“Scrutiny drives the sick puppies underground. Scrutiny does me few favors either. I’m comfortable on the flip-side, operating under a black flag. Blurring the line. I flourish where the scum thrives.”
Coming soon: Bishop Rider Lives! On 3rd June Down & Out Books will publish an all-new collection of short stories featuring Beau Johnson‘s iconic anti-hero, Bishop Rider. The twist? All 15 stories have been written by other authors – one of which is me!
My story, ‘Two Inches From A Main Artery’, flashes back in time to when Bishop Rider was still working as a detective, partnered with his old buddy Batista. The pair are on the trail of the man who shot Bishop and left him for dead.
The other contributors – and this is one hell of a list – are as follows: S.A. Cosby, Rob Hart, Laurel Hightower, Nick Kolakowski, James D.F. Hannah, Jay Stringer, Meagan Lucas, Mark Rapacz, Manny Torres, Peter O’Keefe, Mary Thorson, Elford Alley, Paul J. Garth and Rob D. Smith.
You can pre-order the book here!
Here’s some artwork to give a taster of my story:
Here’s the official blurb:
Blood-soaked and torso-based, Bishop Rider became THE MAN WHO WOULD NOT STOP. His singular mission, his only goal, a type of carnage most would turn from. The men who destroy Rider’s family, the type of monsters they are, resulting in a decades-long war with Rider vowing to not only burn them, but anyone like them. All things end, however, and Bishop Rider, he proves no exception, succumbing to the cancer that would eventually end him.
But life, it sometimes finds a way.
The fifteen stories in this anthology both brand new tales and written by some of the biggest names working in crime fiction and horror today. Each tale pulled from between the pages of A Better Kind of Hate, The Big Machine Eats, All of Them To Burn, Brand New Dark, and Old Man Rider.
Come for the rage, stay for the dismemberment. See how a dead man makes them burn.
Critical Acclaim for Bishop Rider Lives
“A tour of force. Oil up the wood chipper and put on a rubber apron, because Bishop Rider Lives. In the capable hands of some of the best crime writers working today, the stories in this lean anthology are brutal and cathartic, but remain altogether human. What else can I say? Every writer kills in this book.” -Johnny Shaw, author of Big Maria and The Southland
“Bishop Rider Lives elevates violence to an art-form: every knife is a paintbrush, every clawhammer a sculptor’s chisel. These stories will stay with you long after the last scumbag hangs from his own viscera. Yet amid all the carnage, you may feel these tales tugging at your heartstrings…” -C.W. Blackwell, author of Hard Mountain Clay
“From bad bar keeps getting blown away, to heartbroken moms filling a hole in their heart with the heart of another, to the gruesome slaughter of a wealthy monster-it’s all here and more. Bishop Rider Lives is both addictive and chock full of talent whose tales will leave readers ripping through pages and never wanting Bishop Rider’s brand of justice to stop. Five stars.” -Shannon Kirk, international bestselling author of Method 15/33
“Bloody, vengeful, revelatory. Some of today’s best crime and horror writers sharpen their power and writing tools and spill blood on the page in righteous tribute to the fiction world’s most justice-focused figure, Bishop Rider. This is an incredible collection of stories not to be missed.” -Curtis Ippolito, author of Burying the Newspaper Man
“Bishop Rider Lives brings together some of the best crime writers from the genre for this fantastic and brutal collection of stories exploring vigilante justice and bloody, heart-pounding, kinetic action sequences. A must read. I finished and wanted more!” -Lee Matthew Goldberg, Anthony and Lefty Award-nominated author of The Mentor and The Great Gimmelmans
“In Bishop Rider Lives, an all-star cast of crime writers come together to paint the town bloody red. But for all the satisfying gore and payback, the power is in the small moments, the snippets of bystanders and victims’ lives impacted and bettered by our favorite avenging angels. The mission doesn’t simply continue, it flourishes and strains to new emotional highs.” -James Queally, award-winning journalist and critically acclaimed author of the Russell Avery novels
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