the steel van man

Jason Stadtlander - Barnes & Noble Book Signing

Fall Book Tour 2019 Starts This Sunday

Fall Book Tour 2019 Starts This Sunday 906 960 Jason Stadtlander

My Barnes & Noble book tour starts this Sunday (in Peabody at North Shore Mall) following the release of my new book on September 26th! I’m very excited to meet up with my readers and hope to see you all there!

At each of the locations, I will be signing my new book Ruins of the Mind and there will also be copies of The Steel Van Man on hand as well. I will also be doing a reading from one of my new stories in Ruins of the Mind and answering questions.

NOTE: Supplies will be limited, so please make sure you call in advance and preorder your books.

Below are the dates for the appearances and you can also find them on my home page:

  • Sunday, October 6th at 11am
    Barnes & Noble, Peabody, MA
    (978) 573-3261
  • Saturday, October 12th at 3pm
    Barnes & Noble, Walpole, MA
    (508) 668-1303
  • Saturday, November 2nd at 1pm
    Barnes & Noble, Burlington, MA
    (781) 273-3871
  • Friday, December 13th at 6pm
    Barnes & Noble, Portsmouth, NH
    (603) 422-7733

 

The Steel Van Man

What’s in the NEW “The Steel Van Man”?

What’s in the NEW “The Steel Van Man”? 550 850 Jason Stadtlander

The Steel Van ManThanks to the amazing crew at BHC Press, I have re-released The Steel Van Man.

I wanted it to be a special release. I couldn’t see any point in just re-releasing the book without making it worthwhile. Several people have asked me what is new in the “new” The Steel Van Man, so I thought I’d take a moment and lay them out of I can without ruining the surprises. Aside from the obvious cover change, there are some other exciting pieces.

In the book:

  • 2 new chapters:
    • One focuses a little on Maggie (the reporter) researching her truths that she finds out about the killer.
    • The other is a very special ending that reveals something about a character you may have come to love.
  • Elements added about the killer’s mother
  • Town changed from Mantaqua Point to Swampscott

Special added feature:

  • 2 Chapters of the brand new sequel coming soon “The Father”

Some Skinny on The Father:

Let’s take a moment to talk about The Father. What is the book really about? Well, obviously I don’t want to spoil any surprises but I can tell you a few things about it.

  • The book focuses on the intricacies of the killer’s family and a hidden family member that we never know about.
  • A special character from the first book becomes a hero in ways we could never have dreamed
  • Rebecca Lacitor continues to grapple with the secrets she’s forced to contain as it slowly eats away at her psyche.

 

Theme Sketch From Composer Jordan Lewis

Theme Sketch From Composer Jordan Lewis 150 150 Jason Stadtlander

I just received the new theme from composer / multi-instrumentalist Jordan Lewis. Such an amazing theme for the new film and definitively gives the film a “real” feel. Check it out below.

SVM Chronicles: January 18

SVM Chronicles: January 18 150 150 Jason Stadtlander

Today is my mother’s birthday. She’s been gone now for thirteen years. The world is definitely a better place since she has left and my life has really done a full one eighty since then. However, I will admit that her legacy will haunt my world for the rest of my life. I wonder all the time if it will affect others in our family though. It’s one of my deepest  fears. Yes, I know, you would never think so, but I do have fears. Most of my fears revolve around my children or the fact that I am not as skilled a hunter as I believe myself to be. Surely those fears are unjustified, but they are there none-the-less.

So what does one do on the birthday of Marion Smythwick? I will do what I have done every year since her death. I will go to her grave in Manataqua Point Cemetery on Essex Street and place a flower on her grave, then I eat my lunch sitting on a stool near her headstone.

Today it’s bitterly cold with a bit of snow left over, but that somehow that seems fitting and I will not change my tradition. She is after all, my mother.

I wonder, if I should ever tell my children about the darkness in our family history. A darkness that I carry on – somewhat unwillingly.

Happy Birthday Mom, may you find the peace in death that you never had in life.

 

About The Steel Van Man Chronicles

The Steel Van Man is a thriller that was released in August of 2013 about a serial killer who hunts down those that abuse children. You can get the full book here. The “Chronicles” are the continuing journal of the serial killer from its point of view as it continues through its daily life.

SVM Chronicles – January 3rd

SVM Chronicles – January 3rd 150 150 Jason Stadtlander

I sit here in my house, looking out at the snow as it falls softly through the bay windows. My spouse and the children are in the living room by the fire, but I choose the den. I’ve been debating whether I should go out and shovel. I’d really prefer not. 

It has been a nice year so far, only three days in. It may be 6 degrees outside, but I had a wonderful fire going only eight hours ago. To say that Santa made it down the chimney would be an understatement. There is one less person in the world to harm the children of the world and I feel as though I’ve had my much needed release. It’s been far too long since I let myself hunt. I need the kill as much as it needs me. 

And what good does it do for me to prevent myself from taking the pleasure that I so badly need? All I do is get stressed beyond all comprehension and prevent the world from being cleansed. The monster needs to be let out once in a while to go for a run or it will take me over. 

How can I be expected to be a good parent and spouse if I can’t find a way to satisfy my own inner workings? I can’t. That’s the plain truth. I make time for family, and work and I even make time for being a good partner. What I do not do enough of, is make time for myself. How can a hero even try to save the world around them if they don’t find time for themselves?

Fox HuntI do have another problem, that has been plaguing me. Something else that I’ve been thinking about incessantly. Ms. Lacitor, the good detective from Northwood. Can I trust her to keep my secret hidden? I do not want to harm her, but I also can’t risk the truth getting out. So far, I believe I can trust her. I believe though, that I must keep a vigilant eye on her and ensure that our friendship remains a friendship. There is such a fine line between friend and enemy. A friend is an enemy that you can enjoy being around, in my opinion. Or, perhaps a friend is a person with the potential of being an enemy in the knowledge that they posses. 

She knows so much about me, too much. Too much damaging information, yet she stays her hand in turning me in. Why?

Would I do the same in her shoes? I don’t know. I may have to find a way to test this new-found friend. A way to find out how strong her loyalties are. I would never let her participate in a kill, but in years past many English lords used to take their friends on a fox hunt to build comradery. Perhaps a ‘hunt’ would help to solidify that trust. How can one turn on someone when the blood is on their own hands as well?

About The Steel Van Man Chronicles

The Steel Van Man is a thriller that was released in August of 2013 about a serial killer who hunts down those that abuse children. You can get the full book here. The “Chronicles” are the continuing journal of the serial killer from its point of view as it continues through its daily life.

SVM Chronicles – December 16th

SVM Chronicles – December 16th 150 150 Jason Stadtlander

It’s strange what memories surface from time to time.

I was dropping off my children at school today in Beverly and thought about when I was in elementary school. I remember frigid icy days like this, standing out on the playground in my new winter boots.

Childhood InnocenseI was using the hard heel of my boots to hammer on the ice, breaking it free from the asphalt. One teacher; Mrs. Fleming, asked me what I was doing. I told her I was breaking up the ice so other kids didn’t get hurt. She smiled and said that I was a good person. She is the second person to say that to me that I can remember, the other being a detective last year.

Am I a good person? Is it ever possible that the person that I am now is not the person I really am? But rather a collection of the environmental conditions to which I have been exposed? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

There is no untraining someone though. You can’t teach a killer not to kill anymore than you can teach a person not to read. Once the skills and the knowledge are there, they must be used. They assert themselves all on their own. A person who knows how to read can’t help but read the signs on the road, it’s second nature. My hunt, my code… It’s second nature to me.

I would be lying though, if I said I didn’t miss that small child on the playground. I do wish from time to time, that I could unlearn what I know. Do not mistake my desire to return to innocence as regret, however. I have no regrets about who and what I am. God created me for a purpose and anytime I doubt that purpose, I just look in the beautiful eyes of my children.

Only through my actions can I ensure this world is becoming a better place.

About The Steel Van Man Chronicles

The Steel Van Man is a thriller that was released in August of 2013 about a serial killer who hunts down those that abuse children. You can get the full book here. The “Chronicles” are the continuing journal of the serial killer from its point of view as it continues through its daily life.

SVM Chronicles: December 9th

SVM Chronicles: December 9th 150 150 Jason Stadtlander

December 9th

Do you enjoy buying gifts this time of year? I do sometimes, but I prefer to find a time when no one else is around. The internet has made shopping without being around so many people much easier, but then you have to have the damn things delivered to you and risk someone seeing them if you’re not around. I’ve already bought each of my children two well thought out gifts, better to buy them then pass down something from the family. Although I really would like for them to hear what their grandfather has to say on his tapes. Most of them are sweet and benign, but there are other tapes that have a darkness to them. An underlying profundity that is just barely perceivable. It is that darkness and depth that I am afraid of my children hearing in their dead grandfather’s voice.

The Steel Van Man ChroniclesIt is that iniquity about our family history that I just don’t want to reveal to them. A part of me doubts that they would ever hear that in his loving voice, perhaps it is just me, tainted by the truth that sees the evil. For all I know, it’s not even really there in his recordings. However, it’s a chance I can’t take… at least for now.

I’ve been sitting here in my surveillance van, watching a man here in Lynn for the past four hours. Twice I’ve seen him leave and come home carrying bags of toys into his apartment. I watch as my hidden cameras see him wrapping the toys and trying on his Santa suit to make sure that everything fits. Ah, the holidays… a time of joy, innocence and perversion. The spirit of Christmas is nothing more than a mask for this man to wear for his disgusting perversions.

Methinks he will soon see what the true holiday spirit is all about, long before he has a chance to deliver his presents to good little boys and girls. Yes, I believe that he will find the Holidays sharp, cold and brutal in ways he can’t even imagine.

 

About The Steel Van Man Chronicles

The Steel Van Man is a thriller that was released in August of 2013 about a serial killer who hunts down those that abuse children. You can get the full book here. The “Chronicles” are the continuing journal of the serial killer from its point of view as it continues through its daily life.

SVM Chronicles: December 5th

SVM Chronicles: December 5th 150 150 Jason Stadtlander

December 5th

Thanksgiving is over and now the holidays approach. ‘Happy Holidays’ all the retailers say with their ridiculous marketing plastered everywhere the day after Halloween.

The Steel Van Man ChroniclesI would like to say that the holidays have always been a nice, happy time. Full of family cheer and old relatives visiting that we haven’t seen all year long. A nice fire burning in the living room as people laugh over a glass of thick delicious eggnog or hot chocolate, savoring the delicious food and cookies scattered throughout the house. The smell of pine in the air as the tree stands proudly decorated in the corner and candy canes hang upon it. Perhaps a fat jolly adult dressed in a Santa Claus outfit walks throughout the party distributing funny, small presents to everyone from his big bag. Yes, I would like to say that.

This however would be a lie. I didn’t have a bad childhood, but it was most definitely not like those picturesque moments torn from the scenes of a Normal Rockwell painting. Our house was not illuminated with the internal warmth from a Thomas Kinkade painting either. In fact, I would say it was more accurately described as Edvard Munch’s Scream. That harsh truth to the human existence that can only be described as fear. Fear for the holidays anyone? My mother was far from a kind, loving mother. I suppose she loved me in her own way and as a child, I thought she was very loving and kind. It was only later that I discovered her to be a sadistic killer. Even as I saw her kill my father and mutilate his corpse, it never occurred to me that this was anything but ‘normal’.

The truth was, my father was a loving, caring man. He loved his children deeply, but unfortunately he had not married a woman… He had married a monster. I have no doubt that he must have grasped at some point the monster whom he had married, perhaps not until it was too late. Or, perhaps he knew after we were already born but chose to stay to protect us. The sad reality is, I will never know the truth, at least not as far as his feelings toward my mother. I still have his tape recordings which he made to us and through those, I can tell he loved us. His beautifully preserved skull does nothing but stare back at me through the glass, right beside my mothers. So I raise a glass to you both, Happy Holidays Mom and Dad.

 

About The Steel Van Man Chronicles

The Steel Van Man is a thriller that was released in August of 2013 about a serial killer who hunts down those that abuse children. You can get the full book here. The “Chronicles” are the continuing journal of the serial killer from its point of view as it continues through its daily life.

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