
PRIMAL THREAT Coming January 29, 2008
Earl Emerson will be doing signings in Seattle, Olympia, Leavenworth, Longview,
Spokane, and Bellingham.
Go to our calendar section for dates and times.
Earl's first talk/signing will be at Elliott Bay Book Company,
Saturday, February 2, 2008 at 4:00 P.M.
JULY 29, 2007 ---- INCREDIBLE NEWS---
AUTHOR FOUND ALIVE
It was only after receiving this very special e-mail that I decided it
was time to update this site.
Dear Mr. Emerson,
My grandma is a big fan of your books, and she wanted me to ask you a question.
It’s kind of odd, and I’m sorry if it strikes you as offensive, but…
Are you still alive? Apparently, your website hasn’t been updated since April of ’06,
and it’s July of ’07.
Again, sorry if it’s offensive. We’re not very up-to-date.
Thanks,
M.R.
No, M., I'm not very up to date. And yes, M., I exhaled onto a mirror
and there was moisture, so I'm pretty sure I'm still among the living. But thanks for
asking.
Generally, Ballantine publishes my books in the summer, but PRIMAL THREAT
will be coming out in January of 2008. I'm excited about this and am going over the
galley proofs right now. The story is different from anything I've done to date, and
tells the tale of a group of mountain bikers who go up into the Cascades for a three-
day weekend and run into trouble. Actually, it's DELIVERANCE in reverse.
I've been an avid biker since the age of fifteen and frequently mountain bike in the
same hills where the story is set, so it was particularly fun to write.
Next up after PRIMAL THREAT is my first Thomas Black in ten years. I'm
working on that now and we expect it to be published in early 2009, also with
Ballantine.
FIRETRAP will be out in paperback in November of 2007.
As of this writing, I'm still working for The Seattle Fire Department as a lieutenant
on Ladder 3, in the Central District.
Now, to answer that e-mail to M's grandmother.
P.S. I try to answer all of my e-mail within a week of receiving it.
Thanks to all of you for writing me.
April 3, 2006
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FIRETRAP is due out April 25, 2006. More information coming soon. For a list of bookstore signings, go to calendar . Two signings left as of May 28.
Anacortes on June 6th at 7:30 P.M. Talk and signing.
Jackson Street Books in Seattle on June 16th at 7:00 P.M. Talk and signing.
The Smoke Room is now out in paperback.
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May 9, 2005
See the calendar for my June signing schedule. All in Washington State this time.
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THE SMOKE ROOM---Publication date May 31, 2005
This is another fire department story, less a thriller and more of a James M. Cain piece than I've done before, about a young man who makes one, not-so-serious mistake that snowballs into bigger and bigger errors in judgement until at the end of the story the reader cannot possibly see a way out for him. He'll either die or spend the rest of his days in prison. Or will he?
One early reader had this to say about it:
"This is a real sleeper. I thought I was going to read another
great fire story by Earl Emerson but instead I read a fantastically funny story
about three dippy firefighters who can't do right from wrong. Of course, we get
a great fire scene at the end of the book that Mr. Emerson is known for. I loved
the book and I am giving it to our store manager to read as he is also a big
Emerson fan. I can't wait for it to come out so I can promote it."
PYRO is now out in paperback, too.
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05/18/05 JUNE 2005---PYRO in paperback |

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PYRO is the story of a maverick fire department lieutenant who finds himself fighting fires in Seattle set by the arsonist who killed his father 25 years earlier. It is the first time the author, a Seattle fire lieutenant himself, has set a story in the station where he works.
The tale is based loosely on a series of arsons in Seattle and environs set by a man who was at that time, the nation's most prolific serial arsonist. He is now serving a life sentence. Emerson was in the thick of this serial arson spree fighting fires on Ladder 3, where his hero, Paul Wollfe, also works.
INTO THE INFERNO, the book Emerson says is his favorite, is due out in paperback in June 2004.
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05/08/03 RECENT ONLINE INTERVIEWS WITH EARL EMERSON |
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The Romance Connection has posted an interview with Earl here:
http://www.theromancereadersconnection.com/aotm/authorofthemonthemersonearl.html
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04/02/03 PACIFIC NORTHWEST INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS BESTSELLER LIST
For the week ending Sunday, March 30, 2003 INTO THE INFERNO was #7 on the hardcover list and VERTICAL BURN was #5 on the paperback list. This is the second week INTO THE INFERNO's been on the list and the fourth week VERTICAL BURN has been on the list.
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03/05/03 EXCERPT FROM INTO THE INFERNO |
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To read an excerpt from Into the Inferno click here: http://www.randomhouse.com/BB/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0345445910&view=excerpt
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02/17/03 Q&A on INTO THE INFERNO |
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To read a Q&A about Earl's new book Into the Inferno click on bio above. -
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01/26/03 NEW BOOK COMING SOON |
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Into the Inferno will debut March 2, 2003.
The first autograph party will be at Seattle Mystery Bookstore on Saturday, March 8 at noon. At talk and a Q & A session to follow.
Into the Inferno is another stand-alone thriller, this time centering around a small-town fire department. Early reviews have been outstanding. Publisher's Weekly calls it a "high-octane thriller" with an "irresistible protagonist." Booklist says it's a "thoroughly captivating twist on an old theme." Library Journal pegs it a "cinematic tour de force that finishes with a jolting twist." Full text of the Library Journal review in more in reviews.
The paperback of Vertical Burn should be on newsstands and bookstores the week of January 27. |
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06/30/02 Rave Reviews |
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Recently Vertical Burn received rave reviews on both coasts. The New York Times and The L.A. Times both gave the book wonderful reviews within days of each other. The NY Times said, "Emerson, himself a veteran firefighter, deserves a medal both for walking us so coolly through the technical drill of the job and for taking us inside the hermetic subculture of the men and women who do this dangerous work for a living." The L.A. Times said, "On the dust jacket of Earl Emerson's new thriller, Vertical Burn, Sue Grafton is quoted as saying it is 'the most exciting book I've read in years.' Though cover blurbs are generally to be approached with some skepticism, this one you can take to the bank. . . Exciting barely covers it."
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06/30/02 Excerpt from interview with Earl |
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Here is an excerpt of an interview with Earl from the June/July issue of Mystery News: www.blackravenpress.com/emerson.htm |
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05/26/02 Deleted scenes are here! |
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Here is the original beginning to Vertical Burn. When I wrote the this version the book was called Smoke Chaser. I liked this beginning when I wrote it and I like it still. It was discarded because it didn't suit the rest of the story. There is actually a second deleted beginning which I may post later. Actually, there's a third version I forgot about and recently found on disk. I've always liked the deleted scenes on DVDs and thought some of you might like to see these scenes. Remember, this does not appear in the current version of Vertical Burn. |
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05/06/02 Excerpt from Vertical Burn! |
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A short excerpt from Vertical Burn can be found here:
http://www.randomhouse.com/BB/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0345445899&view=excerpt |
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04/20/02 Welcome! |
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Welcome to the new EarlEmerson.com!! Its taken quite a while to get underway with this new site but I think it was well worth the effort. I hope to iron-out the few quirks that may be remaining soon. Until then, I will keep the old site up, however, there will be no new updates to that old site on tripod. All new material will be uploaded to and remain here on EarlEmerson.com - WebAdmin. |