David William Connor is an American horror and mystery author whose fiction is rooted in quiet towns, buried secrets, and the uneasy feeling that something familiar has gone terribly wrong. 

His stories explore psychological dread, unsettling mysteries, isolation, violence, folklore, and the hidden darkness that can take hold of ordinary people and ordinary places. Connor is drawn to the kind of horror that does not always announce itself immediately. Instead, it builds slowly through strange behavior, unanswered questions, local rumors, missing people, old stories, and the growing certainty that something beneath the surface is not what it seems. 

Born and raised in western Massachusetts, Connor developed an interest in horror at a young age and was especially drawn to stories that created atmosphere before revealing their monsters. That fascination eventually became the foundation of his own fiction: stories in which fear grows through uncertainty, in which danger can be human or something far stranger, and in which the truth is often more disturbing than the mystery that led to it. 

His debut novel, The Tenth Mark, introduced his interest in character-driven horror, isolation, and psychological tension. His work continues with The Lawrence Grimes Novels, a horror-mystery series that follows detective Lawrence Grimes as he encounters murder, conspiracy, local legends, and increasingly inexplicable events across small-town America. 

Connor’s writing often asks the same unsettling question in different ways: what happens when the place you thought was safe begins to feel wrong?

A lonely road after dark. A town where everyone knows more than they admit. A story people have repeated for so long that no one remembers where it began. A disappearance that does not make sense. A closed door that should probably stay closed.

These are the places his stories tend to begin.

Connor writes for readers who enjoy horror with a mystery at its center—stories that favor tension over constant shock, atmosphere over spectacle, and discomfort that continues to build long after the first warning signs appear.

He lives in western Massachusetts with his family and continues to write about strange towns, dangerous secrets, and the things people convince themselves could never happen where they live.

Because sometimes the worst places are not abandoned houses or forgotten forests.

Sometimes they are home.

In the mist-shrouded mountain town of Hemlock Falls, nine people have been murdered over the past nine months, each victim marked with a strange, carved symbol and no apparent connection to the others. Locals have dubbed the mystery "The Silent Nine." The town murmurs in fear but refuses to act. Terror runs deep, and silence runs deeper. 

Evelyn Thorne, a reclusive author and single mother, sought refuge in Hemlock Falls. But when the killer's symbol appears on her property, peace turns to paranoia. Drawn into a chilling mystery, Evelyn begins to unravel a web of buried secrets, forgotten traumas, and an unfinished ritual. With her son now in the killer's shadow, Evelyn must uncover the truth before she becomes the final chapter in a murderer's deadly tale. 

ISBN: 9798995232605 

Publication Date: Aug 5th, 2025

LINKS
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GBW1HFQ5
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-tenth-mark-david-connor/1147866839?ean=9798319634580
IngramSpark:  https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=08ECBotIg1nPth9d7J9DylcdQt2tebEp8TiXg1n6xux

When newly promoted Detroit homicide detective Lawrence Grimes is quietly reassigned to the remote desert town of Cinder, Nevada, after a domestic call goes wrong, he expects exile - not peace. On paper, Cinder is paradise: manicured lawns, perfect neighbors, and a police department with nothing to do. But under the heat and hospitality, something festers. Travelers vanish. Questions go unanswered. And every time Grimes gets close to the truth, the town's smiles tighten just a little more. 

When mutilated bodies surface in the desert - scrubbed from official record - Grimes uncovers a history Cinder has spent years burying. As paranoia spreads and silence becomes survival, Grimes must decide whether to protect the peace he was sent to preserve... or expose the rot at the heart of America's "Best place to live."

ISBN: 9798995232612 

Publication Date: March 21st, 2026

Links

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GQBNGVHQ

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-lawrence-grimes-novels-book-one-cinder-david-connor/1149564161?ean=9798279671175

IngramSpark: https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=muiVnowaT9d6qJB5haIqnsoTwPfMpZSMLzpJ2SoRB92