Anthony Flacco

Nightingale Detective Series

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The Last Nightingale

As a serial killer stalks his victims in the fiery ruins of the 1906 earthquake, the police detective hunting him must protect a pair of adolescent orphans.


Suspenseful · Chilling · Emotional · Historical Thriller · Detective Mystery


It’s 1906, and people from across the country are flocking to San Francisco, a growing center of industry and culture. But to some, the city is a place of unspeakable sin, and the Great Earthquake is seen as a day of reckoning for the immoral masses.


In the quake’s aftermath, another type of disaster strikes twelve-year old Shane Nightingale. Hiding in a closet for two days, he witnesses the violent deaths of his adoptive family at the hands of a twisted serial killer.


Sergeant Randall Blackburn is an honest police detective determined to track down the murderer. As Sergeant Blackburn’s work takes him through the ruins of the city, he spots the traumatized Shane Nightingale, and begins watching out for him. Soon Blackburn’s fate is linked with the cunning Shane and his scrappy orphan friend, ten year-old Vignette.


But despite Sergeant Blackburn’s protection, Shane is far from safe in the streets of the ravaged city. The killer is dead set on finishing the job—and won’t rest until the last Nightingale follows his family into the grave.

Praise for The Last Nightingale:

“…Dickens meets Hannibal Lecter. Brace yourself.” —Booklist


“…gripping and completely original … will raise the hair on the back of your neck.” —William Bernhardt, bestselling author of Capitol Threat


“Every historical mystery tries to hone in on the ideal setting at the perfect moment in time. Anthony Flacco succeeds on both counts in his first novel. —Marilyn Stasio, NY Times Book Review


...leaves you anxiously awaiting the next installment. —The Freelance Star


“...offers an abundance of those page-turning pleasures readers seek in historical thrillers: a time-trip through a richly imagined past, a story that never loosens its suspenseful grip, and a fascinating look at the roots of modern forensic science.” —Harold Schechter, author of The Serial Killer Files


“Atmospheric, chilling, and with more twists and turns than crooked Lombard Street. The Last Nightingale has it all. I couldn’t put it down.” —Cara Black, author of Murder On The Ile Saint-Louis


The Hidden Man

A determined detective must stop a murderous fanatic at the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair in this riveting second installment of the Nightingales Detective Series.


Nine years after San Francisco’s great Earthquake and Fires, the city is on the brink of a new era. The World’s Fair is opening to herald the completion of the Panama Canal and display the wonders of the new technological age.

But danger lurks behind the glittering façade, as a murderous fanatic stalks one of the fair’s main attractions: the brilliant mesmerist J.D. Duncan. When J.D. receives a threatening note from his stalker, homicide detective Randall Blackburn and his adopted son must combine their intuitive profiling skills to solve a murder that hasn’t happened yet.


Out of the public eye, Duncan is battling an even greater enemy: his own advancing early onset dementia, threatening to destroy the powerful memory and sharp mind that made him famous. As the detectives work to unmask his elusive stalker, J.D. will work twice as hard to hide his condition and keep doing the work that defines him—no matter what it takes.


Filled with intricate historical detail and page-turning twists, The Hidden Man brings to life the excitement of the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair and the people who made it happen. Anthony Flacco takes the reader on an unforgettable journey in this page-turner about a brilliant mesmerist, a vengeful killer, and the great fair that tied their fates together.


About Anthony Flacco

Anthony Flacco is the New York Times and international bestselling author of Impossible Odds: The Kidnapping of Jessica Buchanan and her Dramatic Rescue by SEAL Team Six, which won the USA Book News Award for Best Autobiography of 2013. His Tiny Dancer was selected by Reader’s Digest as their 2005 Editor’s Choice for the magazine’s commemorative 1000th Issue, and he received the 2009 USA Books News True Crime Award for The Road Out of Hell: Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murder.  Flacco’s The Last Nightingale, book one of the Nightingale Detective series, was originally released to acclaimed reviews including a NYT rave, and was nominated by the International Thriller Writers (ITW) as one of the top five original paperback thrillers for 2007.  Anthony resides in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

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