Last Kid News:

David Benjamin’s newest Last Kid Books title, An Apartment in Paris, is off the press and available online at www.lastkidbooks.com. It is, according to Carol  Thompson of Reader’s Favorite, “a vivid exploration of Parisian life, highlighting the challenges and victories of securing an apartment in a city famously regarded as the heart of romance and culture.”

On the heels of the arrival of An Apartment in Paris, Benjamin’s edgy novel, The Voice of the Dog, has won its fourth literary award. The Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA) has announced that Benjamin’s thriller, set in Brooklyn, New York, was named a finalist in General Fiction in its 2025 competition.

Since he launched his Madison-based publishing imprint, Last Kid Books, in 2019, this is Benjamin’s sixth award from the Next Generation Indie Awards and the 45th literary honor for his work, given by eleven different independent publishing organizations,.

A fellow Madison author Nick Chiarkas, who grew up on the Lower East Side of New York—across the bridge from Brooklyn—called Benjamin a “brilliant storyteller” and said of The Voice of the Dog, “This book grabbed me by the collar and would not let go. Truly. I started reading to get a feel, and on page three, I stopped, got a glass of wine, sat in my reading chair, and finished it right there. I loved it.”

Chiarkas is the author of two award-winning novels of his own, Weepers and Nunzio’s Way.

Benjamin’s novel chronicles the trials of a former NYPD canine officer named Farfel as he tries to somehow stop a series of murders being committed by Reggie, his adopted owner while trying to be true to the “Code of the Dog,”which dictates absolute loyalty to one’s master.

“It’s almost obligatory for a writer to be inspired by Brooklyn,” said Benjamin, who lived there for several years. “It’s the most interesting, complicated borough in the world’s most important city. Brooklyn is a storyteller’s paradise.”

The Voice of the Dog has also won honors in the 2024 NYC Big Book Awards, in Crime Fiction, from the 2025 Book Excellence Awards in the Thriller category, and the 2025 Independent Press Awards in Crime Fiction.

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest organization recognizing the work of independent authors and publishers. The NGIBA has also recognized Last Kid Books titles by Benjamin in fiction, fictional memoir, short stories and for his five-novel smalltown crime series, set in the fictional hamlet of Hercules, Wisconsin.