T.J. Brearton Books In Order

Publication Order of North County Books

Publication Order of Shannon Ames Books

Publication Order of The Roth Sisters Books

Publication Order of Titan Books

Publication Order of Tom Lange Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

T.J. Brearton is an Amazon Bestselling author best known for ‘Habit’, the first book in a series of crime thriller novels.

Brearton’s books are primarily published by Joffe Books and Bookouture.

+Biography

T.J. Brearton was born in 1975 in Bronxville, New York. The author’s childhood memories revolve around the years he spent in Saranac Lake and Westchester Country. Brearton’s time at Bowling Green State University was one of confusion.

He wasn’t particularly certain about the direction he should take. And, even though he fiddled around with college for a while, the author eventually saw fit to join the New York Film Academy.

Brearton was able to find work in the movie industry for a few years, though he wasn’t especially successful as a result. Brearton remembers the many fields he experimented with before finally finding his stride in the publishing industry, working jobs like construction, carpentry and demolition, not to mention bartending.

The author even cleaned tombstones and waited tables. It wasn’t until 2004 that T.J. Brearton sat down to write his first novel. Pitching the book wasn’t easy. No publisher was willing to bite.

And unlike most authors who tend to persevere during these hard times until they finally locate a willing publisher, Brearton ran out of patience after just two weeks. If traditional publishers wouldn’t take a chance on him, then he would proceed alone.

Brearton went ahead and self-published. He would spend the next ten years writing and self-publishing eight novels before ‘Habit’ finally came out. ‘Habit’ is such an important novel to T.J. Brearton because it was his first commercial success.

Brearton was lucky enough to draw the attention of Joffe Books who published it in 2014. Brearton wasn’t set on writing a trilogy at the start. However, when his publishers proved that they were willing to accept more novels set in the ‘Habit’ universe, the author began crafting the blueprint for the Titan Trilogy.

Brearton has been compared to the likes of Jim Thompson, David Baldacci and James Patterson. When Brearton isn’t writing novels, he will experiment with short stories and even screenplays.

The author has also written a comic book and coordinated a movie. Despite his busy schedule, Brearton always finds the time to indulge in his hobbies and passions. These include poetry, photography and painting.

As a father of three, T.J. Brearton is also heavily invested in the lives of his family.

Brearton is often inspired by hot-button issues when writing his novels. Subjects like human trafficking and addiction feature prominently in his books. The author often reverse engineers his stories, starting from the end and then working his way back to the beginning.

Brearton admits that it isn’t the most effective way of writing and that he would probably be better off planning and plotting his books out before attempting to write them. However, he seems set in his ways and even invites the challenge of sorting out the messes that often emerge in his manuscripts.

Brearton’s inspirations include Stephen King, David Benioff and Dennis Lehane. The author reads as much non-fiction as he does fiction.

Brearton thinks that aspiring authors should expose their minds to as varied a number of books as possible in order to add a spark to their writing styles. Every book that an author reads will add something to their craft.

Brearton admits that the publishing arena has gotten tougher for authors today. Brearton’s own path to success was riddled with obstacles and the market was nowhere near as saturated as it is at the present. The author does not envy authors that are starting out today.

Though, Brearton encourages everyone with a story in their heart to write; he also encourages aspiring authors to remain humble. That means accepting criticisms of their own books and showing a willingness to make changes in the face of mounting rejections. Brearton believes he did himself a disservice by running away to the indie publishing field after just a few weeks of unfruitful submissions.

He thinks that if he had listened to the rejections and improved his craft, not to mention persevering in his submissions, he would have climbed the publishing ladder faster.

+Dark Web

When Mike and Callie Simpkins went north, they thought they were taking the first steps to fixing their finances and getting their lives back on track. They did not expect their son Braxton to get so deeply immersed in the world of online gaming. They definitely didn’t think he would risk reaching out to some of the players from the game in the real world.

Detective John Swift is the man responsible for sorting out the resulting tragedy. He will pull back the curtains of the world of online gaming in order to put a complex mystery to rest.

This mystery thriller from T.J. Brearton finds Mike and Callie Simpkins grieving the passing of their son Braxton who was found dead in the snow not so far from home. The couple doesn’t understand why anyone would murder a thirteen-year old boy.

Detective John Swift tries to solve the case as quickly as possible, if only to give the family some closure. Brearton shines light on the manner in which the police investigate the dark side of the web.

Some of the technical babble is unlikely to make sense to some readers. The most emotional aspect of the book is the exploration of Mike and Callie’s grief. News of their child’s death devastates them. Mike, in particular, is forced to step up to the plate and to hold the family together.

+Dead Gone

Tom Lange is an unlucky detective. On his very first case, the rookie is saddled with the mystery of a woman whose body was found in a Florida Mangrove. Lange has no clues to go by besides his victim’s tattoo.

If only the case was Tom’s only complication. To compound his problems, Tom’s neighbor is struggling with an abusive boyfriend and he knows that getting involved with the situation could have far reaching consequences.

This book dives deep into the field of forensics, which might explain why the first half is so slow. The book eventually picks up the pace, building the action and the suspense. The mystery has a lot of moving parts.

One Response to “T.J. Brearton”

1. Phil Lorge: 3 years ago

   Mr. Brearton: One of your FBI fans again. I also emailed you about a month ago. I just finished the last two Shannon Ames books and they only get better. You nailed the concerns about an inexperienced Shannon being an undercover agent as well as the oversight by the Bureau for undercover cases. Giving her a partner and cooperating with the NYPD is very realistic but not usually written that way by many writers. You also make sure that Shannon has some sort of jurisdiction in each case.

   I don’t know if I can explain this properly, but the BQ Resident agency covers certain criminal violations throughout the five boroughs. I worked on the Major Theft squad and investigating mostly art thefts, almost all of my work was in Manhattan. The commute from CT was also easier. So any time a crimes falls within FBI jurisdiction, and is in the City of NY, the squad that handles that violation will investigate. Bank robberies in Brooklyn will be investigated by the BR squad out of Manhattan. The New York Office basically houses the upper management, all Terrorism and Counter-Intelligence matters as well as the surveillance and specialist squads.Most agents assigned there do not work actual criminal investigations, with some exceptions. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. BQ is entirely filled with criminal investigations squads from Organized Crime, Drugs and major property crimes. The perfect place for Shannon to be. That’s the long way of saying an explanation of how Shannon has jurisdiction may be needed but an explanation of why she is outside of the BQ area is not.

   A few other things meant as observations and certainly not critical comments. Shannon may know of Raytheon but wouldn’t pass it on her way to the Academy while training. She would be assigned to a room in one of the dormitory towers, with or without a roommate, and be expected to sleep there unless excused. Shannon would also not need to take a cab to work, She would be assigned a Bucar which she would drive for her work and investigative needs. One thing, in Sign Of Evil. When Shannon got drunk and drove the Impala to the Bronx. Where did the car end up? There’s probably a letter in her file, unless the car somehow got back to the office. Lastly, me favorite observation in police/mystery books. No law enforcement officer is trained to jack a round into the chamber of their gun as they approach a dangerous situation. There is always, always, a round in the chamber and ready to fire. It seems like counter-intuitive behavior, but the gun will not go off in the holster or your car or anywhere else if you don’t pull the trigger. And the times you can pull the trigger are drilled into your head from your first day on the range. There are sand filled barrels or something akin to that at each firearms range. That way after cleaning your weapon you point the gun at the sand and rack a round into the chamber. Then remove the magazine (never called a clip) and add a round so you are at maximum capacity. Some agents may bang the bottom of the magazine to make sure it is correctly seated so that there is no misfeed after the first round. Thanks for providing many hours of pleasure. I’m looking forward to your next book. Phil Lorge

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