Joel Burcat
AUTHOR

Joel Burcat

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Joel Burcat is the author of political thrillers, environmental thrillers, legal suspense novels, and historical fiction. A retired environmental lawyer with four decades of experience, he writes intelligent, fast-paced stories rooted in real environmental issues, where ordinary people confront extraordinary moral choices. His newest novel, TEMPERATURE RISING (2026), is a political suspense thriller set in Washington, D.C., in 1988. When law student Anna Freeman uncovers a secret campaign to suppress climate science, she is recruited to work undercover for The New York Times, forcing her to choose between exposing the truth and protecting her future. Burcat's previous novels include WHIZ KID (2025), written with his late father, David S. Burcat, a coming-of-age historical novel set in 1950 South Philadelphia; REAP THE WIND (2024), an action-adventure thriller following three lawyers fleeing Houston through a climate change-driven hurricane; STRANGE FIRE (2022), a suspense novel centered on Pennsylvania fracking; AMID RAGE (2021), about coal strip mining; and DRINK TO EVERY BEAST (2019), an environmental legal thriller involving illegal toxic waste dumping. His novels combine political intrigue, legal suspense, environmental conflict, and memorable characters, making them a natural choice for readers who enjoy intelligent thrillers inspired by real-world issues. Burcat's work has received honors from the Kindle Book Awards, PennWriters, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, the New York Festival of Books, Readers' Favorite, ScreenCraft, and others. WHIZ KID and AMID RAGE were Next Generation Indie Book Awards finalists, while STRANGE FIRE received the Readers' Favorite Gold Medal for Environmental Fiction and was selected as a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Week. Bestselling author John Lescroart called Burcat's writing "complex and intelligent, deftly plotted and character rich." William Landay wrote of STRANGE FIRE, "It is a dark suspenseful read...handled with gritty style. A treat for thriller fans." Burcat has also written dozens of short stories spanning humor, memoir, horror, and crime fiction. "I want readers to feel they are standing beside my characters—in a courtroom, on a polluted river, in a strip mine, or in the eye of a hurricane. If my characters are afraid, I want my readers to be afraid too." Before turning to fiction, Burcat was selected as the 2019 Lawyer of the Year in Environmental Litigation for Central Pennsylvania by Best Lawyers in America and was recognized by both Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers for environmental and oil and gas law. He also edited two books on environmental and energy law and authored numerous professional articles. He lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Gail.
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