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Carolyn McCray Books In Order

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Publication Order of Apex Predator Books

Bullies (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Salechii (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Open Water (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Shark Station Nyet (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Churn (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Shayu Situation (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Blood in the Water (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Betrayed Books

Ambush (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
30 Pieces of Silver (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Targeted (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Havoc (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Covert (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Shiva (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Mayhem (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Betrayed: 3rd Cycle Books

Collision (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
StormFront (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Rivalry (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Heresy (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Clash (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Foretold (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Collateral (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Betrayed: Bull's Eye Sniper Chronicles Books

Caught (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Crosshairs (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Bolt Action (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
High Caliber (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Rapid Fire (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Kill Zone (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Harbinger Mystery Books

Anatomy (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Plain Jane (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Dark Lullaby (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
My Soul To Keep (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Wallflower (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Shallow Grave (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Buzz Kill (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Pallor (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Nuclear Threat Books

Rogue Spear (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Mass Destruction (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
U235 (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Critical Mass (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Radioactive (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Nuclear Winter (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Dirty Bomb (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Our Future, Our Fault Books

Neo-Jurassic (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Syns of our Father (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Cretaceous Crisis (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Natural Selection (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Mesozoic Maelstrom (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
New Avalon (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Praxis: Blood Magic Books

HeartsBlood (2010)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Blood Oath (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Blood Ties (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Deadblood (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Blood Lines (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Liveblood (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Blood letting (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Blood Oath is the prequel short story to HeartsBlood

Publication Order of Rapid Response Books

Turkmenistan Take-Down (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Insurgency (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Bangkok Blitz (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Coup (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Fukushima Fallout (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Assassination (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Antigua Attack (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Robin Hood Hacker Books

Hacked (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Encrypted (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Binary (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Cipher (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Zeroes (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Code (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Ones (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Indian Moon (2008)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Fated (2011)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
A Christmas Tail (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Mayflower Murders (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Collections

Down & Dirty (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Reader's Feast (2012)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Love is in the Air (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Don't Read After Dark (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Darc Murders Books

with Ben Hopkin
Devious (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Deceived (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
9th Circle (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
7th Sin (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Carnal (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
5th Pentagram (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Sinister (2013)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Darc Murder Mysteries: 2nd Cycle Books

with Ben Hopkin
Devolved (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
3rd Body (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Detached (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
2nd Death (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Denial (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
1st Kill (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Defeated (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Empty Crib Books

with Ben Hopkin
Child's Play (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Amber Alert (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Rock-A-Bye Requiem (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Devious (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Publication Order of Nursery Rhyme Murders Books

with Ben Hopkin
Mary, Mary Quite Contrary (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Humpty Dumpty (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Old Woman in a Shoe (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
All Fall Down (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Eenie, Meenie, Moe (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Jack & Jill (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater (2014)Hardcover  Paperback  Kindle

Carolyn McCray Biography:

If you’ve never heard of Carolyn McCray before, you’re probably not the only one. Searching for information wasn’t as simple as it is for famous celebrities like J.K Rowling or Stephanie Myers. But, for any writer, being the first name on the search engine is still a huge accomplishment to boast about. After much information-digging and many tabs on my computer screen, I was able to get a good idea of who Carolyn McCray is as a writer, and why you should definitely take the time to get to know her stories.

Paperback thriller stories on Amazon are a dime a dozen, but Carolyn McCray, born Cristyn West, actually enjoys her work, stating that she finds catching serial killers (in a novel, of course) exhilarating. There really isn’t much more to know about an author who spends their time writing stories such as Patterson-style thriller Plain Jane. And, yet, when it comes to McCray, there is.

McCray (West) prides herself in being accessible, not commercial. Commercialization is such an overused budget-waster. When you can be kind, cordial, and caring about your audience, it says more about your character. When Plain Jane was first published, McCray offered to give the book away for free to anyone on the simple condition that they would take five more copies to give to their friends, co-workers, or family members. All she asked was for an honest review and a little time out of the reader’s day to give some input and creative criticism. There is a lot to be said for an author who will take a risk like that to improve their skills.

What Kind of Writing Style Does She Use?

McCray enjoys challenging herself. She wants to shock, horrify, terrify, and surprise her audience members with the content of her books. Many times she will have an eccentric hero, or a hero who is out of the ordinary, so the reader is more interested in the story and a major paradigm shift can occur. In other words, she loves having what she likes to call a “shadow hero”. A shadow hero is a hero that the story doesn’t focus on, but who makes a huge difference in the plot of the story by making a selfless and unexpected decision, much like a character in her novel Plain Jane.

The author also believes strongly that a hero is only as strong as a villain. If you think about it, that fact can relate back to any story ever written. How good can a hero really be if they are competing with a villain that can’t even make a dent? The first example my mind grabs is of Loki going up against the Hulk in The Avengers. The famous lines are unforgettable.

“I have an army,” says the evil villain.

“We have a Hulk,” says Iron Man.

And there goes any hope the bad guy had of winning. Those four words destroy him, and it’s almost comical how quickly the movie ends from there. If McCray is addressing anything similar to that, she has made a very significant point. However, though McCray feels the villain must be a strong character, she also tries to keep him/her as much of a mystery as possible. In other words, she enjoys the idea that the reader will only see the villain through the hero’s eyes. This eliminates any possibility for sympathy-shifts in the audience to go toward the bad guy of the novel.

McCray was also encouraged to use her initials rather than her real name when it came to the author’s tagline put on her books, simply because the ‘thriller’ genre belongs mostly to the realm of men. Although she did not go through with this, she found an interesting point in the idea that customers might actually put an inviting book back on the shelf simply because a woman wrote it and not a man. A very intriguing question indeed.

What are McCray’s Least Favorite Parts of the Writing Process?

Sequels are not exactly a love of McCray’s life. She states that she has a love/hate relationship with them, and that she always tends to go back to her favorite characters without thinking about what she will be able to do with them in the future. Basically, it feels like a failed attempt to make her character follow an arc that they cannot fully accomplish again. After all, wasn’t it difficult enough to put them through it the first time around? Increasing revenue simply because the first book went well is not really McCray’s style.

Settings are also not a favorite of McCray. She enjoys every aspect of writing except for the small details when it comes to the scene that she is trying to convey to her audience. Like many other beginning writers, she finds it frustrating when readers can’t use their own imagination to come up with a setting. After all, isn’t imagination what writing is all about? Ironically, she also claims that, if readers did come up with their own ideas for the scene, she probably wouldn’t like it anyway.

What are Some of Her Earlier Works

?

McCray began the basis of her career with Plain Jane, a series about a city that becomes traumatized by a serial killer in the time. The FBI profiler on the case has recently been released from a mental hospital, and is of very little help to the authorities when it comes to the basic idea of trust. McCray saw many good reviews from her efforts, though the book never took off onto any Best Seller lists.

What’s Next for Carolyn?

If you search for Carolyn McCray’s name now (or even Cristyn West), you won’t be able to find much more than a Twitter account that hasn’t been updated in a little over a year, mostly containing information about her dogs and personal life. However, if you take the time to look at her books (which are very readily available), you should be able to get a decent insight into her writing style, ideas, and the care with which she writes her novels. Not every author reaps insane amounts of money or rewards for their writing, but it is apparent that McCray isn’t focused on the money or the commercialism involved with being an author nowadays. No, for McCray, it is simply about the basis of all novel-writing. It’s all in the story.

Book Series In Order » Authors » Carolyn McCray

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