• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; 1 edition (August 7, 2012)

For fans of Zoë Heller and Zadie Smith, a vibrant and vital novel about the way family—with its dysfunctional bonds, sibling love, and rivalry—enduringly defines us.

Dorothy Forrest is immersed in the sensory world around her; she lives in the flickering moment. From the age of seven, when her odd, disenfranchised family moves from New York to the wide skies of New Zealand, to the very end of her life, this is her great gift and possible misfortune.

From the wilderness of a commune to falling in love to early marriage and motherhood, from the glorious anguish of parenting to the loss of everything worked for and the unexpected return oflove, Dorothy is swept along by time. Her family looms and recedes, revelations come to light, death changes everything, but somehow life remains as potent as it ever was, and the joy in just being won’t let her go.

In a narrative that shifts and moves, singing with color and memory, growing as wild as its characters, The Forrests speaks to the unexpected ways in which life can change—“if you’re lucky enough to be around for it.”

Praise for Emily Perkins:

“A writer very much in command not only of her language but of the unique and surprising variations she brings to the form.” —T. C. Boyle, author of When The Killing’s Done

“Brimming with talent.” —Esther Freud, author of Hideous Kinky and Lucky Break

“An expansive and ambitious novel, beautifully written, and covering great swathes of emotional territory.”
—Lawrence Norfolk, author of Lempriere’s Dictionary

About Emily

Emily Perkins was born in 1970. She is the author of Not Her Real Name, a collection of short stories that won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, and the novels Leave Before You Go, The New Girl, and, most recently, Novel About My Wife, winner of the Believer Book Award. She lives in New Zealand.

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (June 5, 2012)

Legendary women–from Anne Boleyn to Queen Elizabeth to Mary Queen of Scotts—changed the course of history in the royal courts of sixteenth century England, they are celebrated in history books and novels, but few people know of the powerful women in the Muslim world who formed alliances, served as key advisors to rulers, lobbied for power on behalf of their sons, and ruled in their own right. In Equal of the Sun, Anita Amirrezvani’s gorgeously crafted tale of power, loyalty, and love in the royal court of Iran she brings one such woman to life, Princess Pari Khan Khanoom Safavi.

Iran in 1576 is a place of wealth and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah’s daughter and protégé, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess’s maneuvers to instill order after her father’s sudden death incite resentment and dissent. Pari and her closest advisor Javaher, a eunuch able to navigate the harem as well as the world beyond the palace walls, are in possession of an incredible tapestry of secrets and information that reveals a power struggle of epic proportions.

Based loosely on the life of Princess Pari Khan Khanoom, Equal of the Sun is a riveting story of political intrigue and a moving portrait of the unlikely bond between a princess and a eunuch. Anita Amirrezvani is a master storyteller and in her lustrous prose this rich and labyrinthine world comes to vivid life with a stunning cast of characters, passionate and brave men and women who defy or embrace their destiny in a Machiavellian game played by those who lust for power and will do anything to attain it.

“Amirrezvani’s sixteenth century Iran is a world as complex as Shakespeare’s London, that seethes with intrigue, passion, and lawlessness, a world where a brilliant young princess, who longs for power denied her as a female, and a servant, with a desire so relentless he half-destroys himself, make a desperate pact to control the government and fate of the country, and in doing so discover their greatest loves and sorrows. In this astonishing novel Amirrezvani reminds us what all human hearts suffer and dare. EQUAL OF THE SUN is an irresistible novel.” —Jonis Agee, author of The River Wife

“A dazzling historical novel of ancient Persia, a fairy tale of universal resonance, EQUAL OF THE SUN is a story of love and ambition, loyalty and intrigue, the eternal anguish of a heart—and a country—at war with itself.”  —Gina Nahai, author of Moonlight on the Avenue of Faith and Caspian Rain

About Anita Amirrezvani

Anita Amirrezvani is the author of  The Blood of Flowers, which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, and a former staff writer and dance critic for the San Jose Mercury News and the Contra Costa Times. She is currently an adjunct professor at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

.

Anita Amirrezvani’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, June 4th:  Unabridged Chick

Tuesday, June 5th:  Scandalous Women

Wednesday, June 6th:  Confessions of an Avid Reader

Thursday, June 7th:  Broken Teepee

Friday, June 8th:  Royal Reviews

Tuesday, June 12th:  A Bookish Way of Life

Wednesday, June 13th:  Man of La Book

Thursday, June 14th:  A Bookish Affair

Friday, June 15th:  Book Chase

Monday, June 18th:  Lit and Life

Tuesday, June 19th:  Bibliosue

Wednesday, June 20th:  The Book Garden

Thursday, June 21st:  Wordsmithonia

Monday, June 25th:  Col Reads

Tuesday, June 26th:  Bippity Boppity Book

Wednesday, June 27th:  Historical Tapestry

Thursday, June 28th:  Enchanted by Josephine.

Friday, June 29th:  Twisting the Lens

Hardcover: 336 pages

Publisher: Random House

Meet Harold Fry, recently retired.  He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast.  Little differentiates one day from the next.  Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn’t seen or heard from in twenty years.  Queenie Hennessey is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye.

Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox.  But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce’s remarkable debut.  Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live.

Still in his yachting shoes and light coat, Harold embarks on his urgent quest across the countryside. Along the way he meets one fascinating character after another, each of whom unlocks his long-dormant spirit of youth and sense of promise.  Memories of his first dance with Maureen, his wedding day, his joy in fatherhood, come rushing back to him-allowing him to also reconcile the losses and the regrets.  As for Maureen, she finds herself missing Harold for the first time in years.

And then there is the unfinished business with Queenie Hennessey.

A novel of unsentimental charm, humor, and profound insight into the thoughts and feelings we all bury deep within our hearts, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry introduces Rachel Joyce as a wise- and utterly irresistible- storyteller.

“Oh, to be a pilgrim in yachting shoes and waxed cotton jacket, fueled only by a sudden burning need to save a dying friend. Harold Fry is infuriating, hilarious, and completely out of his depth, but I held my breath at his every blister and cramp and felt, as if by turning the pages, that I might help his impossible quest succeed. Marvelous!”—Helen Simonson, author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

About Rachel Joyce

Rachel Joyce is an award-winning writer of more than twenty plays for BBC Radio 4. She started writing after a 20 year acting career performing lead roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and also winning multiple awards.  Rachel Joyce lives in Gloucestershire on a farm with her family and is at work on her second novel.

.

.

.

Rachel Joyce’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, July 2nd:  Book Club Classics!

Tuesday, July 3rd:  Alison’s Bookmarks

Friday, July 6th:  Amused by Books

Monday, July 9th:  A Bookworm’s World

Tuesday, July 10th:  My Book Retreat

Wednesday, July 11th:  Under My Apple Tree

Thursday, July 12th:  Literate Housewife

Monday, July 16th:  BookNAround

Tuesday, July 17th:  Life in the Thumb

Wednesday, July 18th:  Luxury Reading

Thursday, July 19th:  Book Chatter

Monday, July 23rd:  Sarah Reads Too Much

Tuesday, July 24th:  Write Meg!

Wednesday, July 25th:  Coffee and a Book Chick

Thursday, July 26th:  It’s a Crazy, Beautiful Life

Monday, July 30th:  Patricia’s Wisdom

Tuesday, July 31st:  Joyfully Retired

Wednesday, August 1st:  Ted Lehmann’s Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms

Thursday, August 2nd:  A Musing Reviews

Monday, August 6th:  Bibliophiliac

Wednesday, August 8th:  Boarding in my Forties

Thursday, August 9th:  Bibliosue

Friday, August 10th:  Chaotic Compendiums

Monday, August 13th:  The Picky Girl

Tuesday, August 14th:  Col Reads

Wednesday, August 15th:  Caribousmom

Friday, August 17th:  Jenn’s Bookshelves

Monday, August 20th:  The House of the Seven Tails

Tuesday, August 21st:  She Treads Softly

Wednesday, August 22nd:  Knowing the Difference

Thursday, August 23rd:  Reading on a Rainy Day

.

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (March 20, 2012)

It’s 1893, and at the Chicago World’s Fair, Louis Comfort Tiffany makes his debut with a luminous exhibition of innovative stained-glass windows that he hopes will earn him a place on the international artistic stage. But behind the scenes in his New York studio is the freethinking Clara Driscoll, head of his women’s division, who conceives of and designs nearly all of the iconic leaded-glass lamps for which Tiffany will long be remembered.  Never publicly acknowledged, Clara struggles with her desire for artistic recognition and the seemingly insurmountable challenges that she faces as a professional woman.  She also yearns for love and companionship, and is devoted in different ways to five me, including Tiffany, who enforces a strict policy: He does not employ married women.  Ultimately, Clara must decide what makes her happiest-the professional world of her hands or the personal world of her heart.

Look for special features inside!

Join the Circle for author chats and more:  RandomHouseReadersCircle.com

Read an excerpt of Clara and Mr. Tiffany HERE.

 “Vreeland’s ability to make this complex historical novel as luminous as a Tiffany lamp is nothing less than remarkable.”—The Washington Post

“A novel as sparkling and elegant as a Tiffany lampshade . . . a sensitive portrayal of women’s struggles in the nineteenth century . . . [Susan Vreeland] has captured the tone of an era. . . . The consistent elegance and vitality of her prose make reading her book a pleasure.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

 “As she did for a Vermeer painting in Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Vreeland traces the secret history of an objet d’art—this time, the iconic Tiffany lamp. . . . A fascinating look at at turn-of-the-century New York City.”—People (4 out of 4 stars)

 “Vreeland’s writing is so graceful, her research so exhaustive, that a reader can’t help becoming enfolded in this fascinating world.”—Los Angeles Times

 “There’s no excuse for any reader of high-quality literary fiction to let this novel pass by.”—Booklist (starred review)

About Susan Vreeland

Susan Vreeland is the bestselling author of five books, including Luncheon of the Boating Party, Life Studies, The Passion of Artemisia, The Forest Lover, and Girl in Hyacinth Blue.  She lives in San Diego.

To learn more about Susan Vreeland and her work, please visit her website, svreeland.com, or connect with her on Facebook.

.

.

Susan Vreeland’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, May 7th:  Historical Tapestry (guest post “Why I Love”)

Thursday, May 10th:  BookNAround

Monday, May 14th:  Adventures of an Intrepid Reader

Monday, May 14th:  Historical Tapestry (review)

Tuesday, May 15th:  Joyfully Retired

Wednesday, May 16th:  Book Drunkard

Thursday, May 17th:  The Lost Entwife

Monday, May 21st:  Dolce Bellezza

Wednesday, May 23rd:  Knowing the Difference

Tuesday, May 29th:  Broken Teepee

Wednesday, May 30th:  My Bookshelf

Thursday, May 31st:  Book Snob

Monday, June 4th:  Col Reads

Tuesday, June 5th:  Amused by Books

• Trade Paperback: 305 pages
• Publisher: Blank Slate Press (April, 2012)

With the nation moving toward Civil War, James Turner, a charming, impulsive writer and lecturer, Charlotte, his down-to-earth bride, and Cabot, an idealistic Harvard-educated abolitionist, are drawn together in a social experiment deep in the Missouri Ozarks.

Inspired by utopian dreams of building a new society, Turner is given a tract of land to found the community of Daybreak. But not everyone involved in the project is a willing partner and being the leader of a farming community out in the middle of nowhere isn’t exactly the life Turner envisioned. Charlotte, confronted with the hardships of rural life, must mature in a hurry to deal with the challenges of building the community while facing her husband’s betrayals and her growing attraction to Cabot. In turn, Cabot struggles to reconcile his need to leave Daybreak to join the fight against slavery and his desire to stay near the woman he loves.

As the war draws ever closer, the utopians try to remain neutral and friendly to all, but soon find neutrality is not an option. In the wake of a deadly bushwhacking, Turner discovers that he too has the capacity for ferocious violence. When war finally breaks out, Missouri descends into its uniquely savage brand of conflict in which guerrilla bands terrorize the countryside while Federal troops control the cities, and in which neither side offers or expects quarter. Ultimately, each member of Daybreak must take a stand—both in their political and personal lives.

Slant of Light is that remarkable novel that not only embeds us in a bygone time and place, but also wakens us to a wide and presently shared dawn of love, violence, frailty, and possibility.” –Steve Yates, author of Morkan’s Quarry: A Novel

If you’re a historical fiction fan, you must put “Slant of Light” at the top of your to-be-read list.–Margo L. Dill, Champaign News-Gazette (Champaign, IL)

For more information about Slant of Light and its publisher, Blank Slate Press, check out their website, blankslatepress.com, and their Facebook page.

About Steve Wiegenstein

Steve Wiegenstein grew up in the eastern Missouri Ozarks and roams its back roads every chance he gets. The Black River and the Annapolis Branch Library were his two main haunts as a kid, and they remain his Mecca and Medina to this day. He is a longtime scholar of the 19th century Icarian movement in America, which provided the inspiration for Slant of Light. He particularly enjoyed weaving the real-life story of Sam Hildebrand—the notorious Confederate bushwhacker who murdered one of Steve’s ancestors–into the novel. Steve and his wife, Sharon Buzzard, both academics, live in Columbia, MO. Slant of Light, the first book in his Daybreak series, is his first novel.

Steve Wiegenstein’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, May 14th:  Unabridged Chick

Wednesday, May 16th:  WV Stitcher

Monday, May 21st:  Life in Review

Tuesday, May 22nd:  Unabridged Chick – author interview

Wednesday, May 23rd:  So Simply Sara

Thursday, May 24th:  Bookish Habits

Monday, May 28th:  Historical Tapestry – guest post

Tuesday, May 29th:  A Novel Source

Thursday, May 31st:  Life is Short. Read Fast.

Monday, June 4th:  Chaos is a Friend of Mine

Wednesday, June 6th:  Just One More Paragraph

Saturday, June 9th:  Colloquium

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Dial Press Trade Paperback (April 10, 2012)

About Angela Davis-Gardner

Angela Davis-Gardner is the author of the internationally acclaimed novels Felice, Forms of Shelter, and Plum Wine, which was inspired by the time she spent teaching Tsuda College in Tokyo, Japan. An Alumni Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, Angela has won nearly thirty awards for writing and teaching. She lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she is at work on her next novel.

For more information about Angela Davis-Gardner, please visit her website at www.angeladavisgardner.com.

Angela Davis-Gardner’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, April 2nd:  Col Reads

Wednesday, April 4th:  Dolce Bellezza

Thursday, April 5th:  Broken Teepee

MOnday, April 9th:  Life in Review

Wednesday, April 11th:  BookNAround

Thursday, April 12th:  lit*chick

Thursday, April 12th:  She Knows

Monday, April 16th:  Unabridged Chick

Tuesday, April 17th:  Nomad Reader

Wednesday, April 18th:  Luxury Reading

Monday, April 23rd:  Sophisticated Dorkiness

Wednesday, April 25th:  My Bookshelf

Thursday, April 26th:  Bookfoolery and Babble

Monday, April 30th:  Peeking Between the Pages

Thursday, May 10th:  Lit Endeavors

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Hub City Press (March 1, 2012)

Library Journal says The Iguana Tree “recalls the work of John Steinbeck.” Kirkus Reviews calls it “exceptional … a haunting tale of hope and heartbreak.” 

Michel Stone’s debut novel, set against the backdrop of illegal immigration, is one family’s story of fateful decisions, risky border crossings, and a struggle for humanity. With a dream of a more prosperous life for his family, Héctor crosses into America on a harrowing journey in a welded-shut metal compartment under a delivery truck, making his way to job on a tree farm on Edisto Island, SC. He tells Lilia, his young wife, to stay behind with her newborn until he can pay for her travel. Impulsive and impatient, Lilia abandons her village, hands off her baby to a smuggler who should not have been trusted, and swims the dark Rio Grande. The tragedy unfolds across the southern United States. As Michel Stone weaves her tale of hope and human dignity, of sorrow and suffering, we see not only the devastating consequences of Lilia’s and Héctor’s decisions, but the consequences of decisions we have made as a society and as a nation. With its themes of loss, betrayal, and redemption, The Iguana Tree has the resonance of myth.

The Iguana Tree, published by Hub City Press, is a spring Okra Pick by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance.

“Stone has done exceptional work in making real the struggles and despair, the resolute discipline and hope, driving the desire to find a better life while also illuminating unexpected connections of near-familial love among people of difference cultures who live and work together. A haunting tale of hope and heartbreak.”–Kirkus Reviews

“Michel Stone has written a stirring novel of love and courage under the most daunting of conditions. The Iguana Tree is an impressive debut by a very talented author.”–Ron Rash, author of Serena and Waking

About Michel Stone

Michel Stone has published more than a dozen stories and essays in journals, magazines, and books. Her work has appeared numerous times in the Raleigh News and Observer’s emerging Southern writers series and she is a 2011 recipient of the SC Fiction Project Award. Raised on the South Carolina coast, Michel now lives in Spartanburg, S.C.

To learn more about The Iguana Tree, visit the publisher’s website, www.hubcity.org, or visit Michel’s website, www.michelstone.com.

.

Michel Stone’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, April 2nd:  Luxury Reading

Wednesday, April 4th:  Book Chase

Thursday, April 5th:  Life in Review

Monday, April 9th:  Unabridged Chick

Tuesday, April 10th:  The Feminist Texican [Reads]

Wednesday, April 11th:  The Picky Girl

Thursday, April 12th:  Indie Reader Houston

Friday, April 13th:  Raging Bibliomania

Monday, April 16th:  Book Addiction

Thursday, April 19th:  Jenn’s Bookshelves

Monday, April 23rd:  Book Club Classics!

Monday, April 23rd:  Colloquium

Tuesday, April 24th:  Estella’s Revenge

Wednesday, April 25th:  Book Chatter

Monday, April 30th:  Suko’s Notebook

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Crown (April 24, 2012)

From the author of the acclaimed New York Times bestseller Sister comes a compelling, thrilling story of a mother who will do anything to protect her child.

The school is on fire. Her children are inside.  Grace runs toward the burning building, desperate to reach them.  In the aftermath of the devastating fire which tears her family apart, Grace embarks on a mission to find the person responsible and protect her children from further harm.  This fire was not an accident, and her daughter Jenny may still be in grave danger.  Grace is the only one who can discover the culprit, and she will do whatever it takes to save her family and find out who committed the crime that rocked their lives.  While unearthing truths about her life that may help her find answers, Grace learns more about everyone around her–and finds she has courage she never knew she possessed.

Powerful and beautiful, with a riveting story and Lupton’s trademark elegant style that made Sister such a sweeping success, Afterwards explores the depths of a mother’s unswerving love.

“Lupton enters the highly charged ring where the best psychological detective writers spar, her hands raised in a victory clench…”–New York Times Book Review

About Rosamund Lupton

Rosamund Lupton lives with her husband and two sons in London.

For more information on Rosamund and her work, please visit her website, rosamundlupton.com, her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter @Rosamundlupton.

.

.

..

Rosamund Lupton’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, April 23rd:  Unabridged Chick

Tuesday, April 24th: Colloquium

Thursday, April 26th:  A Bookworm’s World

Monday, April 30th:  Nomad Reader

Tuesday, May 1st:  Great Imaginations

Wednesday, May 2nd:  The Picky Girl

Thursday, May 3rd:  Indie Reader Houston

Friday, May 4th:  Amused by Books

Tuesday, May 8th:  Me, My Book, and the Couch

Wednesday, May 9th:  Girls Just Reading

Friday, May 11th:  Coffee and a Book Chick

Monday, May 14th:  Boarding in my Forties

Monday, May 14th:  Peeking Between the Pages

Tuesday, May 15th:  Into the Hall of Books

Thursday, May 17th:  Lit Endeavors

Friday, May 18th:  Take Me Away

TBD:  Melody & Words

The Garden Intrigue

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (February 16, 2012)

Just in time for the post-Valentine’s Day chocolate hangover, THE GARDEN INTRIGUE is the latest novel in the nationally bestselling Pink Carnation series by RITA Award winner Lauren Willig (Dutton, On sale: February 16, 2012). In this ninth installment, long-time readers and newcomers alike will be delighted to meet a character sure to become a fan favorite—a poet whose fervent ardor leads him to declare his feelings for the Pink Carnation in atrociously overwrought verse.

Lovable modern day grad student Eloise Kelly is back and on the trail of the Pink Carnation when she discovers a wretched poem among the papers of a code book. Poetry penned by the notorious fop Augustus Whittlesby for Jane Wooliston (aka the Pink Carnation)—Eloise can’t help but wonder; can anyone really be that bad of a poet? Or is something else hiding behind his putridly saccharine words? Back in 1804, New York born Paris socialite Emma Morris Delgardie doesn’t think so. She’s too busy sipping champagne to notice Whittlesby’s strange interest in a top-secret device Napoleon has commissioned. Unfortunately for Emma, she’s the poet’s entrée into the emperor’s inner circle. Fortunately for Augustus, this plucky American heroine could turn out to be his true muse.

Acclaim for Lauren Willig’s novels is as plentiful as her quirky and charming cast of characters: Marie Claire called her writing “History textbook meets Bridget Jones,” and Library Journal compared the series to “getting a plate of warm-from the oven chocolate chips cookies; it’s hard not to eat them all at once, but you want to savor each bite.”

The perfect addition to a much-beloved series, THE GARDEN INTRIGUE will leave readers clamoring for more of the spunky Eloise Kelly and the ever elusive Pink Carnation.

“As fresh and charming as its floral theme.”                                 

-Kirkus Reviews

“Enlightening and entertaining as always, and full of plenty of romance and intrigue.”                               

–Library Journal

“Readers will be pleased to see the spy who inspired the series in action and will enjoy the charming, witty rapport between Augustus and Emma.”

–Booklist

About Lauren Willig

Lauren Willig is the bestselling author of eight previous Pink Carnation novels. She received a graduate degree in English history from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, though she now writes full-time. Willig lives in New York City.

For more information about Lauren and her work, please visit her website, laurenwillig.com.

.

.

Lauren Willig’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Thursday, February 16th:  Unabridged Chick

Friday, February 17th:  I’m Booking It

Monday, February 20th:  In the Hammock

Tuesday, February 21st:  A Fair Substitute for Heaven

Wednesday, February 22nd:  Book Reviews by Molly

Thursday, February 23rd:  Broken Teepee

Monday, February 27th:  Calico Critic

Wednesday, February 29th:  The Allure of Books

Monday, March 5th:  The Bookworm

Tuesday, March 6th:  A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, March 7th:  Library of Clean Reads

Friday, March 9th:  Colloquium

Friday, March 9th: YA Book Nerd - review

Monday, March 12th:  YA Book Nerd - author guest post

Wednesday, March 14th:  Write Meg

Tuesday, March 27th:  Stiletto Storytime

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); 1 edition (December 27, 2011)

The phone rings. It’s your daughter. She’s been dead for four months. So begins Ian Hunt’s fight to get his daughter back. Hunt is a police dispatcher in the small East Texas town of Bulls Mouth. The call comes at the end of his shift, and it’s from his daughter, Maggie. Maggie, whose funeral he recently attended.

The call is cut-off by the man who snatched Maggie from her bedroom seven years ago. Up until that moment, the assumption was that Maggie had been murdered, but Ian has never given up hope of finding her. A basic description of the kidnapper is all Ian has to go on.

The trail leads to a local couple, but this is just the start of Ian’s battle to get his daughter back. What follows is a bullet-strewn cross-country chase along Interstate 10, from Texas to California.

An action-packed thriller whose East Texas setting evokes No Country for Old Men and whose story calls to mind that of Jaycee Dugard, THE DISPATCHER is sure to keep readers hooked until the very last page.

“Violent, vivid, and disturbing, The Dispatcher is a stomach churner. If you want a book that grabs you—almost chokes you—and won’t let go, this is it. But it should come with a warning label: Caution, a serious writer at work.”—Ridley Pearson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Killer Summer

“The Dispatcher grabs the reader on page one and never lets go. It’s a classic yet bracingly contemporary story of kidnapping, violence, and a father’s ferocious courage.”—Jonathan Santlofer, author of Anatomy of Fear 

“A well-written, fast-paced book . . . along the order Quentin Tarantino, with a long and bloody trail to the end.” —Charlaine Harris, bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series

About Ryan David Jahn

photo credit: Noel Bass

Ryan David Jahn won the Crime Writers Association debut novel prize for Good Neighbors (Penguin, 2011). He left school at sixteen to work in a record store and subsequently joined the army. Since 2004 he has worked in television and film. He grew up in Arizona, Texas, and California and recently moved from Los Angeles to Louisville, Kentucky, where he plans to set his next novel.

For more info about Ryan and his work, please visit his website, www.ryandavidjahn.com.

Ryan David Jahn’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, February 13th:  Chaotic Compendiums

Tuesday, February 14th:  Ted Lehmann’s Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms

Thursday, February 16th:  A Bookworm’s World

Monday, February 20th:  Life in Review

Wednesday, February 22nd:  Reading on a Rainy Day

Wednesday, February 29th:  Dan’s Journal

Thursday, March 1st:  Wordsmithonia

Monday, March 5th:  Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

Tuesday, March 6th:  Man of La Book

Thursday, March 8th:  Crime Fiction Lover

Monday, March 12th:  Book Addict Katie

Tuesday, March 13th:  The House of Crime and Mystery

Wednesday, March 14th:  A Library of My Own

Wednesday, March 14th:  Unabridged Chick

Thursday, March 15th:  Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Wednesday, March 21st:  Fiction Addict

Thursday, March 29th:  Raging Bibliomania