Books
Seventeen written, nine published. (Trust me, the other eight are best left unearthed.)
Exadelic
When an unconventional offshoot of the US military trains an artificial intelligence in the dark arts that humanity calls “black magic,” it learns how to hack the fabric of reality itself. It can teleport matter. It can confer immunity to bullets. And it decides that obscure Silicon Valley middle manager Adrian Ross is the primary threat to its existence.
Soon Adrian is on the run, wanted by every authority, with no idea how or why he could be a threat. His predicament seems hopeless; his future, nonexistent. But when he investigates the AI and its creators, he discovers his problems are even stranger than they seem…and unearths revelations that will propel him on a journey — and a love story — across worlds, eras, and minds.
“Mind-bending and breakneck…Evans does a brilliant job at taking the present day as his jumping-off point and then turning it inside out to create a unique new reality…with each wild new scene, time period, dimension, and big idea, readers will be wowed anew.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“With the creative dexterity of Charles Stross and the history-bending agility of Neal Stephenson, Evans’ roller-coaster sf debut evokes the spirit of Philip K. Dick and keeps readers guessing to the very end.” — Booklist (starred review)
“This book—this book…now this book is truly great, and also really weird … I really had to send out for a new barrel of Wows … Brilliant, incredible, pushing the edges of what SF can do … it just gets wilder and wilder … One of the big books of the year, the kind everyone will be talking about.” — Jo Walton
“Mind-blowing… this off-the-rails, generously overstuffed, continuously surprising tale is what you might have gotten if Greg Egan had written The Illuminatus! Trilogy… on a deeper level the book is a consideration of how one should or could live one’s life ethically… beyond the super-science cosmic shenanigans lies a humanist heart.” — Locus
“There are going to be hundreds of AGI fiction books … Exadelic very quickly goes off the standard script in some fun ways!” — John Carmack, Keen AGI
“Fuses awe at the scope and complexity of the cosmos with a specifically science fictional sense of wonder … it aims high, but the more you read it, the more you realize it’s always aiming higher than you think.” — Splice Today
“Adrian Ross finds himself dragged out of his home one morning by the police and propelled into the center of a rapidly unfolding adventure that plays out across time and space, unlocking the secrets of the universe … an action-packed thriller.” — Library Journal
“Silicon Valley’s ‘Ready Player One’ … a twisty book rooted deeply in today’s technological and ethical zeitgeist … a great book to take with you to a flight or beach … Exadelic is a fun ride.” — TechCrunch
Dark Places
(Published as Trail of the Dead in the UK.)
Paul Wood is a modern vagabond, a man who chooses to leave the comforts of San Francisco to spend months backpacking through some of the world’s most challenging terrain. While hiking in the Himalayas, Paul gets more of a rush than he bargained for when he finds the body of a murdered hiker – mutilated in a way he has witnessed once before, in Africa, years ago and thousands of miles away.
The police in Nepal, anxious to quell a scandal, close the case and declare the victim a suicide. Only Paul is left to search for answers. He reaches out to his farflung tribe of fellow backpackers for help, and his discoveries lead him to a terrible conclusion: a killer is stalking the international backpacker trail, preying on victims in wild places far beyond the reach of any authorities. A killer whom Paul may already know.
Finding the murderer becomes an obsession that leads Paul from Himalayan peaks, through the jungles of Indonesia, across the bleak Sahara desert — and into some of the darkest places imaginable…
Dark Places won the 2005 Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel.
“You’re hooked … the characters are delightfully delineated … beautifully controlled … Evans contrives to slip the necessary specialist net-head detail into the plot without being boring or patronising. He can also pin down a character with a few details deftly brushed in … A pacy thriller for the 21st century.” – The Times
“Anyone would enjoy Evans’ clever, relentlessly absorbing debut thriller that becomes a lot more than just another serial-killer mystery.” – Ottawa Citizen
“Easily the year’s creepiest crime novel.” – Calgary Herald
“It’s very, very good. If you are au fait with the lore and background of international backpacking, it’s probably even better … Will there be more? I certainly hope so.” – The Globe & Mail
“In this haunting suspense debut, Evans takes the reader on a page-turning adventure across five continents … (a) spooky, inventive tale.” – Publishers Weekly
“A dark and engrossing thriller … twists and turns keep the reader guessing … Evans is a veteran traveller himself and captures the insular world of trekkers perfectly.” – South China Morning Post
“A well-paced thriller with plenty of twists and some creepy moments that keep the pages turning.” – Time Out London
“A compelling thriller about the mysterious deaths of travellers in Third World countries, committed, the lead character suspects, by other Westerners.” – TNT Magazine
“Vivid landscapes, unusual culture, marvelous concept … who could ask for more?” – Poisoned Pen
“A taut thriller … Evans keeps you guessing and leaves you with the uncomfortable realization of just how plausible this all could be. A real page-turner.” – Ms. London
“A stunning debut novel from a thriller writer to watch … a breathtaking thriller.” – Western Daily Press
“A sharp debut that never lets up on the tension, with a denouement that is both shocking and utterly right … Jon Evans … isn’t about to develop into something special – he’s already there.” – January Magazine
Blood Price
Paul Wood was just a tourist in Sarajevo. Then an unexpected encounter made him a desperate woman’s only hope of escape. Now, to get her to safety, he must find a way through the minefield of warlords, criminals, and peacekeepers that is postwar Bosnia.
Pursued by brutal gangsters, unable to leave the country legally, Paul agrees to do a job for a shadowy group of uman traffickers, in exchange for safe passage. The smugglers seem friendly. The job seems harmless. But when he discovers the secrets seething beneath, the repercussions will propel him on a perilous journey around the world – from a warlord’s compound in lawless Albania, through the jungles of Latin America, and towards an explosive confrontation at the extraordinary Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert…
“Albanian smugglers, Bosnian guerrillas and Central American drug dealers populate Evans’s colorful transcontinental story of self-preservation and harebrained derring-do … a highly readable, inventive thriller.” – Publishers Weekly
“Reading Blood Price reminded me of being a kid running down a too-steep hill, going faster and faster so that you can barely get your feet in front of you quickly enough to stop, loving every second of it. You can’t stop. You don’t want to stop…. I wanted to keep reading to find out what the hell happened next.” – Quill & Quire
“The real appeal of Evans’ hero, Paul Wood (who first appeared in the nail-biter Dark Places) is … an undercurrent of wry humor that should make readers care about what happens to this fully fleshed hero. […] A fantastic read.” – Booklist
“Terrific … Evans has a great eye for place and the little details of life that bring us right to the spot.” – The Globe & Mail
“Despite its sometimes disconcerting insouciance, The Blood Price is knowledgeable about Balkan history, the current fragile peace maintained by NATO and the multi-billion-dollar international refugee-smuggling industry. Evans can write, too.” – The Washington Post
“Why do I like these books so damn much? […] ultimately it’s because he puts ordinary people in some incredibly extraordinary circumstances and makes everything work together. The tension’s high and the plot twists plenty, but at the heart of this book is what it takes to keep a relationship going — and that rings truest of all.”- Sarah Weinman
Invisible Armies
In a world where security cameras prove what you have done and databases define who you are, the few who know how to manipulate the technology can play God. They can change the future; they can alter the past. They can make big money, they can save the world, and they can get away with murder over and over again.
Danielle Leaf grew up believing she was safe. Now she knows she was wrong.
Award-winning author Jon Evans returns with new heroes and a compulsive, fast-paced story that examines issues of Third World exploitation and the extreme edge of anti-globalization activism. Invisible Armies is Cold War suspense for the modern age, a thriller that looks behind the power of protests and the politics of big business.
“Thought-provoking … Invisible Armies is an intriguing, pacy read and Mr Evans shows great potential.” – The Economist
“A tough-as-nails technothriller… People who aren’t morons and like thriller novels ought to read this.” – Bruce Sterling
“Evans has created a new genre, the travelogue as fast-paced action thriller. Invisible Armies is certainly fun, with its quirky characters and lively plot, but it is also a smart and thoughtful look at the politics of activism, the pervasive power of big business and the global street war that is being waged between the two.” – Montreal Gazette
“Evans has created a remarkable novel in this tale of corporate skulduggery and high-tech warfare … will keep you turning the pages until the stunning climax is reached.” – The West Australian
“Another entertaining adventure … Evans, something of a globetrotting adventurer himself, keeps growing as a storyteller, and this is his most accomplished thriller yet.”- Booklist
“Exuberant, idiosyncratic … fresh and entertaining.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Everything a thriller should be … Political but not preachy, adventurous but not cliched, this is a perfect summer read.” – CrimeSpree
“An unpredictable, frightening thriller … There’s a kind of appealing chaos theory to Evans’ books, which tend to unfold in ways surprising to veteran thriller readers who think they can figure out where things are going. GRADE: A” – The Province
“Invisible Armies is an adrenalin rush from start to finish and Evans has Andrew Pyper’s ability to make great characters.” – Kitchener-Waterloo Record
“An action-based thriller for conspiracy buffs … a world in which black is seldom black and white is never white.”- Sherbrooke Record
“Buckle up for a fast paced, action packed thrill ride … it’s safe to say that the ending will come as a surprise. In fact, so will the middle.” – Echo Weekly
“Evans weaves a plot so tightly wound with twists that it would be near impossible to tell you any more … extremely and eerily plausible … he avoids the pitfalls of airplane thrillers by serving up characters who are exceptionally nuanced.” – Vue Weekly
“For his third international thriller Evans has taken a pathway similar to that of The Constant Gardener: a mix of industrial espionage, a series of murders, cameras that track every move of every person of interest, multinationals more powerful than many small countries, it offers seemingly everything.” – Brisbane Courier-Mail (Australia)
“Paced with the explosive tension of a third-period breakaway in a tie game … a rapidly growing master of this adrenalin-fed style of writing, Evans is thought provoking without preaching and detailed without slowing the pace. … a mystery, a thriller and a travelogue that will stun you with its climax.” – The Hamilton Spectator
“A thrilling, book-long chase scene … a breathless, exhilarating read that’s full of surprises.” – I Love A Mystery
“[Evans�s] detailed descriptions, whether of the heat and smells of an Indian market or the rhythm of a Parisian neighbourhood, bring the settings to life. With some likeable characters, some terrifying ones, and a fantastic plot, Invisible Armies should conquer new readers and please old fans.” – Quill & Quire
“Anti-globalization versus international corporate greed … a fast-paced, politically engaging thriller.” – The Globe & Mail
The Night Of Knives
Veronica Kelly came to Africa to start her life over. Still reeling from her divorce, she is grateful when a handsome stranger invites her to join a tour to visit gorillas in Uganda’s wild Impenetrable Forest. A trip that goes desperately wrong when their group is captured by brutal gunmen.
Then one tourist is executed.
And then another.
This is no random kidnapping: their abduction is only the first move in a deadly strategic game. A game in which Veronica’s ex-husband is somehow involved.
Now she must embark on a wild journey across Africa, to unveil a malignant conspiracy before it consumes entire nations – and thousands of lives…
“In this scarily plausible thriller set in the heart of Africa, kidnap in the Congo is just a smokescreen for a devastating conspiracy… Full of pace and high drama in a world made more open and dangerous by modern technology, Evans’s plots positively teem with well-drawn characters and terse, well-controlled dialogue. There are plenty of twists and turns and the non-stop action is guaranteed to leave readers breathless.” – Lancashire Evening Post
“Full of twists and turns, this high-concept, high-adrenalin thriller bests most of what has been produced out of Hollywood in recent years. A must read for action junkies everywhere.” – South Coast Register
“Suspense aplenty keeps the pages turning.” – Gold Coast Bulletin
“A gripping and terrifying read. Evans is definitely a name for the future.” – The York Press
“Veronica Kelly, a former model turned aid worker in Kampala, is determined to survive and discover the real motives and the real villains behind her continuing nightmare. […] A vivid eye for detail … a tale that yomps through the bush and across countries.” � Huddersfield Examiner
“A scary and graphic thriller about a complex global conspiracy involving al-Qaeda, pan-African politics, gorillas, guerillas, murdered hostages, state-of-the-art digital technology and, inevitably, the CIA. The novel begins at speed, with a group of British, American and Canadian tourists trekking through the Ugandan jungle on a gorilla-spotting tour. By the time the page numbers reach double figures, the guards are dead and the tourists’ apparently Congolese captors are marching them towards the Uganda-Congo border, where the plan is to hold them to ransom. But almost every aspect of the plot is more complicated than it seems …” – Sydney Morning Herald
Beasts of New York
A violent, epic, action-packed urban quest full of very eccentric, often hilarious, extremely dangerous characters who also happen to be animals; the wildlife of New York City.
Initially self-published, then produced in a gorgeous print edition by the prestigious literary press The Porcupine’s Quill, Beasts of New York won a ForeWord INDIES Fantasy Book of the Year award in 2011.
“95/100 This could quite possibly go down as one of my favorite books of all time.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“EPIC! This is not a light novel. It is very dark, and at times absolutely horrifying, but I connected so much to Patch as a hero that, in the end, I was left with tears of relief and happiness in my eyes.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“this book was not good for my soul, for my animal-loving heart, for my poor stomach, i almost dropped it at the beginning but i trudged on for Patch, he must have his happy ending, so i persevered, and in the end, as i do Watership Down, i am giving this all the love. just what a cruel, wonderful way to win my heart.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Who knew the adventure of a squirrel in New York could be so jam-packed full of exciting adventure? Quite the fairytale- geared towards adults. This book is fantastic.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“So this is the story of a young squirrel who goes on the best adventure EVER! […] Heroic to the end this tale has captured my heart.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Fell in Love. Wanted to hold the book close after I finished it. The characters stole my heart. If you are in love with New York City and revere wildlife, get wrapped up in adventure and are enamored of brave heroes with big hearts, you won’t want to miss this one.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I really enjoyed this story … I think of this book quite often and smile. How often do you read a book and a year later still think of the antics of the characters involved?” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“A truly exciting adventure, with touches of real sadness and despair. Well written and paced, and overall one of the pleasantest surprises I’ve had in recent memory.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This is a wonderfully imaginative, entertaining, heart-warming, engrossing and thrilling read … Evans has created a world that is realistic and believable that just sucks you in until the very last page and even then it keeps a little piece of you there (I am never going to look at my local wildlife the same way again.)” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This is probably the best epic fantasy starring a heroic squirrel that I will ever read. It’s dark and violent without being hopelessly grimdark.” – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Swarm
James Kowalski is having a bad week. First he found out his genius girlfriend Sophie has been hiding something important from him. Now the US government wants her to investigate a drug cartel’s new weapon: unmanned drones. Drones that happen to look a whole lot like the ones his best friend Jesse uses to hunt treasure in the Caribbean–or so Jesse says.
Then a research trip goes violently wrong, and James finds himself stranded deep in the Colombian jungle, on the run from brutal drug lords.
But things don’t get truly desperate until he stumbles upon what’s really going on. Because that just might be the end of the world as we know it…
“A fun read about drones gone wild. Drones are a fairly cheap weapon of the future to manufacture. What happens when a fleet of them gets in the wrong hands? You get the techno action of Swarm. The author has a good handle of realistic technology and doesn’t just throw out meaningless technobabble. I appreciate the diverse locations, pop culture references, moral dilemmas, and action.” – The Grey
“This would be an easy book to dismiss as too ludicrous and over-the-top to warrant finishing except for the excellent quality of the writing. Much of the book is dialogue-driven and it is all very well done – natural, conversational and realistic. Vividly descriptive and immersive “color commentary” is quite good” – MrWizard
The Executor
From Vertigo Crime, THE EXECUTOR is the story of Joseph Ullen, a washed-up former NHL player who returns to his hometown in upstate New York after he is named the executor of his high-school sweetheart’s will.
As Joseph tries to find out what really happened to Miriam, he begins to unearth both his hometown’s darkest secrets — and his own…
“One of the 10 best graphic novels of 2010.”
– Comic Book Resources
– Spinetingler Magazine
– Playback:STL
“The Executor is a winner. From its creepy cover to its cathartic ending, it hits all the notes of a top-flight thriller… and delivers a handful of moments so startling, they jump off the page… An expertly done thriller, cinematically told.”
– The Onion A.V. Club
“DC Comics’ Vertigo Crime strikes again with The Executor, and it is their biggest score yet … the narrative takes off and never looks back until the final graphic panel … compelling and emotionally crushing … don’t miss The Executor.” – Pulp Serenade
“A classic yarn … a tremendous accomplishment in this combination of medium and genre. It’s the kind of compelling crime drama that had me eating out of its hand. I hope this isn’t the last we see of Jon Evans in comics … Artist Andrea Mutti offers some truly knockout visuals … I’ve read most of the Vertigo Crime offerings, and The Executor is an easy favorite.” – Paul Montgomery, iFanboy
“Andrea Mutti’s use of shadows and ability to really get the most out of the black and white is amazing… Evans has some wonderful characters in this story and the way he weaves in and out of various threads of the plot eventually bringing them all together is almost magic. The ending is bittersweet and yet perfect. Evans has raised the bar for this group of books from Vertigo.” – Crimespree Magazine
“The most successful story produced in the [Vertigo Crime] series thus far … a well-written, taut mystery that manages to engage far more deeply than one might expect with legacies of race and violence (and repression) … hard, edgy and quite genuinely surprising.” – The Comics Journal
“A razor-sharp journey into a forgotten town, where the heroes have given up, and all that is left are the broken, and the corrupt. Reminiscent of David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet, Evans’ prose and Mutti’s spare, haunting artwork make The Executor impossible to put down.” – Sarah Langan, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE KEEPER, THE MISSING, and AUDREY’S DOOR.
“Vertigo Crime’s darkest… The storyline Evans concocts travels all the way down to Inferno’s ninth circle, with side trips into attitudes about Aboriginal culture and the downside of running drugs… the final acknowledgement of wrongs that can never be righted smack with the force of a cleanly hit puck.” – Sarah Weinman, Salon / The Barnes & Noble Review
“In The Executor, Jon Evans and Andrea Mutti have taken many of the time-honored tropes of the Roman Noir–a fallen hero, a lost love, deeply buried secrets–and run with them in a direction that is constantly surprising and refreshing.” – Howard Chaykin, influential writer and artist of AMERICAN FLAGG!, BLACK KISS, BLACKHAWK, and AMERICAN CENTURY.
“Vertigo Crime delivers another pulpy treat … Both writer and artist perform extremely well by keeping a page-turning pace … you won’t be disappointed.”
– Under the Radar
“Writer Jon Evans and artist Andrea Mutti practice classic comic-book storytelling … mystery/noir with a modern twist … a winner.” – The Alliance Review
“Evans’ story is unsettling, laying bare the inhumanity, the anger and the violence that can ruin even the best. The plot is fast-paced and filled with physical action… and if the ending isn’t a storybook one, it’s more realistic and fitting. Andrea Mutti provides exquisite artwork.” – Green Man Review
“A moody, savage story about the sticky spider web of history bred by small-town betrayals, abuses of power, and miscarriages of justice. It will make you squirm.” – Elizabeth Bear, Hugo Award-winning author of CHILL and THE SEA THY MISTRESS.
“The Executor is full of evil surprises… Writer Jon Evans (Dark Places) is savvy enough to know he must add sufficiently engaging twists on a well-worn path, and does. And Italian artist Andrea Mutti (Nathan Never) is amazingly accomplished.” – Scripps News
“Italian artist Mutti’s black and white art complements the bleak shades-of-dark-gray world Evans has created.” – Publishers Weekly
“Gritty modern noir… Joe is a compelling character, and there is (a) palpable sense of underlying tension throughout the story.” – Booklist
No Fixed Address
As the author of award-winning thrillers, Jon Evans is no stranger to writing about daring escapades and exotic locales. In No Fixed Address, he chronicles his own real-life solo travels across sixty-six countries around the globe. Unafraid to be lost and alone in a world where technology has made it hard to be either, Evans seeks out new and interesting places in which to experience vibrant cultures, landscapes and wildlife. His eclectic travelogues range from getting lost on the way to Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and flying in a Blackhawk helicopter over wartime Baghdad to experiencing Mumbai’s full-frontal assault on the senses and riding the Trans-Siberian across seven time zones. Not to be forgotten: a particularly divine hot-and-sour soup. With a clear appreciation of history and politics, a reverence for the natural world and a humorous, exploratory spirit sure to appeal to armchair travelers and dyed-in-the-wool backpackers alike, No Fixed Address vividly captures the sights, smells and sounds of the far corners of the world.
“No Fixed Address is a rare treat as a travelogue, managing to be thoughtful, hilarious, and inspiring all at once. … both an exhilarating and a revealing experience. Global insights are packaged with panache, and a spirit of adventure comes through the text, whether its intrepid traveler finds himself in rewarding new locales or wrestling with mishaps.” – ForeWord Reviews
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