Introducing Max Austin

Official publication date is still months away, but DUKE CITY SPLIT is already available for pre-order at Amazon and elsewhere. At bargain prices, too.

DUKE CITY SPLIT is my first book with Alibi, the new mystery imprint at Random House, and it's the first I'm publishing under my new pen name, Max Austin. Random House revealed the April 8 publication date and the cover art in an announcement the other day.

I love the cover art, and I'm really proud of DUKE CITY SPLIT, which is the first in a trilogy of overlapping crime stories set in Albuquerque.

So why the pen name? My agent's idea. He thinks these new stories are so different from what I've done in the past that they signal the start of something new. I feel that way, too, so I came up with "Max Austin" by taking names from my two grown sons.

So far, I'm very pleased with the new arrangement with Alibi, and I hope it will help me (or, rather, Max Austin) reach a wider audience. I'll happily write more in the series if sales warrant.

Hey, Max Austin, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!