Adam's New Novel
Hard Water
A Brando Riley Mystery
HARD WATER is a contemporary noir set in the hardscrabble beach town of Oxnard, CA. Burned-out environmental journalist Brando Riley is in SoCal to settle his late aunt's estate and cover a massive oil spill. While there, he meets a young champion swimmer at a local bar—she's found floating in the harbor the next day. When her drowning is dismissed as an accident and Riley unearths a corporate cover-up, he becomes convinced the two stories are connected. And as he digs deeper Riley finds himself investigating not only a murder but the man he’s become.
“Gorgoni’s HARD WATER is hard-boiled at its best.”—Reed Farrel Coleman, NY Times bestselling author
"Despite his claims that "I'm not a tough guy...I'm not a gritty shamus or a grizzled cop, or a forensic psychologist," Brando Riley, an environmental journalist in Adam Gorgoni's stunning debut novel Hard Water, becomes a little bit of all of these things, and for that the reader should be eternally grateful. From page one, we're hooked, as Gorgoni skillfully weaves the mystery of what happened to a beautiful, local bartender into Riley's investigation of an oil spill off the California coast.”—Charles Salzberg, 3-time Shamus Award nominee
Crime Fiction by Adam
A Killing at the Copa
Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow’s unforgettable songs have provided the soundtrack to generations. Now they’re inspiring something a little darker.
In this crime anthology, Adam Gorgoni joins 12 fellow mystery and crime writers who turn Manilow’s legendary catalog into all-new stories of love, obsession, betrayal, bad decisions, and situations gone terribly wrong.
Inspired by hits and lesser-known favorites alike, each story takes the emotion and drama of Manilow’s music in an unexpected direction. Think less romantic ballad and more Copacabana, where passion, jealousy, and one fatal gunshot changed everything.
Featuring an original story by Adam Gorgoni, alongside works by Karen Keeley, Linda Kay Hardie, Maya St. Clair, Matt McGee, Laurie Stevens, Caleb Weinhardt, Kurtis Rupé, Recita Clemons, J. M. Taylor, John M. Floyd, T. Fox Dunham, Christine Verstraete and Shari Held.
As Manilow sings, “there was blood and a single gunshot. But just who shot who?”
(I Just) Died in your Arms
Crime Fiction Inspired by One-Hit Wonders
Hitting the charts only once isn’t just unfortunate…it’s a crime.
In this crime anthology, Adam Gorgoni joins 11 other short story authors who transform unforgettable one-hit wonders into tales of murder, mystery, obsession, and mayhem.
I Just Died in Your Arms draws inspiration from instantly recognizable songs that may have been an artist’s only big hit, but never disappeared from pop culture. Each author takes a favorite one-hit wonder and gives it a dark new twist.
Featuring an original story by Adam Gorgoni, alongside works by Vinnie Hansen, Jeanne DuBois, Josh Pachter, J.M. Taylor, Christine Verstraete, Sandra Murphy, Joseph S. Walker, Wendy Harrison, Bev Vincent, Leone Ciporin and Barb Goffman.