FAST TRACK 2021 Edition
Fast Track is my first novel.
The manuscript went through fourteen major revisions over ten years and was rejected nearly forty times until my current agent, Barbara Casey, fell in love with it.
In Fast Track, Lark solves the mystery surrounding the car accident that killed her parents when she was an infant. It's based, in part, on the suicide of my sister in 1980 and a car-train collision I witnessed when I was nine years old. Fast Track is one of those rare novels that you simply can’t put down. I was hooked on page one and it was non-stop until the very end – an emotional roller coaster. ~ Wolf Blitzer Anchor, CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer”
The manuscript went through fourteen major revisions over ten years and was rejected nearly forty times until my current agent, Barbara Casey, fell in love with it.
In Fast Track, Lark solves the mystery surrounding the car accident that killed her parents when she was an infant. It's based, in part, on the suicide of my sister in 1980 and a car-train collision I witnessed when I was nine years old. Fast Track is one of those rare novels that you simply can’t put down. I was hooked on page one and it was non-stop until the very end – an emotional roller coaster. ~ Wolf Blitzer Anchor, CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer”
FAST TRACK 2005 Edition
As Lark learns, in order to find purpose in life, you first have to unravel the mystery of the past.
I was so interested in what happens with Lark I couldn't put it down. It's an awesome book; a fun read. Intrigue, humor, emotion - what more do you need?
~ Carol Costello
Former CNN Anchor
Journalism Lecturer, Loyola Marymount Univ.
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FAST TRACK Audio Book
“Another Hemingway, but better. John DeDakis writes with clarity, sensitivity and passion. Clearly, he knows what he’s describing on a very deep level.”Patricia Daly-Lipe, Ph.D.National League of American Pen WomenPresident, Washington, D.C. Branch
“John DeDakis carefully combines the meticulous detail of a journalist with a compelling story line that puts him in the forefront of mystery writers. With this breakthrough work, DeDakis has established himself as a top mystery writer as well as a journalist of the first order.”James Hoyt, Ph.D.Former Director, School of JournalismUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
“John DeDakis carefully combines the meticulous detail of a journalist with a compelling story line that puts him in the forefront of mystery writers. With this breakthrough work, DeDakis has established himself as a top mystery writer as well as a journalist of the first order.”James Hoyt, Ph.D.Former Director, School of JournalismUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
BLUFF
Bluff is based, in part, on my hike along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru (four days, 15,000 feet, 25 miles).
In this story, Lark helps her friend and mentor Lionel Stone solve the mystery surrounding the death of his daughter Holly along the Inca Trail.
DeDakis can so accurately write from a woman’s point of view – with all the intrinsic curiosity, emotion and passion – [that it’s] nothing short of astounding. ~ Diane DimondAuthor and Investigative Journalist
In this story, Lark helps her friend and mentor Lionel Stone solve the mystery surrounding the death of his daughter Holly along the Inca Trail.
DeDakis can so accurately write from a woman’s point of view – with all the intrinsic curiosity, emotion and passion – [that it’s] nothing short of astounding. ~ Diane DimondAuthor and Investigative Journalist
Winner: Great Lakes Region
BLUFF 2010 Edition
Lark is like an old friend. I'm glad she's back and as fierce as ever. Bluff is a good, fast read. . . I can't wait until the next adventure.
~ Carol Costello
Former CNN Anchor
Journalism Lecturer, Loyola Marymount Univ.
BLUFF Audio Book
Scrappy reporter Lark Chadwick, while doing battle with an unscrupulous real estate mogul, goes against the advice of her friend and mentor Lionel Stone and impulsively flirts with diverting her career into broadcast journalism. But, as Lark quickly learns, the line between being famous and notorious is thin.
Award-winning author and former CNN journalist John DeDakis once again gives readers a behind-the-veil glimpse at the good and the bad of journalism as he takes Lark from small-town Wisconsin to the ancient Inca Trail in Peru as she solves the mystery surrounding the death of Lionel Stone’s daughter Holly.
Award-winning author and former CNN journalist John DeDakis once again gives readers a behind-the-veil glimpse at the good and the bad of journalism as he takes Lark from small-town Wisconsin to the ancient Inca Trail in Peru as she solves the mystery surrounding the death of Lionel Stone’s daughter Holly.
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TROUBLED WATER
In Troubled Water, Lark leaves her safe and comfortable job as Lionel Stone's star reporter at a small weekly paper in Wisconsin. Just as she's arriving in west central Georgia to be the cops and courts reporter at a kick-ass (but struggling) daily newspaper, she discovers the body of a young woman, the first victim of a serial killer. When the murderer strikes again, Lark has the inside track, but the guy she's falling for is one of the suspects.
DeDakis, himself a journalist, delivers a riveting account of the reporter's process. He writes with the authority of an insider who knows what he is talking about. 'Troubled Water' is a tightly wrought thriller that will keep you turning pages as it races to its conclusion.
~Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Now an audio book, too!
BULLET in the CHAMBER
Bullet in the Chamber is personal. It's based, in part, on the fatal heroin overdose of my youngest son Stephen, 22, in 2011.
This story begins on Lark's first day as a White House correspondent for the Associated Press. The executive mansion is attacked, the president is missing, the first lady's life is in danger, and the man Lark loves disappears. It's Lark's job to figure it all out in this deadline-a-minute thriller about drugs, drones, and journalism. John DeDakis gets inside the head of a modern-day White House journalist who has no idea what's in store for her when she begins this rollercoaster of a ride. ~Josh LedermanFormer Associated Press White House Reporter DeDakis combines the heart-stopping and heartbreaking . . . Lark’s latest adventure is entertaining and harrowing. And always riveting. ~Henry SchusterCBS News “60 Minutes” Producer
This story begins on Lark's first day as a White House correspondent for the Associated Press. The executive mansion is attacked, the president is missing, the first lady's life is in danger, and the man Lark loves disappears. It's Lark's job to figure it all out in this deadline-a-minute thriller about drugs, drones, and journalism. John DeDakis gets inside the head of a modern-day White House journalist who has no idea what's in store for her when she begins this rollercoaster of a ride. ~Josh LedermanFormer Associated Press White House Reporter DeDakis combines the heart-stopping and heartbreaking . . . Lark’s latest adventure is entertaining and harrowing. And always riveting. ~Henry SchusterCBS News “60 Minutes” Producer
Cover Illustration: Christine Ganas
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Now Available as an audio book
Cover Illustration: Christine Ganas
Awards for Bullet in the Chamber
1st Place - Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award
2nd Place (Silver Medal) Foreword INDIES (Thriller/Suspense)
Finalist Foreword INDIES (Mystery)
3rd Place (Bronze Medal) Feathered Quill Book Award (Mystery/Thriller)
FAKE
In the era of “fake news,” when facts are suspect and reporters are targets, popular First Lady Rose Gannon dies suddenly during an interview with White House Correspondent Lark Chadwick. Still reeling from the death of her photographer boyfriend, Lark is thrust into the midst of a media-bashing frenzy while covering a grieving president trying to defuse a looming nuclear war. Fake is a real-life look behind the scenes at the ethical struggles of a female journalist in a #MeToo world walking the line between personal feelings and dispassionate objectivity – trying to discern the difference between what’s real . . . and what’s fake.
A gripping, topical tale about the difficulties of discerning the truth in the new world of fake news. ~Kirkus Reviews Fake, by John DeDakis, is a stunner of a mystery, the kind of book that hooks you at the first page, and then won't let go. DeDakis tells this story of betrayal, tragedy, and political posturing with an insider's view of Washington's underbelly that is so vivid and feels so real that he resets the bar for inside-the-Beltway thrillers.
~John Gilstrap, Author of "Total Mayhem" and the Jonathan Grave thrillers series Fake is engaging and stimulating, an excellent recommendation for mystery lovers. ~Feathered Quill Reviews
A gripping, topical tale about the difficulties of discerning the truth in the new world of fake news. ~Kirkus Reviews Fake, by John DeDakis, is a stunner of a mystery, the kind of book that hooks you at the first page, and then won't let go. DeDakis tells this story of betrayal, tragedy, and political posturing with an insider's view of Washington's underbelly that is so vivid and feels so real that he resets the bar for inside-the-Beltway thrillers.
~John Gilstrap, Author of "Total Mayhem" and the Jonathan Grave thrillers series Fake is engaging and stimulating, an excellent recommendation for mystery lovers. ~Feathered Quill Reviews
Now Available as an audio book
2020 awards for Fake
Honorable Mention
Finalist
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ENEMIES DOMESTIC
On her first day as White House Press Secretary, Lark Chadwick is confronted on live television by a reporter with an agenda who asks, “Are you, or are you not, planning to abort your unborn child?” His question puts Lark in the crosshairs of extremists on both sides of the highly fraught abortion issue. Ambivalent about becoming a single mother in the post-Roe era, and grieving the death of her boyfriend, Lark is now forced to make her abort-or-not-to-abort decision in a highly toxic, politicized, and polarized fishbowl. At stake: her sanity—and her life.
In the political thriller ENEMIES DOMESTIC, his most important and controversial book to date, former CNN editor John DeDakis dramatically and thoughtfully tackles the hot topics of abortion, QAnon, White Christian Nationalism, and mental illness at a time when America itself is teetering between democracy and authoritarianism.
In the political thriller ENEMIES DOMESTIC, his most important and controversial book to date, former CNN editor John DeDakis dramatically and thoughtfully tackles the hot topics of abortion, QAnon, White Christian Nationalism, and mental illness at a time when America itself is teetering between democracy and authoritarianism.