The Reckoning: A Renata Drake Thriller, Book 1

by Kelli Stanley, Christina Delaine (Narrator)

SHE KILLED A MAN. HE DESERVED IT. BUT JUSTICE ISN'T YET DONE.

First in an explosive series set in the eighties from the author of the Miranda Corbie series introduces Renata Drake—on the run from the FBI for the execution-style murder of her little sister's killer.

California, Southern Humboldt County, 1985. Renata Drake steps off a Greyhound bus and into small-town Garberville, hoping to disappear. She checks the papers. She's not headline news. Not yet.

But she's made a mistake. The FBI have the cannabis-producing "Emerald Triangle" town—and its corrupt residents—in their sights. Even worse, a teenage girl is missing, and when she turns up dead, the third in three years, it's clear a serial killer is living among them.

Renata knows about murdered girls and the burning desire for justice—and for revenge. Her younger sister Josie is gone, and now, so is the man who killed her. Renata didn't stay in Washington, D.C. to be arrested for executing a murderer, and she shouldn't stay here either. But Renata decides to investigate, and what she uncovers will trigger a final reckoning.

This thriller explores the human cost of corruption and the psychological toll that violence takes on women.

Audible Audio

Expected publication February 24, 2026

About the author

Kelli Stanley is the multiple award-winning, critically acclaimed and bestselling creator of the Miranda Corbie series (CITY OF DRAGONS, CITY OF SECRETS, CITY OF GHOSTS, CITY OF SHARKS), noir novels set in 1940 San Francisco and featuring "one of crime's most arresting heroines" (Library Journal).

Kelli has also written an award-winning "Roman Noir" series set in Roman Britain (NOX DORMIENDA, THE CURSE-MAKER), and has published numerous short stories and essays.

Kelli also founded and was president of the non-profit publisher Nasty Woman Press, which published the award-winning anthology SHATTERING GLASS.

A winner of the Macavity, Bruce Alexander, Golden Nugget and Anthony awards (the latter as a publisher of SHATTERING GLASS), she was also a Shamus and Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist, while the City and County of San Francisco awarded her a Certificate of Merit for her contributions to literature. She was named a literary heir of Dashiell Hammett by his granddaughter in a Publisher's Weekly article, and critics have compared her work to her icons Raymond Chandler and Norman Corwin. She was by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention as its Historical Mystery Guest of Honor in 2024.

Her eagerly-anticipated next novel, THE RECKONING, is a thriller set in California's "Emerald Triangle" in 1985, and features the debut of new series character Renata Drake. THE RECKONING will publish in the US and UK on January 6, 2026, from Severn House.

Kelli holds a Master's Degree in Classics, and when she's not reading or writing, loves nature walks, jazz, classic film, travel, and, with her spouse, taking care of their two rescue cats. She's also honored to have served as faculty for the famed Book Passage Mystery Writers Conference for many years.

For more more information about Kelli and her work—including interactive, multimedia maps, videos, photos and ephemera—please visit her website at www.kellistanley.com.