The Bookkeeper (August 4, 2026)

Reward seeker Colter Shaw must race against the clock to save a victim against a dead-set hitman in this propulsive short story.

When the Institute for the Freedom of Journalism gets word that a professional killer has come to America from Brussels to kill a reporter investigating an authoritarian regime, reward seeker Colter Shaw is called upon to investigate what the police have not: who and where is the victim and what valuable information do they have? In running the job, Shaw finds himself up against one of the toughest adversaries of his career. The assassin, nicknamed the Bookkeeper, plots his murders as coldly and methodically as he audits accounts. As Shaw is drawn down the rabbit hole of New York City—by far his most daunting “wilderness” to date—he finds a labyrinth of deception and danger where he himself, along with the intended victim, is a target. It’s a race against the clock to find this unique villain… in a world where nothing is what it seems to be.

The Bookkeeper, a brand new Colter Shaw story, will be available in print in Jeff’s new short story collection, Deceptions, as well as a standalone eBook on August 4.