Evelyn Martinez
Literary Fiction · Family Sagas · Stories of Inheritance and Silence
Evelyn Martinez writes literary family sagas that explore the spaces between what families say and what they leave unspoken — the inheritances that can’t be measured in money, and the silences that shape generations.
Writing as Evelyn Martinez, Martin Balome brings a different voice to the page — quieter, more intimate, but no less powerful. Where his thrillers race against external threats, the MERCER Legacy novels trace the slow, devastating consequences of secrets kept and truths withheld across a century of one family’s history.
What Readers Can Expect
Evelyn’s literary fiction is defined by:
- Multi-generational storytelling that spans decades and connects past to present
- Complex, fully realized women navigating impossible choices
- Atmospheric Pacific Northwest settings that mirror the emotional landscape
- Themes of inheritance, silence, and the cost of keeping secrets
About the Name
Evelyn Martinez is a pen name of Martin Balome. The MERCER Legacy series explores different literary territory — family sagas rather than thrillers, quiet tension rather than pulse-pounding action — and the pen name reflects that distinct voice and vision.
The MERCER Legacy
The MERCER Legacy is a four-book literary family saga following Evelyn Grace Mercer, a nineteen-year-old woman who — after being expelled from her childhood home by her stepmother just days after her father’s death — discovers she is the sole heir to a crumbling estate on the Oregon coast. Hidden behind its walls: a century of family secrets, war crimes evidence, and a promise made by a dying French officer in 1918.
Every family has secrets. The Mercers built their fortune on them.
Books in the Series
The Crane Documents — When the estate’s renovation uncovers a cache of documents hidden for decades, Evelyn must confront the truth about the fortune her family built — and the lives it destroyed.
What Samuel Built — A promise made in the trenches of WWI becomes the foundation of a family empire — and the lie that haunts every generation that follows.
Margaret’s Silence — Margaret Mercer discovered the truth that could have freed her family. She chose silence — and that choice echoed through every generation of women who came after her.
The Mercer Women — All timelines converge. All secrets surface. Evelyn must decide whether to break a century of silence or let it define one more generation.
Writing Philosophy
“I wanted to write about the things families carry — not the dramatic explosions of truth, but the slow accumulation of silence. The moments when someone chooses not to speak, and how that choice ripples forward through decades. The MERCER Legacy is about what happens when a family builds its entire identity on things that can never be said aloud.”
Personal
Evelyn Martinez lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family.
Evelyn Martinez is a pen name of Martin Balome.
