Dana J. Summers Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Dana J. Summers
Dana J. Summers is an American editorial cartoonist and comic strip creator, whose work has been syndicated by Tribune Content Agency which happened in the year 1985. His cartoons usually reflect a conservative opinion.

Dana co-writes “The Middletons” with Ralph Dunagin, and is the creator of the “Bound and Gagged” comic strip.

He was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He graduated from The Art Institute of Boston. He started his career as an editorial cartoonist beginning as a freelancer, before he working with The Fayetteville (North Carolina) Times, and then with Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald.

In the year 1982, he joined the Orlando Sentinel, where he’s gotten multiple awards for his work. This includes from the Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists and the Overseas Press Club.

“Drawn and Buried” won a Mystery Writers of America’s Sleuthfest Freddie award and the Florida Writers Association’s Royal Palm award for best suspense novel.

Dana’s debut novel, called “Drawn and Buried”, was released in the year 2017. His work is from the mystery, thriller genres.

“Drawn and Buried” is the first stand alone novel and was released in the year 2017. Political cartoons are only supposed to tick people off, but not drive them to violence. Tim Ryder learns the pen is not just mightier than the sword, but in fact is the sword. Ryder’s trying to bury his past, however it’s proving to be a stubborn corpse.

Seven years prior he drew a cartoon series that got him a Pulitzer, however he drove a presidential candidate to put a bullet in his own head. After he drank himself out of the profession, he moved to Orlando, Florida so he could draw for a tiny daily. He gets into an altercation with one of the readers about a Middle East cartoon. The guy threatens him, and is arrested as a result. Ryder just heads back to the drawing board.

However, his troubles continue to expand like a fat guy at a free buffet, as local politicians start ending up dead and the murder scenes have been staged to look like some of the cartoons that Ryder’s drawn. Ryder’s got to face the newspaper industry’s demise, as well as demons from the past and present that are going to change him forever.

Dana’s sharp writing and the snarky hero make this one memorable mystery novel. Dana does a great job of writing a novel that is suspenseful but still has plenty of laughs in it. There are also many surprises that spring during the final pages, tying up this rollicking ride. Tim is an enjoyable and complex protagonist and peeking into his world to be intriguing. His voice is a bit noirish with a dry sense of humor.

“The Dark and the Dead” is the second stand alone novel and was released in the year 2018. Haley McGlinn’s got a purse filled with flashlights and a car trunk filled with light bulbs. She has a good reason to be afraid of the dark. Five years prior, she survived one vicious serial killer. Gentleman Jack made sure that the next three girls after her weren’t as lucky.

Boyd Tucker, who is a homeless Chicago panhandler and was caught with a pendant belonging to Haley, does time for these crimes. Detective Tom Hunt has got his doubts.

Another murder stuns the city, and the victim has a tiny heart carved right into her chest, which resembles Jack’s signature. Hunt relies on Haley’s cloudy memory to get answers.

Haley wrestles with questions of her own. Who sends her mementos of this ordeal? Who actually kidnapped her? Could the only man she trusts be the real killer? As an enraged Haley tracks the madman through one blinding snowstorm, an injured Hunt battles dark demons of quick justice. However, Jack’s got plans of his own, plans that might just kill the both of them.

This is a novel that is sure to keep you in suspense from start to finish, and some readers found themselves holding their breath during certain parts. Readers continued to wonder who the culprit is and pondering what would happen next.

“Downhill Fast” is the third stand alone novel and was released in the year 2019. Lou Braga, an aging assassin, is losing his touch. Cloudy eyes, clogged arteries, and a bad back. The last job that he took was a total fiasco. He has gone from top of the line to a cheap joke within the world of contract killing. He would be happy to just kick back and live out the rest of his time drinking scotch and smoking cigars. However Mia, his daughter, is on the radar of Benny ‘Graves’ Epstein. This means her life span just got a whole hell of a lot shorter. Benny would kill his own mom if he could make a buck off it.

Sending Mia away is just part of the answer, since Benny’s got eyes everywhere. Lou knows the only certain way to keep her safe is to settle one old score. In order to do that he has to go underground. To flush him out, Benny goes way low, low enough to kidnap Lou’s Chihuahua and best friend, Edward.

This move ignites old Lou, the same Lou hell bent on winning no matter the cost. Now a wise-cracking ten-year-old kid called zero is in Benny’s crosshairs too and Lou’s got a soft spot for him. The guns-blazing approach might get the boy killed. Although, brute force is the one and only way of dealing with Benny. He struggles, while he battles his crumbling health, to save both Zero and Mia as he holds off dark forces from his past.

This is a crackerjack thriller that is tough to put down, with a rapid pace with many brutally suspenseful set pieces. Readers found themselves perched on the edge of their seats almost the entire time they were reading this one. Dana’s witty prose and quick action stays with you after you have finished it, and the characters are colorful and you end up rooting for the ‘good hearted’ villain.