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Final Deadline: A Political Hostage Thriller
He wanted to protect the truth. They came to silence it. And now the next edition of his newspaper may be his last.
Small-town managing editor Becket Thompson is barely holding his newsroom together. Layoffs. Budget cuts. A publisher looking for an excuse to fire him. And a woman he loves but can’t bring himself to pursue before she walks away forever.
Then three armed men storm the building.
Claiming they want “the truth” printed about their president, the gunmen issue an run their manifesto—or watch staff members die. But as the night unfolds inside the locked-down newsroom, Becket realizes the siege isn’t fueled by politics alone. The brothers leading the attack have secrets simmering beneath their rage … and one of them has a far more devastating mission that has nothing to do with headlines or ideology.
As tensions rise and loyalties fracture, Becket must uncover what the gunmen really want before they trigger a tragedy that will echo far beyond the Press’s front page. To save his team—and the woman he’s afraid to lose—he’ll have to confront his own buried fears and take the kind of action he’s always left to others.
Because the real story tonight isn’t what they print.
It’s who survives to see tomorrow’s deadline.
“An exhilarating thriller anchored by a likable hero… intriguing mystery, exciting thriller, and overall satisfying read.” —Kirkus Reviews
A semifinalist for the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Literary Awards for thrillers.
Small-town managing editor Becket Thompson is barely holding his newsroom together. Layoffs. Budget cuts. A publisher looking for an excuse to fire him. And a woman he loves but can’t bring himself to pursue before she walks away forever.
Then three armed men storm the building.
Claiming they want “the truth” printed about their president, the gunmen issue an run their manifesto—or watch staff members die. But as the night unfolds inside the locked-down newsroom, Becket realizes the siege isn’t fueled by politics alone. The brothers leading the attack have secrets simmering beneath their rage … and one of them has a far more devastating mission that has nothing to do with headlines or ideology.
As tensions rise and loyalties fracture, Becket must uncover what the gunmen really want before they trigger a tragedy that will echo far beyond the Press’s front page. To save his team—and the woman he’s afraid to lose—he’ll have to confront his own buried fears and take the kind of action he’s always left to others.
Because the real story tonight isn’t what they print.
It’s who survives to see tomorrow’s deadline.
“An exhilarating thriller anchored by a likable hero… intriguing mystery, exciting thriller, and overall satisfying read.” —Kirkus Reviews
A semifinalist for the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm Literary Awards for thrillers.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 30, 2024
7 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Derek Catron
10 books16 followers“You should write a book,” my wife told me.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“If I write a book, you’ll leave me.” I delivered this like a punchline, but with a day job as a newspaper editor, I could see how the early morning and weekend hours the task demanded might leave Lori feeling like a book widow. Conjuring scenes of roiling conflict is one of the things that won her belief in me.
“At least you’ll have a book.” A smile reassured me she was joking, so long as I did what she’d asked. Smart husbands know to identify these smiles.
The rest, I like to say, is historical fiction—and modern thrillers, suspense stories, and anything else I can dream up.
Some years and books later, I still write with the regularity of sleeping and eating. Being an author has defined me, the way marriage and parenthood change your identity forever. Like those roles, being a storyteller is its own reward. Writing historical fiction, my thoughts subsumed into another time and place, is the closest I’ve come to realizing a childhood dream of time travel. And inhabiting a character’s point of view can feel like cheating death by living as many lives as you can imagine.
The search for inspiration and the need to research settings provides another perk if you enjoy travel. Lori and I were married in Italy. Rather than pay to mail the wedding garb back to our home in Florida, we sported tux and dress on a villa patio overlooking the Bay of Naples, in a horse carriage in Florence, and a gondola in Venice. The site of the legal ceremony remains a closely guarded family secret.
Book trips are rarely so glamorous. They generally entail long hikes offset by longer visits to the local history sections of public libraries. A thousand-mile journey along the Oregon and Bozeman trails included a night of camping in a wilderness area where we were warned to stay on the trails to avoid rattlesnakes. To repay Lori for that one, I’ve promised to set a future book in the Greek islands.
Writing’s greatest reward, though, is reader feedback. You swell with a parent’s pride when the likes of Booklist and Kirkus describe your creation as “a timeless tale of love and adventure” or “dramatically gripping” and “page-turner.”
Even better is hearing from new readers. It feels like the connection you make after pouring your soul out to a new acquaintance, risking ridicule or apathy only to find you’ve bonded in a way that could produce a lifelong friendship.
Books do that in a way other art forms can’t match. Our stories are journeys of discovery to which you’ve been invited: to join the hero in piecing together clues, squirm at the scary parts, cheer for the triumphs, or give witness to budding love.
I hope you’ll join me in one of my adventures. And let me know what you think. You can learn more at www.derekcatron.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/derek.catron.author.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“If I write a book, you’ll leave me.” I delivered this like a punchline, but with a day job as a newspaper editor, I could see how the early morning and weekend hours the task demanded might leave Lori feeling like a book widow. Conjuring scenes of roiling conflict is one of the things that won her belief in me.
“At least you’ll have a book.” A smile reassured me she was joking, so long as I did what she’d asked. Smart husbands know to identify these smiles.
The rest, I like to say, is historical fiction—and modern thrillers, suspense stories, and anything else I can dream up.
Some years and books later, I still write with the regularity of sleeping and eating. Being an author has defined me, the way marriage and parenthood change your identity forever. Like those roles, being a storyteller is its own reward. Writing historical fiction, my thoughts subsumed into another time and place, is the closest I’ve come to realizing a childhood dream of time travel. And inhabiting a character’s point of view can feel like cheating death by living as many lives as you can imagine.
The search for inspiration and the need to research settings provides another perk if you enjoy travel. Lori and I were married in Italy. Rather than pay to mail the wedding garb back to our home in Florida, we sported tux and dress on a villa patio overlooking the Bay of Naples, in a horse carriage in Florence, and a gondola in Venice. The site of the legal ceremony remains a closely guarded family secret.
Book trips are rarely so glamorous. They generally entail long hikes offset by longer visits to the local history sections of public libraries. A thousand-mile journey along the Oregon and Bozeman trails included a night of camping in a wilderness area where we were warned to stay on the trails to avoid rattlesnakes. To repay Lori for that one, I’ve promised to set a future book in the Greek islands.
Writing’s greatest reward, though, is reader feedback. You swell with a parent’s pride when the likes of Booklist and Kirkus describe your creation as “a timeless tale of love and adventure” or “dramatically gripping” and “page-turner.”
Even better is hearing from new readers. It feels like the connection you make after pouring your soul out to a new acquaintance, risking ridicule or apathy only to find you’ve bonded in a way that could produce a lifelong friendship.
Books do that in a way other art forms can’t match. Our stories are journeys of discovery to which you’ve been invited: to join the hero in piecing together clues, squirm at the scary parts, cheer for the triumphs, or give witness to budding love.
I hope you’ll join me in one of my adventures. And let me know what you think. You can learn more at www.derekcatron.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/derek.catron.author.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 19, 2025
With a title like "The Final Deadline," you would expect Derek Catron's book to be a suspense-filled thriller. And it is. But it's so much more than that. There's definitely drama and tension throughout, but the book is also stuffed full of insights on corporate America, and particularly the state of journalism in corporate America, that are worth pondering after you've finished the last page. Using different points of view, Derek gives readers important insights into the major characters' lives. As a result, the villains seem more human and less cartoonish. The story may also make readers ask themselves just how brave they could be in life-and-death situations. Whether you love newspapers or can't figure out why they still exist, this book has something to offer you.
January 9, 2025
The author is trying to make a point, but I could not figure out exactly which side he was on. He seemed very liberal and then conservative. I would love it if he were somewhere in the middle, but I was mystified. It was an okay story. I seem to understand books when I read them in paper book formats, not on an e-reader.
November 14, 2024
Although I don't agree with most of his political slants in this book, it is still a good read. I enjoyed all of Derek's previous works so was really looking forward to this. It doesn't disappoint.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews