E. M. Smith

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About E. M. Smith

E. M. Smith came by his redneck roots honestly, his barbwire tattoo dishonestly, and his sobriety slowly. Recovery isn't a sprint, according to his friends, it's a marathon. That's probably why he turned into such a fitness geek when he quit drinking.

You can call him Mason if you want to. He just uses his initials to seem professional.

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Author Updates

Titles By E. M. Smith

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Desert Heat: A Gripping Serial Killer Thriller (Victor Loshak Book 4) Feb 6, 2022

by L.T. Vargus, E.M. Smith, Tim McBain

( 1,338 )

$5.99

The desert holds its kill up to the sun. A human body draped over the limbs of a cactus. Sand scouring the naked flesh every time the wind blows.

A shocking death launches Special Agent Victor Loshak on a new investigation with an ominous message: They know everything. He heads to Tucson, Arizona, where a recent murder spree seems to be linked to the human trafficking conspiracy he's been working in secret for months.

Loshak still has dreams about the Kansas City case. Nightmares about the team of techs peeling up the floorboards in a suburban home. Finding the rotting bodies face down in the muddy earth of the crawlspace. A grisly discovery that ultimately led to more questions than answers.

Now he may be closer than ever to solving the puzzle.

If you follow the conspiracy rabbit hole all the way down, you eventually reach the bottom.

The task force working the desert murders seems oblivious to the conspiracy link, and Loshak must tread lightly. He doesn't know who to trust, what information to share.

The tendrils of the human trafficking ring lead in all directions outward from that Kansas City crawlspace. Their influence reaches the highest levels of government and law enforcement. They have eyes and ears everywhere.

Even with the complications, the Tucson case slowly unravels the web of connections behind the crimes, both the murders and the conspiracy.

Questions get answered. Names and faces are laid bare. Puzzle pieces snapping into place at long last.

But the revelations bring about the gravest danger yet.

The novels in the Victor Loshak series can be read as stand-alones. Scroll up and grab Desert Heat now.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Beyond Good & Evil: A Serial Killer Thriller (Victor Loshak Book 1) Sep 20, 2018

by L.T. Vargus, Tim McBain, E.M. Smith

( 2,112 )

$4.99

He slips through the unlocked window. Creeps down the hall. A shadow standing in the bedroom doorway. Will you wake when death comes ripping?

A string of brutal home invasion murders terrifies Dade County, Florida. The killer strikes in the dead of the night, savages innocent people in their beds, wipes out entire families.

He attacks at random. Rich. Poor. Young. Old. No one is safe.

When the city sleeps, he comes alive. Stalks the night. Walks among us.

The investigation is hopeless. There's little physical evidence to work with, and the killer's chaotic behavior makes him as unpredictable as he is dangerous.

What drives someone to such violence? And how can anyone make sense of such brutality?

The task force leading the investigation needs a profiler, and there's only one man for the job.

Loshak. Special Agent Victor Loshak.

The 53 year-old likes his Dunkin' Donuts coffee shaken, not stirred. And now, for the first time, he's on his own.

But how far will this case push him?

In recent years, Loshak has slowed down some. He relies on more wit than grit these days, often playing a mentor role to his partner, Violet Darger. Until now, she always had more than enough grit for both of them.

But Darger isn't around this time, and a killer this aggressive will push Loshak to his limits. And beyond.

Yeah, he'll need to find that grit again... or die trying.

This pulse-pounding thriller will have you holding your breath until the final page. Fans of John Sandford, Karin Slaughter, Michael Connelly, and Lisa Gardner should check out the Victor Loshak series.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

What Lies Beneath: A Gripping Serial Killer Thriller (Victor Loshak Book 2) May 1, 2019

by L.T. Vargus, E.M. Smith, Tim McBain

( 2,669 )

$5.99

Some secrets don’t stay buried.

Three elaborately staged victims. No clues. A public verging on panic.

FBI profiler Victor Loshak heads to Kansas City to hunt another serial killer. But something about this case is all wrong.

The three corpses lie posed. Face up. A glove laid to cover each right eye.

The victims seem to be selected at random. Suburban. Upper middle class. Squeaky clean. It doesn’t make sense.

A piece is missing from this puzzle.

If Loshak can find the missing link that connects the victims, he believes he can solve the case. The obstacles are many, however.

And the cryptic note someone left under his windshield wiper? It warns him that danger lurks all around.

They bury it, and they bury it, but it won't stay dead.

As Loshak digs deeper, uneasiness seems to creep over everything in the city. Paranoia. A sense of dread.

Everyone he encounters seems to be keeping things from him. Concealing something.

He gets a visceral sense of the lengths people will go to hide their sins. Bury them.

When the suburban veneer finally strips away, all the dark secrets come clear one by one.

But nothing can prepare Loshak for the shocking revelation this case unearths.

Because what lies beneath the surface? It changes everything.

This pulse-pounding thriller will have you holding your breath until the final page. Fans of James Patterson, John Sandford, and Lisa Regan should check out the Victor Loshak series.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Silent Night: A Gripping Serial Killer Thriller (Victor Loshak Book 3) Apr 5, 2020

by L.T. Vargus, E.M. Smith, Tim McBain

( 1,795 )

$5.99

No one is safe.

A mass-shooter rages through Chicago in the days after Christmas. Brutal. Efficient. He etches a path of destruction through the city.

Shooting up the mall. Opening fire in traffic. Rampaging through a movie theater.

That's just his opening act.

FBI profiler Victor Loshak heads to the windy city to investigate and finds himself swept up in a frenzied manhunt. This killer will strike again -- it's a question of when not if -- so every second becomes critical.

As always, Loshak must enter the shadowy mind of the perpetrator to help catch him -- understanding the shooter's psychology will be the key to predicting his behavior, the key to stopping him.

The city veers toward panic. The killer seems invulnerable, always one step ahead. And then there's the blizzard moving in.

Endless snow. Wind. Frigid temperatures.

The shooter and the elements will combine to test Loshak like he's never been tested before. But can he find the answers in time?

This pulse-pounding thriller will have you holding your breath until the final page. Fans of Michael Connelly, John Sandford, and Lisa Regan should check out the Victor Loshak series.

The books in the Loshak series can be read in any order, so grab Silent Night and get started today.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

The Good Life Crisis: A Victor Loshak Novella Oct 25, 2018

by L.T. Vargus, E. M. Smith, Tim McBain

( 387 )

$0.99

Everyone has secrets. Even the dead.

A murder interrupts Special Agent Victor Loshak's vacation in Santa Fe -- a middle-aged man executed in his garage. The forensic details make it seem like a professional job, but the local police seem hell bent on pinning the killing on the dead man's wife anyway.

The story doesn't quite add up.

Loshak gets swept up in the hunt for the truth, even if he's still dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and sandals.

The agent digs through the seedy underworld of New Mexico, finds it populated with colorful characters who may or may not be playing it straight.

The details of the case grow increasingly bizarre. Everyone seems to have a different description of the dead man in the garage -- his personality, his passions, his hopes and dreams all vary wildly depending on who is telling the story.

If Loshak can find out who the victim really was, he can solve the case. If not...

Grab this short sequel to Beyond Good & Evil!

Praise for the Victor Loshak series:

"Was hooked from the 1st page and stayed up all night to finish it. Jaw dropping edge of your seat action packed thriller." - Mary Palmer

"There is a terrifying serial killer in this book. And the story is riveting...I really enjoyed getting to know Loshak better. I love the way he consciously reads people and uses his knowledge of human behavior to function in everyday life, not just as a detective. I love his self awareness. I love his measured, experienced approach to life and his job and I love his honesty with himself and other people." - Melanie

"I felt that adrenaline rush tingling down my spine. You’ll be left wondering did I lock the back door?...I began reading this book, and didn’t stop until I was finished at 3:00am." - C. Awbrey

"This was a wonderful, well written (with all their great details), sinister crime story." - C. Munger

"Great read. Mystery, thrills, suspense and the grim horror of what true crime sounds, feels, looks, and smells like. A must read whether you have or haven’t indulged before in this series." - Indiquinn

Other Formats: Paperback

Take Warning: A Victor Loshak Novella Nov 14, 2019

by L.T. Vargus, E.M. Smith, Tim McBain

( 521 )

$2.99

Some conspiracy theories turn out to be true.

FBI profiler Victor Loshak works a brutal murder case in Watertown, New York -- a woman found strangled in her basement, her face gone purple and baggy.

But as he sifts through the crime scene details, his mind keeps drifting back to Kansas City, his last job. The human trafficking case there ended in something of a cliffhanger, and it's a loose end that everyone else in law enforcement seems in no hurry to tie up.

The truth is out there. Always just out of reach.

Loshak finds himself changed by the events that transpired in Missouri. His worldview shifted. His priorities shuffled. He reaches out to the people close to him, hoping to make major changes in his personal life.

But they are watching.

When Loshak pursues leads relating to Kansas City, however, the warnings start. They are watching him. Seem to know everything about him. If he keeps working the human trafficking case, everything -- and everyone -- he cares about will be in jeopardy.

Justice bears a heavy cost. How high of a price will you pay?

The shape of a man's life is largely defined by what passions he pursues, Loshak decides. Now he will choose what that means for him.

While the Victor Loshak novels can be read in any order, we recommend reading this short after having read the earlier books in the series.

Here is the full list of Loshak books in chronological order:

Beyond Good & Evil (Victor Loshak Book 1)
The Good Life Crisis (Victor Loshak Book 1.5)
What Lies Beneath (Victor Loshak Book 2)
Take Warning (Victor Loshak Book 2.5)

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Bad Ops (The Agent Juliet Box Set) Jan 19, 2014

by E. M. Smith

( 31 )

$2.99

BAD OPS is a specially priced box set collecting the full Agent Juliet series.

Follow self-destructive screw-up and beginner black ops agent Jamie Kendrick from his disastrous first op to his grisly showdown with death.

Included in the Set:
Bad Decisions
Bad Influences
Bad Environment
Bad Reputation
Bad Ending

BAD DECISIONS
Jamie Kendrick is known for his colossally bad decisions—jacking a squad car and turning it over in a ditch, for example. But he’s going to show everyone. With some help from his brother—and a court-ordered ankle monitor—Jamie is going to get sober, join the army, and shake his white trash reputation. He’s actually doing a decent job until someone frames him for the gruesome murders of his brother's family.

No one believes that Jamie is innocent. No one but a mysterious blonde with a gun. She gives Jamie a choice: spend the rest of his life in prison or help her take down the man who killed his brother and set him up.

BAD INFLUENCES
Juliet’s back and the pressure’s on.

Five months after almost dying on his first mission with NOC-Unit, Jamie Kendrick is trying to adapt to the high-stress world of black ops, navigate the politics of workplace relationships, and watch out for his nieces.

BAD ENVIRONMENT
A deep black op in the heart of Afghanistan brings Bravo face-to-face with his past...

A strange phone call from one of his nieces sends Jamie off the rails...

And someone at NOC-Unit sends Jamie and Bravo on a mission they aren't meant to come back from.

BAD REPUTATION
Someone in NOC-Unit betrayed Jamie and Bravo. Now they're trapped in a sweatbox in the South American jungle.

While Jamie and Bravo fight to survive, the past unfolds through the eyes of the mysterious Mina. Who is she and how does she factor into the NOC-Unit boys' fate?

BAD ENDING
People always said if he didn't straighten up, he would come to a bad end…

Jamie doesn't know how he's going to rescue his nieces from NOC-Unit without getting killed. He doesn't know where he'll hide the girls if, by some miracle, he does rescue them. All he knows is that things are fixing to get bad.

A roller coaster ride of gunfights, kidnapping, grand theft auto, torture, and death—the final Agent Juliet story pushes Jamie to an edge he can never come back from.

Bad Decisions (Agent Juliet Book 1) Aug 7, 2013

by E. M. Smith

( 296 )

$0.00

Jamie Kendrick is known for his colossally bad decisions—jacking a squad car and turning it over in a ditch, for example. But he’s going to show everyone. With some help from his brother—and a court-ordered ankle monitor—Jamie is going to get sober, join the army, and shake his white trash reputation. And he’s actually doing a decent job until someone frames him for the grisly murders of his brother's family.

No one believes that Jamie is innocent. No one but a mysterious blonde with a gun. She gives Jamie a choice: spend the rest of his life in prison or help her take down the man who killed his brother and set him up.

BAD DECISIONS is the first story in the AGENT JULIET series. Now you can get the full series for 40% off with the BAD OPS box set!

Bad Influences (Agent Juliet Book 2) Sep 10, 2013

by E. M. Smith

( 29 )

$0.99

Juliet’s back and the pressure’s on.

Five months after almost dying on his first mission with NOC-Unit, Jamie Kendrick is trying to adapt to the high-stress world of black ops, navigate the politics of workplace relationships, and watch out for his nieces.

But when a raid goes wrong in front of Jamie’s eyes, his reaction forces him to admit that he might not be coping as well as he thought. He might even need some help.

BAD INFLUENCES is the second story in the AGENT JULIET series. It's recommended that you read BAD DECISIONS first for maximum enjoyment, or you can get the full series in the BAD OPS box set for 40% off!

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Bad Environment (Agent Juliet Book 3) Oct 24, 2013

by E. M. Smith

( 20 )

$0.99

A deep black op in the heart of Afghanistan brings Bravo face-to-face with his past...

A strange phone call from one of his nieces sends Jamie off the rails...

And someone at NOC-Unit sends Jamie and Bravo on a mission they aren't meant to come back from.

BAD ENVIRONMENT is the third story in the AGENT JULIET series. It's recommended that you read the previous installments first for maximum enjoyment. Check out BAD DECISIONS, the first story in the series, or get the BAD OPS box set for 40% off!

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Bad Ending (Agent Juliet Book 5) Jan 3, 2014

by E. M. Smith

( 18 )

$0.99

People always said if he didn't straighten up, he would come to a bad end…

Jamie Kendrick doesn't know how he's going to rescue his nieces from NOC-Unit without getting killed. He doesn't know where he'll hide the girls if, by some miracle, he does rescue them. All he knows is that things are fixing to get bad.

A roller coaster ride of gunfights, kidnapping, grand theft auto, torture, and death—the final Agent Juliet story pushes Jamie to an edge he can never come back from.

BAD ENDING is the last story in the AGENT JULIET series. It's recommended that you read the previous installments for maximum enjoyment. Check out the first story, BAD DECISIONS, or get the BAD OPS box set for 40% off!

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Bad Reputation (Agent Juliet Book 4) Nov 17, 2013

by E. M. Smith

( 15 )

$0.99

WARNING: This Agent Juliet story includes content that might be disturbing to some readers.

Someone in NOC-Unit betrayed Jamie and Bravo. Now they're trapped in a sweatbox in the South American jungle.

While Jamie and Bravo fight to survive, the past unfolds through the eyes of the mysterious Mina. Who is she and how does she factor into the NOC-Unit boys' fate?

BAD REPUTATION is the fourth installment of the Agent Juliet series. It's recommended that you read the previous installments for maximum enjoyment. Check out BAD DECISIONS, the first story, or get the BAD OPS box set for 40% off!

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

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