If this was baseball, The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale would be a perfect 4-for-4 this past week (September 16-19). Four outstanding authors – Andrew Gross, Nevada Barr, Linwood Barclay, and Craig Johnson – signed new books on consecutive nights.
Andrew Gross kicked things off Monday by discussing his latest stand-alone thriller, The Fifth Column. The story begins in February 1939, when Nazi supporters in New York City rally in support of Hitler. Within two years, German spies are embedded in everyday life. Americans everywhere debate one question. Should the United States enter the growing war in Europe?
Nevada Barr followed on Tuesday, celebrating the release of her newest book, What Rose Forgot. This book is a departure from her outstanding Anna Pigeon series. What happens when a grandmother in her sixties wakes up to find she’s been committed to an Alzheimer’s unit in a nursing home, with no memory of how she got there? How does she get out? Who is after her? How will she convince anyone she isn’t actually demented?
Linwood Barclay handled Wednesday evening with a discussion of his newest thriller, Elevator Pitch. An elevator in a Manhattan skyscraper plummets from the top floor to the bottom. A tragedy. A day later, another elevator falls. Coincidence? When it happens again the next day, New York City is plunged into crisis. The book jacket says it all. “When the doors close he’s got you…”
Craig Johnson finished the week on Thursday in front of approximately 150 fans with a discussion of his latest Walt Longmire book, Land of Wolves. Walt has survived his foray into Mexico to rescue his daughter, Cady, and returned to Absaroka County. He investigates the possible suicide of a Basque shepherd, and things grow more complicated when an oversize wolf appears in the Bighorn Mountains.