Breaking News!!

Down & Out Books welcomes crime novelist Dana King to its roster of authors. King's next Penns River mystery, RESURRECTION MALL, will be published in 2017 in addition to reissued editions of the previous books in the series, WORST ENEMIES and GRIND JOINT.

"I have been a fan of Dana's work for a long time," said Eric Campbell, publisher of Down & Out Books. "He creates a gripping sense of time and place in his stories that I know will resonate with our readers."

"I've been impressed with Down & Out Books and their authors ever since I first became aware of them at the Albany Bouchercon," added King. "Working with Eric and his team is a best case scenario for me. They get the kind of stuff I like to do."

About the Penns River crime novels: Penns River never thrived. For years it did provide nice livings for the families of those who worked in its aluminum and steel mills and the businesses that supported them. Then the mills closed and all that's left are small establishments exchanging money to keep each other from going under. As incomes flatten or decrease and conditions erode, crime goes up and law enforcement budgets go down, leaving the local police pressed a little harder and thinner all the time. Enough of a bedroom community to Pittsburgh to cause class friction, a new casino and religious-themed mall promise better days but bring more problems than they solve. Police Chief Stush Napierkowski and his top detective Ben Dougherty find themselves constantly bailing against an ever-increasing tide.

Meet the author: Dana King's novel Grind Joint was named by the LA Review of Books as one of the fifteen best noir reads of 2013. His first PI novel, A Small Sacrifice, received a Shamus Award nomination that same year. A short story, "Green Gables," appeared in the anthology Blood, Guts, and Whiskey, edited by Todd Robinson. Other short fiction has appeared in Spinetingler, New Mystery Reader, A Twist of Noir, Mysterical-E, and Powder Burn Flash. Dana lives in Maryland with The Beloved Spouse. His blog, One Bite at a Time, resides at http://danaking.blogspot.com/.

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I first became aware of Down & Out in Albany, at Bouchercon. I went to an Author’s Spotlight session of theirs and was gobsmacked by the level of talent they’d lined up so quickly. Best of all, they looked like an operation that would be a good match for me, as I’d come to the conclusion my voice kept me under the radar of the big New York houses, but that there was a place for me. I think Down & Out is that place. Thanks to Eric Campbell, Lance Wright, Eric Beetner, and everyone associated with D&OB for taking a chance on me. I’d also like to thank my rabbi, Charlie Stella; Terrence McCauley for talking me into approaching Eric Campbell directly in Raleigh; and Michelle Turlock Isler for taking me by the arm, walking me over, and telling Eric he needed to talk to me. Today was a good day, and I see more of them on the horizon.

Thanks, all.