Brad Parks Books In Order

Publication Order of Carter Ross Mystery Books

Chronological Order of Carter Ross Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Anthologies

Brad Parks is one of the highly renowned authors from America, who is well known for writing books based on the thriller and mystery genres. He is particularly famous for writing the mystery series featuring Carter Ross as the chief protagonist. The novels written by Brad combine the gritty and urban realism with humor. At the age of 14, author Brad used to cover his high school sports for The Ridgefield Press, a daily newspaper of his hometown. Later, he began his own newspaper covering sports activities, when he entered the Dartmouth College. While still studying, he was employed at The New York Times, and has even worked at The Boston Globe as per an internship program. After completing his graduation, author Brad joined The Washington Post for an internship and later he was hired on the full time basis. When he reached the age of 26, he started to write fiction while sitting inside a cafe. At the same time, his wife was continuing with her studies. Author Brad is the only author who has won the Nero, Lefty, and Shamus awards. Brad began his writing career in the year 2009 with the publication of his debut book titled Faces of the Gone. This book served as the first one to feature in the Carter Ross series. This novel’s success helped author Brad to win the Shamus and Nero awards in 2010. The works of Brad are known to have received starred reviews collectively from each and every renowned pre-publication reviewers. In addition to the mystery books, Brad has also written a few standalone books and the first one that he penned is titled Say Nothing.

Author Brad’s birth took place in New Jersey. But, he spent most of his time growing up in Ridgefield, Connecticut. He completed his high school graduation from the Ridgefield High School. During his college studies, Brad had founded the now defunct sports newspaper which was known as The Sports Weekly. In addition to this, he was also involved in singing with a co-ed cappella group called Dodecaphonics. Later on, he went on to flourish first in the field of journalism and then as a writer. Brad is also an enthusiastic speaker on public matters. He has been in numerous events as a ‘keynote’ speaker, including the Crooks Conference, Hunt Country Retreat for Writers, Hampton Conference, James River Conference, Deadly Ink, etc. Daniel Palmer and Brad even serenaded at the conference of International Thriller Writers. On many occasions, Brad has run into songs at libraries, bookstores, and several other places. Whenever author Brad is busy with his writing projects, he is seen enjoying running, swimming, and spending time with his family. Brad is happily married and lives along with his beautiful wife and 2 children in Virginia. For writing his mystery stories, he divides his time equally between the Shenandoah Valley hills and the Rappahannock River. At both the places, he likes to visit an outlet of the Hardee’s Restaurant to enjoy a peaceful ambience for creating his masterpieces. Brad says that he likes the good nature of the staff members and his well mannered treatment from them at Hardee’s. This is the reason why often gets attracted towards their restaurant. Author Brad has described Carter Ross as an investigative reporter living in Newark. He works for a fictional newspaper publication known as The Newark Eagle Examiner. Each and every book of this series is told from the point of view of Carter Ross himself in first person.

The Carter Ross series written by Brad Parks consists of a total of 6 novels and 1 novella, which were released between the years 2009 and 2015. One of the initial books of this series is entitled ‘Eyes of the Innocent’. It was released by Minotaur Books in 2011. At the start of this book, author Brad has shown Carter Ross, covering a house fire that results in the death of 2 boys. Ross is assisted in the case by a new intern named Sweet Thang. The two go on to find the mother of the victims, Akilah Harris. She cries that it was because of the resetting of the mortgage rate that she had to work 2 jobs by leaving her kids at home without anyone to care. And they ended up meeting a deadly fate. While investigating, Carter Ross finds out that Akilah Harris is not what she appears to be and neither was the fire an actual one. Soon, Ross learns about the disappearance of a Newark councilman named Windy Byers. His investigation related to this case land into a sordid world of political corruption and house flipping. Seeing the difficulty level of the case, Carter decides to call for help. He calls a Cuban sidekick named Tommy Hernandez, an old buddy named Tee Jamison, as well as an on and off girlfriend named Tina Thompson, for helping him track down the one responsible for the crimes. This book went on to be labeled as an entertaining and authentic thriller. Numerous readers from all over the world liked it and appreciated author Brad’s efforts in coming up with such a unique story. Even the critics lauded him for his unique style of writing that he used to write the crime fiction story.

Another mind blowing novel of the mystery series is called ‘The Good Cop’. It was published in 2013. The starting sequence of this book shows that Carter always manages to turn in his reports well within the deadline. Due to this, no one dares poke him even if he comes late to the office by a couple of hours. But, he receives a shock one morning when his boss gives him a ring at 8:40 am. He tells him that a local policeman has been murdered and he should reach the spot as soon as possible to cover the story. Carter Ross gets cleaned up and reaches the cop’s house to interview his widow. Shortly after, his boss calls him again and tells him to back off as it gets established that the policeman had committed suicide. However, Carter is not able to understand why the policeman would commit suicide when he loved his job and his family. As he tries to know more about this case, he faces obstacles in his path. This makes it clear that someone does not want him to get involved in the investigation. But, he wonders who it is and what is there to hide? Carter Ross seems determined to get to the bottom of the truth and uncover the mystery behind the case. Once again, author Brad has depicted his charm, humor, and insight into behavior through this book. The readers enjoyed this mystery as well and praised him.

4 Responses to “Brad Parks”

1. Lisa: 2 years ago

   Just finished The Fraud.Are there going to be more in the series? Really got hooked.thanks

   Reply
2. Mike McKeown: 2 years ago

   I’ve read seven of his books and thoroughly enjoyed his work. The writing is active and absorbing and thoughtfully created. I’m going to my local library tomorrow to request other novels.
   I have a blind, 35 year old granddaugher who is trying to get her first fiction published.
   Thank you Brad Parks

   Reply
3. diana calhoun: 2 years ago

   I am reading the book about the judge whose children were kidnapped.The book is awesome but how in the heck can that family keep it together? I would be torn up not knowing where my child is.First book I have read and I love your writing,thank you! Diana

   Reply
4. Dale Matteo: 2 years ago

   I have read your blog. You have given good information. Hardees has been around since 1961, and it has grown into one of the biggest hamburger chains in the country. The menu at Hardee’s is always changing to keep up with customers’ tastes. Today we’re going to talk about all the delicious items on their menu that you can’t resist!

   Reply