Jonathan Stone Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Julian Palmer Books
The Cold Truth | (1999) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Heat of Lies | (2000) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Breakthrough | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Parting Shot | (2006) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Moving Day | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Teller | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Two for the Show | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Days of Night | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Die Next | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Prison Minyan | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
Dead Letters | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Akashic Noir Books
Philadelphia Noir | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon | ||
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Publication Order of Anthologies
Author Jonathan Stone is married with two kids (one daughter and one son) and has graduated from Yale. Here, he became a Scholar of the House in the subject of Fiction Writing. He has also won the English Department’s John Hubbard Curtis Prize for the Best Imaginative Writing.
He writes most of his work on the commuter train he takes between the suburbs of Connecticut and Manhattan, where he works as creative director of a advertising agency in midtown.
He has written the “Julian Palmer” series, some stand alone work, and short stories. His debut novel, “The Cold Truth”, was published in the year 1999.
“The Cold Truth” is the first novel in the “Julian Palmer” series and was released in the year 1999. Julian Palmer, who is a young woman being trained to work for the New York City police, leaves the dirty winters in Manhattan for a new internship in the northern part of New York State. Her new boss is a legendary Police Chief named Winston “Bear” Edwards, who has solved all the murder cases he has ever been handed, except for one.
The second to last day before he retires, he is baffled by a young female getting brutally murdered. There are no suspects or clues, only an odd psychic, his own instincts, and Julian to help him out. The case falls apart and the potential suspects are all over the place. Julian realizes all at once that the town’s blankets of snow conceal some shocking secrets. Not to mention a murderer that has the iciest heart.
Fans of the novel found that this was a story that kept them guessing the entire time, but they were hooked for the ride. This twists and turns, making you wonder what will happen next while you are on the edge of your seat. No matter what you think it will be, you will be wrong. Some liked seeing the personal growth that Julian goes through, and it helps the reader get to know her, and getting ready to be with her in more books. This was a good read, especially for a debut.
“The Heat of Lies” is the second novel in the “Julian Palmer” series and was released in the year 2000. Julian Palmer is starting to grow up. She is just a few short years graduated from the Academy, and is earning her stripes quite quickly. She has cleared some high profile murders and gotten promoted to Lieutenant in Troy, New York. This recent case though has puzzled her, though. She is on the hunt for a killer of a husband and father that was well respected. She has no suspects and the family is hungry to get answers, not to mention the fact that the press is starting to breath down her own neck. She is quite desperate and in too deep this time.
That is when she gets an unexpected visitor. It is the man that used to be her mentor, as well as the guy that she arrested for murder. Winston Edwards. He was once famed for his skills as a detective and being physically huge. He is just a shadow of who he used to be after escaping prison. He got out a beaten man, and now has nowhere to go and no family to speak of. Just his brilliant police mind is all that is left.
He is looking to get some kind of redemption, and a reason to keep on living. That is why he goes back to his old student. She does not trust Edwards, but knows that he is still gifted at being a detective and brings him into the case with caution. It is only to try to solve what appears to be an unsolvable case. She works side by side a man that tried to kill her once upon a time. She is pulled into the case, as well as the victim’s daughter. This girl makes her face the killing of her dad, which happened around ten years ago.
Fans of the novel found this to be another intense read, with an interesting decision that Julian makes in the book. The results of which are quite satisfying. Stone builds up the tension in the book, while being reminded of the things that Edwards passed on to Julian in the previous book. This is another mystery that is quite stellar, and readers hope to read many more books that star Julian.
“Breakthrough” is the third novel in the “Julian Palmer” series and was released in the year 2003. Julian believes she is taking time away from investigating murders. She takes a case of simple insurance investigation, and realizes she is caught up in something quite a bit more complex. It is a puzzling and odd case, that takes her from one dead investment banker that has a briefcase that is mysterious. Then it leads her to a renegade inventor that is in the desert in New Mexico then to the investing frenzy on Wall Street during the nineties.
It leads her to have a romance she did not expect with a man that was just as lonely as her named Tom Hartley. He is also just as passionate about revealing truths.
Fans of the novel found the characters in the book feel real when reading about them, and it truly feels as though they have their own relationships with other people and histories too. These are stories meant for those who enjoy reads that are never predictable for a moment.
“Parting Shot” is a stand alone novel that was released in the year 2006. Sam Stevens (who works as a television reporter) is upset about his marriage failing and the harm his wife is doing to their son (who is only ten years old). He covers a huge story, one that has made Webster County into a chaotic place to be, however, it allows him the chance to get some stardom. He senses a better chance to fix his personal problems once and for all.
There is someone else that is thrown into the nation’s spotlight with Sam. It is a man that is in way over his head on this, Sheriff Billy
Wyatt. The FBI has been breathing down the guy’s neck, and the national press points out everything that he has done wrong. He is facing off with a madman, not to mention, his own limits. Will he be able to out smart either one?
Just finished the 3rd book in the Julian Stone Trilogy. Really enjoyed all three books. Will Mr. Stone be writing any additional books in the series? I am now going to try his stand alone books. Love his writing prose.