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Derek’s Year In Books

Derek’s 2025 Year in Books

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Derek Catron

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://derekcatron.com

Genre

Historical Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Member Since

August 2016

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“You should write a book,” my wife told me.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“If I write a book, you’ll leave me.” I delivered this like a punchline, but with a day job as a newspaper editor, I could see how the early morning and weekend hours the task demanded might leave Lori feeling like a book widow. Conjuring scenes of roiling conflict is one of the things that won her belief in me.
“At least you’ll have a book.” A smile reassured me she was joking, so long as I did what she’d asked. Smart husbands know to identify these smiles.
The rest, I like to say, is historical fiction—and modern thrillers, suspense stories, and anything else I can dream up.
Some years and books later, I still write with the regularity of sleeping and eating. B “You should write a book,” my wife told me.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“If I write a book, you’ll leave me.” I delivered this like a punchline, but with a day job as a newspaper editor, I could see how the early morning and weekend hours the task demanded might leave Lori feeling like a book widow. Conjuring scenes of roiling conflict is one of the things that won her belief in me.
“At least you’ll have a book.” A smile reassured me she was joking, so long as I did what she’d asked. Smart husbands know to identify these smiles.
The rest, I like to say, is historical fiction—and modern thrillers, suspense stories, and anything else I can dream up.
Some years and books later, I still write with the regularity of sleeping and eating. Being an author has defined me, the way marriage and parenthood change your identity forever. Like those roles, being a storyteller is its own reward. Writing historical fiction, my thoughts subsumed into another time and place, is the closest I’ve come to realizing a childhood dream of time travel. And inhabiting a character’s point of view can feel like cheating death by living as many lives as you can imagine.
The search for inspiration and the need to research settings provides another perk if you enjoy travel. Lori and I were married in Italy. Rather than pay to mail the wedding garb back to our home in Florida, we sported tux and dress on a villa patio overlooking the Bay of Naples, in a horse carriage in Florence, and a gondola in Venice. The site of the legal ceremony remains a closely guarded family secret.
Book trips are rarely so glamorous. They generally entail long hikes offset by longer visits to the local history sections of public libraries. A thousand-mile journey along the Oregon and Bozeman trails included a night of camping in a wilderness area where we were warned to stay on the trails to avoid rattlesnakes. To repay Lori for that one, I’ve promised to set a future book in the Greek islands.
Writing’s greatest reward, though, is reader feedback. You swell with a parent’s pride when the likes of Booklist and Kirkus describe your creation as “a timeless tale of love and adventure” or “dramatically gripping” and “page-turner.”
Even better is hearing from new readers. It feels like the connection you make after pouring your soul out to a new acquaintance, risking ridicule or apathy only to find you’ve bonded in a way that could produce a lifelong friendship.
Books do that in a way other art forms can’t match. Our stories are journeys of discovery to which you’ve been invited: to join the hero in piecing together clues, squirm at the scary parts, cheer for the triumphs, or give witness to budding love.
I hope you’ll join me in one of my adventures. And let me know what you think. You can learn more at www.derekcatron.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/derek.catron.author.
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Derek Catron’s books

Average rating: 4.43 · 167 ratings · 30 reviews · 10 distinct works • Similar authors

	Trail Angel: A Novel of Love and Survival on the American Frontier (A Trail Angel Novel Book 1) 4.41 avg rating — 83 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Angel Falls (Josey Angel #1) 4.54 avg rating — 37 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Avenging Angel: A Western Adventure of Love and Vengeance (A Trail Angel Novel Book 3) 4.54 avg rating — 24 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yosemite Lies: A Thriller of Friendship, Betrayal, and Survival in the Wilderness 4.36 avg rating — 14 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Final Deadline: A Political Hostage Thriller 3.89 avg rating — 9 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Angel Falls: A Frontier Love Story of War and Survival by Derek Catron (Goodreads Author), Virtual Voice (Narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Trail Angel: A Novel of Love and Survival on the American Frontier by Derek Catron (Goodreads Author), Virtual Voice (Narrator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Avenging Angel: A Frontier Epic of Love & Vengeance (A Trail Angel Novel) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hidden Truths by Jeff Boyle, Derek Catron (Goodreads Author) (Introduction) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Derek Catron's Blog

Derek Catron conjures newsroom suspense with “Final Deadline”

Feeling honored and grateful to find myself on the front page of the September 20 Daytona Beach News-Journal. Jim Abbott is a gifted writer, and he captured the essence of my new novel, Final Deadline, which he called a “tale of embattled journalists trapped in a politically motivated hostage situation [that] unfolds at a breakneck pace.” Thanks also to my writers’ group partner Ginger Pinholster,

Series by Derek Catron

Josey Angel (2 books)
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Derek Catron (Goodreads Author)

4.45 avg rating — 120 ratings

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Derek Catron rated a book liked it A Death in Cornwall (Gabriel Allon, #24) by Daniel Silva	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 24, 2025 06:08PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Death in Cornwall by Daniel Silva. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Death in Cornwall by Daniel Silva <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Derek Catron rated a book liked it The Hunt for Atlantis (Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase, #1) by Andy McDermott	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 29, 2025 05:42AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Hunt for Atlantis by Andy McDermott. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Hunt for Atlantis by Andy McDermott <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Derek Catron rated a book it was amazing Valley of Forgetting: Alzheimer's Families and the Search for a Cure by Jennie Erin Smith (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jennie Erin Smith’s “Valley of Forgetting: Alzheimer’s Families and the Search for a Cure” is an important book that combines vivid storytelling with heartfelt characterizations to provide a deep (but accessible) understanding of a difficult topic. T ...more
Apr 21, 2025 12:11PM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Valley of Forgetting by Jennie Erin Smith. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Valley of Forgetting by Jennie Erin Smith <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">