Brand New Dark

By Beau Johnson

Bishop Rider Lives! And for a dead man, he's been busy. His story and the parts of it yet to be told being what populates Brand New Dark. Unseen moments pulled from between the pages of A Better Kind of Hate, The Big Machine Eats, and All of Them to Burn. Twenty-five new tales that bridge what came before and expand upon what can only come after.

Come, see what happened in-between.

Come, see how he made them burn.

Praise for BRAND NEW DARK:

"Beau Johnson masterfully crafts sharp, incisive short fiction, and Bishop Rider is the perfect vehicle for his mix of gallows humor and righteous anger. Brand New Dark is an intoxicating blend of violence and bone-deep humanity that lingers with you long after the final page." -James D.F. Hannah, Shamus Award-winning author of the Henry Malone novels

"Brand New Dark is an utterly terrifying, high-octane mix of Lee Child's Jack Reacher and a Nicolas Winding Refn production, powered by a voice that's unique to crime fiction. It's a mega-dose of the darkest in human nature...and murderously inventive." -Nick Kolakowski, author of Rattlesnake Rodeo and Boise Longpig Hunting Club

"Do you like stories about bad guys being torn apart in new and ever-innovative ways? Then boy has Beau Johnson got the books for you. But Beau does more than just tell tales of unbridled violence, he delivers them with a wit and humour that keeps you smiling, when really your stomach should be doing flips." -Paul Heatley, author of Cutthroat and Just Like Jesus

"Brand New Dark is a powerful mix of vengeance, violence, and razor-sharp writing by one of crime fiction's most daring short story writers." -E.A. Aymar, author of The Unrepentant

"Johnson doesn't play nice. When it comes to ultraviolence, he's doing for crime what Barker did for horror. Brand New Dark will slap you in the mouth." -Laird Barron, author of Worse Angels

"Dark, bloody, and righteously gruesome, Brand New Dark satisfies the itch for beautifully written crime fiction, where the violence is seen from the corners of our eyes and over our shoulders as Johnson's relentless pacing propels us forward to a fate we can't look away from, no matter the cost." -Laurel Hightower, author of Crossroads

"Beau Johnson is like an alchemist. He melds dark violent narratives with searing heartbreaking fragility. Brand New Dark is the same old Beau. Fearless, poetic and brutal." -S.A. Cosby author of Blacktop Wasteland and Razorblade Tears

"Are these stories violent? Yes. Are they dark? Yes. Is Brand New Dark a well-written, page-turning collection of vigilante justice crime fiction at its finest? Hell yes. Nobody gives the bad guys a taste of their own medicine like the master of the genre, Beau Johnson." -Jennifer Hillier, Thriller Award-winning author of Jar of Hearts

"Johnson never forgets how important Rider's humanity is, both to the character and to the readers as well. The unflinching violence, limb dislocations and evilness of men never veers into parody, and neither does Rider. And fans of Bishop's previous tales will be delighted to fill more of his details through Johnson's fractured but never confusing style of storytelling." -Hector Acosta, author of Hardway

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1643962213
• ISBN13: 9781643962214
• Release Date: July 2021
• Publisher: Down & Out Books
• Length: 170 Pages
• Weight: 0.49 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Bloody read, bloody good

I received an e-Galley of Brand New Dark: A Bishop Rider Book, authored by Beau Johnson , published from Down & Out Books, for review consideration. Cover design: Zach McCain. What follows is my honest opinion given freely. This was my first dive into the world of Bishop Rider. 25 shorts, spanning across the whole of the Rider saga; some short enough to count as breaths catching and faulting. A moment being taken if you will. I once watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy and hit next scene every time I saw Frodo, for the ultimate action event. Each short reads similar, we have the movement, the point of a story happening, not the build up or backstory. There are mentions of what has brought Rider and friends to where they are for that day, depending on which point of the book you are at; which means you can read this without reading the others, just like I did! But also the mentions are given in such a way that the information reveals just enough that you are constantly learning new things about this catastrophic, ground zero event for which the whole series is built on, it’s brilliantly done in my opinion. A person who has been failed by the laws of our society. Refusing to let these crimes continue against other innocents. Creating their own justice, bloody, swift, and final. This is a satisfying read, the bad people get punished. It is heartbreaking also, because the bad people are representative of a real world crime, thinking too hard on that makes you feel sick (e.g. Dugger), so I leaned into the bad guys paid for their sins. Because fiction can be an escape and with the world being a dumpster fire it was a stress relief of a sort to read a book that I could fall into that was well written and gave me my revengeance satisfaction. I thoroughly loved Brand New Dark, gotta catch them all and get the whole series in paperback. E-books are great, I use them often, but I still like having a physical copy if I’m going to re-read a title. It’s just a feeling thing, texture maybe. But, I think if you are one who enjoys crime or revenge horror fiction this should be on your TBR for sure. Thriller, horror lovers too. The bad guys are BAD guys, so check CW if needed.