The end of the Goodreads giveaway of 15 signed paperback copies of Quest: Mortal Path Book Four by Dakota Banks is just days away! Open to US and Canadian residents.
Quest is the long-awaited finale of an epic urban fantasy/action-packed/romantic/thriller series featuring Maliha Crayne.
She's a 300-year-old assassin who made a deal with a Sumerian demon to save her life from an unjust death sentence.
After centuries of killing at his command, she's turned rogue, now attempting to balance the scale of lives taken with lives saved.
Get your entry in by the deadline, January 28th. Enter here.
Last day is Saturday, January 31st - Enter NOW!
Four eBooks. One epic journey.
The Mortal Path series — Dark Time, Sacrifice,
Deliverance,
and Quest (series conclusion) — can be yours.
✵ Giveaway starts Saturday, January 3, 2026.
✵ All four Kindle eBooks — FREE.
✵ Enter using this short form.
✵ Entries accepted until Saturday,
January 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM.
✵ No tricks. Just an amazing reading experience.
✵ No Kindle device? No problem!
Read on any device
with the free Kindle app.
Bound by a demonic pact for three centuries, Maliha Crayne has fought relentless battles to protect humanity and her own soul. With the world on the brink of destruction, Maliha races against time to reassemble the Great Lens, an ancient artifact powerful enough to banish the demons threatening the future of humankind forever. Learn more about the rest of the series here.
Urban Fantasy •
Paranormal Romance • Mythological Fantasy • Supernatural Thrillers •
Action-Adventure Fantasy • Strong Female Heroes
"Readers who like their paranormal romantic suspense novels to feature nonstop action, twisting plots, and deadly heroines will devour Banks' clever and compelling
Mortal Path series." - Lisa Gardner - #1 New York Times bestselling author
p.s. No Kindle device? No problem! Read on any device (phone, tablet, computer) by going to read.amazon.com after purchasing the e-book.
Enjoy the read -- and thank you for being part of the Mortal Path Journey!
Dakota Banks
Here are two trailers for the Mortal Path series conclusion, Quest.
Turn up the sound to listen.
During a gala banquet and celebration held on Saturday, June 1st at the Sheraton Times Square in New York City, the International Thriller Writers announced the winners of the 2024 Thriller Awards.
BEST FIRST NOVEL
I.S. Berry – THE PEACOCK AND THE SPARROW (Atria)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Luke Dumas – THE PALEONTOLOGIST (Atria)
BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Robert Swartwood – THE KILLING ROOM (Blackstone Publishing)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Elizabeth Wein – STATELESS (Little, Brown & Co.)
BEST SHORT STORY
Lisa Unger – UNKNOWN CALLER (Amazon Original Stories)
BEST AUDIOBOOK
Gregg Hurwitz – THE LAST ORPHAN (Macmillan); Narrated by Scott Brick
BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL
S.A. Cosby – ALL THE SINNERS BLEED (Flatiron Books)
Congratulations to all the finalists!
Also receiving special recognition during
the ThrillerFest XIX Awards Banquet:
· 2024 ThrillerMaster, Tess Gerritsen
· 2024 ThrillerMaster, Dennis Lehane
· 2024 Spotlight Guest, Steph Cha
· 2024 Spotlight Guest, Ruth Ware
· 2024 Silver Bullet Award, Louise Penny
· 2024 Thriller Legend, Audible
· 2024 ThrillerFan, Ayo Onatade
The Board of Directors and members of the International Thriller Writers wish to congratulate all the winners and nominees of the 2024 Thriller Awards.
Special thanks to the Thriller Award judges for their hard work and dedication!
Submissions for the 2025 ITW Thriller Awards will open on June 12, 2024 at https://www.ThrillerWriters.org.
Tosca Lee
ITW Board of Directors, Vice President, Awards
My screenplay "Bound by Blood," adapted from Dark Time, the first book of the Mortal Path book series, is the winner of the BEST TV PILOT award for the first 2024 cycle of the Colossus Film Festival! I move on to the yearly program now, and I have high hopes there.
The International Thriller Writers (ITW) is thrilled to announce the finalists for the 2024 Thriller Awards! Learn more about the finalists by clicking the LINKS to their websites below.
ITW is an honorary society of authors, both fiction and nonfiction, who write books broadly classified as “thrillers.” This would include (but isn’t limited to) such subjects as murder mystery, detective, suspense, horror, supernatural, action, espionage, true crime, war, adventure, and myriad similar subject areas.
ITW’s mission is “To bestow recognition and promote the thriller genre at an innovative and superior level for and through our Active members; to provide opportunities for mentoring, education and collegiality among thriller authors and industry professionals; and to grant awards for excellence in the thriller genre.”
One of the
main purposes of the organization is to provide a way for successful,
bestselling authors to help debut and midlist authors advance their careers. To
that end, ITW has designed numerous, effective programs and events which
promote debut and midlist writers and their work, sometimes in partnership with
bestselling authors. In addition, ITW promotes literacy, gives money to worthy
organizations, supports libraries, and advances the genre. Finally, it brings
together almost a thousand writers, readers, publishers, editors and
agents at its annual conference, ThrillerFest, as well as at CraftFest, a
writing workshop program, and PitchFest, where aspiring authors can meet and
pitch top literary agents.
Interested in joining ITW? I've been a member for years! Read about membership qualifications and find out how to apply.
Best Hardcover Novel
Best Audiobook
Best 1st Novel
Best Paperback Original Novel
Best Short Story
Best Young Adult Novel
Best E-Book Original Novel
MWA is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime-writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. I'm an Active member. Some 3,000 members who are fiction and non-fiction writers, screen and television writers, publishers, editors, and literary agents have joined MWA. You can join, too - no need to be published, just a supporter of the genre. See Membership Information.
Here is your chance to get to know each of the nominees in their respective categories!
Best Novel
Best Paperback Original
Best Fact Crime
Best Critical/Biographical
Best Juvenile
Best Young Adult
Best Television Episode Teleplay
Additional Awards to be Presented by MWA
Robert L. Fish Memorial Award
The Simon & Schuster Mary Higgins Clark Award
The G.P. Putnam’s Sons Sue Grafton Memorial Award
The Lilian Jackson Braun Memorial Award
Special Awards
Grand Masters
Ellery Queen Award
Notching another contest win for Bound by Blood, the Mortal Path series pilot teleplay that covers the first part of BOOK ONE: DARK TIME. An especially fun festival that I was invited to attend. Great people! 😍
Logline: A Colonial woman unjustly burned as a witch struggles to reclaim her soul from the ancient Sumerian demon who saved her and used her as his Ageless assassin for over 300 years.
Dakota is pleased to announce the latest contest win for the pilot script for the first book in the Mortal Path series, Bound by Blood. 😀
The Big Apple Film Festival and Screenplay Competition chose the teleplay Bound by Blood, adapted from the first book of the Mortal Path series, as an official selection! 😊😊😊
Dakota
The concept for Mortal Path is refreshingly original in both its idea and execution. The way history and mythology are merged to together to create a unique story is astonishingly intelligent. There is a near limitless possibility of episodes in each of Susannah’s attempts to save souls.
Susannah is a deep, complex protagonist that has a tragic, yet interesting story. The teaser is an effective of way showing her heightened spiritual sensibilities and how that arouses skepticism in those around her. Despite her moral failings, there are a lot of scenes showing that she has a deep desire to do good, which makes her more likable.
Mortal Path is rich with impressively written emotionally poignant dialogue. One of the strongest aspects of Mortal Path is the vivid way a wide variety of emotional scenes are depicted in the script. The strong concept gives it an exciting amount of market potential. The dynamic nature of the story easily lends itself to serialization. The fact that its already based on an established book series inspires more confidence in producers looking to pick up the series.
Final Comments:
Mortal Path ("Bound by Blood" TV Pilot) is an impressively written pilot that sets up an amazing idea for a series. The characters are easy to empathize with and the writing of the script is emotionally poignant. The level of detail that went into the vivid descriptions is highly impressive.
The Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and in any weather by Tomb Guard sentinels. Sentinels, all volunteers, are considered to be the best of the elite 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), headquartered at Fort Myer, Virginia.
Yet Trump didn't want to get wet in a light rain Saturday and stayed warm and dry inside the U.S. Ambassador's residence in Paris rather than honor American soldiers who died in WWI at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery. Learn about the cemetery in the video below. Then he skipped town on Sunday as the Paris Peace Forum was about to start. The Peace Forum is a global gathering of leaders dedicated to international cooperation and multilateralism.