Private investigator Shyla Sinclair has her hands full when she’s invited to eccentric billionaire Saxton Braith’s mansion. Witnessing Braith’s assistant drive an iron rod through the back of Braith’s skull was not what she was expecting, but when the man is resurrected afterwards, well … things are definitely interesting.
Apparently, Braith is unable to die. With no explanation for his immortality, Braith is willing to pay millions to find out why. With only a few memories of his past, Shyla has her work cut out for her with this investigation.
Of course, she’s intrigued, but Shyla soon realizes Braith’s offer has her in a trap. Braith has made it abundantly clear that she is the only person he can trust with his secret, because he knows all about hers.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Johnny Compton knows what scares you. The author of Devils Kill Devils and The Spite House, Compton recently released his first short-story collection, Midnight Somewhere. His short fiction has graced the pages of the likes of The No Sleep Podcast, Pseudopod, The Rack, Strange Horizons, Nightlight Podcast, and Weird Tales to name a few. With his latest, Compton chills us with a private investigator digging into the past life of an immortal, trapped in a nightmarish Faustian deal with no escape. John Hornor Jacobs (The Night That Finds Us All) says: “If Easy Rawlins investigated the uncanny, it would read very much like Dead First, a fast-moving, violent, vivid piece of hard-boiled supernatural fiction. Get your rest beforehand, you’ll be up reading long past midnight.” Peter Rosch (What the Dead Can Do) says: “This take on immortality is raw, original, and unapologetically Compton. Dead First is a reckoning of desire and decay, where even love isn’t spared from the price of knowing too much.”, and Paul Tremblay (Horror Movie) says: “In Dead First, Johnny Compton deftly mixes horror, Texas history, and the detective story. His Shyla Sinclair is my favorite horror detective since Clive Barker’s Harry D’Amour. A gory, rollicking ride.”
Releasing from G.P. Putnam’s Sons 10 February 2026, Dead First by Johnny Compton is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA