Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson are the authors of Dempsey, the seventh Tier One thriller, but it’s their first appearance for The Poisoned Pen. According to Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, the series is being developed for film and TV. Peters welcomed both authors, along with Don Bentley, who acted as guest host for the event. You can order a copy of Dempsey through the Webstore. http://bit.ly/3IQDW7x

Here’s the summary of Dempsey.

The world is more volatile, unpredictable, and dangerous than ever before. To stop the architect of this chaos, Dempsey is given the most dangerous tasking of his career … a mission only he can complete against an adversary he must face alone.

After Task Force Ember’s successful intervention in Ukraine, John Dempsey disappears without a trace—with no notice or explanation given to his teammates. Spotty intelligence eventually places him in Russia where he is rumored to have been captured by the Russian FSB and is now presumed dead. Mourning his loss, Ember is forced to pick up the pieces, restructure, and continue their mission of keeping America safe. As the president’s “go-to” black ops asset, Ember is directed to find and finish off the Russian spymaster Arkady Zhukov and any last remnants of Zeta cell.

Unbeknownst to his teammates, Dempsey is very much alive and on mission. At the behest of Vice President Jarvis, he is deep undercover—in the heart of Russia’s nexus of organized crime and politics. For his mission to succeed, he will have to team up with a man who has been his adversary—the one man in all the world he most wants dead. The risks are higher than ever as Dempsey pursues a high-stakes plot of Russian regime change. And if he fails, the Kremlin’s retribution will be swift and terrible and certain to drag the world into World War III.

AWARDS

• Real Book Spy Pick

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Jeffrey Wilson has worked as an actor, firefighter, paramedic, jet pilot, and diving instructor, as well as a vascular and trauma surgeon. He served in the US Navy for fourteen years and made multiple deployments as a combat surgeon. Wilson is the author of three award-winning supernatural thrillers: The Traiteur’s Ring, The Donors, and Fade to Black. He and his wife live in Southwest Florida with their four children.

Navy veterans Brian Andrews and Jeffrey Wilson are the writing team behind the number one bestselling Tier One series. Brian is a nuclear engineer and Park Leadership Fellow who served as an officer on a fast-attack submarine. Jeff is a trauma/vascular surgeon who conducted combat operations with an East Coast–based SEAL team. Their other novels include the Sons of Valor and Shepherds series and installments in WEB Griffin’s Presidential Agent series. Sign up for their newsletter at www.andrews-wilson.com.

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Here’s a short biography of guest host and author Don Bentley.

Don Bentley spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot, and while deployed in Afghanistan was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal with “V” device for valor. Following his time in the military, Bentley worked as an FBI special agent focusing on foreign intelligence and counterintelligence and was a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member.

And, here’s an announcement readers might be interested in seeing.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Kyle Mills, who first took over the late Vince Flynn’s iconic series in 2015 and has since contributed eight consecutive bestsellers, is set to depart the Mitch Rapp franchise following his ninth and final book in the series, Code Red, later this year. Taking over will be Don Bentley, best known for his own Matt Drake series and the work he’s done in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Jr series, including Tom Clancy Flashpoint, which will hit stores in May.

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Enjoy the conversation with Brian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson, and Don Bentley.

Although Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, introduced Kathleen Kent, author of Black Wolf, Dan Fesperman stepped in as guest host. You can order a copy of Black Wolf (hopefully still a signed copy), through the Webstore. http://bit.ly/3EAqoea

Here’s the description of Black Wolf.

A “masterful” and “riveting” thriller about a female CIA agent whose extraordinary facial recognition powers lead her into the dangerous heart of the Soviet Union—and the path of a killer who shouldn’t exist (Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author).

She never forgets a face. 
He never forgets his prey.

It is 1990 when Melvina Donleavy arrives in Soviet Belarus on her first undercover mission with the CIA, alongside three fellow agents—none of whom know she is playing two roles. To the prying eyes of the KGB, she is merely a secretary; to her CIA minders, she is the only one who can stop the flow of nuclear weapons from the crumbling Soviet Union into the Middle East.

For Mel has a secret; she is a “super recognizer,” someone who never forgets a face. But no training could prepare her for the reality of life undercover, and for the streets of Minsk, where women have been disappearing. Soviet law enforcement is firm: murder is a capitalist disease. But could a serial killer be at work? Especially if he knew no one was watching? As Mel searches for answers, she catches the eye of an entirely different kind of threat: the elusive and petrifying “Black Wolf,” head of the KGB.

Filled with insider details from the author’s own time working under the direction of the U.S. Department of Defense, Black Wolf is a riveting new spy thriller from an Edgar-nominated crime writer, and a biting exploration of the divide between two nations, two masterminds, and two roles played by a woman pushed to her breaking point, where she’ll learn that you can only ever trust one person: yourself.

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Kathleen Kent is the Edgar-nominated author of the crime trilogy The Dime, The Burn, and The Pledge, as well as three bestselling historical novels: The Heretic’s Daughter, The Traitor’s Wife, and The Outcasts. She has written short stories and essays for D Magazine, Texas Monthly, and LitHub, and has been published in the crime anthology Dallas Noir. In March 2020 she was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters for her contribution to Texas literature. Kent lives in Dallas, Texas.

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Here’s a short biography of guest host Dan Fesperman.

DAN FESPERMAN served as a foreign correspondent for the Baltimore Sun, based in Berlin. His coverage of the siege of Sarajevo led to his debut novel, Lie in the Dark, which won Britain’s John Creasey Memorial Dagger Award for best first crime novel. Subsequent books have won the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award for best thriller, the Dashiell Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers, the Barry Award for best thriller, and selection by USA Today as the year’s best mystery/thriller novel. He lives in Baltimore.

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Enjoy the conversation with Kathleen Kent and Dan Fesperman.

If you missed Steve Berry’s appearance at The Poisoned Pen the other day, you can still catch up. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, welcomed him to talk about his latest Cotton Malone novel. The Last Kingdom is the current Hot Book of the Week at the bookstore. You can order a signed copy through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3SoAzrV

Here’s the description of The Last Kingdom.

From celebrated New York Times bestselling author, Steve Berry, comes the latest Cotton Malone adventure, in which the discovery of a lost historical document challenges the global might of the United States.

King Ludwig II of Bavaria was an enigmatic figure who was deposed in 1886, mysteriously drowning three days later.  Eccentric to the point of madness, history tells us that in the years before he died Ludwig engaged in a worldwide search for a new kingdom, one separate, apart, and in lieu of Bavaria.  A place he could retreat into and rule as he wished.  But a question remains:  did he succeed? 

Enter Cotton Malone.  After many months, Malone’s protégé, Luke Daniels, has managed to infiltrate a renegade group intent on winning Bavarian independence from Germany.  Daniels has also managed to gain the trust of the prince of Bavaria, a frustrated second son intent on eliminating his brother, the duke, and restoring the Wittelsbach monarchy, only now with him as king.  Everything hinges on a 19th century deed which proves that Ludwig’s long-rumored search bore fruit–legal title to lands that Germany, China, and the United States all now want, only for vastly different reasons.  

In a race across Bavaria for clues hidden in Ludwig’s three fairytale castles–Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee–Malone and Daniels battle an ever-growing list of deadly adversaries, all intent on finding the last kingdom.

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Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of sixteen Cotton Malone novels, five stand-alone thrillers, and several works of short fiction. He has 25 million books in print, translated into over 40 languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, an organization dedicated to historical preservation. He serves as an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co?president.

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Enjoy the conversation with Steve Berry.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Mark Greaney and Kyle Mills to the bookstore. Mark Greaney is the author of the Gray Man books, including the latest, Burner. Kyle Mills was guest host for the event. You can find signed copies of Burner in the Webstore. http://bit.ly/3xOMKEB

The Gray Man came out as a movie in 2022. Here’s the description of the twelfth Gray Man novel, Burner.

Court Gentry is caught between the Russian mafia and the CIA in this latest electrifying thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Gray Man series.

When you kick over a rock, you never know what’s going to crawl out. 

Alex Velesky is about to discover that the hard way. He’s stolen records from the Swiss bank that employs him, thinking that he’ll uncover a criminal conspiracy. But he soon finds that he’s tapped into the mother lode of corruption. Before he knows it, he’s being hunted by everyone from the Russian mafia to the CIA. 

Court Gentry and his erstwhile lover, Zoya Zakharova, find themselves on opposites poles when it comes to Velesky. They both want him but for different reasons. 

That’s a problem for tomorrow. Today they need to keep him and themselves alive. Right now, it’s not looking good.

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Mark Greaney‘s research for the Gray Man novels, including Sierra Six, Relentless, One Minute Out, Mission Critical, Agent in Place, Gunmetal Gray, Back Blast, Dead Eye, Ballistic, On Target, and The Gray Man, has taken him to more than thirty-five countries, and he has trained alongside military and law enforcement in the use of firearms, battlefield medicine, and close-range combative tactics. With Marine LtCol Rip Rawlings, he wrote the New York Times bestseller Red Metal. He is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers Tom Clancy Support and Defend, Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect, Tom Clancy Commander in Chief, and Tom Clancy True Faith and Allegiance. With Tom Clancy, he coauthored Locked On, Threat Vector, and Command Authority.

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Check out the event with Mark Greaney and Kyle Mills.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Yasmin Angoe and Gregg Hurwitz for a live event at the bookstore. Angoe’s They Come at Knight is the second book in her Nena Knight trilogy. Hurwitz’ latest book, The Last Orphan, was the Hot Book of the Week at the Pen. There are signed copies of both books available through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the summary of They Come at Knight.

Yasmin Angoe’s They Come at Knight is the heart-pounding second installment in the Nena Knight series about an intrepid female assassin who will stop at nothing to protect her family.

For elite assassin Nena Knight, eliminating dangerous players on the world stage is part of the job. The Tribe, a powerful business syndicate in Africa, ensures that she has those opportunities. But for Nena, the Tribe is more than just her employer; it’s an organization that supports the African people—until it turns on itself.

As Nena embarks on a new mission, a violent siege by a paramilitary group throws the Tribe into chaos, and mysterious acts of violence plague the Tribe’s territories. As the attacks escalate, Nena suspects a different kind of enemy at play: someone on the inside, determined to undermine the Tribe’s leaders.

As this new threat closes in on her own family, Nena enlists a team to root out the danger. But as she gets closer to the truth, she will have to risk everything to protect the future she holds dear—even if it means facing off with an enemy she never expected.

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Yasmin Angoe is the author of Her Name Is Knight and a first-generation Ghanaian American currently residing in South Carolina with her family. She’s served in education for nearly twenty years and works as a developmental editor. Yasmin received the 2020 Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award from Sisters in Crime, of which she is a member. She is also a proud member of numerous crime, mystery, and thriller organizations like Crime Writers of Color and International Thriller Writers. You can find her at https://yasminangoe.com, on Twitter at @yasawriter, and on Instagram at @author_yas.

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Here’s Gregg Hurwitz’ The Last Orphan.

Evan Smoak returns in The Last Orphan, the latest New York Times bestselling Orphan X thriller–when everything changes and everything is at risk.

As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out.

When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government’s radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers.

Until he makes one little mistake…

Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal – eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she’ll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what’s more important – his principles or his life.

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GREGG HURWITZ is the author of the New York Times bestselling Orphan X novels. Critically acclaimed, his novels have been international bestsellers, graced top ten lists, and have been published in thirty-two languages. Additionally, he’s sold scripts to many of the major studios, and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. Hurwitz lives in Los Angeles.

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Enjoy this conversation.

https://www.youtube.com/live/-zAl9E0LK2c?feature=share

February’s such a short month that The Poisoned Pen Bookstore is already heading into March programming. The current event schedule on the homepage includes the rest of the February events, and just a teaser for March. Think Walter Mosley, C.J. Box, J.T. Ellison. Check out the schedule, and then check the Webstore for books by your favorite authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the upcoming schedule.

Lexie Elliott’s Bright and Deadly Things was the January British Crime Club Book for The Poisoned Pen Bookstore. Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore, recently welcome Elliott for a virtual event. Elliott’s novel, set in the French Alps, still deals with the Oxford academics. You can order a copy through the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/5f4yz32b

Here’s the summary of Bright and Deadly Things.

A remote back-to-basics mountaintop retreat in the French Alps turns deadly as an Oxford fellow finds herself in the crosshairs of her late husband’s dangerous secrets.

The Chalet des Anglais should be the ideal locale for recently-widowed Oxford don Emily to begin cutting through the fog of her grief. With no electricity, running water, or access by car, the rustic chalet nestled at the foot of the verdant, snow-topped Alps should afford Emily both time and space to heal. Joining her will be a collection of friends from the university, as well as other fellows, graduates, and undergraduates.

Something feels off, though—heightening Emily’s existing grief-induced anxiety. Before even making it to the airport, she’s unnerved by a break-in at her home. Once at the chalet, tension amongst the guests is palpable. Her friends and colleagues are behaving oddly, and competition for a newly opened position has introduced a streak of meanness into the otherwise relaxing getaway. As hostilities grow, Emily begins to wonder if the chalet’s dark history has cast a shadow over the retreat. In the salon, a curious grandfather clock looms, the only piece of furniture to survive a deadly blaze a century ago. As its discordant bell begins to invade everyone’s dreams, someone very real has been searching through Emily’s things and attempting to hack into her computer.

When a student disappears, Emily realizes that she’d better separate friend from foe, and real from imagined—or the next disappearance may be her own.

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Lexie Elliott grew up in Scotland, at the foot of the Highlands. She graduated from Oxford University, where she obtained a doctorate in theoretical physics. A keen sportswoman, she works in fund management in London, where she lives with her husband and two sons. The rest of her time is spent writing, or thinking about writing, and juggling family life and sport.

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You can enjoy the conversation here.

https://www.youtube.com/live/UJacNq0wCxc?feature=share

Barbara Peters recently welcomed Charles Todd for a virtual event at The Poisoned Pen. Todd not only talked about the latest Bess Crawford novel, The Cliff’s Edge, but he also talked about his mother, Caroline Todd. There are signed copies of The Cliff’s Edge available through the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/2m5c889c

Here’s the description of The Cliff’s Edge.

In the aftermath of World War I, nurse Bess Crawford is caught in a deadly feud between two families in this thirteenth book in the beloved mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.

Restless and uncertain of her future in the wake of World War I, former battlefield nurse Bess Crawford agrees to travel to Yorkshire to help a friend of her cousin Melinda through surgery. But circumstances change suddenly when news of a terrible accident reaches them. Bess agrees to go to isolated Scarfdale and the Neville family, where one man has been killed and another gravely injured. The police are asking questions, and Bess is quickly drawn into the fray as two once close families take sides, even as they are forced to remain in the same house until the inquest is completed.

When another tragedy strikes, the police are ready to make an arrest. Bess struggles to keep order as tensions rise and shots are fired. What dark truth is behind these deaths? And what about the tale of an older murder—one that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the Nevilles? Bess is unaware that when she passes the story on to Cousin Melinda, she will set in motion a revelation with the potential to change the lives of those she loves most—her parents, and her dearest friend, Simon Brandon…

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Charles Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline passed away in August 2021 and Charles lives in Florida.

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You can watch the entire conversation here.

https://www.youtube.com/live/-LRFaArlZP4?feature=share

Did you see that Gregg Hurwitz’ Orphan X novel, The Last Orphan, is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen? You can order a signed copy through the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/bdrpuh2s

Here’s the description of The Last Orphan.

The Last Orphan

Evan Smoak returns in The Last Orphan, the latest New York Times bestselling Orphan X thriller–when everything changes and everything is at risk.

As a child, Evan Smoak was plucked out of a group home, raised and trained as an off-the-books assassin for the government as part of the Orphan program. When he broke with the program and went deep underground, he left with a lot of secrets in his head that the government would do anything to make sure never got out.

When he remade himself as The Nowhere Man, dedicated to helping the most desperate in their times of trouble, Evan found himself slowly back on the government’s radar. Having eliminated most of the Orphans in the program, the government will stop at nothing to eliminate the threat they see in Evan. But Orphan X has always been several steps ahead of his pursuers.

Until he makes one little mistake…

Now the President has him in her control and offers Evan a deal – eliminate a rich, powerful man she says is too dangerous to live and, in turn, she’ll let Evan survive. But when Evan left the Program he swore to only use his skills against those who really deserve it. Now he has to decide what’s more important – his principles or his life.

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GREGG HURWITZ is the author of the New York Times bestselling Orphan X novels. Critically acclaimed, his novels have been international bestsellers, graced top ten lists, and have been published in thirty-two languages. Additionally, he’s sold scripts to many of the major studios, and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. Hurwitz lives in Los Angeles

Olivia Fierro from Good Morning Arizona has a podcast, Olivia’s Book Club. She recently interviewed debut author Rachel Koller Croft, author of Stone Cold Fox. Fierro will be guest host on Thursday, March 2 at 7 PM to welcome Croft for an appearance at The Poisoned Pen. You can order a signed copy of Stone Cold Fox through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/item/wCIDqQu6pg9FLGllyG7T9w

You can get a preview of the event at the bookstore at the Olivia’s Book Club Podcast. Here was the recent link. https://tinyurl.com/3wbka6ub

Here’s the summary of Stone Cold Fox.

A perfectly wicked debut thriller about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country’s wealthiest families.

Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she’s worth and is determined to get all she deserves—it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. Filthy rich. After years of forced instruction by her mother in the art of swindling men, a now-solo Bea wants nothing more than to close and lock the door on their sordid partnership so she can disappear safely into old-money domesticity, sealing the final phase of her escape.

When Bea chooses her ultimate target in the fully loaded, thoroughly dull and blue-blooded Collin Case, she’s ready to deploy all of her tricks one last time. The challenge isn’t getting the ring, but rather the approval of Collin’s family and everyone else in their 1 percent tax bracket, particularly his childhood best friend, Gale Wallace-Leicester.

Going toe-to-toe with Gale isn’t a threat to an expert like Bea, but what begins as an amusing cat-and-mouse game quickly develops into a dangerous pursuit of the grisly truth. Finding herself at a literal life-and-death crossroads with everything on the line, Bea must finally decide who she really wants to be.

Like mother, like daughter?

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Rachel Koller Croft is an author and screenwriter in Los Angeles, where she has scripted projects for Blumhouse, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Comedy Central, among others. She lives by the beach with her husband, Charles, and their rescue pitbull, Juniper. Stone Cold Fox is her first novel.