Dave Zeltserman Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Bill Shannon Books
Publication Order of Badass Gets Out of Jail Books
Small Crimes | (2008) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Pariah | (2009) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Killer | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Julius Katz Detective Books
Julius Katz and Archie | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
More Julius Katz and Archie | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Detectives and Spies | (2023) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Fast Lane | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Outsourced | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Caretaker of Lorne Field | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Blood Crimes | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Killer's Essence | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Monster | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Interloper | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Boy Who Killed Demons | (2014) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Husk | (2018) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Tenth Wish | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Everybody Lies In Hell | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
Julius Katz | (2009) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Hostage Situation | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Mind Prison | (2013) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Archie On Loan | (2016) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Brother’s Keeper | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Julius Katz and the Two Cousins (in Ellery Queen) | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
Publication Order of Guns + Tacos Books
Tacos de Cazuela con Smith & Wesson | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Three Brisket Tacos and a Sig Sauer | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Gyro and a Glock | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Three Chalupas, Rice, Soda…and a Kimber .45 | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Some Churros and El Burro | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Beretta, Burritos and Bears | (2019) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Burritos & Bullets | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Jalapeño Poppers and a Flare Gun | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Four Shrimp Tacos and a Walther P38 | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Taco, A T-Bird, A Beretta and One Furious Night | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Sopa and a Streetsweeper | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dos Tacos Guatemaltecos y Una Pistola Casera | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Two More Tacos, a Beretta .32, and a Pink Butterfly | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Two Tamales, One Tokarev, and a Lifetime of Broken Promises | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Chimichangas and a Couple of Glocks | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Refried Beans and a Snub-Nosed .44 | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Two Steak Taco Combos and a Pair of Sig Sauers | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Smith & Wesson with a Side of Chorizo | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Two Tofu Tacos, a Taurus TX22, a Taycan, and a Ton of Trouble | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Two Black Bean and Shrimp Quesadillas, and a Pink Ruger LCP | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
A Handful of Chicles and a Custom Nine | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Two Shrimp Tacos and a .22 Ruger | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Nachos, a Stun Gun, and a Wedding Ring | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
No Food, No Drink, Just the Gun | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Publication Order of Anthologies
Strange Bedfellows | (2004) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dark Passions | (2007) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Discount Noir | (2010) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Intrigue | (2011) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Beat to a Pulp: Round 2 | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Writing Crime Fiction | (2012) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Borderland Noir | (2015) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
The Misadventures of Nero Wolfe | (2020) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Julius Katz and the Two Cousins (in Ellery Queen) | (2021) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Guns + Tacos Vol. 5 | (2022) | Hardcover Paperback Kindle |
Dave Zeltserman is American bestselling and award-winning author of horror, crime, and mystery & thrillers novels. In 2010, the author won a Derringer and Shamus awards for his novelette, Julius Katz. Zeltserman also writes Morris Brick thriller novels under the pen name Jacob Stone.
Zeltserman debut novel in Badass Gets Out of Jail series; Small Crimes was adapted into a Netflix film featuring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. The author has also published other book series including Bill Shannon series which debuted in 2007 and Julius Katz series in 2011.
Bad Thoughts
Bad Thoughts is the debut novel in Bill Shannon series by Dave Zeltserman. The lead character is Bill Shannon a police officer in Boston suburb who has been trying to deal with his childhood trauma for over 20 years. At the age of 13, Shannon arrived home from school only to find a lunatic torturing and murdering his mother. Shannon reacted and killed the psycho but has since been haunted by the memories ever since.
As an adult, Shannon suffers from alcohol initiated blackouts and now a there is a serial killer killing women in Boston, and Shannon gets too deeply involved in the case.
Bad Thoughts is the type of novel that should be both experienced and also appreciated with very minimal advance knowledge as possible. The author makes it clear to the readers, cops, and even Bill Shannon himself that Shannon might be the new serial killer on the loose. However, Zeltserman cuts off this speculation in the novel early enough by revealing to the reader what’s going on- this does not spoil the story even the revelation of paranormal elements that play a role in the story itself.
However, as soon as the author gives away the solution to these killings (in the first few pages of the novel), the story itself becomes more interesting as violence escalates to its peak.
As you might have guessed right from the start of this review, Bad Thoughts is not just another story for everyone. The level of violence in the story itself is exceptionally high featuring some scenes of torture porn and gruesome imagery that may entirely satisfy or disgust depending on the reader’s sensitivity.
Additionally, the novel requires the reader willing to accept paranormal events and vast suspension of disbelief into a tough cop story.
Dave Zeltserman specialization is in hardboiled crime stories, and you’ll discover that he’s more at home in scenes that deal with Shannon and his fellow police officers. Despite this, the paranormal sequences in the book are perfectly crafted as the author gives detailed instructions on the same.
Additionally, the author has created some beautiful characters in the story. One of the notable characters is Shannon, the man who isn’t sure of his actions or what he is capable of doing in most of the book. However, it’s clear from the word go that he is severely damaged emotionally but his struggles to figure out who he is and the monster he becomes in his blackouts is almost as impressive as the efforts to solve the ever-rising string of murders.
Some readers might argue that the author could have got rid of all the paranormal elements in the novel and be left with an intriguing cop/serial killer thriller. However, Zeltserman is more ambitious here, and the result of incorporating the paranormal events in the story results in an exciting thriller that transcends its genre. While Bad Thoughts is not a story for everyone, but for the readers who appreciate the offbeat and have a thirst for graphic violence.
Bad Karma
In the first novel in the Bill Shannon series, the author came up with one of the best ideas for a cop story. It was in that novel Zeltserman introduced us to his main character Bill Shannon, an unusual cop who attempts to bring to justice a deranged serial killer was a blend of paranormal suspense and hardboiled mystery.
In the second book in the series, Bill Shannon makes a comeback still strong and sturdy like in the series debut novel.
Bad Karma picks up five years after the events in Bad Thoughts, and we find the now-retired Bill Shannon living in Boulder, Colorado working as a private investigator. He has managed to rekindle his love with ex-wife and is also exploring the world of paranormal, but soon Shannon finds himself entangled in two different cases.
In the first case, a pair of college students is found dead in a robbery gone wrong. An insurance firm hires Shannon to investigate what led to the death of the two students. In the second case, Shannon agrees to assist find the whereabouts of a missing girl whom mother believes she has joined a gang that has connections to some nasty Russian gangsters.
As most mystery fans would guess, when the main character is working on two unconnected cases in a story, these cases often intersect, but in this story, these cases intersect in a rather unusual way.
As the mysteries deepen, the cases that Bill Shannon works on in the second novel in the series are not all that mysterious. Any average mystery fan will be able to figure out the identity of the killer even before the main character does, thanks to Zeltserman unique way of dropping clues along the way.
Additionally, the case involving the cult isn’t a true mystery after all, but the case proves to be quite interesting because the author does a fantastic job of describing the dealings of a cult and also builds more suspense as Bill Shannon tries to protect his divorced wife who finds herself a target of some nasty villains.
What you’ll like about Bad Karma beyond the two cases Shannon has to solve is the author’s focus on the main character. Shannon has to deal with both mental and physical problems dating back from his childhood. These problems are further aggravated by the fact that he has to hunt down a serial killer targeting women in the first book. Bad Karma also focuses on Shannon’s efforts to heal himself and mend his relationship with his ex-wife.
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