Thrilling Tales Hub

I have some fantastic news: The Forbidden Strain has been named a 2026 Silver Falchion Award Finalist for Best Thriller by Killer Nashville.

Wow—that sentence still feels pretty good to type.

This book started with a murder in Santa Fe, a secret buried beneath northern New Mexico, and one very bad idea about rewriting the human race. From there, my detectives Hernandez and Shaw were pulled into Red Mesa Biotech, where the science was dangerous, the people were worse, and almost nobody was telling the truth.

A murder, a secret biolab, a government cover-up, missing gold, and a discovery people were willing to kill for—basically, a relaxing weekend read.

I’m proud of this book, thrilled to see it recognized, and deeply grateful to everyone who has read it. Independent books live or die by word of mouth, and I appreciate your support.

The winner will be announced at Killer Nashville in August. Until then, I’m going to enjoy this one.

And perhaps make a little noise about it.

Haven’t entered Red Mesa yet?

Thank you for being part of the journey—and for following me into the dark places.