Publication date: February 25th, 2020
Having abstained from killing for almost a year, the Highwayman is coming unglued.
Unsure if the FBI is watching, Lance Belanger spends his days and nights in a paranoid malaise, longing to kill again. Meanwhile, in Bucharest, Romania, an Interpol raid leads to clues and a witness who can identify the Highwayman. Armed with new evidence, newly promoted SAC FBI Agent, Dave Maxwell heads for Bucharest, as his team of investigators redeploys their investigation on their original suspect, Lance Belanger. It would appear, the net is closing.
But the Highwayman has other ideas.
Just after dusk, outside of Pittsburgh, four strangers exit a service van and perpetrate the mass murder of four families in their suburban homes. It doesn’t take long for the FBI to connect the killings to Highwayman, and when they raid Belanger’s properties, they are left a parting gift.
Another murder and a message for Maxwell from the Highwayman himself.
Come and find me!
The killing ramps up, Maxwell leads a posse of investigators across two states, north to Canada to try and thwart the Highwayman in his endgame, that involves kidnapping, mass murder, and betrayal.
The predator is now the prey.
But can they stop him before he disappears for good?
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I always approach a piece like this with the same thought.
Wasn’t Stephen King available?
Mr. King is too busy to tell you how to do it, so here I am, M.J. Preston, about to give you the goods on writing and what it means to be successful. Get ready for the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I am not a guru; nobody has beat down my door, offering me to teach a Masterclass. But along the way, I have learned a thing or two about the craft, so here are some essential survival tips.
To make a million dollars writing, the first thing you’ll need is four million dollars. That’s cover advertising, flights, book signing tours, giveaways, your agent, publicist, and of course, you’ll need a kick-ass book too. But if you haven’t got four million bucks, here are a few tips.
Tip # 1
The truth is that there is no advice I can offer as a writer of either horror or crime-thriller that will make a new writer’s life any more or less successful. If there was, I’d be charging admission, commission, and royalties.
Tip # 2
Success doesn’t depend on tremendous advances from publishers and movie options. Nor is it being the darling of the writing world. True success can be found in the story you write and how readers react. You write a novel, hope it finds an audience, and there you have it. There is no magic formula, no technology, App, or Masterclass that will turn you into the next Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, or James Patterson’s ghostwriter.
Tip # 3
I recently corresponded with a successful author to wish him good luck on a newly launched book. He thanked me and stated that he believed we make our good luck. Tempted to ask him if he had a particular formula for luck-making, I did not. That is because my interpretation of this author’s luck was to follow the path of his career. His luck-making was to keep writing, keep moving, one story to story, novel to novel, because not only do you give an audience a buffet of different tales and characters from which to choose, you also get better with every word you write. If people dig your stuff, they’ll keep reading it, and that’s how you make your luck. But that isn’t all. Stay humble. Embrace your readership and appreciate them for taking the time out of their lives to read your work, whether your audience is one or twenty-five million.
That is what this writer has done. That is his formula for good luck.
Tip # 4
I believe to be a good writer, you must always be an observer of the human condition. Personally, I am a voyeur who doesn’t peek in your window. Instead, I catch glimpses, take mental notes, and store them in that battered filing cabinet in the back of my brain. If you are the target of this voyeurism, I may have a piece of you in that filing cabinet. Things in those files might include your mannerisms, accent, tempo, tone, and how your eyes light up with a smile or darken with a frown. You don’t know it, but I might be inside your head looking out through your eyes, putting myself in your place because I am always taking an inventory. Sometimes unconsciously. Maybe you have a limp? A limp? Hmmm. What could I do with that?
His limp was a ruse, a wolf moving among the sheep. The street was a chaotic bloodbath. Bodies everywhere. Buildings in the rubble. The limping man moved briskly. And for a good reason. The second bomb hadn’t gone off yet.
Are you thinking about that second bomb? I know I am, and like you, I’m not even sure where and why the first bomb went off. But the muse brings gifts, and with that, I begin to build a world with characters and backdrops. And yes, I’m dropping little hints of upcoming work, but I’m also laying it out for you. That’s how this writing gig is. If you’re here for the movie options, accolades, and red-carpet treatment, you are here for the wrong reasons.
If you’re here to tell stories, show us what you got.
M.J. Preston
To my neighbors, I am a quiet and assuming guy who works blue-collar. What they don't know is that I also write dark speculative fiction. My work has been printed all over the world. I have four novels on the market and a fifth and sixth in production. My short fiction is available with numerous pubs, including magazines and anthologies.
I have my own writing style but would say I was influenced by authors like Robert R. McCammon, Joe R. Lansdale, and John Sandford.