Are the stories all stand-alone?
Yes, each is a fully formed story with a conclusion, albeit one that might be a little open-ended. However, they are all set in the same world, and there are characters who pop up in more than one place.How are the stories linked?
World events and technology are common through them all. There are also specific links and references to characters and story events. More details can be found here, if you're not averse to spoilers.
Why does No Good Deed have a different style cover from the other books?
It's a thriller set in 2013, with no science fiction elements. All the other stories are speculative fiction set at various points in the future. However, some of the No Good Deed characters and events are referenced in the other stories, as they are all in the same timeline.Will there be any more contemporary thrillers like No Good Deed?
Never say never, but it's unlikely in the next decade or so. Although Thorne and Lyle will be returning as cybernetically enhanced geriatrics in Null Trigger.Is there a chronology for the stories?
The stories are all in the same world timeline, in different years:
No Good Deed: 2013
Segmentation Fault: 2041
Safe State: 2058
Calibration Run: 2062
What's currently in the works?
The next full-lengther will be Null Trigger, set in 2065 and featuring characters drawn from all the previous stories. That's provisionally - and ambitiously - due sometime in 2028. Don't hold your breath, though. Based on the first two novels, it might be 2030 before it sees the light of day.
There might be a couple of other shorts / novellas in the meantime.