A veteran journalist, Ron is also the author of three very diverse books. His first novel,
ANGEL FIRE (1998), was a literary fiction about a deep and necessary relationship between two brothers. The San Francisco Chronicle later ranked it among its 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century West.
His second was a mystery,
THE DEADLINE (1999).
His third was a disturbingly atmospheric true crime/memoir.
FALL (in paperback, it was retitled
THE DARKEST NIGHT) is a poignant exploration of a monstrous crime against two of Ron's childhood friends in the small town where they grew up, and how that crime continues to echo there today, more than 35 years later. At this writing,
THE DARKEST NIGHT remains a national bestseller.
As a journalist Ron has worked for the Denver Post, where he covered the evolution of the American West, and was dispatched to the Middle East in the weeks shortly after 9/11. More recently, he
has been the managing editor of the Beaumont (TX) Enterprise, a Hearst newspaper. He lives in Texas, where he is working on his fourth book, a rollicking road trip with his son to the Arctic to sip a cocktail containing a mummified human toe and to share one day without darkness.
WHAT OTHER AUTHORS HAVE SAID:"Few authors understand what makes a true crime book stand out like a beacon from the mass of prosaically gruesome re-telling of police reports. Ron Franscell does! FALL / THE DARKEST NIGHT explores the true story of this unholy sacrifice of youth and misplaced trust in a gripping, throat-tightening way. It is an almost-hypnotic read, hard to look away from. But it is also compassionate as we question the awful fate of the victims, sadly singled out by fate or luck or whatever shapes our destinies. This is a very, very, good book -- a gem for readers who look for the whole story, written by a very, very, good writer. Every time I hear a neighbor or a local lawman in a traditionally low-crime town, say 'Something like murder doesn't happen here' -- when, of course, it does -- I shake my head. This time, it happened in Casper, Wyoming, and Ron Franscell takes you there ... completely. It will make you cry honest tears. The victims deserve no less." <center> — ANN RULE </center><center>#1 New York Times best-selling author of "Stranger Beside Me" and "Green River Running Red"
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"Ron Franscell's FALL / THE DARKEST NIGHT gets everything right: Casper, Wyoming in the boom-town 1970's, the effect of an unspeakable crime on an entire generation of residents, and a diligent search for why it happened when the only answer can only be true evil. I know he got it right because I was there. I remember Amy Burridge and Becky Thomson before the crime and Becky after. I remember the names "Kennedy and Jenkins" spoken only with naked hatred and contempt. And I remember where I was when I heard how Becky dealt with the horror and violence after so many years. FALL / THE DARKEST NIGHT is a true story that you wish wasn't true because it will haunt you long after you've read it. A remarkable achievement." <center> — C.J. BOX </center><center>Best-selling author of "Free Fire" and "Blue Heaven" and Wyoming native
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"On more than one level, FALL / THE DARKEST NIGHT rises above most books in the true-crime genre, mostly because it searingly depicts a type of evil not too often exceeded. … This uncommon story has every chilling component of human terror, drama and suspense that readers of true crime look for. In an elegant and powerful voice normally seen only in fiction, Ron Franscell captures the sights, sounds and smells of this Wyoming saga and masterfully gets inside the emotional marrow of its participants. I highly recommend this engaging book." <center> — VINCENT BUGLIOSI </center><center>#1 New York Times best-selling author of "Helter Skelter"</center>
