Official Website of Jason Pinter

So here it is at long last, the final cover for the second of my two books coming out this year, THE DARKNESS. Along with THE FURY (in stores 10/01/09), THE DARKNESS makes up one massive storyline covering two books that will change Henry Parker's life forever.

I'm incredibly proud of these two books, how they feel both intimate yet something on a large scale. They are ripped from today's headlines, yet are based on historical events that present a frightening 'What If?' scenario that may already be taking place.

For fans of the whole Henry Parker series, THE FURY and THE DARKNESS are the most explosive, personal and timely books yet. For newcomers, this is a two-part story that will hopefully rock your world and serve as a thrilling introduction to the series.

This two-part story was inspired by James Ellroy's brilliant masterpiece L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, for reasons that I will happily go into as we approach publication date. I'm not going to post the official description quite yet, but I will leave you with this small teaser...

I like all my book covers. Each edition--whether foreign or domestic--has their own strengths. I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few covers I wish I could tweak here or there, but by and large I'm very happy with how my covers have come out and thankful that my publishers have really put a lot of thought and effort into them. I was happy with my book covers. Until yesterday.

Yesterday I received the first copy of the UK edition of THE STOLEN, which hits shelves across the pond on June 19th (UK fans can pre-order here). And I don't just like this edition. It doesn't just make me happy. I LOVE it. 

This thing is just beautiful. Sometimes in publishing you hear someone say, "Seeing the cover online doesn't do it justice." Well, seeing the UK edition of THE STOLEN does not do its cover justice. The whole package--front, spine and back--has this very cool silver/metallic finish that catches the light, reflects and will stand out on a shelf like nobody's business. When I say this cover shines, I mean it shines. Even the back cover and spine look cool. It's hard to say if this package is my favorite out of all my books--but it's hard to say that it's not. My sincere thanks to my UK publisher for doing just an extraordinary job on this book. I even took photos to analyze why this package works so well:

The fantastic front cover. Perfectly captures the book's tone, while also offering a clear central image that gives the reader an immediate sense of what lies within. The font is atmospheric, and the neat smudges and burn marks make the whole thing look ominous as hell. This baby should be in a textbook entitled "How to create an awesome book cover."

Does everything a back needs, and does it well: A bold reading line, a synopsis that hooks you, quotes to let you know that other people besides my publisher and I think the book is worth reading, and full color photos of my backlist so you can catch up on the whole series.

Did I say this baby shines? I mean it SHINES.

Central image. Title. Name. Shiny. Even the spine is cool.

Each of my foreign editions (give or take one or two that haven't arrived yet). The fact that my books are available in so many countries and so many languages still blows my mind.

I just got covers for a few foreign editions, and felt like sharing them since it's easier than writing a full post. I'm often in the dark as to when my foreign editions are being released until they pop up on Google alerts. You can check out more foreign editions for THE MARK and THE GUILTY as well as Killer Year (I haven't seen any for THE STOLEN yet).

I'll be back from vacation Saturday night, and resuming my regular schedule thereafter. But for now I want to share the cover for the Australian edition of THE GUILTY. This is the first foreign art I've seen for my second novel, and I have to say it's pretty darn cool. Plus it looks great alongside the Aussie edition of THE MARK.

I just received copies of three foreign editions of THE MARK. I am quite verklempt. It's been published in at least 5 countries so far, and is scheduled to be released in several more by the end of '08.