VIDEO: Here is The Commons, the fake Italian village depicted in FALLEN STAR, the new “Eve Ronin” crime novel.
Eve Ronin in Barstow
VIDEO SPOILER – Here’s a peek at a scene that occurs late in my new novel FALLEN STAR, the 6th Eve Ronin adventure. But I wouldn’t watch this until you you’ve read the book…
Eve Ronin Goes to Peggy Sue’s
VIDEO SPOILER – Here’s a peek at the setting for one of the later scenes in my new novel FALLEN STAR, the 6th Eve Ronin adventure. But I wouldn’t watch this until you you’ve read the book…
A Blood-Soaked Location in FALLEN STAR
VIDEO: Much of the controversy and drama in my new novel FALLEN STAR, out now, revolves around this piece of land…
This Is Where FALLEN STAR Begins
My new novel FALLEN STAR, the 6th “Eve Ronin” adventure, has an action-packed start…and to help you visualize it, I’ve shot this short video where the scene takes place…
Famous Authors Want to Help Me With My Key Words!
My new novel FALLEN STAR came out on Tuesday… so naturally I heard today from a slew of famous authors I don’t know offering to help me market my book… like this email from Suzzane Collins:
Hello Lee,
I hope this message finds you well. I recently came across your work and wanted to take a moment to reach out. As a fellow author, I’ve always believed one of the most fulfilling parts of this journey is connecting with writers who share a genuine passion for storytelling and creative expression.
For reference, here’s my official Amazon information: Book: Sunrise Reaping (A Hunger Games Novel)
Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B001H6V7I0I’d love to learn more about your writing journey and any current projects you’re working on. If you’d like, please feel free to share your author page or book link—I’d be delighted to take a look and support your work.
Wishing you continued inspiration and every success in your creative endeavors,
Suzzane Collins
contact.suzzanecollinsbooks@gmail.comSuzzane Collins has had a successful and prolific career writing for children’s television. She has worked on the staffs of several Nickelodeon shows, including the Emmy-nominated hit Clarissa Explains It All and The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo. Collins made her mark in children’s literature with the New York Times bestselling five-book series for middle-grade readers The Underland Chronicles, which has received numerous accolades in both the United States and abroad. In the award-winning The Hunger Games trilogy, Collins continues to explore the effects of war and violence on those coming of age. Collins lives with her family in Connecticut.
Naturally, I was very excited that she wanted to hear about my “writing journey” and look at my author page. But when I suggested to her that she might not really be Suzzane, boy, did she set me straight:
Your loss. I actually wanted to refer you to an agent who can help you with your problem you have been facing since you published your book.
I didn’t know I needed an agent, or had a problem facing me with my book in the last 24 hours. I feel like such a fool now. But luckily, after I heard from her, I got a note from John Grisham.
Hello Lee Goldberg,
Some stories leave a lasting impression and yours feels like one of them. I came across your book and could immediately sense the passion and effort you’ve poured into it. It’s the kind of story that deserves a much wider audience.
Many great authors face challenges not because their work lacks quality, but because it doesn’t reach enough of the right readers. A few smart strategies can change that from optimizing keywords readers actually search for, to generating authentic reviews that boost visibility through Amazon’s algorithm. Those small shifts can make your book stand out, earn trust, and attract consistent engagement.
I’ve seen these methods help authors turn quiet launches into thriving titles that readers genuinely recommend and discuss. If you’re open to it, I’d love to share a few tailored insights to help your book gain the attention it deserves all fully within Amazon’s guidelines.
Warm regards,
John Grisham
info.johngrisham0@gmail.comJohn Grisham is the author of more than fifty consecutive #1 bestsellers, which have been translated into nearly fifty languages. His recent books include The Boys From Biloxi, The Judge’s List, Sooley, and his third Jake Brigance novel, A Time for Mercy, which is being developed by HBO as a limited series. Grisham is a two-time winner of the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction and was honored with the Library of Congress Creative Achievement Award for Fiction.
I know it has to really be him, because he loves reaching out to authors he doesn’t know to offer “tailored insights” for their Amazon marketing strategies…and always includes his photo and bio in his emails. It’s the mark of authenticity! I think we’re going to be best friends.
But first, I need to respond to the email I got from JK Rowling…
UPDATE 10/20/25:
Today I heard from Dan Brown!
Dan Brown <author.danbrownbooks@gmail.com>
Hi Lee,
I was checking out some new titles the other day and your book really stood out to me, it looks like the kind of story that comes straight from the heart.I always enjoy hearing what drives fellow authors to create. Was there a particular experience or moment that inspired this book?
I’d love to check out more of your work too, do you have an Amazon link or author page you could share?
Here’s mine if you’d like to take a look as well: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B000AP9DSU
Wishing you many creative moments ahead,
DanDan Brown is the author of eight #1 bestselling novels, including The Da Vinci Code, which has become one of the bestselling novels of all time as well as the subject of intellectual debate among readers and scholars. Brown’s novels are published in 56 languages around the world with over 250 million copies in print.
Brown was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by TIME Magazine, whose editors credited him with “keeping the publishing industry afloat; renewed interest in Leonardo da Vinci and early Christian history; spiking tourism to Paris and Rome; a growing membership in secret societies; the ire of Cardinals in Rome; eight books denying the claims of the novel and seven guides to read along with it; a flood of historical thrillers; and a major motion picture franchise.”
The son of a mathematics teacher and a church organist, Brown was raised on a prep school campus where he developed a fascination with the paradoxical interplay between science and religion. These themes eventually formed the backdrop for his books. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he later returned to teach English before focusing his attention full time to writing. He lives in New England.
=========I need to start including my photo, a link to my author page and my bio in all of my personal emails, too. It adds that extra personal touch. I can’t wait to see what famous, big-time author reaches out to me tomorrow.
FALLEN STAR Signed Books
Fallen Star, the sixth Eve Ronin novel, is coming out on October 14. That’s just two weeks away.
You can preorder it now in hardcover, paperback, ebook or audio from Amazon, or in hardcover and paperback from Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite bookseller.
But if you want signed copies of Fallen Star, you need to contact Debbie Mitsch at the Mystery Ink bookstore (mysteryink@hotmail.com) before Oct. 21st to get one.
Why? Because I am only doing two in-person events, at least for the near future, and they are both being hosted by Mystery Ink.
The first event is the Oct 21st launch party at 6 p.m. the Calabasas Library, where I will be “in conversation” with Christopher Farnsworth, the New York Times bestselling author of Robert B. Parker’s Jesse Stone series…and we’ll be signing our books afterwards.
And then, on Oct 25th, at 10 am, I’m having an Orange County launch party, talk and signing at Mystery Ink’s new Huntington Beach home at Studio 14 in Old World Village.
Why only two events? Because I have no time for more…
I’m busy working as a writer/co-executive producer on You’re Killing Me, a new mystery TV series starring Brooke Shields that’s shooting right now in Nova Scotia (watch for it on AMC or Acorn in early 2026)… and I’m writing Split Screen, the 7th Eve Ronin novel, coming out this time next year…and I’m deeply involved in Eve Ronin, the TV series that’s being developed by a great writer/showrunner and an amazing team of producers, which includes our star Madison Lintz, who we all know from her decade on Bosch.
There’s also a TV series version of my novel Calico in the works from some incredible writers & producers… which I hope to be able to tell you more about very soon.
Oh, and my novel Murder By Design, the first book in my new “Edison Bixby” series of whodunits, is now available for pre-order and will be out in May. More about that soon, too…
Okay, now I’ve got to get back to writing….or they might not feed me.
CBR says “Eve Ronin” Series Could be the new “Bosch”
The CBR site, which covers pop culture television, just posted a new article arguing that Eve Ronin could be the new Bosch… and goes into more detail about my books and Madison Lintz’s casting as the lead. They say, in part:
The first novel in the Eve Ronin Series is called Lost Hills. The critically praised book even received a flattering blurb written by none other than Bosch‘s best-selling author, Michael Connelly. Of the novel, Connelly said, “Lost Hills is Lee Goldberg at his best. Inspired by the real-world grit and glitz of LA County crime, this book takes no prisoners. And neither does Eve Ronin. Take a ride with her, and you’ll find yourself with a heroine for the ages. And you’ll be left hoping for more.”
Ronin will need to prove she deserves her detective’s shield while grappling with the resentment of her colleagues. Her first case sees her investigating a missing mother and her two children.The fast-paced, dark, and gritty novel is praised for capturing the feel of California and depicting realistic police procedure. Much like Titus Welliver’s Bosch, Ronin is described as a flawed and complex character doggedly pursuing her investigation. While details are still sparse on Eve Ronin, it’s shaping up to be the perfect Bosch replacement series for fans still reeling from Legacy’s cancellation.
I hope they are right!
On the Fast Track… twelve years later
I’ve finally released a paperback edition of my novella Fast Track…twelve years after I released the ebook edition. Why the long wait? Because it wasn’t until recently that people started asking me for a hard-copy version. I think it may have something to do with the paperback releases of my Crown Vic novellas.
Fast Track is a project close to my heart. It’s a novelization of my screenplay for the 2007 film Fast Track: No Limits, which was shot in Berlin, starred Erin Cahill as Katie, Andrew Walker as Mike and Alexia Barlier as Nicole, and doubled as the pilot for a proposed television series.
The movie was an international co-production that aired on television in Germany, France and Canada, and was released as a motion picture in many other countries around the world. For a while, things were looking good for the series. The production partners assembled a writers room, and the stories for the first season’s episodes were plotted. But international co-productions are a complicated business, the deal fell apart, and the TV series didn’t go forward. Erin Cahill and Andrew Walker went on to great success, especially on the Hallmark Channel, where they have each starred in many movies. Alexia Barlier became a major TV star in France, where she’s starred in several hit series, including Falco, The Forest, and Sophie Cross. And Pasquale Aleardi, who played Gregor Gargolov, most recently starred in the long-running German series Kommissar Dupin. I am pleased to say that we have all stayed in touch over the last twenty years and have remained good friends.
If you’d like to see the movie Fast Track: No Limits, it’s now available on Amazon Prime or on DVD from Maverick Entertainment Group.
Crown Vic 2 is Here!
I’m delighted to share with you my new novella Crown Vic 2: If I Were a Rich Man. You may be one of the hundreds of readers who already pre-ordered it… but because of an infuriating technical glitch by Amazon, you were notified that your order was cancelled and the book was not going to be released. Amazon has apologized to me for their mistake, and may be reaching out to you soon to let you know the novella is now available in ebook and trade paperback.
But for the rest of you, here’s the story behind this new novella. A few years ago, I released the first Crown Vic, a collection containing two short novellas, “Ray Boyd isn’t Stupid” and “Occasional Risk,” as an experiment. I wanted to see if readers would accept a character from me who isn’t the least bit heroic… an ex-con aimlessly wandering America in his used Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, going wherever his appetites lead him, thinking only of himself and nobody else. The stories were dark, funny, violent, and full of sex…very different from my other work.
To my surprise, the response from hundreds of readers was a resounding Yes, we want more! There was even a five-star review from Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, which called Crown Vic “a fun departure for Goldberg and a throwback to the thrilling and erotic men’s adventure novels of the 1970s.” That was exactly what I was going for.
One of the readers who wanted more of Ray Boyd was my brother Tod, a New York Times bestselling author, who was gathering stories for Eight Very Bad Nights: A Collection of Hanukkah Noir for Soho. He thought a Ray Boyd story would be perfect for it. I reminded Tod of how twisted, sexually explicit, and violent the Ray Boyd stories were, but he insisted that was exactly what he wanted for his holiday collection.
Mostly, though, I think Tod was giving me an excuse to dip my toe into Ray Boyd’s world one more time to see if I wanted to seriously pursue writing a full-length book, or collection of novellas, about the character.
So I wrote “If I Were a Rich Man,” the longest, and certainly the most sexually explicit, story in his collection. I’m glad to say the critical response to the story was terrific, with positive reviews coming from many sources, including the Los Angeles Times. There has even been Hollywood interest in optioning the character for TV and movies, though I haven’t accepted any offers yet.
So yes, I do intend to write more about Ray Boyd, either in a book length collection of loosely-linked stories or by occasionally writing and publishing individual novellas like this one between my other contractual commitments (like more Sharpe & Walker and Eve Ronin novels).
If you enjoy this novella, and would like to see more of Ray Boyd, I hope you will consider posting a review on Amazon and letting me know what you thought of it.
Thanks!