of it.

And so, without any further fanfare, I should note that my newest book is out!

BULLET COUNTRY, the second book in the Nova Bartkowski series (a spin-off of the Holly Lin series) came out a few weeks ago.

Kindle • Nook • Kobo • Apple • Google Play

While BULLET COUNTRY — like the previous Nova Bartkowski thriller BULLET RAIN — is part of the Holly Lin series, readers do not need to have read any of the books in that series to enjoy it. For those readers interested in the overall series timeline, the events of BULLET COUNTRY take place between THE DEVIL YOU KNOW and HOLLOW POINT.

It occurred to me the other day that this is the first thriller under my own name that I've published in two years, as END GAME came out at the beginning of 2020. Granted, I've been publishing books under my pen name in the meantime, but still. Two years!

(Oh, yeah, for those who have only been keeping an eye out on this dusty blog, for the past several years I’ve been publishing psychological suspense under the pen name Avery Bishop. I’ve published two novels so far, GIRL GONE MAD and ONE YEAR AGO, as well as a novella published by Audible which I later released as an ebook and paperback. And for fans of the AB stuff, fear not: there will be more coming in 2023!)

Anyway, I talked a bit about the new book in the latest issue of The Big Thrill, and I was a recent guest on the Brutal Dudes podcast where I discussed the book as well.

So … I guess that’s it for now. I’m going to try to remember I still have this blog moving forward and update it on a regular basis (especially as I have a new thriller being published next year by Blackstone Publishing), but for those just dying to keep up with me on a day-by-day basis, definitely check me out on Twitter. I’ll be there until the site dies or I get suspended because, well, Fox News recently labeled me as a “liberal writer.” On the plus side about that, new blurb!

Anyway, this year I published two novels: END GAME, the final Man of Wax book, and another novel under a pen name that was published by Amazon Publishing.

First, let’s talk about END GAME.

When I initially wrote MAN OF WAX, it was intended as a standalone. Honestly, a very early draft (one that was shopped around to publishers by my agent at the time) had Ben and Carver raiding the Paradise Motel and killing Simon … only to then learn that they were too late and Ben’s wife and daughter were dead: the end.

Pretty dark, huh?

There was a period of time where I wanted my books to be “real” in that the good guys don’t always win in the end, and while that’s something that can be done effectively from time to time, for the most part readers don’t want to be super bummed out by a book, especially after they’ve invested several hours of their time reading it. So I figured, okay, let’s not kill off Ben’s family. Let’s leave the book open-ended. And with the setup of a grand conspiracy, that led me to consider turning the entire storyline into a trilogy.

So I did something very dumb — without having sold the first book, I started writing the second book in the series.

Why was this dumb?

Because again, I hadn’t sold the first book. And, well, I obviously never sold the first book. So I had an unsold first book of a trilogy as well as the second book with nowhere to go with it, and at the time, the idea of self-publishing just didn’t make sense because ebooks weren’t really a thing.

Fast forward several years and the ebook revolution really took off, and I started uploading some of my unpublished novels. I put up MAN OF WAX, and then a few months later published THE INNER CIRCLE, and then … went on to write and publish other books.

Why?

Well, because while sales were decent, they were nowhere close to making me drop everything and writing the third book. Plus, high expectations became a concern. A lot of readers seemed to love the first two books, and I was worried the third book might be a major let down.

So I always had the third book in the back of my mind while I worked on other novels, knowing that it would be a large chunk of time for me to write the book and that there would probably not be much return on that investment. I remember even saying as much on Brian Keene’s old podcast when he asked me about the final Man of Wax book, noting that the third book in a trilogy is always the worst seller, because, I mean, it’s a trilogy. People don’t buy the third book first. They buy the first book, and maybe they’ll buy the second book, and MAYBE they’ll even end up buying the third book.

Of course, then I had an idea for a thriller that I realized would tie nicely into the overall MOW universe, and that book is of course LEGION, which was a prequel novel that on its surface didn’t really seem like it was connected to the trilogy at all, despite vague references to past events in both MAN OF WAX and THE INNER CIRCLE. I always knew that John Smith and Ashley would show up in the final book of the trilogy, but it’s kind of hard to explain that to baffled readers, some of whom actually got upset that an advertised prequel didn’t seem to fit — plus it probably didn’t help that initially I marketed it as a standalone thriller.

During all this time, of course, I wrote and published other novels, and in 2019 I sold a novel to Amazon Publishing for a quite sizable advance. I don’t want to get into too many personal specifics, but the advance helped pay off debt and put me and my wife in a much better position financially, and I knew that it was finally time to complete the third and final Man of Wax book that I had been promising. Because, again, I knew the third book wouldn’t sell well and up until that point I had been relying on much of my self-publishing income to help make ends meet (or at the very least try to get those ends as close together as I could).

So I finally finished END GAME, and to be honest, I was very happy with how it turned out. I published it back in January of this year, and … it sold just as expected, maybe even less so. I mean, I always knew it wasn’t going to sell great. And I also knew that I wasn’t going to put much marketing into the book (i.e. Facebook ads and whatever else). Mainly, I just wanted to finish the trilogy because I had been promising to finish the trilogy, and I felt I owed it not only to my readers but also to the characters.

For the most part, feedback on the final book has been great. A good majority of those readers that actually read it really seemed to like it and felt it was a satisfying end to the series. Some other readers … did not seem as enthusiastic. For example:

Now, I typically ignore one-star reviews, which often criticize the book itself for whatever reason (my favorite is usually because the book contains swears), but this one really got under my skin. Because this reviewer essentially implied that I don’t care about my readers, which is the furthest thing from the truth. Without readers, I essentially wouldn’t have any reason to write. At the same time, publishing is a business. There’s a reason I write the books I write, beyond simply the fact that I enjoy writing them. I want to write books that readers want to read so that I can sell those books and (gasp!) earn money. Because while writing for me is a passion, it’s also a job. It’s how I pay the bills. So I need to look at all aspects of my writing as what it essentially is: a business. This isn’t a hobby for me that I do in my spare time; it’s my JOB, and so I need to approach every project considering the pros and cons. There have even been projects that I’d love to do which I had to put off because, ultimately, they weren’t something that would pay the bills.

Here’s the reality of being an indie writer: everything is on you. EVERYTHING. Not just the writing but the editing and copyediting and proofreading and cover design and marketing and everything else. I often outsource that stuff to other people, which means I pay them for their time and effort. This means that with every book I publish, I start in the red. Sometimes it takes no time at all to sell a lot of copies and start making a profit, while other times it can take quite a while.

MAN OF WAX was published in 2011. Since then, it’s sold about 23,000 units.

THE INNER CIRCLE, published one year later, has sold almost 9,000 units.

LEGION, published in 2014, has sold almost 9,000 units.

And END GAME, published earlier this year, has sold … just under 700 units.

Now, would that have been the case had I released END GAME in 2013? Impossible to say. One thing I’ve learned (the hard way, for sure) is that with series there needs to be a consistent schedule with a new book every year (or every few months if you can manage it). Otherwise, readers easily move on to other books.

Now, I should also note that this year I combined all four novels into one box set, and with the help of a Bookbub promotion, sold over 7,000 units. So while the individual sales for END GAME fell quite flat, when you combine it with the entire series in that box set, it did decently.

Oh, but that novel I also published this year under a pen name that came out only a few months ago? By this point sales for that are probably close by now to exceeding the combined sales for the individual Man of Wax books PLUS the box set. And again, that’s only for one novel that was released a few months ago. Granted, it got a major push by a publisher who also happens to own the entire platform, so that certainly helped a lot, but you can see why all this time I’ve also worked on writing standalone novels to try to sell to publishers. Because as much as I enjoy self-publishing, there’s only so much I’m able to do on my own, and having a major publisher stand behind a novel can really help give it quite a boost.

Anyway, so that was 2020. A lot of other stuff happened, which I’m sure you’ve read about in the news, but we don’t have time to get into all of that right now. So without further ado …

I never do a top 10 list, but every year I note the books that I really enjoyed and which I think others might really enjoy too.

Some were published in 2020, but many weren’t, and that’s okay, because again this isn’t a top 10 list of books published this year but instead a list of books I really liked.

I’ve put asterisks next to the titles where I listened to the audiobooks, and because of that I’ve included the narrators in parenthesis, as oftentimes the narrator really makes or breaks an audiobook.

FICTION

• THE DEBRIEFING by Jeffery Deaver

• THE SECOND HOSTAGE by Jeffery Deaver 

• MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER by Oyinkan Braithwaite

• MY LOVELY WIFE by Samantha Downing

• INTO THE FIRE by Gregg Hurwitz (read by Scott Brick)*

• THE SHUT-IN by Duane Swierczynski and James Patterson

• CAPE FEAR by John D. MacDonald

• THE BOY FROM THE WOODS by Harlan Coben 

• THE FAMILIAR DARK by Amy Engel

• DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid (read by a full cast)*

• NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney

• THE WOODS by Harlan Coben (read by Scott Brick)*

• FAIR WARNING by Michael Connelly

• DEAD GIRL BLUES by Lawrence Block

• THE LAST HOUSE GUEST by Megan Miranda 

• THE LIST by Gregg Hurwitz 

• NAMELESS by Dean Koontz (read by Edoardo Ballerini)*

• LOVECRAFT COUNTRY by Matt Ruff

• YOU CAN’T CATCH ME by Catherine McKenzie (read by Julia Whelan)*

• BURIED by Jeffery Deaver

• SISTERS by Daisy Johnson

• GOOD GIRLS LIE by J.T. Ellison (read by Fiona Hardingham)*

• BUNNY by Mona Awad

• BURNER by Robert Ford

• THE HOUSE ON THE WATER by Margot Hunt (read by Taylor Schilling)*

STORIES

• SUICIDE WOODS by Benjamin Percy

NON-FICTION

• AMERICAN CARNAGE: ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE REPUBLICAN CIVIL WAR AND THE RISE OF PRESIDENT TRUMP by Tim Alberta (read by Jason Culp)*

• JUST MERCY: A STORY OF JUSTICE AND REDEMPTION by Bryan Stevenson (read by the author)*

• TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH: HOW MY FAMILY CREATED THE WORLD’S MOST DANGEROUS MAN by Mary L. Trump (read by the author)*

• HOAX: DONALD TRUMP, FOX NEWS AND THE DANGEROUS DISTORTION OF TRUTH by Brian Stelter (read by the author)*

• A PROMISED LAND by Barack Obama (read by the author)*

Now, what about you? Any books you read this past year you really enjoyed?

End Game, the final book in the Man of Wax series, is finally out.

Due to some production issues, the paperback isn't ready quite yet. It'll probably be another week or two until it's out.

Man of Wax, the first book in the series, came out in 2011. So, yeah, it's been a while. I probably would have written a much different final book, say, five years ago, so I'd like to think the extra couple of years was worth the wait. 

Here are the links:

Kindle • Nook • Kobo • Apple • Google Play

Some were published in 2019, but many weren’t, and that’s okay, because again this isn’t a top 10 list of books published this year but instead a list of books I really liked.

I’ve put asterisks next to the titles where I listened to the audiobooks, and because of that I’ve included the narrators in parenthesis, as oftentimes the narrator really makes or breaks an audiobook.

FICTION

• THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas

• A TIME TO SCATTER STONES by Lawrence Block

• NO DOORS, NO WINDOWS by Joe Schreiber

• OUT OF THE DARK by Gregg Hurwitz (read by Scott Brick)*

• WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens (read by Cassandra Campbell)*

• SHELTER IN PLACE by Nora Roberts

• RUN AWAY by Harlan Coben

• THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD by Colson Whitehead

• THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides

• THE BORDER by Don Winslow (read by Ray Porter)*

• THE NEVER GAME by Jeffery Deaver

• I AM WATCHING YOU by Teresa Driscoll (read by Elizabeth Knowelden)*

• THE CHANGELING by Victor LaValle

• DARK SITE by Patrick Lee

• NIGHT PASSAGE by Robert B. Parker

• EVIDENCE OF THE AFFAIR by Taylor Jenkins Reid (read by Julia Whelan, George Newbern, James Daniels, and Dara Rosenberg)*

• RECURSION by Blake Crouch

• HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE by J.K. Rowling (read by Jim Dale)*

• A DANGEROUS MAN by Robert Crais

• DOUBLE INDEMNITY by James M. Cain

• THE BREAKDOWN by B.A. Paris

• THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King (read by Santino Fontana)*

• I'M THINKING OF ENDING THINGS by Iain Reid

• THE FACES by Douglas Clegg

• THEN SHE WAS GONE by Lisa Jewell (read by Helen Duff)*

SHORT FICTION

• FRIDAY BLACK by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

• JESUS' SON by Denis Johnson

NONFICTION

• EDUCATED by Tara Westover (read by Julia Whelan)*

• ALMOST INTERESTING by David Spade (read by the author)*

• CATCH AND KILL: LIES, SPIES, AND A CONSPIRACY TO PROTECT PREDATORS by Ronan Farrow (read by the author)*

Now, what about you? Any books you read this past year you really enjoyed?

"Every Game Must End"

END GAME, the final book in the Man of Wax trilogy, is now available for pre-order!

Kindle: https://amzn.to/31HGRa7

Nook: http://bit.ly/2oLUQhw

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2NIjZlE

iTunes: https://apple.co/2NMifIm

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2K59HLF

This Saturday, at 2nd & Charles in Harrisburg, PA, I’ll be signing with Brian Keene, Mary SanGiovanni, Kelli Owen, Stephen Kozeniewski, John Boden, Robert Ford, and Wesley Southard.

I’ll have copies of The Calling, Land of the Dead, and The Serial Killer’s Wife on hand.

And the first 100 people who attend get a FREE chapbook called Midnight Rituals of stories and non-fiction from the authors.

Come one, come all!

Harrisburg, PA.

Anyway, Roxane Gay picked the winners and those can be found here.

What is Hint Fiction?

A story of 25 words or fewer that suggests a larger, more complex story. Think of Hemingway’s apocryphal six-word story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” It doesn’t have a title, but those six words convey a punch. Not only that, they stand on their own. They’re not the first line of a story, or a random sentence plucked from a longer story.

About the judge:

Roxane Gay is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women, and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. Her story “The Copper Miner’s Sad Sad Song” appeared in the Hint Fiction anthology; her story “I Know Things about the Girls Next Door” appeared in the special hint fiction issue of Wigleaf.

The prizes are as follows:

• 1st place $100, 2nd place $50, 3rd place $25.

• All winners and runners up will receive signed copies of the Hint Fiction anthology.

• W. W. Norton has donated copies of New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, edited by James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro, to the winners and runners up as well.

There is no entry fee.

Still not sure what Hint Fiction is? It’s strongly recommended you check out the anthology, which is still available in paperback. It’s also available as an ebook on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iTunes, and Google Play.

Submissions are now closed. Winners will be announced at this website once chosen. Thanks to everyone who submitted!

It was meant to be something fun, nothing serious, though I was fortunate that author Stewart O’Nan agreed to be the final judge. His involvement no doubt helped give the idea legitimacy and caught the attention of the publishing industry, most notably W. W. Norton who subsequently gave me a contract to put together an actual anthology of hint fiction stories.

In 2010, W. W. Norton published Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer, which is still in print. It was received well critically for the most part, and still continues to sell, and from what I can tell based on emails and what I see online, it’s used in various creative writing programs around the country.

For the first couple years I continued the tradition of hosting hint fiction contests (James Frey was the judge in 2010, Joyce Carol Oates in 2011, and Benjamin Percy in 2014) but after a while my own writing started to take more and more of my time, and I just lost interest in hosting any further contests.

That is, until now.

I mean, we’re coming up on the 10-year anniversary, people! How could I not let that go by without celebrating with a new contest?

This year's judge is the one and only Roxane Gay. She’s the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women, and the New York Times bestselling Hunger. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. Her story “The Copper Miner’s Sad Sad Song” appeared in the Hint Fiction anthology; her story “I Know Things about the Girls Next Door” appeared in the special hint fiction issue of Wigleaf.

The submission period will be from April 1 to April 30 at this website. You can submit up to two hint fiction stories. After April 30th, I will come up with a top 15 - 20 stories which will then be sent to Roxane so that she can review and pick the winners.

The prizes are as follows:

• 1st place $100, 2nd place $50, 3rd place $25.

• All winners and runners up will receive signed copies of the Hint Fiction anthology.

• W. W. Norton has donated copies of New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction, edited by James Thomas and Robert Scotellaro, to the winners and runners up as well.

There is no entry fee.

Still not sure what Hint Fiction is? It's strongly recommended you check out the anthology, which is still available in paperback. Also, Norton has kindly lowered the price of the ebook for a limited time, so you can purchase it for just $1.99 on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iTunes, and Google Play.

So check back here April 1st. In the meantime, have fun!