At first, it was meant to be a single story about a man facing some of the darkest moments of his life alone.

What I didn’t realize then was how much of myself I was putting into it.

Chris carries pieces of what I was experiencing at the time—the anger, isolation, uncertainty, and the struggle to see anything beyond the darkness in front of him.

But as the story grew, something else changed too.

What began as a story about surviving loss slowly became a story about healing, identity, and the people who sometimes enter our lives when we’re least prepared for them.

That wasn’t the story I thought I was writing.

It became something much bigger.

—JD

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https://reamstories.com/jdcarbonell/public

I can’t wait to share the experience, along with all of the updates coming in the near future from the world of Chris and the Shadows of Justice series.

Echoes of the Lost is finished and will be beta ready within the month.

Blood Lines will be handed off for editing on September 1.

There’s a lot happening right now, and even more coming over the next several weeks and months.

For anyone who wants to learn more about these characters, the stories behind them, and where this journey is heading, I’ll be sharing much more along the way.

This weekend is just another step forward.

—JD

Want more stories, behind-the-scenes updates, and access to the community? Join me on Ream.

https://reamstories.com/jdcarbonell/public

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My name is JD Carbonell. I work in construction. Have for 30 years.

In that time I’ve watched more people crack under pressure than I can count. Good people. Strong people. People who had everything together on the outside while something quietly came apart on the inside.

I paid attention. To the way stress rewires a person. To the way a man can convince himself something false is real if he needs it to be badly enough. To the way identity — who we think we are — is a lot more fragile than we’re willing to admit.

At night, I write about it.

I proudly announce the beginning of the “Shadows of Justice” series, beginning with “Echoes of the Lost”.

My first psychological thriller comes out February 2027. It follows a DEA agent who loses everything he loved. As he begins to rebuild, he discovers that everything he thought was real — including himself — isn’t.

It’s fiction. But everything in it is true in a way that matters.

Why this newsletter?

Because a book doesn’t explain the man who wrote it. And I think the man matters.

This is where I talk about the work, the process, and the thinking behind it. What goes into building a story where reality itself is the unreliable narrator. What 30 years of watching human beings under real pressure actually teaches you.

No polished content. No performance. Just a construction worker who thinks too much and writes about it.

What you’ll get here:

Release updates and announcements before anywhere else. Behind the scenes of the writing process — the real version, not the highlight reel. And occasionally, whatever I’m thinking about that doesn’t fit anywhere else.

That’s it.

If that sounds like your kind of thing — you’re already in the right place.

Welcome.

— JD