Hey there!

A body in a lake, covered with bizarre, ritualistic runes. A family with a dark secret. An FBI agent who will have to dance with her demons if she wants to solve this case.

That's the premise of "Twice Burned," my newest Danica Burns story.

When I was invited to submit a story for consideration to the new Reader Nation anthology (edited by Mary Stone and J.D. Barker), I knew I wanted to go deep into the woods. So I returned to one of my favorite places on Washington's Olympic Peninsula: Lake Crescent.

I'll tell you more about this beautiful—and unsettling—place my next email, but today I just wanted to let you know that gears are turning and new Jessie (J.L.) Kwak stories are on the horizon!

Last Roll of the Die is a collection of twenty thriller stories united by a single truth: no one stays lucky forever. I'm extremely excited about some of my fellow authors in the table of contents:

Go sign up to be notified as soon as it launches!

For Your TBR

While you're waiting on pins and needles for the next Danica Burns story, I've got a few recommendations to keep you busy.

First up is a collaboration by two dear friends, which I am beyond excited to get my own hands on! Second is a new-to-me sci-fi crime author. (And you know I can't resist sci-fi crime stories... ;)

As always, if you read either of these I'd love to hear what you think!

Away From Her

by Alex Sigmore & Ash Mercer

Avery has spent five grueling months at Quantico with one obsession: gaining the elite skills needed to solve her mother’s cold case.

But her focus is shattered when a fierce rivalry with frustratingly brilliant fellow trainee Noah Delgado uncovers a massive, real-world conspiracy operating at the highest levels of the Academy.

As the line between training scenarios and dangerous reality blurs, Avery realizes too late that she isn't just investigating a crime—she's being meticulously framed for one. Lured into a devastating betrayal on the eve of her graduation, she is thrust into a real-world nightmare.

With a rigged system closing its jaws and the entire Bureau suddenly transformed into her hunters, Avery is faced with an impossible choice. Fight a losing battle...or run, and never look back.

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Under A Crooked Star

by Daniel Whiston

Missing Memories
In the far distant future, Neroy Sphinx is a professional thief on Old Earth. He used to stay alive doing dangerous jobs for mob bosses, drinking the loot away in Terminus City’s dive bars. But now Neroy is missing ten years from his life.

He starts to recall being amongst the outer worlds, where he was badly injured in a mystery event. Neroy survived, but without his memories from the decade prior to the incident.

Back on Earth, he begins having flashbacks, but his memories are blocked by something he sees as a wall of Black Glass. Instinct tells him that behind that barrier he will find his past.

Obsessed with finding the answers, Neroy escapes a sadistic gang leader and flees on the first off-world shuttle. He thus begins his journey back to the ice world where he first regained his consciousness.

Along the way, he senses that his personal quest is somehow connected with a long-ago galactic catastrophe of unknown origin. One that destroyed many of the galaxy’s transfer wormholes, cutting off entire colony planets from the mother world. But if so, how? And if he is successful in regaining his lost years, what horrors might they revive?

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Happy reading,

Jessie

Misadventures in the Multiverse

New Danica Burns story!

For Your TBR

Away From Her

Under A Crooked Star

Cover reveal! Last Roll of the Die

Audio adventures (and dog pics!)

Comfort reads 💝