The Chain House

Name: The Chain House
Price: 42.99 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9798892426763

A Novel

James Markert

$42.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Crooked Lane Books
10 November 2026

Thriller & suspense

A dangerous cult leader, days away from execution, reveals he is

the famous author behind a bestselling series. With his death, the

final, unpublished manuscript-and the crucial evidence it contains-will

never see the light of day.

In the

tradition of Stephen King, this multi-POV, page-turning horror thriller

from author J. H. Markert is packed with mind-bending twists.

Days before his execution, notorious mass murderer Sal Batise, known as the Breaker of Chains by his cult followers, grants an unlikely interview to a young filmmaker, Sam Harper.

This interview could launch Sam's career. But his carefully planned questions-including the one about the recently kidnapped governor's wife-fall apart when Batise seizes control.

On live TV, Batise claims that he is Mallard Malone, the anonymous author of a blockbuster thriller series. Stay his execution, and he'll release the final unpublished manuscript that holds the key to finding his victims' bodies.

Meanwhile, a ransom note arrives with a single demand to save the governor's wife- Batise's execution must go on as planned.

Desperate for more information, Sam teams up with Jennifer Daley, a childhood survivor of Batise's cult, to locate the missing manuscript and uncover the truth behind their own ties to Batise.

As fiction and reality collide, a deadly chain of events leads to a race against time to stop an execution that could have catastrophic consequences on the world.

By: James Markert
Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 209mm, Width: 139mm,
Weight: 369g
ISBN: 9798892426763
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 10 November 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

J. H. Markert is a producer, screenwriter, husband, and father of two from Louisville, Kentucky, where he was also a tennis pro for twenty-five years, before hanging up the rackets for good in 2020. He graduated with a degree in history from the University of Louisville in 1997 and has been writing ever since.