Jon Rickner returns in THE FLAGLER HUNT, but this time, he’s got his brother by his side! In this prequel to FROM THE ASHES, the Rickner brothers must unravel a centuries-old mystery full of Gilded Age decadence and Conquistador treasure! 1565 – Just hours after perpetrating a grisly massacre against heretic Frenchmen on the shores of the New World, a Spanish admiral and an ambitious priest conspire to commit an audacious crime against the Crown. 1891 – A pioneering railroad tycoon creates a massive city-wide parlor game inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island for his wealthy guests, only to scrap the plans at the last minute thanks to a shocking discovery that could destroy everything he had built. Present day – Jon and Michael Rickner plunder an original Edison wax cylinder from the burning wreckage of an antiquities shop, only to realize that it is the first piece of a long-buried treasure hunt hidden in America’s oldest city. Matching wits and speed with a murderous rogue archeologist, Jon and Michael must piece together the forgotten remnants of Henry Flagler’s abandoned secret project before an incredible legacy and an unfathomable treasure are lost forever. For more on this action-packed adventure, check out my new page for THE FLAGLER HUNT!...

It’s funny how some of the greatest moments in life come from unexpected opportunities. I had always wanted to travel overseas, exploring the castles and cathedrals of Europe, the ancient wonders of the Middle East, the majestic temples of India, and beyond. But travel on the scale I had in mind is expensive. Little did I know that I would be experiencing all that and more on grander scale than I had anticipated – and so much sooner. While I had plans to teach history or English at a high school stateside upon my graduation from college, it seems God had bigger plans for fulfilling my dreams and expanding my horizons. A seemingly chance encounter with a travel-minded classmate led to an equally unlikely series of events that saw me – a fresh college graduate with no formal teaching experience or training, save for a few months of subbing at area schools – land a two-year contract with a premier international school eight thousand miles away in one of the most up-and-coming cities on the planet: Dubai. A major tourist hub centrally located between Europe, Africa, and Asia, the city was a perfect spot to launch my international travel adventures. But while I traveled to more than a dozen countries across all three of those continents during that chapter of my life, my new home base was an equally fascinating place to live. Dubai, as I saw first-hand even before the final 14-hour leg of my long-haul flight from Tallahassee had landed, is a city of superlatives. If it’s worth building, it’s worth building bigger and shinier than anywhere else on the planet. From the world’s first seven-star hotel (the Burj Al Arab) to the tallest building in the world (the Burj Khalifa), from the largest building in the world (Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3) to the largest mall in the world (the Dubai Mall), the city is renowned for its biggests, tallests, firsts, and mosts. It’s also a complex city, one where histories, cultures, and dreams often knock heads with one another, sometimes resulting in new bouts of creativity, other times resulting in more destructive ends. I myself was honored to teach students from more than four dozen nationalities, while the school as a whole played host to more than seventy national backgrounds. Of course, any classroom dustups stemming from cultural differences paled in comparison to what other cultural clashes wrought. Ultimately, it was a tremendously inspirational city for me. I finished my last complete draft of my first novel, From the Ashes, in my Dubai apartment, and the city itself inspired my next book, THE DUBAI BETRAYAL, which launches May 10. This...

The release date for THE DUBAI BETRAYAL, the long-awaited follow-up to Jeremy Burns’s smash hit debut FROM THE ASHES, is finally almost here. The new book, starring fan favorite CIA agent Wayne Wilkins, will launch in English-language markets worldwide in trade paperback and ebook formats on May 10, 2016. Reviewers and top thriller writers alike are already raving about the book. The first advance review from Goodreads gushes “This is a don’t miss experience for thriller fans,” while #1 New York Times best-selling author of Back Blast and Tom Clancy Full Force and Effect Mark Greaney says “THE DUBAI BETRAYAL is an intense and authentic thriller that bristles with both hard-edged action and intelligent international intrigue. Filled with believable characters in well-drawn locales, and a high stakes but utterly convincing plot, THE DUBAI BETRAYAL will leave fans of Daniel Silva and Brad Thor breathless for more.” Even more good news: the Kindle version of THE DUBAI BETRAYAL is 50% off between now and release day, so you can preorder your copy for only $3.99! Click here to find out more about the book as well as where you can preorder it...

It’s been far too long since my last post, a drought that will be remedied as I ramp up the information wagon (I think there’s a mixed metaphor in there somewhere) as I put the finishing touches on my next book and gear up for its publication. To kick things off, I’ve been invited to participate in the Writing Process Blog Hop that’s been making its way around the author blogosphere. Considering how I’m in the thick of my writing process, with one upcoming book done, one almost done, and a few more projects jockeying for position to command my attention next, I figure this came at an opportune time, and I’m excited to share with you some of the method behind my madness. A tremendous thank you to the author who invited me on this little trip, Tom Avitabile. Tom is a bestselling thriller author, and a great guy I got to hang out with at ThrillerFest last year (our booksigning tables were but a stone’s throw from each other at the event as well). His latest book is THE GOD PARTICLE, about which you can find more info here: //thestoryplant.com/our-authors/tom-avitabile/the-god-particle/. As followers of the Blog Hop know, authors are asked four questions about our books and processes. So here goes…   1) What am I working on? I’m finishing up THE DUBAI BETRAYAL, the first in a new spin-off series featuring Wayne Wilkins, a fan favorite character I introduced in FROM THE ASHES. It’s got a more military/technothriller vibe to it than my other works, but it’s ripe with the conspiracies, twists, compelling characters, and unique locales that my readers have come to expect. Having lived in Dubai for two years and spending time exploring many of the book’s key locations in both the desert metropolis itself and elsewhere throughout the Middle East, this has been an exciting book to plan and write, and I believe that my intimate familiarity with the sights, sounds, and smells of the city’s wonders–both on and off the typical tourist track–will take the already thrilling story to the next level. THE DUBAI BETRAYAL is due out early next year, so watch my website and social media channels for release information and teaser tips in the coming weeks and months. THE DANITE PROPHECY–originally announced as THE DESERET BLUEPRINT when I finished it in 2012–is done, and my agent has it in the hands of some of the biggest editors in publishing. It is a history-based conspiracy thriller in the vein of FROM THE ASHES, but with a much bigger scope and much higher stakes than my debut. Years of research, several trips to key sites, and covert access into...

It’s been nearly two years since the original release of FROM THE ASHES. Since that time, my debut novel has received some truly impressive reviews, become the #1 best-selling Historical Thriller on Amazon (on my wedding day, no less), and received a stellar re-release from my new publisher, The Story Plant. Nearly 100,000 physical and ebook copies have been sold and downloaded, and, most importantly, it’s given me a wonderful following of loyal fans. Though you have supported my writing by buying my book (sometimes multiple copies or across multiple platforms), liking me on Facebook, following me on Twitter, and by telling friends about me and FROM THE ASHES in person or online, all of my fans seem to have one burning question: when is the next book coming out. Your answer, my friends, is “very soon.” As many of you already know, I lived and worked in Dubai (yes, that Dubai) for two years after graduating from college. It was a fascinating place full of more architectural superlatives than any other city on earth, and although I am excited to tell the next story in Jonathan Rickner’s adventures, I realized that there was another story that had to be told first: one that is steeped in some of the most controversial issues of our day and set in the most iconic locations (and some equally fascinating places off the tourist track) an explosive new world city that I have intimate knowledge of.  And though Jon won’t be returning for this adventure, another key character from FROM THE ASHES will be stepping in to the leading role. THE DUBAI BETRAYAL is the first book in a new spin-off series starring Wayne Wilkins and a newly formed group of black ops commandos answerable only to the president himself. A new crisis strikes the Middle East, one that threatens to destabilize the entire region and plunge the United States into a devastating war from which the country would never recover. When the U.S. Ambassador to Israel is taken hostage in the glittering desert metropolis of Dubai, a covert team of elite operatives – led by black ops veteran Wayne Wilkins – are sent in to rescue her. But there are unseen forces at work that threaten the operation: the terrorists’ uncanny ability to predict the operatives’ moves, a tense alliance that forces the team underground, and a dark secret held by the ambassador herself – a secret that could destroy nations. It soon becomes clear that Wayne and his team are merely pawns in a larger game – one involving Iran’s nuclear program, the Israeli peace process, and a shocking conspiracy that spans continents – and the only way to avoid...

As I’ve alluded to on my Facebook page, I’m getting married this weekend! It’s a very exciting time in my life, and I wanted to officially share the news with all of you. Also exciting is the fact that the new-and-improved version From the Ashes has been in the top 20 for the past ten days on the Kindle Crime Action, Political Thriller, and Historical Mystery charts. The revised book is on sale for Kindle (and Kindle apps, which are available for free for most smartphones and tablets as well as PCs) for another week as well! As part of Amazon’s Big Deal sale, From the Ashes is only $1.99 until October 27. This new version also includes teaser codes for my next book, which is coming out in May. More on that in a moment… To celebrate the Big Deal sale and From the Ashes’s chart performance, I’ve also announced a giveaway for a trade paperback copy of the new version of the book. If you’re a bibliophile like me, you’ll be enthralled by the high print quality of this book versus the original. How can you win the giveaway? If you’ve read and enjoyed either version of From the Ashes, leave a review on Amazon and contact me via Facebook or direct messaging on the Contact page with the title of your review and you’ll be entered into the giveaway. Have you already posted a review for the original version? Thank you! Contact me with the title and you’re entered as well. But wait, there’s more! Remember those codes at the back of the new version of the book? Decipher them and include the hidden messages in your email to me to receive a DOUBLE entry into the contest. And, of course, I will happily personalize and sign the book for the winner. I’ve extended the deadline until after I get back from my honeymoon in early November, so if you haven’t read the book yet, there’s still time to save big on the Kindle version, read the book, decipher the codes, write a review, and email me for your double chance to win a signed and personalized print version of my debut novel. Later this week… it’s coming. The long-promised behind-the-scenes segment for From the Ashes. Pictures taken by me on my research trips through the museums, cathedrals, cloisters, and monuments of Manhattan, along with some inside information about my research process. It’s going to be a lot of fun! As for the news everyone’s wondering about… I’ll be announcing the new book shortly after I’ve returned from my honeymoon. The title, protagonist, and a brief teaser synopsis will all be yours for the taking in...

It has been far too long since I’ve updated this site, and now, I’m rebooting things in a big way. First, the promotions for FROM THE ASHES have been hugely successful, with the book being the #1 most downloaded Nook book on BarnesAndNoble.com five days in a row in January 2012 and hitting the Top 20 free list for Kindle in April.  It also charted in the Kindle Top 100 Paid lists in the Thriller and Action/Adventure categories, and between paperback and e-book sales and giveaways, FROM THE ASHES has moved roughly 90,000 copies since its debut last year.  A lot of that is due to fans like you helping me spread the word through online reviews, social media, and – of course – good old-fashioned word of mouth.  Thank you so very much for all your support and assistance in helping make FROM THE ASHES such a success in this very crowded marketplace.   Next, the current edition of FROM THE ASHES is about to be taken off shelves to make way for a big re-release with my new publisher, The Story Plant.  The new version of FROM THE ASHES will launch September 10 with a bold new cover, a slightly larger paperback format, and re-edited text that removes typos, expletives, and other line-item issues that unfortunately made it through the first edition’s editorial process.  I’ve also included a specially devised set of codes – inspired by Rockefeller’s codes in the book – that hold some key information for my next book, which will be released Spring 2014.  The Spring Book (as I’ll enigmatically refer to that project until I officially reveal its title in the coming weeks) is going to be one heck of a thrill ride, steeped in insider knowledge of some impressive international locales and ripped from tomorrow’s headlines.  Stay tuned for more information soon, or, if you can’t wait, see if you can decipher the codes in the FROM THE ASHES re-issue and get the scoop first!   As for my “Mormon book”, which I have posted about via Facebook over the past year and a half, it is still very much alive.  Originally titled THE DESERET BLUEPRINT and starring Jonathan Rickner when I finished it last November, it now has a new title and an awesome new protagonist and is currently being shopped around Big Six publishers in New York by my amazing new agent.  I am really excited to share more information about this blockbuster project with you, as it’s the culmination of seven years of research, travel, and writing, but we’ll save that until the build-up for that book’s release.  Please pray for the right editor...