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Always happy to get a review from International Noir Fiction—Glenn Harper’s analyses are so thoughtful and smart!

Brackmann’s novel isn’t only dark and foreboding, it’s also human and humane. The characters take us along this difficult journey through their compelling personal engagement with what’s going on. And the action of the novel doesn’t indulge in the cliches of the genre: The twists and turns of the plot are uniquely Brackmann’s.

Brackmann’s previous two series, one set in the gaming and art worlds of China, the other a more straightforward pair of noir novels set in the drug trade of Mexico, the southern and western U.S., establish the writer’s conversational narrative voice, which continues in Black Swan, but the new novel has more urgency and more contemporary impact, as if this is a novel that Brackmann had to write. I don’t know of any other book that captures the actual social and cyber threats to democracy in the U.S. so effectively. We can hope for more, whether a sequel or a new angle on our times in future books.

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.