Here’s a nice bit of news. Kirkus Reviews calls Gate 76 “A consummate thriller with some of the best characterization you’ll see all year.” See the review at Kirkus. . And we got a star too!

Gate 76is available for pre-order on IndieBound, Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and a number of independents like Politics and Prose. Advance copies are available for reviewers through NetGalley.

A mysterious woman fleeing an unknown terror boards the wrong plane at San Francisco International and disappears into the heart of the country. Freddy Ferguson, a troubled detective with a violent past, believes she’s the last living witness to a crime that has captivated the nation. Sifting through the wreckage of her past, he begins to understand who she’s running from, and why. Now he must track her down before her pursuers can silence her for good.

After two rounds with the editor and many drafts, Gate 76 is just about ready for the proofreader. Below are some cover ideas from my lovely and talented wife . Please let me know which cover you prefer and why. Thanks for taking the time to help out. If you’re curious, you can read the first chapter of Gate 76 here, but don’t look until after you’ve picked a cover!

ReadersFavorite.com announced the winners of their 2017 awards contest yesterday. Impala won the gold medal in the General Mystery category. Here’s a screenshot from the awards page, showing Impala with its alternate cover: Impala also won first place for genre fiction in the 24th Annual Writer’s Digest competition, and received honors from Amazon.com, IndieReader, and Kirkus. The writing life can be lonely and isolating, with discouragement at every turn. So it’s nice to get some recognition now and then.

A few months ago, my wife brought home a book by Micheal Tolkin called Among the Dead . Tolkin was the author of The Player , which was made into a film directed by Robert Altman, and like The Player, Among the Dead is a dark satirical look at the vanity and egotism of the bit players in the entertainment industry. Among the Dead begins with a man missing a flight that he was supposed to be on with his wife.

IndieReader just published their list of the best indie books of 2016, and Impala was one of their choices. The list first appeared on The Huffington Post on December 8th. As of December 14, it’s up on IndieReader.com as well.

I just got news that Impala won first place for genre fiction in the 24th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. The genre fiction category covers all genres (mystery, thriller, sci-fi, romance, historical, etc.). The announcement and the book will appear in the March/April 2017 issue of Writer’s Digest.

Amazon.com released its list of the best books of September, 2016, and Impala is up there in good company with Harlan Coben, James Patterson, and Carl Hiaasen. Take a look! . And Kirkus Reviews is running a very positive review of Impala in their September 1, 2016 issue. You can read the full review at Kirkus Reviews .