News

Hello all!

I’m happy to report that BLACK SWAN RISING has its first review, from PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. It’s a good one:

San Diego, Calif., newswoman Casey Cheng, the heroine of this riveting thriller from Brackmann (Go-Between), researches an article exploring the effects of a mass shooting, perpetrated by Alan Chastain, on his victims. She was one of them, shot in the back. Once she recovers from her wounds, Casey interviews Alan’s mother, who allows her to inspect Alan’s bedroom. She finds a graphic novel there that leads her to Lucas Derry, who later attempts to assassinate Matt Cason, a local Congressman up for reelection. When a photo taken at the scene of the shooting showing Matt’s campaign worker Sarah Price attempting to save a collateral victim later goes viral, Sarah is devastated, afraid her secret past will be revealed. That outcome threatens to disrupt the life and career she has created, and possibly to derail Matt’s campaign. A vicious series of posts on social media, spurred by online provocateurs of violence named the True Men Movement, call for the disruption of the upcoming national elections. Despite threats to their safety, Sarah and Casey carry on. Readers will furiously turn the pages to see how it all ends.

On to blurbs…Blurbs are one of those difficult asks for a lot of authors, including me. You want your peers to like your book. You don’t want to put them out. Writers have a lot of demands on their time, and you don’t want to hand them a novel they aren’t going to enjoy and that wastes it.

I like to think from the responses I got back that I didn’t waste anyone’s time. Here’s a sample:

“Fierce, fearsome, and distressingly relevant, with three compelling female leads and a storyline straight out of your very worst Twitter mentions, Black Swan Rising is a showcase for Brackmann’s sharp prose and dry, trademark wit.”
— Elizabeth Little, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of Dear Daughter

You can read the rest here.

I’m very excited to announce that DRAGON DAY is now available as an audiobook, narrated by the fabulous Tracy Sallows, who did such an amazing job on the first two books in the series. She’s also the reader for GO-BETWEEN, and I could not be happier about that!

I have a few free copies to give away for especially interested readers — am contemplating the best way of going about that. Suggestions, anyone?

Here’s where to buy it!

I am very excited about the upcoming publication of my fifth book, GO-BETWEEN! Look up the page and you’ll see the cover and a brief description. To learn more about the book, including a look at the first three chapters, click here!

Otherwise, if you happen to be in London in mid-May, I’ll be doing a few events for the Asia House Literary Festival, including this one and this one! (gulp) I hope to add some more UK events in the latter part of May. Will keep you posted!

I will be making an appearance at the Bay Area Book Festival (June 4-5, time/date TBD).

For the actual book launch, I will be in NYC, doing a special Soho Crime 25th Anniversary event — watch this space for details!

And I promise for those of you in San Diego, I’ll have my West Coast book launch at the wonderful Mysterious Galaxy (that link will take you to a page where you can pre-order signed copies of GO-BETWEEN)…and yes, there will be local craft beer…

Yeah. If you look up above…well, all around the site…

There’s a new Ellie book coming out on August 18.

You can read all about it here.