Merkel's debut novel, Final Epidemic, reached national bestseller status in October 2002, in its second week after publication. FINAL EPIDEMIC was re-released in hardcover in December 2007, and is available for sale on Amazon.com. (NOTE: this is the hardcover edition; the PenguinPutnam paperback edition is no longer available for original sale.) Dirty Fire, a stand-alone mystery/thriller, is a critically acclaimed mystery thriller set in Chicago.

"There's a new, unique voice in mystery-suspense... Earl Merkel's DIRTY FIRE is so authentically Chicago I can taste the deep-dish pizza in every line... a marvelous story, well-told..."
--Midwest Focus Magazine

Earl Merkel is a novelist and writer with his roots in journalism as a reporter, editor, columnist and freelance writer. He has also directed corporate communications programs at two Fortune 50 corporations. He is currently senior partner of a nationally known corporate communications firm; in this role, he has advised some of the largest multinational corporations in the world. DIRTY FIRE (sold under the working title Like Distant Cities Burning), is a novel of suspense published in October 2003 by Penguin/Putnam. Mr. Merkel is also the best-selling author of FINAL EPIDEMIC, a novel of medical suspense and biological terrorism that has set a new standard for suspense fiction. He recently has completed his third novel. He is also an avid sailor, scuba enthusiast, outdoorsman and insatiable reader— all of which he draws upon in his fiction writing. Mr. Merkel is represented by Kimberley Cameron of the Reece Halsey Literary Agency.

Earl Merkel
Earl Merkel talks about his books, published articles and commentary he has written, and the talk-radio interviews he does with writers (such as Lawrence Block, Neil Gaiman and Alice Walker), available on the site as streaming audio.

Earl Merkel: FINAL EPIDEMIC set for Oct. release
FINAL EPIDEMIC Set For Oct. 2002 Publication! What a long, strange trip it's been... When FINAL EPIDEMIC (at that time, titled FLU SEASON) cleared final edits in the last week of August 2001, most of us associated with the novel expected the wait was over and the book would be in bookstores within a few months. And then September 11, 2001 came, and the world changed in a matter of hours.

The GRADUATION NIGHT column, by E. Merkel
Bittersweet commentary on a high school graduation...

Merkel, Naked & Exposed!
The Absolute Write mag interview, by Jenna Glatzer