Neely Tucker

The third novel in the Sully Carter series, "Only the Hunted Run," publishes on Aug. 30, from Viking. Publishers Weekly, the first to file a review, dubs it "provocative...a terrifying thriller."

Sully, one of the few reporters stuck in Washington in the August doldrums in the summer of 2000, is filling in for a colleague when shooting breaks out in the Capitol building. The killer, Terry Waters, kills a congressman from Oklahoma by stabbing him through the eyes with a pair of ice picks. He also manages to escape.

Sully, the only surviving witness, soon finds himself being tracked down by Waters. This pursuit eventually leads both men to St. Elizabeths, the gothic mental hospital in Southeast D.C, which scars everyone it touches -- if it doesn't bury them.

Based on a real-life shooting at the Capitol in 1997, "Hunted" follows "The Ways of the Dead" and "Murder, D.C." As always, the streets of the city, from the power of K Street to the deadly avenues just a few blocks away, are as central to the story as the characters.

The previous Sully novels have drawn extensive praise. The Daily Mail (U.K.) dubbed "Murder" one of 2015's Best Three Crime Novels. Kirkus: "There’s no more satisfying sight than a writer who knows exactly what he’s doing—and only gets better at what he does.” The Miami Herald, said of "Ways, "This book is worthy of Elmore Leonard’s legacy…an exciting first novel that echoes the best writing of Pete Hamill and George Pelecanos, mixed with a bit of The Wire and True Detective.”

Tucker was born in Lexington, Miss., one of the poorest places in America, in 1963. He has filed stories from more than 60 countries or territories and is currently assigned to the 2016 Presidential campaign.

His memoir, "Love in the Driest Season," was named one of the Top 25 Books of 2004 by Publishers Weekly. It has been published in the U.K., Germany, Australia and Brazil. It has twice been optioned for film development in Los Angeles.