Q: Why did you change the order of the Dimase Augustin Series?
A: Sometimes things don’t turn out the way you expect. Hopefully that is true about the plot twists in my stories, but it’s also true in real life. I’ve always been a fan of espionage and political thrillers. In film, some of my favorites have been movies like Enemy of the State (starring Will Smith and Gene Hackman), The Pelican Brief (starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington), All The President’s Men ( starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman), and The Bourne Identity (starring Matt Damon).
Last September, my team and I made a calculated decision to release two of the eight Dimase Augustin series books out of chronological order. Threat Analysis, and its direct sequel, Operation Resurrection, are both White House/Washington DC centered political espionage thrillers. The thinking was to time publication of these non-partisan, deep state corruption yarnswith the occurrence of the actual United States 2024 election season in the hope that we might capitalize on public interest in that general topic. I would say the effort was successful, but did create some confusion for Dimase Augustin fans.
While we did receive some excellent and much appreciated private and professional reviews, the downside of altering the book release sequence was that it changed the arc of Dimase’s development, as well as the introduction of certain secondary characters. Now that some time has passed, I plan to put the books back into chronological order to improve long term cohesiveness and continuity.
In this way, future readers will better understand the evolution of Dimase Augustin, from Chief Homicide Detective in Cambridge to an off-the-books government contractoroperating on a top secret basis at the highest levels of power and influence.
In my own reading of other author’s work, I’ve often been introduced to a series midstream, only to find that I love the character, the story, or both, and search out the earlier books to fill in the gaps and understand the back story. I’m hoping that will be the case with my readers also, and that as they get to know Dimase Augustin they will find him as interesting and compelling as I do.
For clarity, below is the correct chronological order of the eight Dimase Augustin books and a short bullet on each.
Chronological Order of Dimase Augustin Series:
THE MIT MURDERS
we meet Dimase as Chief Homicide Detective when he matches wits with a brilliant MIT professor who morphs into an unlikely serial killer.
THE SCOTUS AFFAIR
A split narrative, with a dose of romance, murder and political intrigue.
WATER WAR
Dimase thwarts a billionaire Russian oligarch who seeks to control the world’s supply of fresh water through the use of cutting edge science.
LUCKY WINNER
An Iraq war veteran is more than halfway through his twenty year Mega-Bucks payout when several of his friends and family die under mysterious circumstances and Dimase tries to piece together the puzzle of who’s behind the apparent murders …and why.
MIND BENDER
The evil professor, Hans Berger, makes good on his vow that no prison could hold him for a lifetime and returns to seek his revenge against Dimase and Susan Pearce.
JUNGLE STREETS
FBI Regional Director, John Smith, enlists Dimase to find out what happened to the rebellious daughter of a corrupt US senator after the young woman goes missing while on vacation in South America.
THREAT ANALYSIS
Dimase uncovers a sting operation being run by Chinese intelligence operatives designed to blackmail key American powerbrokers.
OPERATION RESURRECTION
In this direct sequel to Threat Analysis, Dimase races against the clock to save the president of the United States and contain a top secret operation that, if public, would rock public confidence in the US government.
Again, thanks to all for your wonderful support. It is very much appreciated and not taken for granted. Until next time,
Best,
Steve B