LOCKDOWN Cover Reveal and NYPD Negotiators Rebranding

/

The third book in the NYPD Negotiators is finally nearly here. It's been a super long time in coming, but Gemma Capello and Sean Logan's next adventure is coming to you on August 22nd! And I finally have the cover for you... with one significant change. Can you spot it?

When a horrific school shooting turns into a hostage situation, only Gemma Capello, the NYPD’s most skilled negotiator, has a chance to save innocent lives and end the crisis.

It’s every parent’s nightmare—getting a call during the school day from their teenager, huddled in a classroom as the sound of bullets echo in the background. When gunmen invade a Brooklyn school, that nightmare becomes a horrific reality.

Talking a suspect into sending his hostages out alive is NYPD Detective Gemma Capello’s specialty. Alerted to a school shooting at her nephew’s high school, she is one of the first officers on-scene. Detective Sean Logan and the Apprehension Tactical Team arrive next and immediately enter the school to apprehend the two shooters, while Gemma remains outside to help students evacuate. But as time stretches on, and there is no word of her nephew, her fear builds that he is one of the lost.

Instead of a quickly-resolved mass shooting, one of the two shooters holes up with a group of students and their teacher as hostages, and Gemma steps in to negotiate for their survival. Floors away and armed with only her wits and the sound of her voice to convince him, Gemma fights for control of the situation even as tactical leadership pressures her for a more aggressive strategy. But for Gemma, it’s not about a quick solution. It’s about moving heaven and earth to bring everyone in that classroom home. And she’ll do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.
 

I'm sure those of you with eagle eyes spotted the name change. The NYPD Negotiators series is going to be under Sara Driscoll from now on. Let's face it, Jen and Sara are both me, but more readers recognize the Driscoll name, so Kensington Books has done an entire series rebrand. More on that below...

To match the existing formats of EXIT STRATEGY and SHOT CALLER as closely as possible for those who like their books to all be the same size/format, LOCKDOWN will be released in a 6 x 9" trade paperback (same size as the Kensington hardcovers of the first two books) and the 4.75 x 7.5" mass max size to match the mass max formats of the first two books. It will also be available in ebook and in audio from Dreamscape media.

Pre-order links for the ebook of LOCKDOWN are now live at Amazon for auto-delivery on August 22nd: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk. Both paperback formats will be available on release day. Sorry about that... I don't make the rules. I'll have those live links for you then.

As I mentioned above, Kensington Books is relaunching the NYPD Negotiators series under Sara Driscoll. EXIT STRATEGY had some challenges when it first came out, launching in the opening months of the pandemic when bookstores were closed and people were having trouble reading because it felt like the world was on fire. So there are lots of readers who love the FBI K-9s and who are looking forward to ECHOES OF MEMORY next summer, but who aren't familiar with the Negotiators series. So Kensington has given the series a face lift. The original print copies still exist, but from now on the ebook and a brand new trade paperback format will have the new name and covers. The covers are updated to the understated trend popular with thrillers currently highlighting minimalist architectural design. So here are the new versions of EXIT STRATEGY and SHOT CALLER. Along with LOCKDOWN, they make a great trilogy. I love the moody vibe!

A little bit up upcoming release news...

ECHOES OF MEMORY is now complete and will be going to my editor in about three weeks after a last round of edits following my critique team's comments.  Watch for that on July 30, 2024. Cover reveal to come...

FBI K-9s #9, now has a name—SUMMIT'S EDGE! It's way too early for details, but yes, there is a mountain involved. I've already seen the cover—it's a banger—but I'll have to wait to release that one once Kensington gives me the all clear to release the cover and jacket copy to you all. SUMMIT'S EDGE comes to you all on November 26, 2024.