Daniel Turner Thrillers
“No one will stop reading, so hypnotic is Wiley’s writing.”
— Booklist
“An amazing Southern Gothic tale of revenge. A crime tale well told.”
— The Florida Times-Union
“Something completely different—meaning surprisingly familiar—from Southern noir specialist Wiley: a revenge tragedy with strong intimations of the Oresteia.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“A must for Southern noir fans.”
— Crime Fiction Lover (UK)
“A dazzlingly lurid tour de force of action writing. . . . Late in the book, there is an extended coda of nightmarish destruction that is truly remarkable literary prose. BLACK HAMMOCK comes alive in the music of its mayhem.”
— Fort Meyers Florida Weekly
“Michael Wiley doles out a pitch-dark tale in Black Hammock complemented by evocative prose. Wiley, who won the Shamus Award for his novel A Bad Night's Sleep, maintains his sharp prose throughout, knowing the value of the short, pithy phrase to move the plot."
— Oline Cogdill, Southflorida.com
“Florida noir at its best”
— Cayocosta Book Reviews (“For the Love of Books”)
“This atmospheric Southern Gothic uncovers unpleasant secrets for all involved.”
— Library Journal
Black Hammock
Available now
“A superbly crafted and well-paced crime story. . . . Highly recommended for lovers of dark crime stories.”
– Florida Times-Union
"The far side of edgy"
– Booklist
"Second Skin has a powerful literary dimension . . . . Vivid portraits of Jacksonville neighborhoods, individual places of residence and work, and landscapes root the novel firmly in the reader’s imagination. A collection of well-drawn minor characters, notably the 60-something prostitute named Felicity and the Gullah leader named Papa Crowe, enrich the narrative tremendously. Mr. Wiley’s portrait of Crowe is a small masterpiece, its subject waiting endlessly for the moment to right the disgrace and betrayal of his community. Do I like, admire and even cherish this book? Indeed I do. It is a powerful follow-up to last year’s Blue Avenue."
– Florida Weekly
“Satisfyingly doom-and-gloomy”
– Kirkus Reviews
“An intriguing and exciting murder mystery”
– Breakaway Reviewers (UK) (4 stars)
“Well-developed characters, enhanced by alternating first-person narratives”
– Publishers Weekly
Second Skin
Available now
“Noir fiction doesn’t get much darker than Wiley’s thriller introducing police detective Daniel Turner. Wiley is extremely good at creating an atmosphere of menacing dread. New shocks occur all the way to the last page—and continue as readers reflect on what they’ve just witnessed.”
– Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Michael Wiley takes a measured walk on the dark side in his intriguing thriller ‘Blue Avenue,’ which channels classic noir author James M. Cain and the Coen Brothers' debut film ‘Blood Simple.’ Wiley explore[s] an edgy plot in which motives often are undiscernible and few people are as they seem to be. Wiley's expert twists conclude with a finale that would make Cain and the Coens proud.”
– The Sun-Sentinel
“The plot boils furiously. Powerfully unnerving.”
– Kirkus Reviews
"Excellent noir."
– Library Journal, Starred Review
“Gorgeously written with copious sensory detail, ‘Blue Avenue’ attacks our complacency, makes us wish we could turn away from the novel’s norm of brutality, but has us trapped in our own voyeuristic thrill seeking, tempting us to condone what deserves condemnation. Wiley writes some of the roughest, most suspenseful stuff you’ll find within the limits of mainstream genre fiction. With prose that explodes with lyrical crescendos of sensory overload, ‘Blue Avenue’ is the hottest of hot stuff.”
– Naples Florida Weekly
“This book is as dark as they come and almost as complicated. Hard-core sexcapades, Jamaican drug lords, corrupt city officials abound. All the stuff crime fiction fans demand, plus an ending you won’t forget.”
– The Florida Times-Union
“A fabulous, exciting mystery with some of the most interesting and well developed characters in print.”
– Cayocosta Book Reviews
“A gripping and unflinching account of obsession, perversion and violent deeds. A grimly compelling read.”
– The Bloomsbury Reader
"A well written thriller. The ending is particularly surprising and horrific. Very well recommended."
– Euro Crime
Blue Avenue
Available now
Summoned to identify the trussed-up, naked body of a woman found in a pile of garbage on Blue Avenue, Florida businessman William Byrd recognizes the victim as Belinda Mabry, the girl with whom he spent a passionate summer 25 years before. Determined to find out what happened to the woman he once loved, Byrd must revisit his own troubled past.
In the Daniel Turner thrillers, Homicide Detective Turner appears in stories told by others – victims, perps, innocent and guilty bystanders. More than a secondary character but never quite primary, he gets caught in the spirals of crime that he investigates. He’s the common element in lives and deaths in the backwoods and on the city streets of northern Florida.