BREAKING NEWS!! and Coming Attractions

Nick Forte’s second adventure, The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of, is available in paper now. (There are some issues to be worked out with the Kindle version, but it's coming.) In Stuff, Forte is asked to babysit ham actor and Maltese Falcon “expert” Russell Arbuthnot, who has parlayed a resemblance to Sidney Greenstreet and what he claims is the actual falcon from the movie into a one-man shows, the shelf-life of which is running out. Ticket sales are slow and everyone assumes Forte’s hiring is a publicity stunt until Arbuthnot turns up dead, which is taking a stunt too far even for him, and creates publicity Forte could live without. Since the statue has gone missing, Forte uses the insurance fee as a lever to get himself into the investigation, where he runs into an alluring (slightly) older woman, a beautiful call girl, a Mexican gang, and the IRA. More shamless self-promotion as time goes on.

The Shamus-nominated novel, A Small Sacrifice, is now available in both paper and Kindle formats. Paper retail is $13.95; last I looked Amazon was selling it for $12.65. (Kindle version is still $2.99.)

Now that I have the hang of the whole CreateSpace thing, my other e-books will also be available in print. Look for news on Wild Bill and Worst Enemies in the coming weeks. (Grind Joint still has a few Stark House copies available via Amazon.)

Those who read both Grind Joint and A Small Sacrifice may have noticed Nick Forte is considerably more badass in Grind Joint. That’s no accident. His character became darker and more violent as his series moved on. The problem was, all of those books were on my hard drive, written when it looked as if Forte might have a chance at a deal. Well, not even a Shamus nomination has prompted the publishing industry to take another look, so fuck ‘em. The subsequent Forte books are coming out, anyway. Look for The Man in the Window in May of 2015, to be followed by A Dangerous Lesson in October. This will clear up the Forte constipation in time for the new book, Bad Samaritan, for which the outline has begun, and is hoped to be ready by late winter of 2016.

Speaking of Worst Enemies and Grind Joint, what’s going on in Penns River? Book Three of the series, Resurrection Mall, has been finished for some time, and the agent has been working to find it a home. (“Guy books aren’t selling,” seems to be the current refrain.) The fourth volume—currently titled PR4 (still)—will be finished in early February.

A web site will launch around the first of the year, as well. I’m working on content now, and will have more news as the date draws closer.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I don’t have a lot of readers, but those I do have are consistently encouraging and flattering and all the things someone who works in a vacuum needs to reassure himself that he’s not just some jagov one step removed from a gamer living in his mother’s basement. Thanks to everyone. It doesn’t get said every day, but you’re all appreciated. Every day.