https://www.johnvercherauthor.com/work daily 0.75 2025-05-12 https://www.johnvercherauthor.com/new-cover-page daily 1.0 2024-03-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1706715302217-GOWE5HRWF26U8PSDIEK5/Devil+Is+Fine+9_16.png John Vercher - Author https://www.johnvercherauthor.com/about-page daily 0.75 2026-01-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1706718063878-48YDJLK8KNXA9LQAP1DX/Devil+Is+Fine+9_16.png About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/781fa8fe-434c-4530-98e6-3187fdd158dd/John+Vercher%2C+Credit+Rafael+Aguilera-min.jpg About John Vercher lives in the Philadelphia area with his wife and two sons. John currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing in the Department of English at Monmouth University (where he also served as the ‘24-’25 Artist-in-Residence) and core faculty at Randolph College’s low-residency MFA program in Lynchburg, Virginia. John also served as the inaugural Wilma Dykeman Writer-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina Asheville. John’s non-fiction work has appeared in/on: Cognoscenti, (the thoughts and opinions page of WBUR Boston) NPR WBUR’s Weekend Edition Entropy Magazine CrimeReads Booklist LitHub Men’s Health. John’s debut novel, Three-Fifths, was named one of the best books of 2019 by the Chicago Tribune and was nominated for: The 2020 Edgar Award for Best First Novel The Strand Critics Award for Best Debut Novel Shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey First Novel Dagger. In the U.K., Three-Fifths was named a Book of the Year by: The Sunday Times The Financial Times The Guardian. Rights to Three-Fifths have been sold in France, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Germany, Mainland China, and the U.K. His second novel, After the Lights Go Out, was published by Soho Press on June 7, 2022. French, Swedish, German, and U.K. rights have also been sold. After the Lights Go Out was called “simply brilliant” by Publishers Weekly in a starred review and “shrewd and explosive” by The New York Times. BookRiot selected the novel as a 2022 Best Book of the Summer, Publishers Weekly included it in their Summer Reads 2022 list, and Booklist named it an Editors’ Choice in Adult Fiction for 2022. In 2022, John signed a two-book deal with Celadon Books (a Macmillan division). The first, Devil Is Fine, was published June 18, 2024. Devil Is Fine has received starred reviews from Booklist and BookPage, was named a Best New Book of the Summer by TIME Magazine and The Root, an Indie Next pick for July, one of the top ten books to add to your reading list in June by the Los Angeles Times, a June book pick by The Center for Fiction, one of the 12 Must-Read Books of June by The Chicago Review of Books, a Book of the Day for July by NPR, and was featured on NPR’s It’s Been A Minute. Additionally, Devil Is Fine was named one of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 by TIME Magazine, a Best Novel of 2024 by Electric Lit, Jezebel, and The Chicago Public Library. Nominations include: Finalist for the Audie audiobooks award in literary fiction Finalist for the Library of Virginia’s Virginia Literary Prize Longlisted for the 2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlisted for the Mark Twain American Voice Award in Literature Award Longlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. For literary representation, please contact David Hale Smith of Inkwell Management at dhs@inkwellmanagement.com. For film and television, please contact Will Watkins of CAA at will.watkins@caa.com. John is a member of the Writers Guild of America (East). Photo by Rafael Aguilera https://www.johnvercherauthor.com/books daily 0.75 2025-06-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1706718006775-2J5OIFUB1VBDA2IT1DHF/Devil+Is+Fine+9_16.png Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/b48aff2c-9b4d-4758-a6dd-6918c872dbc8/Devil+Is+Fine+%E2%80%93%C2%A0cover+graphic.png Books - Devil Is Fine From acclaimed novelist John Vercher, a profoundly moving novel of what it means to be a father, a son, a writer, and a biracial American fighting to reconcile the past Reeling from the sudden death of his teenage son, our narrator receives a letter from an attorney: he has just inherited a plot of land from his estranged grandfather. He travels to a beach town several hours south of his home with the intention of immediately selling the land. But upon inspection, what lies beneath the dirt is much more than he can process in the throes of grief. As a biracial Black man struggling with the many facets of his identity, he’s now the owner of a former plantation passed down by the men on his white mother’s side of the family. Vercher deftly blurs the lines between real and imagined, past and present, tragedy and humor, and fathers and sons in this story of discovery―and a fight for reclamation―of a painful past. With the wit of Paul Beatty’s The Sellout and the nuance of Zadie Smith’s On Beauty, Devil Is Fine is a darkly funny and brilliantly crafted dissection of the legacies we leave behind and those we inherit. Available here NOW! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1c625ce2-9d9f-428c-beae-2f10cd4158ae/After+the+Lights+go+Out+final+cover.jpg Books - After the Lights Go Out A harrowing and spellbinding story about family, the complications of mixed-race relationships, misplaced loyalties, and the price athletes pay to entertain—from the critically acclaimed author of Three-Fifths Xavier “Scarecrow” Wallace, a mixed-race MMA fighter on the wrong side of thirty, is facing the fight of his life. Xavier can no longer deny he is losing his battle with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or pugilistic dementia. Through the fog of memory loss, migraines, and paranoia, Xavier does his best to stay in shape while he waits for the call that will reinstate him after a year-long suspension. He watches his diet and trains every day at the Philadelphia gym owned by his cousin-cum-manager, Shot, a retired champion boxer to whom Xavier owes an unpayable debt. Xavier makes ends meet by teaching youth classes at Shot’s gym and by living rent-free in the house of his white father, whom Xavier has been forced to commit to a nursing home because of the progress of his end-stage Alzheimer’s. Dementia has revealed his father’s latent racism and Xavier finally gains insight into why his Black mother left the family when Xavier was young. Then Xavier is offered a chance at redemption: a last-minute comeback fight in the largest MMA promotion. If he can get himself back in the game, he’ll be able to clear his name and begin to pay off Shot. But with his memory in shreds and his life crumbling around him, can Xavier hold onto the focus he needs to survive? Available NOW from Soho Press. Order HERE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1598315560452-JJIDN07LXZ1SXLRO2YCS/Paperback+cover+3.png Books - Three-Fifths Shortlisted 2021 The Crime Writer’s Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2020 Nominee The Strand Magazine’s Critics’ Awards for Best Debut Novel 2020 Nominee Edgar Award for Best First Novel 2020 Anthony Award Nominee for Best First Novel 2020 Nominee Left Coast Crime’s “Lefty” Award For Best Debut Novel “Vercher's first novel gets Agora Books, a new imprint dedicated to diverse crime fiction, off to a fast start…Vercher builds strong, multifaceted characters with bold strokes and using the tools of noir to present what is finally a full-blown tragedy. This powerful exploration of race and identity pairs well with Steph Cha's superb Your House Will Pay (2019).” —Bill Ott, Booklist (STARRED Review) “Vercher deftly explores identity and the ethics of accountability in this debut. Fans of realistic social issue narratives will be immersed in the moral dilemmas of this timely novel.” —Library Journal (STARRED Review) “Vercher’s debut novel is a blunt-edged thriller…A sad, swift tale bearing rueful observations about color and class as urgent now as 24 years ago.”—Kirkus Out NOW from Polis/Agora Books. Order from your local independent bookstore HERE. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1551918325250-R7D34ST9R8SES5UA45BS/Unknown.png Books https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/bab0d873-239a-4642-a885-b00b20c5dafc/bookshop-post.jpeg Books - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.johnvercherauthor.com/press daily 0.75 2026-01-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1706718111124-5BYMW3CW9ODVXEH7OHD0/Devil+Is+Fine+9_16.png Press https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1574260462548-VW3ENBF8500BS8CUH3DG/o-radio-microphone-facebook1.jpg Press - Interviews Devil Is Fine (2024) John Vercher's novel 'Devil Is Fine' tackles grief through magical realism (NPR’s Weekend Edition) Loving the Struggle with John Vercher (Writer’s Bone) John Vercher Can’t Unbox (The Inside Flap Podcast) After the Lights Go Out (2022) A novelist's time in the MMA cage informed his book on memory loss and identity (Fresh Air) CURIOSITY OVER CERTAINTY (UNC Asheville) Cognoscenti contributor John Vercher talks about race and family (Radio Boston) John Vercher, Author of After the Lights Go Out (Writer’s Bone) Author Spotlight with Rachel Barenbaum (A Mighty Blaze) Interview with John Vercher (Now, Appalachia) Shop Talk with Eli Cranor (CrimeReads) Three-Fifths (2019) Interview with Paul Burke (Crime Time FM) Race, Identity, and Three-Fifths (Crime Writers of Color podcast w/Robert Justice) Invisible Blackness and Three-Fifths (Southpaw w/Sam and Paul) Interview with Dan Medicus (The Inside Flap Podcast) John Vercher, Author of Three-Fifths (Writer’s Bone) John Vercher: Novelist, Short Story Writer and Essayist (The Liars Club Oddcast) Representing the Biracial Man Through Fiction with John Vercher (Multiracial Family Man Podcast) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1552584220363-26XH67O0A9ZGPTQWNA9E/bigstock-Press-106245899.jpg Press - Articles Devil Is Fine (2024) 10 Underrated Books That Slap and Deserve Virality (Times Now) The Mark Twain House & Museum Announces 2025 Longlist for American Voice in Literature Award (The Mark Twain House) Announcing the Longlist for the 2025 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction (PEN/Faulkner) The 2025 Longlist (Aspen Words Literary Prize) Why a Happy Ending Matters: A Review of John Vercher’s Novels (The Rumpus) Debut authors and Pulitzer Prize finalists make the cut for the Aspen Words Literary Prize longlist (Aspen Public Radio) The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 (TIME) The Best New Books to Read This Summer (TIME) Electric Lit’s Best Novels of 2024 (Electric Lit) The Best (New) Books I Read in 2024 (Jezebel) Indie Next (July) (The American Booksellers Association) Best of the Best of 2024 (The Chicago Public Library) 10 books to add to your reading list in June (Los Angeles Times) June 2024 Books by Black Authors We Can't Wait to Read (The Root) The Visiting Writers Series hosts Monmouth’s artist-in-resident John Vercher (The Outlook) I’m a Dad With ‘Big Feelings.’ Here’s How I’m Helping My Sons With Theirs. (Men’s Health) STARRED review (Booklist) STARRED review (BookPage) 12 Must-Read Books of June 2024 (Chicago Review of Books) A Quiet Place (Center for Fiction) Book of the Day, July 9, 2024 (NPR) Simmering over summer books (NPR’s It’s Been A Minute) The Annotated Nightstand: What Danez Smith is Reading Now, and Next (Lit Hub) Duality Is Fine (Chapter 16) A Philly Bookstore Crawl guide to the best books of 2024 so far (The Philadelphia Inquirer) Fully Booked shares 12 new titles coming to online and physical store shelves this July (adobo magazine) Making Reality Bigger Than Life: A Conversation with John Vercher About Devil Is Fine (Chicago Review of Books) A Conversation with Author John Vercher (Alan Squire Publishing Bulletin) 27 New Books Out Today (Lit Hub) Communication Breakdown: PW Talks with John Vercher (Publishers Weekly) After the Lights Go Out (2022) Editors' Choice: Adult Books, 2022 (Booklist) The Best Crime Novels of the Year: 2022 (CrimeReads) The Best Books of 2022 (Writer’s Bone) Novelist David Joy’s Favorite Books This Year (2022) (Garden & Gun) After the Lights Go Out: An MMA fighter’s story of interracial love and the complexities in the mundane (Shado) The Best New Fiction (The Daily Mail) The Best New Thrillers for September 2022 (The Times UK) 5 New Books to Read This Week (The Independent) Where Are the Larger-Than-Life Stories of Black Boxers in Fiction? (LitHub) Newly Published, from Asteroids to Garden Gnomes (The New York Times) Pitt Graduate’s Second Novel is a Knockout (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) 30 new books to pack in your beach bag this summer (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Interview with Gabino Iglesias (Lit Reactor) STARRED review (Booklist) STARRED review (Publishers Weekly) Top 10 Summer Reads 2022 (Publishers Weekly) After the Lights Go Out pulls you into the ring and then breaks your heart (PINJ) WHAT’S THE BUZZ: 40 OF THE BEST SUMMER READS FOR 2022 (Book Riot) THE MOST ANTICIPATED CRIME BOOKS OF 2022: SUMMER READING EDITION (CrimeReads) BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR (SO FAR): CRIME FICTION IN 2022 (CrimeReads) Three-Fifths (2019) CWA Dagger 2021 Shortlists (The Crime Writers’ Association) Pushkin Bags Vercher's Latest 'Propulsive and Gritty' Novel (The Bookseller) The Best Books of 2020 to Support Indie Publishers this Christmas (The Guardian) The Best Crime Novels to Buy for Christmas (Spectator Life) Best Crime of 2020 (Financial Times) Best Crime Books of the Year 2020 (The Times/The Sunday Times) Best Crime and Thrillers of 2020 (The Guardian) Battle of the Books (NPR’s Code Switch) The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup (The Guardian) DEBUTS (The Daily Mail Online) Three-Fifths: America’s fractured society past and present (The Irish Times) The Sunday Times pick of the month’s best crime fiction for October 2020 (The Sunday Times U.K.) The best recent thrillers – review roundup (The Observer) Three-Fifths by John Vercher - Star Pick (The Sunday Times Crime Club) The Strand Magazine announces nominations for the 2020 Strand Critics Awards (The Strand Magazine) MWA Announces the 2020 Edgar Nominations (Mystery Writers of America) 2020 Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Award Nominations Announced (Left Coast Crime) What Are You, Anyway? (Booklist) Top 10 Crime Fiction Debuts (Booklist) Crime Writer Conversations: John Vercher And Tom Andes (Mystery Tribune) Throwing Rocks: An Interview with John Vercher (Los Angeles Review of Books with Alex Segura) The Best Books of 2019 (Chicago Tribune) Trending: Thriller 2020 Preview (The Big Thrill) The Best Books of 2019: Debut Fiction (CrimeReads) The Best Crime Novels of 2019 (Notable Selection) (CrimeReads) LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2019 (LitReactor) The Best Books of 2019 (Writer’s Bone) Top Reads of 2019 (BOLO Books) Five Favorite Debut Novels of 2019 (MysteryPeople) Fall/Winter Bests | Debut Novels (Library Journal) 12 Thrillers Readers Are Currently Loving (BookBub) 50 MUST-READ CRIME NOVELS FOR FALL AND WINTER 2019 (BookRiot) The Best Books of the Week (New York Post) The Most Wanted Books of the Fall (BookBub) STARRED Review (Booklist) STARRED Review (Library Journal) Kirkus Review (Kirkus) Book Review: Three-Fifths (Criminal Element) Three-Fifths – The BOLO Books Review (BOLO Books) BookTrib Spotlight: John Vercher (The Big Thrill) Q&A with Clinician Turned Novelist, John Vercher '16MFA (Southern New Hampshire University) Y’all, I’m Getting Pretty Excited About Agora’s Diverse Crime Fiction (Matt Coleman of Book Riot) 18 Twisty Thrillers Coming This Summer (BookBub) See the covers for three thrillers bringing diversity to crime fiction (Entertainment Weekly) BookExpo 2019: Polis Debuts Diverse Imprint, Agora Books (Publisher’s Weekly Show Daily) A new publishing imprint aims to bring diversity to mystery thrillers (New York Post) Polis Books Launches Diversity-Focused Crime Imprint (Publishers Weekly) Three-Fifths (Pen & Ink Reviews) Indie Press Polis Launches Diversity-Focused Crime Imprint Agora Books (Matt Coleman of Book Riot) Polis Books Launching Agora Imprint (Shelf Awareness) New Imprint Agora Set To Bring More Diverse Voices To Crime Fiction (Mystery Tribune) Polis Books is launching Agora Books, a diversity-focused imprint for crime and noir fiction (BTW News Briefs) Polis Books launched Agora Books, a new imprint focused on crime fiction… (Book Riot — Unusual Suspects) https://www.johnvercherauthor.com/events daily 0.75 2026-01-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/1706718177709-3UMJDCV59O5784DU9895/Devil+Is+Fine+9_16.png Events https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bef658012b13f649f12b70a/4cbdba4d-87b2-46e8-9021-0e0d304864ec/1*MaUR5uxb49_QAjbAtG8tMA.png Events