The Bruno Johnson Thrillers
Meet Bruno Johnson
Bruno Johnson is a former cop with a dark past. Six foot plus, fists like sledgehammers and a memory full of every face he ever put behind bars. He knows the streets—and the criminals on them—better than anyone. By his side is Marie, an ER nurse, fearless and the only person who can hold Bruno steady. Together they are running a private war: rescuing children from a system that’s failed them. Hiding them. Protecting them. Raising them as their own.
Behind a mask of Band-Aids, Bruno slips through the cracks, unnoticed. His reputation follows him like a shadow. With a moral code as brutal as his past, Bruno may be out of the game, but the game isn’t done with him. He’ll risk everything to right the wrongs that won’t let him sleep at night.
Blood Oath
Book 5 now available from Joffe Books
Meet Bruno Johnson. First day on L.A.’s Violent Crimes Team. First day as a father. And he’s about to go undercover against two of his own.
“You like to hunt men and you’re not afraid to pull the trigger.”
One hour before Bruno’s first shift, a woman knocks on the door — and puts a newborn baby in his arms.
His daughter.
By the end of the week, he has the job nobody wants. Hunt down the two dirty cops who are on the payroll of the Mexican Mafia — and find the evidence to bury them.
But they made him before he walked in. They know who sent him.
And they know where his daughter sleeps.
Please note this book was previously published as The Innocents.
Praise for Blood Oath
—Timothy Hallinan, Edgar®, Shamus, Macavity, and Lefty Award nominee
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
No Way Out
Book 4
Ex-cop, ex-con, and the last man you want coming after you.
“You’re going to have to crush them, Bruno. You’re going to have to grind them into the dirt.”
A child screams in the night. Bruno finds eight-year-old Toby trembling on the top bunk, the Sons of Satan’s lightning-bolt insignia scrawled across his back.
The bikers have crossed an ocean to reach Bruno’s family. He dials the number they left — and agrees to walk straight into their trap.
They think they’re bringing Bruno home to die. He’s coming to make them pay.
Please note this book was previously published as The Vanquished.
Praise for No Way Out
—Matt Coyle, Anthony and Shamus Award-winning author
—Marc Cameron, NYT bestselling author
Fatal Justice
Book 3
Twenty-five years ago, Deputy Bruno Johnson walked into an LA convenience store and arrested his own brother for murder.
Bruno cuffed him. Booked him. Buried him in the system.
He did the right thing, but he’s regretted it every damn day since.
Now a letter arrives from the cell where his brother has rotted for years. Noble is begging for help. His grandchildren have been snatched, and the kidnappers have named their price — they want Noble.
Bruno once put his brother in California’s toughest prison. Now he must break him out of it.
Bruno knows there’s only one way this ends.
Family is family.
And some debts can only be paid in blood.
Please note this book was previously published as The Squandered.
Praise for Fatal Justice
“Putnam puts his years of law enforcement experience to good use in Fatal Justice, a shocking and intense tale of brotherly love and redemption realized in the midst of moral decay. It’s a raw and gritty story I couldn’t put down.”
—C.J. Box, NYT bestselling author
“When Johnson arms for the final battle, he says he’s going to ‘burn down the world’. That’s not really a figure of speech. Action fans won’t be able to turn away.”
—Booklist
Final Witness
Book 2
Finalist for the T. Jefferson Parker Mystery award
Finalist for the USA Best Book Award, Thriller category
number one on Amazon in Mystery, Thriller and Suspense
Twenty years ago, Detective Bruno Johnson kicked down a door in South Central LA and entered a nightmare.
A mother dead on the couch. Three children shot. Blood everywhere.
Only one little boy survived.
Bruno pulled him out. Then the system lost him.
Now two little girls have vanished from their homes in LA.
A serial kidnapper is hunting children. He’s left a note. He’ll only talk to one man.
Deputy Bruno Johnson. The man who once saved him.
But Bruno is now a fugitive, hiding out in Costa Rica with the woman he loves. Doing the right thing always comes with a high price.
If he crosses the border, he could lose everything. But if he stays, two little girls die.
But Bruno is now a fugitive, hiding out in Costa Rica with the woman he loves. Doing the right thing always comes with a high price.
If he crosses the border, he could lose everything. But if he stays, two little girls die.
For a man like Bruno, that’s no choice at all.
Please note this book was previously published as The Replacements.
Praise for Final Witness
—Publishers Weekly
—Booklist
Dead Run
Book 1
Finalist for the T. Jefferson Parker Mystery award
Finalist for the USA Best Book Award, Thriller category
number one on Amazon in Mystery, Thriller and Suspense
He built the unit.
Now they want him buried.
Detective Bruno Johnson created LA County’s most feared violent crimes task force. Elite. Untouchable. He hunted the worst predators on the streets.
Until the law failed his family, and Bruno became the law himself — a choice that cost him everything and sent him to prison.
Now he’s out, just another ex-con working a liquor-store graveyard shift. Head down. Mouth shut.
But there’s a brutal serial killer on the loose, setting victims on fire. Bruno’s former lieutenant wants him back on the case. No badge. No authority. But no choice.
The deeper Bruno digs, the darker it gets. But the worst predators in his city aren’t just on the streets. Some of them wear badges.
And they want Bruno Johnson buried for good.
Please note this book was previously published as The Disposables.
Praise for Dead Run
“It’s raw, powerful, and eloquent. It’s a gritty street poem recited by a voice unalterably committed to redemption and doing the right thing in a wrong world. I’ll be first in line for the next one from David Putnam.”
—Michael Connelly, NYT bestselling author
“A dark and disturbing insider’s novel that may not make you feel safer on the mean streets of L.A. Dark, disturbing, and all too believable, this is the tale of one man’s quest for atonement in a world where innocence is a liability.”
—T. Jefferson Parker, NYT bestselling author