Some big news for me personally: my next novel, Presidio Biotech, is on the way. It’s a thriller set inside a San Francisco startup — and this time, the plot pulls in a couple of Atlantic Canadian companies we’ve covered at Entrevestor.

The story follows EdenTouch, a young bioprinting company led by British biologist Emily Fairfield. When her co-founder turns up murdered, suspicion falls squarely on Emily and her lead programmer, Jake Spracklin. What follows is one wild night through San Francisco and Marin County, as cops and hired muscle close in. The two must clear their names while piecing together the truth — before it’s too late.

Early readers tell me the book hits the mark. “It was fun and fast-paced. Congrats on another great book!” wrote one. Another called it “a page-turner.” And one message landed in my inbox simply saying: “Just finished your book. What a thriller!”

For those unfamiliar with our side hustle: Carol and I moonlight as novelists. My previous books form The Haight Mystery Series, set in San Francisco’s 1960s counterculture. Those novels follow SFPD homicide detective Jimmy Spracklin, a hard-drinking cop juggling murder cases and the disappearance of his daughter into the Haight-Ashbury scene. Click on this image (which features a review from one U.S. reader this month) to learn more about the series:

This new book jumps to present-day San Francisco. To get the science right, I turned to a few Halifax startups. Corey Yantha at Dispension Industries, and Kevin Sullivan and Karan Chowdry at 3DBioFiBr, were generous with their time as I dug into bioprinting and biometrics. Their companies even earned a place in the novel, alongside some fictional startups I created for the story.

That kind of generosity is part of what makes the East Coast startup community stand out, and I’m grateful to them for lending their expertise.

The Kindle edition of Presidio Biotech is now available for pre-order on Amazon, with the print version coming Oct. 27.

If you’re in Halifax on Oct. 8, Carol and I will be at the Central Library as part of the Booked for Murder panel, a showcase of local crime writers. Carol will talk about her latest psychological thriller, The Pet-Sit, and I’ll be discussing Presidio Biotech and the Haight series. Admission is free.