Biography

Time Magazine called The Shipkiller “a superbly written thriller” in which Scott “limns his driven people as stylishly as his boats”; the Denver Post suggested that Scott was to yachting what Dick Francis was to horse racing; and the International Thriller Writers listed The Shipkiller in their anthology Thrillers: 100 Must-Reads—alongside Theseus and the Minotaur, The Odyssey, Beowulf, The Bourne Identity, and The Hunt For Red October.

Scott writes the Ben Abbott detective series set in small-town Connecticut  (HardScape, StoneDust, FrostLine, McMansion, and  Mausoleum), of which Marilyn Stasio wrote in the New York Times, “(Ben’s) sardonic views on his self-important neighbors . . .give this sophisticated series its unexpected  and wholly delicious tartness.”

Scott collaborates on the Isaac Bell detective adventure series with Clive Cussler (The Wrecker, The Spy, The Race, The Thief, The Striker, The Bootlegger).

Justin Scott and Clive Cussler Photo: Barry Campbell

He has been twice nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award by the Mystery Writers of America. He is a member of the Authors Guild, The Players, and the Adams Round Table. Scott’s glasnost mystery, The Widow of Desire, and his Hong Kong turnover thriller, The Nine Dragons, were both Literary Guild Dual Main Selections. Normandie Triangle was a Featured Alternate. Reader’s Digest presented a couple of his novels as “Condensed Books,” no small delight as Scott has often said as the Digest was not only the most generous house in the publishing industry, but also threw the best parties, by far.

Fire And Ice was reviewed by People Magazine as “One of the best thrillers to steam into view for some time.” Kirkus gave Garrison a starred review and called him “a high talent.” And the Denver Rocky Mountain News wrote, “Paul Garrison is in the vanguard of adventure authors rediscovering what Jules Verne and other eighteenth-century writers knew:the oceans hold plenty of suspenseful potential.”

Red Sky at Morning, Buried at Sea, Sea Hunter, and The Ripple Effect, and Fire and Ice are now available as Kindle eBooks.

Garrison went ashore, recently, to write a thriller series based on a Robert Ludlum character (The Janson Command, The Janson Option). Publishers Weekly greeted it warmly: “Robert Ludlum (1927–2001) would have been proud of Garrison’s fine thriller that picks up where his The Janson Directive (2002) left off.” PW went on to say: “That Janson is a complicated character makes him more interesting than most action heroes, while Kinkaid proves a capable sidekick. A number of swift, unexpected plot twists will leave Ludlum fans eager to see more in this franchise from Garrison.”

Kirkus, too, welcomed him into Ludlum territory: “There’s sufficient knife work, sniper shots, RPGs, private jets, helicopters, betrayals and corporate machinations to satisfy every armchair covert agent.” And the Houston Chronicle warned, “Garrison has a knack for grabbing the reader by the throat.”