HI,
I’m
Larry Patzer
welcome in.
I write thrillers and short stories based on both real-world experience and research. I believe all stories should be alive. Occasionally, I’ll take a delightfully strange detour into mysticism or the edges of Christianity. Use the links above to browse current and upcoming books, short stories, and details on signings and events. Under short stories, you will find candid essays on nine years of personal Alzheimer’s caregiving.
Larry Patzer
about me
I write thrillers built on real people’s lived situations and human stakes. After retiring as an Air Force officer, I spent nineteen years as an aerospace systems engineer designing large-scale intelligence systems where failure wasn’t an option—a discipline that shows up on every page: tight plots, clean lines, credible tradecraft.
I’m a nationally certified Spiritual Director and a graduate of Clinical Pastoral Education, and I served as an on-call trauma chaplain. Sitting with families in their hardest moments taught me how choices echo; that’s why my characters don’t just fight—they face the consequences. I also bring nine years of personal Alzheimer’s caregiving, distilled into essays used by grief counselors and families. For me, a story should help us live better, not just turn pages.
About The Books
The Past Always Comes Back
to help you, or kill you
Michael Johnson once ran black ops in Africa, then worked high-end security across Europe. Now he wants peace with his wife, Ann, in the Willamette Valley. The explosion ends that fantasy. Their house is gone. Enemies are not. To live, they must become the hunters. As Michael reactivates buried skills: safehouses, forged identities, weapons caches, Ann refuses to be sidelined. Training turns to combat.
Each firefight forces a question: how far will they go to stop the people who won’t stop? Their chase cuts from a college town to backroads and, finally, European strongholds—where old scars carry new signatures and family honor fuels modern violence. This is propulsive, grounded action with conscience and consequence. If you crave kinetic pacing with moral weight, you’re in the right book.
The Palm Tree
A Coffee sHOP Extraordinaire
In an Oregon college town, The Palm Tree is more than a coffee shop; it’s a crossroads. Ann arrives still captive to a toxic religious past, searching for a God she can trust. By chance, she meets Michael, a guarded stranger hiding his history as an ex-bodyguard, with notches on his gun handle and grief he won’t name. Their only common ground, at first, is the café itself, yet a rocky relationship takes root. When nightmares spill into daylight, assassins, gunfights, paranoia, tragedy, Michael revives his spiritual-counselor alter ego, even as the loss of his wife threatens to pull him under. Ann longs for escape and transformation, but her past won’t easily let go…
reviews
Samantha Greene
Senior Artist
Agatha Jane
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Allen Hyme
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Fionna James
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Tristan Brooks
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blogs we have
Larry Patzer’s The Past Always Comes Back Raises the Bar for Modern Thrillers
With The Past Always Comes Back, author Larry Patzer redefines what it means to write a modern thriller. Fast-paced yet emotionally charged, gripping yet grounded
New Thriller The Past Always Comes Back Delivers Explosive Suspense and Unexpected Depth
A bold new voice in suspense fiction returns to the spotlight with The Past Always Comes Back, the latest high-octane thriller from acclaimed author Larry
The Past Always Comes Back – A Gripping New Thriller from Larry Patzer
Retired Air Force officer and nationally certified Spiritual Director, Larry Patzer, makes a powerful return to the literary stage with The Past Always Comes Back,
MAR 03,2022 | By Admin
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contact Me
Readers, booksellers, media—reach out any time. I’m glad you’re here. Have a question, a note, or a book club invitation? I read every message.
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EMAIL
larry@coffeecuppublishing.com