Along with seven others singled out by the US Navy in 1969, Vance Leford patrolled Vietnam’s Mekong Delta on a napalm boat as part of the Mobile Riverine Force. Trained as a sniper, Leford’s mission was to destroy key Viet Cong operatives in the jungle that lined the Mekong’s shores. Leford was damn good at his job, too. He’s got twenty-seven knots in his Riverine beret to prove it, each one commemorating an assassination that will haunt him for the rest of his life.
Fifty years later, lured to Washington, DC, for the funeral of a fellow Riverine, Leford is reunited with the only two survivors from his boat crew, men who once were like brothers to him but who also know his darkest secret. Now he believes one of them is about to reveal an atrocity that could destroy the fragile peace he has found, as well as the wife and family Leford has created from the ashes of loss.
As a man hard-wired to survive, Leford won’t go down easily. Only this time, staying alive will cost him whatever humanity he has left.
Now available for pre-order at major online retailers and through your local bookstore. For publicity inquiries, contact marty@martinjsmith.com.
“27 Knots is a groundbreaking novel about the neglected after-curse of war: moral injury. It reads like a love letter wrapped in a fever dream, and more than deserves a place of honor between Sophie’s Choice and The Things They Carried. In its spare, wry, tragic humanity, this novel is a masterpiece.”
California’s Inland Empire is ruled by money, sex, and threats — but one murder investigation could bring it all down. Combining psychological cat-and-mouse games with a cast of broken, deftly rendered characters, Combustion plumbs the darkest, most twisted depths of greed against the wild, dangerous backdrop of Southern California.
“A page-turner with a kicker at the end — you can’t ask for anything better. That’s what Martin J. Smith delivers with Combustion. Intricately plotted and full of character, this one is a great ride that burns with the intensity of a California wildfire.” —Michael Connelly
A mysterious, long-ago military plane crash plunges memory expert Jim Christensen and his adopted daughter into a high-stakes search for the truth about her past that leads to a deep well of dark family secrets — and into the crosshairs of an international fugitive who’ll do anything to keep those secrets buried.
“Smith is at once a reporter and storyteller, weaving a gruesome wartime reality deftly into the lives of the most engaging characters. A terrific read for lovers of political suspense.” —Rebecca Forster
She identified her attacker as a frightening and disfigured young man known as The Scarecrow. Now, eight years later, DNA tests prove her wrong and plunge memory expert Jim Christensen into a harrowing search for the truth.
“The creepiest good time I’ve had in ages . . . a genuine page turner.” —Laura Lippman
From within the labyrinth of Alzheimer’s, an old woman remembers a long-buried secret that could topple her family’s political dynasty. And only memory expert Jim Christensen understands what she’s trying to say.
“Shadow Image hooks you . . . right through to the last page.” —Michael Connelly
A deadly puzzle’s missing piece lies buried in the darkest corner of a troubled young man’s mind. Until memory expert Jim Christensen can find it, an entire city remains hostage to a killer of infinite creativity.
“Time Release sizzles, cooks, and singes! It’s a whipcord thriller full of deftly drawn characters, intrigue, and taut action. This is a spellbindingly accomplished first novel; Martin Smith may become a thriller force to be reckoned with.” —James Ellroy
A Doctor, a Colorado Town, and Stories from an Unlikely Gender Crossroads
Colorado Book Award finalist (History), 2022
The story of the complicated post-surgery lives of transgender pilgrims whose personal journeys led them to a country doctor in the small mining and ranching town of Trinidad, Colorado — which between 1969 and 2010 was improbably known as a world center of gender transformation.
“For generations of transgender people, ‘Trinidad, Colorado’ was code for ‘sex-change capital of the world.’ Martin Smith brings this somewhat secret history to a wider audience in an expansive, entertaining narrative chock full of interesting people and previously untold stories.” —Susan Stryker, author of Transgender History
and Other Tales of the People, Places, and Peculiarities of the Modern American Southwest
An exploration of the oft-idealized and misunderstood landscape of the American Southwest, chronicling in vivid detail the heroes, heels, and cultural spasms of an endlessly fascinating frontier.
“Smith is the master of the essay and human interest profile form. Part of his talent in bringing nonfiction subjects alive may be the chops he’s acquired as a novelist . . . Central to what makes these pieces so compelling is Smith’s voice.” —Los Angeles Review of Books
Inside the Strange and Wonderful World of the Federal Duck Stamp Contest
Basis for the award-winning documentary The Million Dollar Duck (Slamdance 2016 Jury and Audience awards; Animal Planet).
Follow Smith down the rabbit hole and into the peculiar world of competitive duck painting and the vitally important but hopelessly obscure Federal Duck Stamp Program, which many consider the greatest conservation program in human history.
“The Federal Duck Stamp Program has deserved a book like this for a long time: well-written, insightful, and just plain fun to read.” —David Allen Sibley
“A smartly written, wonderful look at waterfowl conservation at its apex. Every page was a treat. Once you start, you won’t be able to stop. Highly recommend!” —Douglas Brinkley, author of Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
20 Life Lessons From the Fiascoes That Shaped America
with Patrick J. Kiger
A follow-up to Poplorica that extracts life lessons from the fiascoes that shaped America, with chapters on the worst sports promotion of all time, the 1955 Dodge La Femme, the disastrous 1967 Monkees–Jimi Hendrix concert tour, Microsoft’s Clippy, and more.
“A hilarious look at human ingenuity gone horribly wrong.” —Will Shortz
“As informative as it is entertaining.” —Publishers Weekly
A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore That Shaped Modern America
with Patrick J. Kiger
A popular history of the fads, mavericks, inventions, and lore that shaped America — including cinematic zombies, pantyhose, Les Paul’s “Log,” the first diet doctor, Betty Ford’s intervention, and the improbable story of Alfred Kinsey’s honeymoon.
“All history should be this much fun.” —Publishers Weekly
“In this offbeat omnium-gatherum, the delights are in the details.” —The Wall Street Journal
“These true stories behind America’s popular culture are riveting. Poplorica is fun and funny, but it’s also real history that tells us where we came from and who we are, for better or worse.” —Jane and Michael Stern, authors of the Encyclopedia of Pop Culture
A family history told through one garment, expanded from a Los Angeles Times Magazine essay. Written for an audience of one — the author’s father, William L. Smith—it eventually found a wider audience.
“The story begins with George Leford Smith, my grandfather, who never owned a tux. But his son, William, spent $100 for one in 1954, two years before my birth. Its passage to my generation, and eventually to my own son, is the story of threads that link one family across vast stretches of space and time.” —Martin J. Smith
Orange County Noir 2010
Akashic Books collection edited by Gary Phillips, featuring Smith’s short story “Dark Matter,” about a fading rock star at the end of his wild ride.
“This volume, like coming in from a sudden storm and then being gripped by a heavy riff from Bird’s horn, takes you on a hard-boiled tour behind the Orange Curtain.” —Gary Phillips
Heyday Books collection edited by Lisa Alvarez and Andrew Tonkovich, with an excerpt from “Dark Matter” alongside work by Michael Chabon, Oakley Hall, Philip K. Dick, and Kim Stanley Robinson.
“This book excels by paying attention to all the quirks that define this place — including Disneyland, toll roads, endangered gnatcatchers, bikinied goddesses, killer cops, acid-loving hippies, and everything in between and beyond.” —Gustavo Arellano
An eclectic mix of short stories by acclaimed authors inspired by Bruce Springsteen’s melancholy “Meeting Across the River,” edited by Jessica Kaye and Richard J. Brewer (Bloomsbury). Introduction by Smith.
A mystery-writing primer by G. Miki Hayden featuring interviews with Elmore Leonard, Rick Riordan, Tony Hillerman, Mary Higgins Clark, and Michael Connelly. Foreword by Smith.
“This fun, exercise-laden manual is recommended where writing books are popular.” —Library Journal
