Secret Dead Men

A smart-talking supernatural noir, full of twists and turns, delivered at a whipalong pace about a dead investigative-journalist-turned-soul-collector on the trail of his nemesis – and murderer. Perfect for fans of Ben Aaranovitch and Richard Kadrey.

Del Farmer isn’t your ordinary hardboiled private eye. Instead of collecting fingerprints or clues, he collects souls of the recently dead. His latest dead guy, Brad Larsen, might just be the key to destroying Farmer’s long-time nemesis, The Association.

Of course, Farmer is sadly mistaken. An FBI agent unstuck in time is toying with him. A mysterious couple keeps trying to kill him. Another job―a mundane babysitting gig that pays the bills―is threatening to steer him way off course into a violent hell of sexual deceit, fractured identities, and cheap apartment toilets.

With only a head packed full of nagging ghosts, Farmer realises this case might just drive him out of his mind, literally.
Praise for Secret Dead Men


"Swierczynski’s brisk pace and light comic touch often resemble vintage Donald Westlake...A delicious comic thriller with a science-fiction twist." –Kirkus Reviews

“Secret Dead Men is the most inventive, uplifting, hilarious, moving novel since The Catcher in the Rye.” – Ken Bruen, author of Galway Girl


“A profoundly psychotic hilarious whodunit fantasy… It’s as if [Swierczynski] simultaneously channeled Philip K. Dick, Eugene Ionesco, Richard Matheson, Raymond Chandler and Charles Willeford.” – Ed Gorman, author of the Sam McCain mysteries


“Filled with fascinating creations and memorable scenes. [Secret Dead Men] takes the traditional forms and puts a unique spin on them, reflecting the mind of an author with both new ideas and an idiosyncratic personality.” –Philadelphia Inquirer


“Fresh and idiosyncratic… Offbeat, quirky and confident, revealing Swierczynski as a talented newcomer.” – Chicago Sun-Times


“One of the most surreal, amusing crime thrillers in recent memory. A masterpiece of weirdness and humor.” –January Magazine


“Secret Dead Men is a blast of a read and the most imaginatively conceived crime novel I’ve read in ages, possibly ever.” – The View from the Blue House blog


“Crime fiction doesn’t get much weirder.” –Publisher’s Weekly




Praise for Duane Swierczynski


“Fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable.” – James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author on California Bear 


“Duane Swierczynski is a much-needed breath of fresh air in the book world . . . This guy is a great storyteller. I never know what he is going to come up with or where he is going to take me. I just know I won’t be complaining about a thing once I get there.” – Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author on Revolver


“Duane Swierczynski knows how to slam it down on the table. His tales are up there with the best of them.” – John Carpenter, director of Halloween, Escape from New York, and The Thing


“Swierczynski keeps the action pulsating along [with] an array of compelling characters, crisp dialogue, and pop culture references.” – The Boston Globe on Canary 


“What a fantastic storyteller! Duane Swierczynski is the oh-so-talented face of the new noir.” – Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The House Guest 


“Duane Swierczynski is one of the best thriller writers in America.” – James Frey, New York Times bestselling author of Bright Shiny Morning and A Million Little Pieces


“Duane Swierczynski writes the ‘new noir’, full of bad choices, courage, and sudden disaster, all delivered at a break-neck pace.” – Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author on Canary


“Duane Swierczynski puts the rest of the crime-writing world on notice. So learn to spell the last name. He’s going to be around for a while.” – Laura Lippman, Edgar Award-winning author of Every Secret Thing on The Wheelman


“Swierczynski cleverly melds the thriller and fantasy elements (especially the notion of nonlinear time), producing a thoroughly readable, suspenseful romp.” – Bill Ott, Booklist on Expiration Date


“Swierczynski writes a brand of thriller whose pacing forces us to reexamine our casual use of the word breakneck” – Booklist on Severance Package


“Swierczynski is brilliant at fooling even savvy readers, and his jaw-dropping twists never compromise his exceptional character development.” – Publishers’ Weekly.
DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI IS THE TWO-TIME EDGAR-NOMINATED AUTHOR OF 15 NOVELS INCLUDING REVOLVER, CANARY, THE WHEELMAN, THE BLONDE AND SEVERANCE PACKAGE.

Duane’s short story “Lush” was included in The Best American Mystery Stories 2019, and is currently being adapting into a feature by director Chad Stahelski (John Wick) for Lionsgate.
Duane also has written various bestselling comics for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Archie and Valiant, including Cable, Deadpool, The Immortal Iron Fist, Punisher MAX, Birds of Prey, Star Wars: Rogue One, Godzilla, Bloodshot as well as his creator-owned Breakneck and John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction Presents: Redhead

Duane has also collaborated with bestselling novelist James Patterson on three Audible Original radio dramas. The first, The Guilty, starred John Lithgow, Bryce Dallas-Howard and Aldis Hodge. He also co-wrote a series of bestselling “digi-novels” with CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker. 

Duane is also the author of six nonfiction books about vice and crime, including The Perfect Drink for Every Occasion, The Big Book of Beer (Quirk), and This Here’s A Stick-Up: The Big Bad Book of American Bank Robbery (Alpha/Penguin). Earlier in his career, Duane worked as an editor at Details, Men’s Health and Philadelphia magazines, and served as the editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia City Paper.
A native Philadelphian, Duane now lives in Southern California with his family.
Twitter/X: @swierczy; Instagram: @swierczy; Facebook: facebook.com/swierczy; website: gleefulmayhem.com

About

A smart-talking supernatural noir, full of twists and turns, delivered at a whipalong pace about a dead investigative-journalist-turned-soul-collector on the trail of his nemesis – and murderer. Perfect for fans of Ben Aaranovitch and Richard Kadrey.

Del Farmer isn’t your ordinary hardboiled private eye. Instead of collecting fingerprints or clues, he collects souls of the recently dead. His latest dead guy, Brad Larsen, might just be the key to destroying Farmer’s long-time nemesis, The Association.

Of course, Farmer is sadly mistaken. An FBI agent unstuck in time is toying with him. A mysterious couple keeps trying to kill him. Another job―a mundane babysitting gig that pays the bills―is threatening to steer him way off course into a violent hell of sexual deceit, fractured identities, and cheap apartment toilets.

With only a head packed full of nagging ghosts, Farmer realises this case might just drive him out of his mind, literally.

Reviews

Praise for Secret Dead Men


"Swierczynski’s brisk pace and light comic touch often resemble vintage Donald Westlake...A delicious comic thriller with a science-fiction twist." –Kirkus Reviews

“Secret Dead Men is the most inventive, uplifting, hilarious, moving novel since The Catcher in the Rye.” – Ken Bruen, author of Galway Girl


“A profoundly psychotic hilarious whodunit fantasy… It’s as if [Swierczynski] simultaneously channeled Philip K. Dick, Eugene Ionesco, Richard Matheson, Raymond Chandler and Charles Willeford.” – Ed Gorman, author of the Sam McCain mysteries


“Filled with fascinating creations and memorable scenes. [Secret Dead Men] takes the traditional forms and puts a unique spin on them, reflecting the mind of an author with both new ideas and an idiosyncratic personality.” –Philadelphia Inquirer


“Fresh and idiosyncratic… Offbeat, quirky and confident, revealing Swierczynski as a talented newcomer.” – Chicago Sun-Times


“One of the most surreal, amusing crime thrillers in recent memory. A masterpiece of weirdness and humor.” –January Magazine


“Secret Dead Men is a blast of a read and the most imaginatively conceived crime novel I’ve read in ages, possibly ever.” – The View from the Blue House blog


“Crime fiction doesn’t get much weirder.” –Publisher’s Weekly




Praise for Duane Swierczynski


“Fresh, exciting, and brilliantly unpredictable.” – James Patterson, New York Times bestselling author on California Bear 


“Duane Swierczynski is a much-needed breath of fresh air in the book world . . . This guy is a great storyteller. I never know what he is going to come up with or where he is going to take me. I just know I won’t be complaining about a thing once I get there.” – Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author on Revolver


“Duane Swierczynski knows how to slam it down on the table. His tales are up there with the best of them.” – John Carpenter, director of Halloween, Escape from New York, and The Thing


“Swierczynski keeps the action pulsating along [with] an array of compelling characters, crisp dialogue, and pop culture references.” – The Boston Globe on Canary 


“What a fantastic storyteller! Duane Swierczynski is the oh-so-talented face of the new noir.” – Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author of The House Guest 


“Duane Swierczynski is one of the best thriller writers in America.” – James Frey, New York Times bestselling author of Bright Shiny Morning and A Million Little Pieces


“Duane Swierczynski writes the ‘new noir’, full of bad choices, courage, and sudden disaster, all delivered at a break-neck pace.” – Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author on Canary


“Duane Swierczynski puts the rest of the crime-writing world on notice. So learn to spell the last name. He’s going to be around for a while.” – Laura Lippman, Edgar Award-winning author of Every Secret Thing on The Wheelman


“Swierczynski cleverly melds the thriller and fantasy elements (especially the notion of nonlinear time), producing a thoroughly readable, suspenseful romp.” – Bill Ott, Booklist on Expiration Date


“Swierczynski writes a brand of thriller whose pacing forces us to reexamine our casual use of the word breakneck” – Booklist on Severance Package


“Swierczynski is brilliant at fooling even savvy readers, and his jaw-dropping twists never compromise his exceptional character development.” – Publishers’ Weekly.

Author

DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI IS THE TWO-TIME EDGAR-NOMINATED AUTHOR OF 15 NOVELS INCLUDING REVOLVER, CANARY, THE WHEELMAN, THE BLONDE AND SEVERANCE PACKAGE.

Duane’s short story “Lush” was included in The Best American Mystery Stories 2019, and is currently being adapting into a feature by director Chad Stahelski (John Wick) for Lionsgate.
Duane also has written various bestselling comics for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Archie and Valiant, including Cable, Deadpool, The Immortal Iron Fist, Punisher MAX, Birds of Prey, Star Wars: Rogue One, Godzilla, Bloodshot as well as his creator-owned Breakneck and John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction Presents: Redhead

Duane has also collaborated with bestselling novelist James Patterson on three Audible Original radio dramas. The first, The Guilty, starred John Lithgow, Bryce Dallas-Howard and Aldis Hodge. He also co-wrote a series of bestselling “digi-novels” with CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker. 

Duane is also the author of six nonfiction books about vice and crime, including The Perfect Drink for Every Occasion, The Big Book of Beer (Quirk), and This Here’s A Stick-Up: The Big Bad Book of American Bank Robbery (Alpha/Penguin). Earlier in his career, Duane worked as an editor at Details, Men’s Health and Philadelphia magazines, and served as the editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia City Paper.
A native Philadelphian, Duane now lives in Southern California with his family.
Twitter/X: @swierczy; Instagram: @swierczy; Facebook: facebook.com/swierczy; website: gleefulmayhem.com