For all queries, please reach out to info@ebryanthomas.com. Review copies available on request. Available for interviews, podcasts and book club visits.
Mark of the Centipede
The Scribe‘s Accounts: Book 1
A dead coworker. A cryptic test. Mythical beings hiding—and hunting—in plain sight. For one junior database administrator, it all makes for a bad day at the office.
Dungeon Crawler Carl meets Ninth House: workplace satire, a cipher-driven quest, and a supernatural test that doesn’t grade on a curve.
Published September 30, 2026, by Cipher & Crown. Ebook (979-8-9970963-0-4), $6.99; paperback (979-8-9970963-1-1), 426 pages, $15.99; hardcover (979-8-9970963-2-8), 392 pages, $24.99. Available now on Amazon and major retailers.
Story Angles:
- Duke grad sets a fantasy thriller in the Gothic Wonderland
- Product leader with 20+ years in tech writes fiction about workplace imposter syndrome
- Book incorporates a real-world alternate reality game
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Author Bios
Full:
E. Bryan Thomas is the author of the urban fantasy quest novel, Mark of the Centipede, the first book in The Scribe’s Accounts.
In a previous life, the author worked for twenty-plus years in technology, building startup companies, teams, products, and experiences that were loved by millions of users. Then he decided that if he was going to work for a shadowy multinational organization with questionable motives, it should at least be fictional.
He has degrees from Duke University and Stanford University and now spends his days thinking about how ancient demons would react to a semi-sentient squirrel.
His parents are very proud.
One-line:
E. Bryan Thomas spent twenty-plus years building tech startups before deciding that if he had to work for a shadowy multinational with questionable motives, it should at least be fictional.
50-word version:
E. Bryan Thomas is the author of Mark of the Centipede, the first book in The Scribe’s Accounts. After twenty-plus years building tech startups, he decided if he was going to work for a shadowy multinational with questionable motives, it should at least be fictional. He holds degrees from Duke and Stanford. His parents are very proud.
“Mark” Description
Short:
When a hapless junior database administrator begins receiving emails from a dead colleague, he’s drawn into a supernatural test whose answers lie hidden somewhere in Duke’s Gothic Wonderland.
Longer:
Safety, monotony, anonymity: Drew Turing’s job as an entry-level database administrator had it all. For a guy whose primary talent is faking his way through life, going unnoticed is the point.
Then a dead coworker emails him, and Drew is pulled into the mysterious Centipede Test and a hidden world of supernatural beings who already know all about him. The clues lead to Duke University’s Gothic Wonderland, where Drew must crack a series of cryptic puzzles and outwit ancient forces that would love to see him fail and be erased from memory—just like the dozens of entrants before him.
This time, there’s no faking it.
Store Links
Amazon: https://a.co/d/0iUS4Rxu
Books2Read (all other retailers): https://books2read.com/u/38BM57