MOST RECENT NOVEL

"The Salty Iguana is one of the year's best thrillers." — BestThrillers.com

"A shockingly plausible political thriller that transcends the usual worst-case-scenario about American border security. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED." — BestThrillers.com

"King writes taut, tense action scenes [that] will keep readers on edge throughout ... presents a portrait of a modern-day West that will appeal to fans of Yellowstone." — Kirkus Reviews

This modern-day parable begins with the badly-splintered County Commissioners Court of a remote Texas border county shockingly declaring its independence from both Texas and the United States...and then immediately being formally recognized by the United Nations and nearly sixty foreign countries.

The resulting friction and conflict that follows between the state of Texas and the newly-created and increasingly-hostile Revolutionary Republic of Yucatec del Norte—not to mention roiling tensions with the U.S. federal government—will seem both eerily realistic, and frighteningly plausible.

Even though this story is a work of fiction, it may not be as far-fetched as it first seems.

THE SALTY IGUANA is the second novel in the Doc Gunther Texas Ranger thriller series.

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“A gritty FBI Thriller with jaw-dropping twists. King’s portrayal of the convoluted world of cross-border criminality, politics and business feels completely fresh.” — BestThrillers.com

“An intriguing mystery novel that explores crime near the border and the implications of greed.” — Kirkus Reviews 

No. 1 on BestThriller.com's List of the Top 20 FBI Thrillers  — (May 2024)

A junior official with the Mexican Consulate in Houston is abducted, his $600,000 automobile left abandoned in a pharmacy parking lot. In what initially appears to be a simple case of a wealthy foreign dilettante being held for ransom, FBI Special Agent Pete Cortez is assigned the task of securing the young consular official’s safe return and apprehending his kidnappers.

With upwards of 150 foreign consulates in Houston, this incident quickly gains international attention. The situation becomes even more complicated when rumors emerge about the true source of the kidnap victim's family’s enormous wealth.

Questions abound. 

Who kidnapped Pepe Alonso? Was it a rival Mexican cartel looking to cripple a competitor? One of the myriad local Houston gangs hoping for a big payday? A right-wing Texas militia group looking to finance its future operations? Could it be the Mexican government…or perhaps even the U.S. government? Or maybe even someone else entirely? 

Above all, behind his public veneer, is this carefree young consular officer truly the man the public imagines him to be? 

THE CONSULAR OFFICIAL is the sixth book in the Pete Cortez FBI Thriller series.

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Selected as a Finalist for the 2022 Killer Nashville Claymore Award for Best Mystery! 

Doc Gunther is a modern-day Texas Ranger assigned to the Texas border with Mexico.

A rural Texas border community, mired in corruption, on a lark elects a twenty-seven-year-old woman with absolutely no law enforcement experience as the county sheriff. This throws a wrench into the plans of the local politicos and their cartel backers.

When the body of a young woman is discovered during the annual Javelina Harvest, an event that brings thousands of tourists to the rural border community, Texas Ranger Doc Gunther is sent over from Laredo to assist the Valdez County Sheriff’s Office in the investigation. 

That’s when the pushback begins, pitting neighbor against neighbor—and everyone against the new sheriff—as the cartel and the local power brokers fight to maintain their corrupt status quo. 

TROUBLE IN VALDEZ COUNTY is the first novel in the new Doc Gunther mystery-thriller series, which is centered around a modern-day Texas Ranger assigned to the Texas border with Mexico. 

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 "A must-read for fans of true crime as well as crime fiction." — Kirkus Reviews 

"An exciting crime drama with well-developed characters...a perfect blend of suspense and realism to keep readers engaged."  — Kirkus Reviews 

A seemingly innocent traffic accident one Saturday afternoon in a small Louisiana town leads to the discovery of a major drug smuggling network operating out of rural East Texas. The subsequent drug trafficking investigation soon runs headlong into a major FBI money laundering investigation, as it becomes apparent that the small-town drug trafficking operation is part of a sophisticated money laundering enterprise extending into Asia, the Caribbean, and Central America.

A brother and sister inherit a financially struggling East Texas lumber mill two decades earlier. To help shore up the finances, they enter a Faustian Bargain where they agree to use their transportation network to distribute drugs (cocaine, and later meth) for an old friend from Mexico to the Southeast and Midwest. The brother runs the mill and the logistics/shipping operation, while his sister is responsible for legitimizing the proceeds through investments in real estate, restaurants, college athletics, and entertainment to create a diverse and sustainable money-laundering system.

By the time law enforcement even becomes aware of their existence, the siblings are already laundering several hundred million dollars a year, including more than $70 million a year through the local private university. 

THE CAJUN PIÑATA  is the fifth book in the Pete Cortez FBI Thriller series.

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"Not since Mario Puzo’s The Godfather have I read such a fascinating, fast-paced novel that delves into the world of procuring and selling human organs! A must read!" — Amazon Reviewer

 Houston is world-renowned for its innovative and cutting edge medical community.  An international medical conglomerate secretly creates a state-of-the-art surgical center within the Texas Medical Center district in Houston to perform organ transplants for wealthy patients desperate to find a suitable match at any price. 

The concierge-style operation uses a public clinic in Monterrey, Mexico, to source its organ matches, unbeknownst to the impoverished donors, who are led to believe they will simply be donating a kidney. 

FBI Special Agent Cortez, while investigating possible cartel connections to the recent murder of a prominent Houstonian, instead uncovers a scheme so horrific that it shocks even the most hardened of law enforcement officers.

HEART OF GOLD is the fourth book in the Pete Cortez FBI Thriller series.

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Selected as a Finalist for 2021 Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Award for Best Thriller!

In a daring nighttime raid, a notorious Venezuelan terrorist is liberated from a remote Agency compound hidden deep within the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, reigniting a centuries-old territorial dispute involving Venezuela, Guyana and unimaginable power and riches.

At the urgent request of the CIA, FBI Special Agent Pete Cortez is temporarily assigned to the FBI’s Legal Attaché office in the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, where he and Agency officer Clarice Robideaux are given the task of finding out not only who freed the Venezuelan, but more importantly, why.

As Cortez and Robideaux follow the spidery tentacles of an intricate conspiracy with a global reach, their investigation leads them through a dizzying array of military, political, intelligence, law enforcement, and business interests, few of whom are really what they seem.

THE VENEZUELAN is the third book in the Pete Cortez FBI Thriller series.

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"The best new adventure writer and book series on the market!"  —  Amazon Reviewer

A fully-loaded supertanker anchored sixty miles off the Texas coast suddenly begins hemorrhaging hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude into the Gulf of Mexico, and FBI Special Agents Pete Cortez and Teri Barnhart quickly determine the vessel has been deliberately sabotaged. 

There are strong indications that whoever was behind the first attack is planning another—and soon—as Cortez and Barnhart navigate the treacherous world of oil, politics and environmentalism in hopes of unraveling the mystery of who sabotaged the supertanker, why they put the marine habitat of the entire Gulf Coast at risk to do it, and why they’d kill to keep their secret hidden.

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS is the second book in the Pete Cortez FBI Thriller series.    

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"Hard  to believe this is Bill  King’s first published novel. He is a truly  gifted story teller and I am  looking forward to the further adventures  of Pete Cortez." — Amazon Reviewer

Two criminal oligarchs—one Mexican, the other French—secretly  join forces to make their extensive logistics and distribution networks available to global terrorists ... with terrifying consequences.

Suddenly, an obscure, ramshackle ranch on the southern bank of the Rio Grande turns out to be a secret gateway for major terrorist attacks suddenly breaking out throughout the United States.

Pete Cortez, an on-the-outs FBI special agent with the Houston Field Office, is temporarily sent to the border on a make-or-break assignment to salvage his precarious career.

Set amid the gritty landscape of south Texas, RANCHO BUENA FORTUNA is the first book in Bill King's Pete Cortez FBI Thriller series. 

If  you enjoy quirky characters from authors like John Sandford, Robert B.  Parker, and Elmore Leonard, you’ll love Pete Cortez.

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My next novel, as yet untitled, will be the third book in the Doc Gunther Texas Ranger series. It is scheduled for publication in late-2025 and will be a sequel to THE SALTY IGUANA.

As I get closer to the publication, I will be sharing some stuff about the plot and characters so stay tuned for more details. Also, follow me on my Amazon Author Page, as well as on my Facebook page, for periodic updates on the progress.  

Coming in late-2025