{{Short description|American fiction author (born 1947)}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see :Template:Infobox writer/doc --> | name = Stephen Mertz | image = | caption = | pseudonym = Stephen Brett, Don Pendleton, Jack Buchanan, Jim Case, Cliff Banks | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1947}} | birth_place = United States | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Writer | nationality = American | period = | genre = Mystery, Thriller, Adventure | subject = | movement = | influences = | influenced = | website = }} '''Stephen Mertz''' (born 1947) is an American fiction author best known for thriller novels.
His novels have been well-received critically. Booklist called Nightwind, “fast-paced...a white-knuckle read.” Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine labeled Mertz, “an action specialist.”{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} Edgar-winner Joe R. Lansdale supplies this career assessment: “Stephen Mertz writes a hard-edged, fast-paced thriller for those who like their tales straight and sharp and full of dark surprise,”{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} while Booklist had this to say about The Korean Intercept: "Fans of political thrillers will relish this high-action tale. An adrenaline rush!”{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}} Ed Gorman wrote, “Stephen Mertz just keeps on getting better, each novel more dazzling in story and style.”{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}
Early in his career, he was a prolific writer of paperback originals under a variety of pseudonyms. His work on Don Pendleton's Mack Bolan series is regarded by fans as some of the best in that series. He also created the Mark Stone: MIA Hunter and Cody's Army series, written under the pseudonyms Jack Buchanan and Jim Case, respectively.<ref>[http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/retail/faculty.aspx?i=1073 Writers Online Workshop -- Our Instructors, Stephen Mertz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090320172507/http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/retail/faculty.aspx?i=1073 |date=2009-03-20 }}</ref>
== Bibliography==
===Novels=== * ''Some Die Hard'' (1979, as Stephen Brett) * ''The Vampire Chase'' (1979, as Stephen Brett) * ''Blood Red Sun'' (1989) * ''Tunnel Rats'' (1989, as Cliff Banks) * ''Tunnel Rats: Mud and Blood'' (1990, as Cliff Banks) * ''Sudden Death'' (1995) * ''Night Wind'' (2002) * ''Fade to Tomorrow'' (2004) * ''Devil Creek'' (2004) * ''The Korean Intercept'' (2005) * ''Dragon Games'' (Five Star Books, 2010) * ''Hank & Muddy'' (Perfect Crime Books, 2011) * ''The Castro Directive'' (Crossroad Press, 2013) * ''Blaze!'' (Rough Edges Press, 2015)
====The Executioner Series (as Don Pendleton)==== * ''The Iranian Hit'' #42 (1982) * ''Return to Vietnam'' #43 (1982) * ''The Libya Connection'' #48 (1982) * ''Tuscany Terror'' #52 (1983) * ''Day of Mourning'' #62 (1984) * ''Dead Man Running'' #64 (1984) * ''Beirut Payback'' #67 (1984) * ''Appointment in Kabul'' #73 (1985) * ''Teheran Wipeout'' #76 (1985) * ''Dirty War'' (''SuperBolan'' #4) (1985) * ''Moscow Massacre'' #92 (1986) * ''Save the Children'' #94 (1986)
====Cody's Army Series (as Jim Case)==== * ''Cody's Army'' (1986) * ''Assault into Libya'' (1986) * ''Philippine Hardpunch'' (1987) * ''Belfast Blitz'' (1987) * ''D.C. Firestike'' (1987) * ''Hellfire in Haiti'' (1988) * ''Sword of the Prophet'' (1988)
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mertz, Stephen}} Category:Living people Category:20th-century American novelists Category:21st-century American novelists Category:American male novelists Category:1947 births Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male writers