Ep15 Chris Chambers Noir: This month, learn about the newest book by fellow bestselling author John Dedakis
November 2026: Don’t miss this month’s episode of Chris Chambers Noir!
Meet the Author: John DeDakis is a former editor on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.” DeDakis is the author of six traditionally published novels. Enemies Domestic, his latest political thriller, won eight writing awards in 2025 including the Pencraft, Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion, Feathered Quill, and the Grand Prize for Chanticleer’s Clue Award for Best Suspense/Thriller. DeDakis is a writing coach, manuscript editor, motivational speaker, podcaster, and regularly teaches novel writing at literary centers and conferences nationwide and abroad.
Learn more: www.johndedakis.com
About Plot Twists: A Memoir on Writing and Living
In his newest book, writing coach, award-winning novelist, and former CNN editor John DeDakis delivers a candid coming-of-age memoir shaped by the upheaval of the 1950s and ’60s when assassinations, the Vietnam War, and a nation in turmoil rerouted his life. Along the way, DeDakis interviews Alfred Hitchcock, covers Ronald Reagan, and works beside Wolf Blitzer—while privately grappling with spiritual doubt, his sister’s suicide, and the devastating loss of his youngest son to addiction. In unflinching prose, DeDakis traces his evolution from hedonistic impulsivity to hard-won integrity.
“Heartfelt, heartbreaking, and hopeful.” —James L’Etoile, Executive Vice President, Mystery Writers of America
Bestselling Noir Author Christopher Chambers, ChrisChambersNoir.com
About Christopher Chambers: A Washington, D.C. native, Chris is a lecturer at Georgetown University, Chair of the International Conflict Resolution Center and is General Counsel to a not-for-profit benefitting HBCUs: Student Housing of America. He is the author of the Angela Bivens thriller series for Random House, The Rocket Crockett pulp noir series, and Black Pulp for Prose-Press, and editor, along with Gary Phillips, of The Darker Mask graphic short story collection, the Bronze Buckaroo Rides Again: Honoring Harlem’s Herb Jeffries. He was a finalist in 2008 for the PEN/Malamud Short Story Award for “Leviathan.”
He’s contributed short stories to The Obama Inheritance: 15 Stories of Conspiracy Noir (Three Rooms Press) and is the winner of the Anthony Award. The Black Panther: Tales Of Wakanda, The Faking of the President, and Midnight Hour, Witnesses for the Dead with Gar Anthony Haywood–all major award-winning collections and bestsellers. His noir hardboiled mystery Scavenger (2020) won a starred review and profile in Publishers Weekly; the sequel Standalone sees the return of the indestructible homeless addict turned PI Dickie Cornish, patrolling the unforgiving city streets ravaged by COVID, with the third in the trilogy Streetwhys in 2025. His next Marvel contribution is in Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson. Learn more: ChrisChambersNoir.com
About Chris’s latest book, “Street Whys:” We again meet Washington, DC’s notorious detective, former street denizen Dickie Cornish, who faces off with bloodthirsty cops and the justice department. Underground detective Dickie Cornish faces a vindictive murder rap from his past if he doesn’t agree to help prove that the fentanyl ravaging the streets of DC is bankrolled by shadowy donors of a certain former president. Broke and desperate, Cornish soon finds himself on a collision course with shady public defenders and corrupt police officers, forcing him to use his street connections to flip their plan. Or die.
The Dickie Cornish series has met with widespread critical acclaim: Publishers Weekly dubbed the series debut, Scavenger, “[A] no-holds-barred crime novel…a 21st-century twist on traditional hardboiled noir.” The Strand Magazine selected Standalone, the second book in the series, as one of the “Top 25 Mystery Novels of the Year,” adding, “It’s apparent that the modern heir to Chandler, Woolrich, and Cain is Christopher Chambers, enough said.” And renowned crime author George Pelecanos raves that the series “really nails Washington, DC in the current environment.” Click here to buy Chris’s books.
Bestselling Books: He is the author of 19 books, including the Angela Bivens thriller series for Random House, The Rocket Crockett pulp noir series, and Black Pulp for Prose-Press, and editor, along with Gary Phillips, of The Darker Mask graphic short story collection, the Bronze Buckaroo Rides Again: Honoring Harlem’s Herb Jeffries. He is also the Mid-Atlantic President of the Mystery Writers of America.
And there’s more: Chris has contributed short stories to “The Obama Inheritance: 15 Stories of Conspiracy Noir” (Three Rooms Press), which won the Anthony Award; “The Black Panther: Tales Of Wakanda,” “The Faking of the President and Midnight Hour,” and “Witnesses for the Dead with Gar Anthony Haywood.” Each book includes stories by award-winning and bestselling authors.
