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309 ratings | 289 reviews | avg rating:3.89

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2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

Alan Lampe has read 33 books of his goal of 28!

118%

Alan Lampe

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.alanlampeauthor.com

Twitter

alanlampeauthor

Genre

Historical Fiction, Fantasy

Member Since

May 2014

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Alan Lampe keeps an alligator on his business card, reading a book, held up by two frogs. It is a fitting mascot. There are several alligators in his debut novel, and like the gators of the Louisiana bayou, Alan's writing tends to move along quietly and then strike, lightning-quick, with a joke you did not see coming.

He has been writing since second grade. In the late 1990s, six of his poems were published by the National Library of Poetry. He spent the next decade writing short fiction between everything else life
demanded, until 2011, when he made a decision that would come to define his career: he chose to sit down and write instead of watching Super Bowl XLV.

That decision became Bill's Cajun House of Pleasure, a Southern Gothic tale co-c Alan Lampe keeps an alligator on his business card, reading a book, held up by two frogs. It is a fitting mascot. There are several alligators in his debut novel, and like the gators of the Louisiana bayou, Alan's writing tends to move along quietly and then strike, lightning-quick, with a joke you did not see coming.

He has been writing since second grade. In the late 1990s, six of his poems were published by the National Library of Poetry. He spent the next decade writing short fiction between everything else life
demanded, until 2011, when he made a decision that would come to define his career: he chose to sit down and write instead of watching Super Bowl XLV.

That decision became Bill's Cajun House of Pleasure, a Southern Gothic tale co-conceived with his former girlfriend and polished over years of workshops, critique groups, and conferences. Alan does not write what he assumes. To get the world of a Louisiana bordello right, he traveled to Fort Smith's Miss Laura's, a real bordello turned historic visitor center, to understand exactly how such a house would have operated. When an early draft described whiskey glowing peanut-butter gold in the sunlight, a critique partner pushed back, so Alan bought a 1950s glass whiskey jar, borrowed whiskey
from a coworker, and held it to the light himself. It turned out clear. That is the kind of writer Alan is: if he can find the truth of a detail in person rather than online, he will go looking for it.

The result is a story told in the tradition of Forrest Gump, narrated by the cantankerous, foul-mouthed Bill Valencourt from his room at Our Lady of Sorrows Nursing Home in New Orleans to a young reporter chasing what he thinks is a routine story about elder care. What he gets instead is thirty years
of empire, betrayal, and revenge, spanning 1939 to 1969, narrated by a man who ran a bordello, survived a war, and never once stopped being funny about it. Readers have responded to that voice: Bill's Cajun House of Pleasure holds a 4.79 star average across 91 Goodreads ratings and 45 reviews.

Alan's influences run through the whole book. He counts Edgar Allan Poe, who invented an entire genre, and Mark Twain, whose wit could work a dead cat into nearly every chapter of Huckleberry Finn, among the writers who shaped how he thinks about storytelling: atmosphere and darkness on one
page, a laugh-out-loud line on the next.

His second novel, Illegal Skills, has earned an even stronger reader response: 4.97 stars across 161 ratings and 39 reviews. Illegal Skills is a companion novel to Bill's Cajun House of Pleasure, not a sequel, but a story set in the same time period that brings back familiar faces from Bill's world. He is currently working on a medieval fantasy series.

Alan lives by a piece of advice he still gives to newer writers: finish the first draft. Set aside the same time every week to write, and do not let anything else claim that time. It is advice he has followed since 2011, one alligator-quick joke at a time.

You can follow Alan's ongoing work at alanlampeauthor.com and on Facebook, where links to his blog and his books are always up to date. ...more

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Alan Lampe’s books

Average rating: 4.75 · 274 ratings · 163 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	Illegal Skills 4.74 avg rating — 163 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
	Bill's Cajun House of Pleasure: A Southern Gothic Tale of Desire, Voodoo, and Revenge 4.76 avg rating — 92 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
	Bill's Cajun House of Pleasure: A Romp in the Swamp of Historic Proportions 4.60 avg rating — 10 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
	Illegal Skills 4.86 avg rating — 7 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
	How to Take Over the World: a #vss365 story it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 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
	Ralph the Vampire vs the Mime: A #VSS365 Story 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
	A Torch to Burn 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

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Bill’S Cajun house of pleasure

Enter the dark and mysterious world of Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure by Alan Lampe.

A sultry Southern tale filled with secrets, passion, danger, and unforgettable twists deep in the Louisiana shadows.

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Alan is Currently Reading

Alan Lampe is currently reading

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West

by Dee Brown

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Sep 28, 2026 05:14AM

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Alan Lampe started reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown	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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Alan Lampe rated a book really liked it Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson	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
This is a wonderful read of twelve days in history. You'll learn how quickly John Wilkes Booth changed his plan to kill Abraham Lincoln instead of just kidnap him. You'll also learn how is plan failed with the vice president and secretary of state. T ...more
Sep 28, 2026 05:05AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Manhunt by James L. Swanson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Manhunt by James L. Swanson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Sep 26, 2026 07:30AM · like · view books
Alan Lampe wants to read Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, #6) by Jim Butcher (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
Sep 24, 2026 07:57AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Blood Rites by Jim Butcher. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Blood Rites by Jim Butcher <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alan Lampe wants to read Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell (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
Sep 24, 2026 05:01AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Fools and Mortals by Bernard Cornwell <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alan Lampe started reading Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson	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
Sep 14, 2026 04:56AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Manhunt by James L. Swanson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Manhunt by James L. Swanson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alan Lampe rated a book really liked it The Only Secret Left to Keep (Detective Ngaire Blakes Book 3) by Katherine Hayton	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
Another cold case comes across Ngaire Blakes' desk. This time, the murder of a Black teen from 1981. There are lots of twists and turns in this case, and you learn a little about New Zealand history. I enjoyed reading this mystery. ...more
Sep 13, 2026 10:12AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Only Secret Left to Keep by Katherine Hayton. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Only Secret Left to Keep by Katherine Hayton <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Alan Lampe liked Per Kjaer's review of How to Take Over the World: a #vss365 story: "I picked up How to Take Over the World expecting something completely absurd, and honestly, that is exactly what I got, in the best possible way. Alan Lampe has created a wonderfully strange and playful collection of short vignettes inspired by the #v" Read more of this review »
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Alan Lampe rated a book really liked it The Second Stage of Grief (Ngaire Blakes, # 2) by Katherine Hayton	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
This was a nice second story from Katherine Hayton on her Māori character Ngaire Blakes. There is action and intrigue in the first half, and some in the later half. You will get to experience more of New Zealand as Ngaire leaves Christchurch for a bi ...more
Sep 04, 2026 12:29PM · like · see review
Alan Lampe wants to read The Only Secret Left to Keep (Detective Ngaire Blakes Book 3) by Katherine Hayton	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
Sep 02, 2026 08:54AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Only Secret Left to Keep by Katherine Hayton. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Only Secret Left to Keep by Katherine Hayton <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">