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Erick Mertz

Goodreads Author


Born
in Portland, The United States
January 21, 1976

Website

Twitter

Genre

Influences
HP Lovecraft, Paul Doiron, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, ee cummings, ...more

Member Since
November 2011

URL


Erick Mertz is an author, born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, a place he is still lucky enough to call his home. He writes a paranormal mystery series, “The Strange Air” , described as “Longmire” meets “The X-Files”, set in the fictional central Oregon town of Whistler’s Grove.
In a previous lifetime, while a student at the University of Oregon, he studied English literature and played records late at night on campus radio 88.1 KWVA. After school was finished, he worked in group homes and as a case manager for community based adults with developmental disabilities. This is an area where he continues to work.
If he’s not writing, you can probably find him worrying about the Portland Trailblazers, drinking a local beer, or exploring that
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Erick Mertz Without divulging too much information, I have a blind spot in my family tree. I don't know the identity of one of my biological grandfathers. It's ac…moreWithout divulging too much information, I have a blind spot in my family tree. I don't know the identity of one of my biological grandfathers. It's actually something that I think of often, and have always felt as though this kind of mystery, one about lineage, would make a good book plot.(less)
Erick Mertz Writer's block can be tricky. I have never had a problem with it, personally. I'm always churning on one story or another. This is due to the fact tha…moreWriter's block can be tricky. I have never had a problem with it, personally. I'm always churning on one story or another. This is due to the fact that I've worked hard to prime myself for a creative mindset.

I do get "stuck" sometimes. There are afternoons when specifically the words won't come, however hard the story is churning. When that happens, I find a place where I can zone out, in the car on a drive, on an exercise machine or a walk, or just listening to music on headphones.(less)
Average rating: 4.06 · 416 ratings · 113 reviews · 39 distinct worksSimilar authors
Forgotten Shadows (The Stra...

3.76 avg rating — 78 ratings — published 2024
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Permanent Shadows (The Stra...

3.95 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions
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Chasing Shadows (The Strang...

really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 42 ratings — published 2022 — 2 editions
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The Book of Witness: 13 Pec...

3.97 avg rating — 38 ratings — published 2019 — 2 editions
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Dead Still: Book One In The...

4.44 avg rating — 18 ratings2 editions
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Season of the Shadow (The S...

4.40 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 2023 — 2 editions
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The Accidental Stranger: Bo...

4.38 avg rating — 13 ratings
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The Meeting at Bishop's Rest

3.79 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2019
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Lady Of The Valley: A Stran...

3.79 avg rating — 14 ratings
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Shadow Signals: A Strange A...

4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings
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More books by Erick Mertz…
Forgotten Shadows Permanent Shadows Chasing Shadows Season of the Shadow
(4 books)
by
3.96 avg rating — 267 ratings

Lost in the Dark ...
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The Imago Sequenc...
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Erick’s Recent Updates

Erick Mertz rated a book it was amazing
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
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Outstanding. I know this isn't a 2026 book, but this will very likely be my favorite book of this year. Riveting and engrossing, read it one sitting. ...more
Erick Mertz rated a book it was amazing
The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster
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Terrific story!
Erick Mertz rated a book it was amazing
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
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Outstanding book. The characters creeped me out, the setting engaging, the mystery oozing dread. There is something deeply unsettling about the story, but it's real, as though these specters are behaving exactly the way you would expect them to. ...more
Erick Mertz rated a book it was amazing
Messenger by Lois Lowry
Messenger (Giver, #3)
by Lois Lowry (Goodreads Author)
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Read this one aloud to my kid. It was, compared the others, a little more surreal and meditative. Really enjoyed it though. It was a different kind of thought provoking.
Erick Mertz rated a book it was amazing
Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes
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Astounding. There is nothing more rewarding than finding another Daniel Clowes book on the shelf to read and this one, so innovative, was exciting. Great characters. Real people. A totally convincing, honest almost love story.
Erick Mertz rated a book it was amazing
We Burned So Bright by T.J. Klune
We Burned So Bright
by T.J. Klune (Goodreads Author)
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Absolutely spectacular book. One of a kind, would highly recommend.
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The Beast Hunter by Lindsay Schopfer
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Solid book, good read. Definitely enjoyed it. The story offered a real feeling of adventure, something you don't get in novels often anymore. I like how the author really dug into the character and gave us the full-blooded version of the beast hunter ...more
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The War by Garth Ennis
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Decent read, nothing spectacular.

Solid four stars. I thought the story spent quite a bit of it's early portion kinda, sorta building up to the obvious climax. Then, the really interesting part, what happens after the bomb feels rushed.
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Sailing to Byzantium by Robert Silverberg
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Really enjoyed this read. I wanted to dig into what old, classic science fiction looked and felt like. Exploring these novellas, a form which Silverberg is in a class on his own, was illuminating. These are high concept, super efficient stories, each ...more
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Quotes by Erick Mertz  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“have given him the business for missing by so much.” She was right. Melville knew there”
Erick Mertz, Permanent Shadows

“No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality.”
Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.”
Helen Keller, The Open Door

105786 Goodreads Reviewers' Group — 13747 members — last activity Jul 27, 2026 08:55PM
This group helps to bring Reviewers and Authors together! Reviewers can make their own thread to post their reviews in, or post their reviews in the r ...more
19126 The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group — 32677 members — last activity 1 hour, 40 min ago
“It was a dark and stormy night. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled across the sky. Rain spattered a mysterious, hooded stranger who peered over the ...more
72929 Lovers of Paranormal — 10670 members — last activity May 30, 2026 02:50PM
If, like us, you enjoy anything paranormal, then this place is for you. This is a bookclub dedicated to Paranormal (YA & Adult) Fantasy, dystopia, sci ...more
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