THE PRINT EDITION OF THE NAKED EDGE IS NOW AVAILABLE!
In 2010, with e-books starting to make their mark, I decided to experiment and release a novel that would be an e-book exclusive. It’s called THE NAKED EDGE. A sequel to my 2003 novel THE PROTECTOR, it features the following character:
He calls himself Cavanaugh. No first name, and even “Cavanaugh” isn’t his actual last name. He’s a protector. If you refer to him as a bodyguard, which he regards as a synonym for a thug, you won’t like his reaction. His hatred of bullies compelled him to enlist in Special Forces. Now as a civilian, he runs Global Protective Services, the world’s best security company. His goal? To defend the helpless, to keep predators from their prey.
In the United States alone, more than 100 million people own e-reading devices of various kinds (mostly iPads, Kindles, and Nooks), so you can see why I was interested in experimenting with THE NAKED EDGE as an e-book.
Some of you contacted me to express your preference for printed books only. I have thousands of printed books and completely understand, although you might want to get used to the idea of e-books because one day that’s the only means by which you’ll be able to read an author’s backlist titles.
But that’s another topic. In response to numerous requests, I looked around for a way to release a printed version of THE NAKED EDGE. This is not as easy as it might seem. These days, a big publisher places major emphasis on e-book rights. Because THE NAKED EDGE has already been an e-book for two years, a big publisher wouldn’t be interested.
That left the possibility of a small press, but because I had already experimented with THE NAKED EDGE as an e-book, I decided to experiment further and to become my own small press, releasing the printed version of THE NAKED EDGE under my own imprint. It looks gorgeous.
This is the descriptive text on the back of the novel:
Once Cavanaugh had a boyhood best friend. They played in the woods near their homes, pretending to be soldiers surviving behind enemy lines. Grownup, they belonged to Delta Force and later worked as protectors for the world’s best security company.
Now their lives have taken drastically different paths, pitting them against each other, forcing them to play their boyhood game again, this time to learn who dies.
The survival of a great city hangs in the balance as two friends-turned-enemies hunt each other and discover that there’s a line between predators and prey, a line that’s called The Naked Edge.
From David Morrell, the father of the modern action novel, comes a gripping global thriller that explores the meaning of friendship and the naked edge between love and hate.
For THE NAKED EDGE, I’m keeping the distribution simple. You can buy printed copies from AMAZON here.
Or else, if you want signed copies, you can order them from the following two bookstores with which I’ve had a long-standing relationship. They can handle both domestic and international shipping. Just click on either name to order a copy.
MYSTERIOUS GALAXY POISONED PEN
Or you can phone them at these numbers: Poisoned Pen (480-947-2974) and Mysterious Galaxy (858-268-4747).
In the future, I plan to release printed versions of my out-of-print backlist titles the same way, along with a new collection of short stories. None of these is the sort of thing that big publishers are interested in these days, but in this brave new world for authors who want to do something different, anything is possible.
I hasten to add that MURDER AS A FINE ART will be released the traditional way. On May 7 of next year, one of the biggest publishers—Mulholland Books/Little Brown—will make my new novel available everywhere. Set in 1854 London, MURDER AS A FINE ART’s background involves a series of real-life mass murders that rivaled those of Jack the Ripper for terrorizing London and all of England.
