Genre-busting books by Vermont novelist J. Kilburn:
Character-driven crime fiction, coming-of-age tales, family and policing dramas, romance set in Vermont and Quebec.
Novels by J. Kilburn:
A thoughtful exploration of crime and coming-of age in a small town...
Independent Book Review says:
"...Exceptional... Excellent... Refreshing..." and "BEFORE nails the depiction of a small town with its gossip and rumors."
- IBR Featured Review, June 2022
THINK YOU KNOW THOSE KIDS NEXT DOOR? YOU SURE ABOUT THAT? J. Kilburn's novel BEFORE takes your average teenagers, gives them family and community, and then plausibly and seamlessly drops them into international intrigue in a small New England college town. These teenagers go about their sweet and sordid adventures blissfully unaware of their role in larger and more complicated regional events. BEFORE is a Coming-of-Age story, but it's also a story about international Organized Crime and the role that small-town folks, your neighbors, your loved ones, and even the Honors Student next door might play in that dark and dangerous world.
Coming-of-Age / Crime Fiction
500 pages - 2022
979-8-9899152-3-1 (EPUB)
979-8-9899152-2-4 (Paperback)
ASIN# B09XMX5ZCL (Kindle Ed)
- a CEREALNOVEL.com book -
ASK FOR IT AT YOUR FAVORITE LOCAL BOOKSELLER!
PUBLISHER’S CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION INFORMATION:
LCSH: Teenagers - Fiction | Parenting - Fiction | Organized Crime - Fiction | Career Development - Fiction | Moral Development - Fiction
BISAC: FICTION / Action & Adventure | FICTION / Coming of Age | FICTION / Crime
A lurid, dark and daring debut... Visit Montreal's darkest corners in this shocking crime fiction!
"This is literary fiction!" - artist and educator Ardelia Huntress
Two opposing and mutually-exclusive lives meet for just a moment at a time and in a place where one of them shouldn't be. The fallout of this moment leaves a woman on the run from Organized Crime, and takes readers on a frantic plunge into the dark streets and back alleys of a richly-described criminal underworld.
J. Kilburn's debut novel! This riveting and disturbing biker fiction introduces the TOPDOGS Motorcycle Club, a fictional gang of modern-day outlaws who take us for a journey on the darker side of the road less traveled. Novelist J. Kilburn brings readers to the dark side of seedy streets in this international tale of adventure, terror, and crime set in Montreal.
Crime / Horror / Outlaw Bikers
140 pages - 2020
979-8-9899152-4-8 (Paperback)
ASIN# B087WHCDQH (Kindle)
Other E-book formats returning soon....
- a TOPDOGSNOVEL imprint book -
AVAILABLE TO RETAIL BOOKSELLERS LATER IN 2026!
New love and new careers in this action-filled policing and family drama from Vermont...
New love and new careers in this action-filled policing and family drama from Vermont...
J. Kilburn's spin on the romance novel is a Readers' Favorite 5-star pick!
"Magnificent."
Come for a year-long ride-along adventure with Vermont’s “Green-and-Gold” state troopers and other public safety professionals in this policing and family drama from novelist J. Kilburn.
A rookie police officer has met the Girl of his dreams and thinks he's hot on the trail of a promising law enforcement career, too. A lot can happen between starry-eyed plans and life itself, so there will to be a few rough spots along the way... including a big bump right at the start!
This policing and family drama explores the excitement, joys, and pitfalls of young love and new careers as a couple from a small New England college town navigates the adventure-filled years between Teen Angst and Adulting. Filled with harrowing law enforcement experiences, detailed police tactics training, and unanticipated romantic drama, it's going to be an incredible Rookie Year for both the new couple and the new cop.
Policing Drama / Family Drama / Romance
410 pages - 2024
979-8-9899152-0-0 (EPUB)
979-8-9899152-1-7 (Paperback)
ASIN# BOCTR5XD8X (Kindle Ed.)
- a CEREALNOVELcom book -
ASK FOR IT AT YOUR LOCAL DOWNTOWN BOOKSTORE!
Your local bookseller can order them!
Click for direct links to reviews or online booksellers:
Read outside the box!
J. Kilburn's fiction is written with a conscious disregard for formula-fiction plot and style conventions. Kilburn's lush descriptions of landscape and setting provide a fitting backdrop for a community of thoughtfully-developed characters whose deep friendships bring warmth and depth to the books. The plots shock and surprise readers with genre-bending meanders into delightful tales-within-tales that artfully cohere to the larger narrative. Kilburn's management of dialogue and voice give each character a unique and authentic feel, while his ability to delve into the personas and inner thoughts of characters from widely-disparate backgrounds in chameleon fashion prove that he is an upcoming writer to watch....
Available for E-readers - click for direct links!
What Reviewers are saying about J. Kilburn's books:
READERS' FAVORITE gives J. Kilburn's second novel BEFORE 5 stars!
"...the dialogue (in BEFORE) is probably among the top 1% in its sarcasm and authenticity... Nell Zink and the novel Nicotine come to mind.“...
- Jamie Michele for READERS FAVORITE, January 2022 - 5 stars!
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW recommends BEFORE for library shelves:
"... especially and unreservedly recommended for community library General Fiction collections..." - Julie Summers for Midwest Book Review in May, 2022 Issue of MBR's Reviewer's Bookwatch.
"Rookie Year is a powerful combination of a police procedural drama and a coming-of-age story. Author J Kilburn has created some incredibly likable and identifiable characters.... The entire story has a warmth and charm about it...." - 5 stars!
- Grant Leishman for Readers’ Favorite
INDEPENDENT BOOK REVIEW featured BEFORE by J. Kilburn:
"...exceptional.... BEFORE nails the depiction of a small town.... Kilburn weaves this teenage story with threads of secrets.... the tension is thick."
- Manik Chaturmutha for IBR
"Kilburn delivers script-ready dialogue that at times is laugh out loud funny...."
- Peggy Kurkowski, on Rookie Year, as reviewed in Independent Book Review
READERS SAY:
Authentic! "Author J. Kilburn, where did you do your time?!" (Ed, a local reader)
"This is Literary Fiction!" (Illustrator Ardelia Huntress, M.A.)
"A six-hour reading marathon... I couldn't put it down!" (Pam, a Beta Reader)
Five-star fiction that seamlessly weaves together small-town charm and international intrigue....
Character-driven literary drama and suspense by J. Kilburn:
J. Kilburn writes thoughtful reading adventures that are penned with a conscious disregard for formula-fiction style and plot conventions. While the tales are entertaining in their own right, Kilburn's narratives also explore the changing society and landscape of his pastoral setting. Books by J. Kilburn may be read in any order. That said, many of the characters make appearances in more that one tale, and the plots tend to re-visit familiar locales: the pastoral fictional town of Collegeville; the very real small lakeside city of Burlington, Vermont; and the bustling cosmopolitan port city of Montreal, Quebec. Readers of one J. Kilburn novel will be pleasantly surprised to re-discover some their new Old Friends as they open the pages of a different J. Kilburn tale. .
MORE PRAISE FOR J. KILBURN'S WORK:
J. Kilburn's first novel compared to the Sons of Anarchy television series:
"In the same way Sons of Anarchy gives us an intimate look at characters who play by their own rules, J. Kilburn's novel (Heaven's Door) gets up close and personal with unpredictable and often dangerous people." - INDEPENDENT BOOK REVIEW , 2020 Editorial Review
"The colorful, evocative descriptions breathed life into the scenes.... Kilburn has a knack for whipping up tremendously dramatic scenes, accompanying them with a robust sense of humor.... (J. Kilburn's) ROOKIE YEAR is a magnificent piece of work and I loved it."
- 5 stars! - Reviewed by Keith Mbuya for Readers’ Favorite
InD'tale Magazine says:
"Mr. Kilburn is a master at character development!"
"... the world here is rich and full of compelling characters...." - Independent Book Review on Heaven's Door by J. Kilburn
"...deftly crated... recommended...." Midwest Book Review on BEFORE by J. Kilburn
SELF-PUBLISHING REVIEW gave Kilburn's first book 3.5 stars!
"...a brutally raw and riveting look at the inner workings of a fictional Canadian biker gang, Heaven’s Door by J. Kilburn comes in swinging and rarely stops...."
"The fast-paced, character-driven storytelling (in ROOKIE YEAR) keeps the reader engaged and utilizes dialogue really well, and the narrative unfolds with a mix of suspense, humor, and heartfelt moments.... certain to please fans of crime-centric dramas and family stories alike." - 5 stars! - K. C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
Meet J. Kilburn:
Aspiring Vermont writer J. Kilburn is the author of three novels and one feature-length newspaper article. Kilburn's narrative style has been compared to those of Hunter S. Thompson and Nell Zink. His subjects and almost cinematic descriptions of setting have earned his work comparison to movies and television shows like Sons of Anarchy and Twin Peaks.
Kilburn lives a quiet and private life on the shore of America's sixth Great Lake. He has lived and worked in Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Minnesota. During these travels, Kilburn has dabbled in law enforcement, private security, emergency medicine, truck driving, and horse-logging. Other occupations have included at-risk youth mentor, big-city process server, park ranger, industrial wastewater treatment operator, and plastics processing machinery mechanic. Along the way, he's pedaled to 14,000 feet above sea-level in a major bicycle race, been marooned overnight on a deserted island, ridden a motorcycle from Chicago to Thunder Bay, and hiked Vermont's highest peaks to watch sunsets on both the longest and coldest days of the year.
When not at work, Kilburn and his spousemate enjoy life around a little urban farm complete with greenhouse, garden, mini-orchard, and a micro-barn. Their current flock consists of 4 chickens, a turkey that was just too lovable to eat, and a cat named Sierra Feral.
The notorius (fictional) TOPDOGS Motorcycle Club of Quebec:
Need a villain for your crime fiction series? Create one!
Meet the Quebec Charter of the TOPDOGS Motorcycle Club, a fictional gang of modern-day outlaws who take us for a journey on the darker side of the road less traveled. Strut on the sidewalks of Montreal with high-rolling underworld magnates while their minions flit in and out of back alleys in service of dark needs, big money, and ruthless territorial competition. Read about how the Quebec Chapter of the club got its start; how some fun-seeking motorcycle enthusiasts lost themselves to the seductive, yet dangerous world of gang violence and organized crime.
Ask your local library or bookstore to get your copy of Heaven's Door: a Novel from their distributor! InD'tale Magazine calls HEAVEN'S DOOR, A NOVEL a "heart-stopping" tale of crime and suspense!
There's a J. Kilburn book for every reader!
CEREALNOVEL.COM
Thoughtful, whimsical, funny, sometimes tragic, occasionally controversial... Books from the CEREALNOVEL imprint have received starred or featured editorial reviews and each title has been recommended for addition to public lending library General Fiction collections.
TOPDOGSNOVEL.COM
Books in the TOPDOGSNOVEL series take readers to places best visited from the safety of a favorite reading chair! Hard-core crime, horror, violence and mayhem aren't for everyone. To keep a boundary between books suitable for General Fiction shelving and those titles suited to more adventurous readers, there is a second imprint: TOPDOGSNOVEL. While these characters have compelling tales to tell, they may not be suitable company for younger or more well-behaved readers.
www.cerealnovel.com - Northfield, Vermont, USA
cerealnovel.com
Click on image to go to ParentUp.org for resources relating to parenting At-Risk teens. (Direct Link / Leaving cerealnovel.com)
That dedicated law officer or agent who plunges headfirst into danger and intrigue at every turn of the page? In real life, someone waits for them to come home, and in the real world and far too often, some of them don't. Somewhere right now Loved Ones forever wait for a missing or fallen law officer to fill that forever-empty chair at the dinner table. They are victims too. After my first grisly novel I wanted to spend time with those extended victims. Remember them.
What started as a short story became a book, and then a whole saga: stories about undercover policing and organized crime, but also about family, coming-of-age, romance and friendship. Each novel is independent of the others, but they all revolve around the same two communities: a small college town, and the Organized Crime underworld of a major port city. The cast of characters is common to each place - each character somehow has skin in the game in both places. The bright sunny streets found in one chapter mesh and turn with roiling dark edges that come in the next. That was hard to do, but important: We are not islands. We sometimes participate in both worlds, whether we know it or not. That the reader can be both disturbed and entertained by one of my books... that means I got it right. The novels are complex and full of surprises - just like life itself.
CEREALNOVEL.COM and the Publisher:
Fiction by Vermont writer J. Kilburn is published in Northfield, Vermont, USA by James K. Mossman III and promoted on the CEREALNOVEL.COM website.
Contact:
The Author/Publisher retains all rights to the works. Interested in distribution?
Contact the author at:
Many thanks to the talented Illustrator Ardelia Huntress, who provided the sketches that head each chapter title page.
Thanks also to Mark Coker and Smashwords (for getting me started). If you want to turn a manuscript into a book, you too should refer to Mark's SMASHWORDS STYLE GUIDE
Writing a story, and then a book , and then publishing, then turning it all into a brand of books which I had to learn to market... well, it's been a long and winding road. But there's been a lot of fun and adventure along the way, for the author-publisher as well as for readers! And I've gotten a lot of help, for which I am grateful:
Like the website? Thank GODADDY! the GoDaddy Website Builder made creating this whole thing a snap - even for a first-timer!
Thanks to SMARTSIGN LLC for manufacturing that old-style, pre-DOT "winding road" sign, and for permission to reproduce a photo of the sign on the cover of one of my books!
Thanks to PIXABAY, a royalty-free photo-sharing website, and the photographers who make their own work available there... both the ARC and the Retail covers of BEFORE look awesome thanks to your photos!
Thanks to the Editorial Reviewers and their readers, who've provided insightful and important encouragement, feedback, and sometimes critical comment that is nevertheless helpful!