Books by Beau Johnson

Darkness is an attribute most of us rally against. It can consume. It can achieve. But if we so choose, it can also be held at bay. Enter Bishop Rider and the evil he’s chosen to obliterate since his family is taken from him. Operating outside the law, circumventing a system beyond repair, Bishop stalks this darkness the only way he knows how. Not only because these men deserve what he’s become, but because of a message he attempted to create has come back to haunt him, now, after all these years. It’s this story, along with other, unconnected tales that populate All of them to Burn.Come, meet Rider for the first time. Come, meet Rider for the last time.Come, watch the darkness burn.Praise for ALL OF THEM TO BURN:“Beau Johnson has done to his fiction what street thugs do to their victims: he holds it down and beats it for all its worth. I mean that in a good way. No, in a great way. Few authors are out there stamping their words onto the page the way Beau does. He’s equal parts slick, hammering, poetic and caustic. His talent is to be admired; his words are to be read.” —Ryan Sayles, author of the Richard Dean Buckner mysteries“Beau Johnson delivers another collection of masterfully written tales. Compelling and smart, these wild stories are full of twisted characters and seedy scenes. Greed. Anger. Revenge. Perhaps, justice. We are taken down a dark path, catching up with old favorites like Bishop Rider and John Batista along the way. We watch as the stories and characters connect and engage, bringing every thread together. The third in his series of connected shorts may be Beau Johnson’s best, yet.” —Marietta Miles, author of May and After the Storm“All of Them to Burn is a Molotov cocktail of classic crime fiction, but one with a sharp modern twist.” —Paul D. Brazill, author of Last Year’s Man and A Case of Noir“Beau Johnson’s stories are hard tales of revenge and sorrow. Nothing can prepare you for the darkness in these stories and nothing can make you turn away once you start reading. All of Them to Burn is an excellent collection.” —Nikki Dolson, author of All Things Violent“These chilling short stories—many featuring the return of the mythic-like hero, Bishop Rider—drop us into the darkest depths of human suffering and ruin. Beau Johnson can spin the most brutal of tales with raw emotion, savage honesty, and fierce humor. A standout collection from a seasoned storyteller.” —Sarah M. Chen, author of Cleaning Up Finn“All of Them to Burn is fast, sharp, violent, and gory. There’s something visceral at the core of Johnson’s work that simultaneously reflects the best and worst of humanity, and it shines in this collection. Come for the blood and viciousness and stay for the electric dialogue and outstanding last lines. I promise it’s all equally fun.” —Gabino Iglesias, author of Coyote Songs

Life has never been easy. Life has never been kind. It is always hungry. It is never full. Enter the struggles within the pages of The Big Machine Eats. Where fathers clash with sons, cannibals turn on cannibals, and sometimes sandwich meat is far from the worst choice a person can make. These stories, along with the continuing adventures of Bishop Rider, make up the bulk of this collection. They are not for the faint of heart. They are not for those who fail to believe one should get what one deserves. We must help ourselves. We must help those who find themselves unable. If not, it's as the sign says: The Big Machine Will Eat. Praise for THE BIG MACHINE EATS: "Beau Johnson has put together a collection of stories so compelling that you will want to set aside a few hours each time you come to it. One just isn't enough, and the next thing you know you'll be grumpy at work because you stayed up way past your bedtime." -Paul Heatley, author of Fatboy "Beau Johnson takes you to dark places and shines a light on the ugly things that happen there. His perfectly created, bigger-than-life Bishop Rider is a modern-day anti-hero and Johnson writes the surrounding stories with savage suspense. The Big Machine Eats is the perfect follow-up to his debut A Better Kind of Hate." -Marietta Miles, author of Route 12 and May "These deliciously dark stories will stay with you long after you've read them. Johnson is a natural storyteller-insightful, empathic, and, above all, brutally honest. He takes readers places they really don't want to go, drawing them into a grubby underworld of bad guys doing very bad things to very bad people. Retribution is a common theme, and Johnson never shirks from the grisly details as his characters come up with even more inventive ways to settle old scores. Revenge, here, isn't just served cold-it's delivered on ice, and then some. The Big Machine Eats is a gripping collection from a writer at the top of his game." -Gary Duncan, author of You're Not Supposed To Cry "An extremely entertaining and clever collection of stories from one of the biggest names in the game. He invites readers along for a wild ride through the seediest neighborhoods of his twisted mind in this fantastic follow up to A Better Kind of Hate. Let him help you see the demons that walk among us and shine some light through the darkness. Clearly the best collection you will read this year." -Kevin Berg, author of Daddy Monster and Indifference "Beau Johnson has a way of luring you in with his sharp wit, discerning eye, and conversational voice. You'd follow him anywhere, even after you careen off a cliff and plunge into the darkest depths of the human psyche-and sometimes not so human. A helluva brutal collection from a ferociously twisted mind." -Sarah M. Chen, author of Cleaning Up Finn "Beau is back, once again proving he is the alchemist of conflict as he continues to peel back the fingernails of human frailty and forces us to stare into the darkness found there." -Tom Pitts, author of American Static and 101 "Beau Johnson excels at the base, those twisted places we don't want to go. Whether that is sexually motivated, or fueled by revenge or something more sinister (if not all three at once), Johnson puts his subjects beneath the microscope. What we get is, yes, the truth, but more than that: we get an extreme close-up of the horrifically beautiful." -Joe Clifford, author of The