Jdbcreation

The official website of John D Bertucci.
Here you will find free stories, PDF chapters,
audiobook chapters, video trailers and a bookstore.


14 Days of Horror

Day 9: The Curse of the Coal Miners

Yesterday the sea gave up its ghosts. Today we go underground.

Lucius wore a lot of uniforms across the years — biker leather, a sailor's coat, that red plaid shirt through it all. But the one that chills me most is the simplest: a coal miner's helmet, and a lunch pail, and a Bible he quoted wrong on purpose.

Deep River. A mine where the men knew the risks and worked them anyway, because work was work. And in the middle of them, a man in plaid who never dug a load and never broke a sweat, preaching his own little gospel between shifts. He called it the Church of Self-Reliance. No God required. No rules that couldn't be bent. Just men, and their strength, and their appetite.

Here is what I learned writing this case, and it is the most important thing Lucius ever taught me about himself: he doesn't cause the disaster. He doesn't have to. He is an accelerant. He removes the safeguards — the prayers, the caution, the man who double-checks the timber — and then he stands back and lets physics do the killing. The mine was a bomb before he arrived. He just took the warning labels off.

After it happened — after Ludlow took them — they found a letter. Sergio's letter. I will not quote it here. I will only tell you that a man wrote it who understood exactly who had been working beside him, and that he wrote it to warn whoever came next.

Nobody came next. That's why the story was still waiting when I found it.

Tomorrow: another one from the dark. I'm not saying which.

— Mara


Where Evil Lurks: The Man in Plaid — a horror novel by John D Bertucci.

Get the book:
jdbcreation.com

Read a chapter free:
Readerful sample

⭐ Reading along? Leave a review.
One honest review is worth more than a sale — it helps other readers find the book.
Leave John a review on Amazon
Thank you.

#14DaysOfHorror #WhereEvilLurks #TheManInPlaid #CoalMiners #CurseOfTheCoalMiners #HorrorNovel #HorrorBooks #ParanormalHorror #ChristianHorror #HalloweenCountdown #IndieAuthor #HorrorCommunity


Bookstore has ebooks and audiobooks on sale now.


I’ll be signing books on Oct 31st from 9am-4pm at the
Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge.
Come join the fun with 20,000 other visitors and 200 vendors.
Press the link on the icon below.


New Release
A Supernatural Thriller

Where Evil Lurks: The Man in Plaid

Tap the book image and visit my Payhip store.

Investigative journalist Mara Klein built her reputation exposing the patterns behind the world's darkest disasters — until her blog, "Where Evil Lurks," uncovers a pattern that starts haunting her.
As supernatural attacks close in, Mara follows the trail guided by a battle-scarred spiritual warfare expert. Blogposts, diaries, and case files piece together a chilling global puzzle.

My Life with Amazing Animals
My Life with Amazing Animals
My Life with Amazing Animals
My Life with Amazing Animals
My Life with Amazing Animals

Press the Icons Below
Listen to the theatrical audiobook

Night Hawks AudioBook Sample

Not a narrator reading you a book — a full theatrical production. Voice cast, sound effects, music, the whole battle for the future of humanity playing out in your ears like a movie


The French Quarter Connection
AudioBook Sample

Hercules the orange tabby and Squealer the African Grey take on the French Quarter's criminal underworld — performed, not just read, with a full cast and sound design. The way an audiobook is supposed to sound.


Get Free Audio and PDF Chapters


John D Bertucci

Author

John D Bertucci spent 25 years in New Orleans television as an engineer, sports and show producer. He worked for local TV stations and a worldwide ministry, creating over a thousand commercials, promos, and programs. His journey began at 21 as a radio announcer at KAGY in Port Sulphur, Louisiana. He graduated from the University of New Orleans in 1984, and is the father of four children.After television, he spent thirteen years as a network administrator for three Louisiana casinos. John lived in New Orleans for five decades and now resides in Baton Rouge.John D Bertucci’s novels:
My Life With Amazing Animals
The French Quarter Connection
The French Quarter Connection: The EMP Heist
Night Hawks
Where Evil Lurks: The Man in Plaid


Night Hawks

Tap the book image and visit my Payhip store.

A burned-out TV engineer stalls in a remote mountain tunnel late one night. A glowing green orb forces him to install a strange device on his station’s broadcast tower. Within storms vanish. Four ordinary people begin changing in impossible ways. But what looks like miracles is actually a diabolical plan to merge minds with humanity. But the invaders never counted on one thing: the power of people who know how to pray.

Night Hawks
Night Hawks
Night Hawks

The French Quarter Connection

Tap the book image and visit my Payhip store.

In New Orleans, ex-cop Michael O’Malley teams up with Hercules — a tech-wired orange tabby cat — and Squealer, a wisecracking African Grey parrot and teenage prodigy Marie Babin, to tackle impossible crimes the police can’t touch. Using gadgets, street smarts, and pure New Orleans grit, this unlikely crew proves that heroes sometimes come with whiskers and feathers.

The French Quarter Connection
The French Quarter Connection
The French Quarter Connection

The French Quarter Connection:
EMP Heist

Tap the book image and visit my Payhip store.

When military-grade EMP blasts knock out entire bank vaults across New Orleans, ex-detective Michael O’Malley comes out of retirement. Joined by his tech-cat Hercules, talking parrot Squealer, teen sleuth Marie, and cyber genius Marcus, the team races to stop a rogue ex-soldier and a corrupt colonel from arming a deadly cartel. From secret tunnels under the French Quarter to a final showdown in Cozumel, the crew risks everything to save their city.

EMP Heist
EMP Heist
EMP Heist

The Last Hope

Tap the book image and visit my Payhip store.

After nuclear war and killer machines wipe out civilization, the last hope for humanity is Seth Starr — a sentient android with a heart. Joined by a ragtag band of survivors, Seth leads them from America’s radioactive ruins across oceans to the wilds of Africa, fighting warbots and forging a new family along the way. In the ashes of the old world, they discover that hope can endure.

The Last Hope
The Last Hope
The Last Hope

My Life With Amazing Animals

Tap the book image and visit my Payhip store.

In My Life with Amazing Animals, John Bertucci shares a heartfelt, humorous memoir of his Louisiana childhood and adult years, shaped by unforgettable animals and the spiritual lessons they impart. These creatures sparked laughter and reflection. Through stories of love, loss, and responsibility the book explores how animals teach us to listen, forgive, and trust in their divine purpose. With a warm, self-deprecating voice, this coming-of-age tale celebrates the mess and magic of life with creatures great and small.

My Life with Amazing Animals
My Life with Amazing Animals
My Life with Amazing Animals

Books Available on Amazon and Ingram Spark

ebooks

$3.99-4.99

paperbacks

$12.99-$14.99

Some Titles Free with Kindle Unlimited


Look for the book launch in early 2027

The Travellers

The Travellers

Want more book free chapters?
Email me below.


“September Morning” is a song I wrote in 1988. I produced this video to show how the two met and fell in love.

Night Hawks- Chapter 1 - Tunnel Encounter
Night Hawks- Chapter 1 - Tunnel Encounter

© John D Bertucci 2026 All rights reserved.