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Nicholas Russell, a Las Vegas writer and longtime bookseller at The Writer’s Block, releases his debut horror novel Observer (Ecco) on September 15, 2026. He reads from it in person at The Beverly Theater on September 18 — dear breeders, this one’s set right here in our own backyard, and I dug into it for you.
What Is ‘Observer’ About?
Observer follows Renata, a Las Vegas photographer investigating her estranged mother’s disappearance near an abandoned observatory in the fictional rural Nevada town of McNairy. The 336-page hardcover braids three voices: Renata’s present-day search, her mother’s confessional journals, and a nineteenth-century surveyor’s dispatches.
Renata’s mother was an astrophysicist, presumed dead, who leaves behind a garage full of belongings — journals, photographs, a locked safe, and a $300,000 check — instead of answers. Russell, who’s spent a decade selling other people’s horror novels off Writer’s Block shelves, calls his own debut ‘a good starting place’ for genre newcomers: ‘not too gory, but suspenseful and engrossing.’ Horror author Brian Evenson is blunter about the craft on display, calling Observer ‘an impressive debut’ and writing that ‘nobody understands the parched and spiny weirdness of Nevada like Nicholas Russell does.’ Having spent my own share of centuries in this desert, I can’t argue with that assessment.
When and Where Is the Las Vegas Reading?
Russell reads from and discusses Observer at The Beverly Theater (515 S 6th St, Las Vegas) on Friday, September 18, 2026, at 6 p.m. Writer’s Block co-owner Drew Cohen hosts the conversation. The event is free and open to the public — full venue and nearby-attraction details are on our event listing.
Where Can I Buy ‘Observer’?
Observer (ISBN-13: 978-0063452398) is available in hardcover and ebook wherever books are sold, including Amazon. Copies will also be on hand for purchase and signing at the September 18 reading.
For a debut that trades in slow-burn dread over gore, a local author, and a real Nevada desert setting most of us have driven past without a second thought — this one earns a spot on the nightstand before the reading. Always bet on dead, breeders.
