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“The paintings are done,” Mary tells Jason early in the book. “I would call them wonderfully crafted horror.”

HOUSTON, TX – October 26, 2026 – Texas author Gerald S. Passmore has released the revised edition of The Paintings, a psychological thriller about a group of friends who survived a violent night at a cabin deep in the Allegheny National Forest and have spent fifteen years not talking about it. First published in 2014, the novel has been reworked and was edited and published by Writers of the West. It is available now in hardcover, paperback and Kindle on Amazon.

Pete Barber hasn’t slept a full night in fifteen years. Every time he closes his eyes he goes back to the same forest, the same fire and the same faces, and the worst dream always ends the same way: his wife Mary, an accomplished painter, turns her easel around to show him a painting of his own death. He has never told her about it.

Now the friends are getting ready for their fifteenth-anniversary weekend at the cabin outside Kane, Pennsylvania. Mary has spent months on a secret project, working through the night in a locked studio and refusing to let anyone see it. Jason Somers, a federal forest ranger who lives closest to the cabin, has just met the township’s new police sergeant, a quiet transfer from the city who asks too many questions about an unsolved multiple murder in the forest. And somebody out there knows exactly what happened that night.

“The paintings are done,” Mary tells Jason early in the book. “I would call them wonderfully crafted horror.”

What sets The Paintings apart is how much time it spends with the people who lived through the violence, long before the killer closes in. Sherri, now a paralegal in Alexandria, Virginia, still has panic attacks that can stop an elevator between floors. Jason has rebuilt his body and his life around one promise: he will never fail his friends again. Pete plays blues guitar on a balcony above Pittsburgh and tries not to think. When Mary finally uncovers her canvases at the cabin, each one framed for a single friend, the story the group has avoided for fifteen years is suddenly hanging on the wall in front of them.

The novel is rooted in real Northwestern Pennsylvania. Readers travel the forest roads around Kane, Bradford, Mt. Jewett and Lantz Corners, spend nights at a small-town bar on Route 6, and reach Kinzua Bridge State Park in the book’s final act. Passmore fills the story with local detail, from the oil pump jacks working between the trees to the gray “Bradford Black Cloud” that rolls in off the Great Lakes.

The book’s own description calls it “part thriller, part character study, part meditation on guilt, loyalty, and what violence does to the people who live through it.” The dreams that run through the novel aren’t decoration. They’re evidence, and they pay off.

The Revised Edition

The 2026 edition is a full revision of the 2014 original. In the acknowledgements, Passmore credits a critique from an old friend, given years ago, as the inspiration for the rewrite. He also thanks the people of the region that shaped the book: “A special thanks to the folks of Northwestern, Pennsylvania. There is no better setting.” His closing note to readers sets the tone for what follows: “The ending is just the beginning. Enjoy the ride!” The book runs 382 pages, with a Prologue, 54 chapters and an Epilogue.

Book Details

• Title: The Paintings (revised edition)
• Author: Gerald S. Passmore
• Editor and publisher: Writers of the West
• Release date: June 19, 2026
• Genre: Psychological thriller, supernatural mystery
• Pages: 382
• ISBN-13: 979-8182199155
• Formats: Hardcover ($24.99), Paperback ($15.78), Kindle ($6.99, free with Kindle Unlimited)
• Available at: Amazon

About the Author

Gerald S. Passmore has been a writer of papers and a teller of stories since childhood. He is a lifelong fan of the Old West and of thrillers of every kind. He studied geology and anthropology and went on to build a career in dimensional metrology. He lives in Texas, where he builds guitars, plays music and reads whenever he can. The Paintings first appeared in 2014. The revised 2026 edition is his latest release.

Media Contact
Company Name: Writers of the West
Contact Person: Miles Alden
Email: Send Email
Phone: 8322782879
Address:700 Smith St
City: Houston
State: Texas
Country: United States
Website: www.writersofthewest.net