Books

Good Junk

(Minotaur Books, December 2012)

While wrestling with guilt over having accidentally killed an MMA opponent in a sparring session, private detective Cliff St. James assists New Orleans Police in investigating the murder of a US government “black projects” engineer.

St. James quickly uncovers a murky netherworld of seedy arms dealers, shifty intelligence agents, fast-talking thieves, and shady scrap sellers. Sensitive state-of-the-art weaponry and high technology appears to be changing hands; the kind of technology that a foreign government would do anything to obtain.

As the bodies pile up, St. James fights for his life and sanity as he struggles to solve the murders and undermine a treacherous espionage conspiracy.

“More high crimes and misdemeanors in this edgy new Cliff St. James thriller!” –Randall Fitzgerald, former Roving Editor of Reader’s Digest

Storm Damage

(Minotaur Books, December 2011)

When a Cat 5 hurricane devastates New Orleans, the fresh murder of a politically-connected bar owner gets swept under—literally—until in the gritty aftermath of the city’s recovery a bare-knuckled ex-cop and mixed-martial artist attacks the case like a hungry dog chasing a meat truck.  With no forensic evidence, a destroyed crime scene, and no corpse, Cliff St. James uncovers possible CIA involvement and learns that his duplicitous client, as well as each of his other suspects, are guilty of—at the very least—multiple felonies.  It’s New Orleans, after all.  With a contract on his head as Fat Tuesday dawns, Cliff calls in every chit and breaks every rule to solve the murder and end a new wave of murders.

“Powerful as a Category Five hurricane, Storm Damage by Ed Kovacs is a riveting journey into murder, politics, and greed.  Kovacs writes like a master, bringing to exciting life colorful and cosmopolitan New Orleans.  In the aftermath of Katrina, brand-new private investigator Cliff St. James is thrown into a cauldron of lies, felonies, and violence just as Mardi Gras begins.  This is a spicy, thrilling story as unforgettable as an excellent gumbo.” –Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Spies

“I have worked with Ed Kovacs on several security contract details, including in New Orleans.  This is a dynamic, page turning thriller, a tale of murder and mystery, post-Katrina.” –Danny Jones, Retired US Navy SEAL

Unseen Forces

(Ardelyan Press, November 2004)

Maverick archeologist Dr. Sky Wilder has never been able to prove any of his outside-the-box fringe theories… until now. When he breaks what had been an impenetrable code, he unearths a long-buried Egyptian stone tablet in Arizona’s Red Rock country. But he forgoes validation and peer acceptance to keep his discovery secret, for the ramifications of possessing the tablet will surely be deadly. Whoever possesses all three hidden tablets holds the key to locate an ancient alchemical text containing a formula for physical immortality. The bodies pile up as Wilder realizes he’s been set-up as a pawn, caught between opposing covert agencies and secret brotherhoods that have been warring for centuries.

Tasked with keeping Sky Wilder alive at all costs, Captain Diana Hunt, the U.S. military’s most accurate remote viewer – a “psychic spy” – knows that the players in this deadly game are not what they appear to be. As the trail leads to Asia and with a political assassination looming, Sky and Diana confront powerful forces of Nature and Man as they unravel the conspiracies and expose the true unseen forces behind their opponents – and allies.

Sky suffers from claustrophobia and achluphobia, unfortunate traits for a man who constantly faces the unknown blackness of the netherworld. Sky must overcome his debilitating phobias and Diana must confront her dark past as they challenge Simon Forte, a billionaire occultist, for possession of the Book of Spells.

“Kovacs weaves Egyptian mythology, psychic spying, and a quest for the secret of eternal life into a spellbinding thriller that will keep you riveted well past midnight.” –-The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Indiana Jones on steroids.  Kovacs adroitly embroiders an intellectual tapestry encompassing geography, history, and phenomenology all accented with action and intrigue.” –-Col. John Alexander, author of FUTURE WAR

Burnt Black

(Coming from St. Martin’s Minotaur in 2013)

New Orleans detective Cliff St. James investigates a series of unexplained deaths connected to an occult group with powerful local connections. When it appears a Mexican drug cartel is somehow involved, the stakes get higher, but St. James and his partner, Honey, catch nothing but bad breaks as they struggle to unravel their strangest case yet.