From the Nightbird Nest

April 26, 2012 . . . Our first release of the year is selling well and our book launch party for Jedwin Smith's OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER April 14 at Peerless Book Store in Alpharetta, Georgia was a rousing success. Author Smith—two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee and author of FATAL TREASURE—met his legions of fans and signed copies of our deluxe trade paperback reprint of OUR BROTHER's KEEPER (first published in hardcover in 2005 by John Wiley and Sons). Our edition is expanded, bringing back chapters that were cut from the Wiley hardcover release. Our reprint of this enthralling memoir contains the complete text that Smith wanted in the first version, and also contains flashy new cover art, new photographs, and a new epilogue that details events that have transpired since 2005. This very touching and personal story of the death of Smith's younger brother, Jeff—a Marine Corps rifleman who was killed in action during the 1968 Vietnam Tet Offensive—is being used by the Veteran’s Administration and the Wounded Warrior program to assist returning veterans and their families. The book won the prestigious Reader's Digest Memoir of the Month in the year of publication. Check out more about this heralded memoir below, and read the first chapter.

Jedwin Smith / Our Brother’s Keeper Book Signings:

Saturday, April 14 — Peerless Book Store (Book Launch Party); 6:30 P.M.
                                      8465 Holcomb Bridge Road
                                      Alpharetta, GA  30022

Saturday, April 21 — Books For Less; 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
                                      2815 Buford Drive
                                      Buford, GA  30519

Saturday, May 5 —   Trinity Christian Fellowship Men’s Breakfast, 7:30  a.m.
                                     1985 Old Fountain Road
                                     Lawrenceville, GA  30043

Saturday, May 5 —   Books For Less (North Point Mall); 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
                                     935 N. Point Drive
                                     Alpharetta, GA  30022

Saturday, May 19 — Eagle Eye Book Store; 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
                                     2076 Decatur Road
                                     Decatur, GA  30033

Monday, May 28 —   Dacula Memorial Day Festival; noon - 5 p.m.
                                     On the square in historic downtown Dacula, GA 

DEATH HAS ITS BENEFITS by Ronald Aiken is scheduled for a late-July release. In his fast-paced first novel, Aiken weaves a tale of suspense about a lawyer attempting to help out an old friend who claims someone is trying to kill him, only to become enmeshed in a crafty professional criminal's dark netherworld of murder, deceit, and insurance fraud. This one pushes the accelerator all the way to the floor. See below for more details and read the opening chapters.

In other news, our author, Heywood Gould, is slated to appear at the Killer Nashville mystery-thriller-suspense conference August 23-26 where he will be promoting THE SERIAL KILLER'S DAUGHTER. Gould will be joining C.J. Box and Peter Straub as convention Guests of Honor (check out this outstanding literary event at Killer Nashville 2012 ).

And speaking of Gould's adrenaline-fueled thriller, THE SERIAL KILLER'S DAUGHTER is drawing raves from none other than actor, Jesse Eisenberg ("The Social Network") and the latest buzz in a huge hive of buzzing about this book is that the actor is interested in playing Peter Vogel in a movie version. We can only dream of the exposure that would bring should a theatrical release become a reality. 

Until next time, thanks for dropping in.

Now Available!

OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER

by Jedwin Smith
 

“Our Brother’s Keeper is an instant classic. It's not simply a superb account of the impact of war upon those left at home, but also one of the most profoundly moving books on love, sacrifice and loss that I have ever read. With this book, Jedwin Smith has elevated himself to the pantheon.”

     —  John Connolly ... NY Times bestselling author of The Book of Lost
           Things, Bad Men, Nocturnes, and the Charlie Parker series

Two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee Jedwin Smith brings us OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER, the story of all wars, past and present.

While this is an unvarnished depiction of combat and its somber compilation of battlefield casualties—those killed and wounded, as well as those who forever must live with the guilt of having survived—it is also the story of mankind’s seemingly endless cycle of madness: men marching off to war, surviving and then subsequently raising their own children in the specter of war’s glory, thus propelling them down the same path of destruction.

OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER is also the story of war’s staggering list of collateral damage—the family and friends of the slain, who, but by the grace of God, are unable to escape the torment of having lost a loved one.

Since 1941, three generations have been seared by five catastrophic wars, the casualties of which are incalculable. For the present generation it is Iraq and Afghanistan. But for author Jedwin Smith, his parents and his brothers and sisters, it is the haunting specter of Vietnam that will never be forgotten.

Seemingly on a whim, Marine Corps PFC Jeffrey Earl Smith put aside his anti-war sentiments and joined the Marines in June 1967. Sent to Vietnam five months later, his death during a Viet Cong ambush in March 1968 was the catalyst that finally ended his parents’ marriage and created a lost generation of Smith siblings.

In OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER, Jeffrey’s older brother and a former Marine himself, shares a riveting family saga unlike anything you’ve read before.

In essence, this is the story of all families whose sons and daughters are called upon to defend our American principals on foreign shores during time of war—a saga that the editors of Reader’s Digest describe as “a powerful story of brotherhood, bravery and healing,” the haunting and gut-wrenching story “of a man who found redemption when he wanted revenge; it will break your heart, but change it, too.”

Writing with passion, intensity, and immediacy, Jedwin Smith tells the tale of years when, consumed by guilt, he spiraled into alcoholism, self-loathing, and a fury at the world that often manifested itself in the obsession to find and destroy the man who killed his brother. He reveals how Jeff’s death drove each member of the Smith family into his or her own emotional turmoil and self-exile—and then shows how each eventually found a measure of peace in their life. As for the author, he shows how only love, patience, and unconditional faith saved him from self-destruction ... and finally guided him toward the road to recovery.

In OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER , Jedwin Smith examines who his brother was, how he died, and why his death has had such a devastating impact to this day. The book is both the story and the outcome of a quest that took the author across the United States to visit siblings he hadn’t seen in decades as well as the former Marines who had been at Jeff’s side on that awful day so many years before.

Finally, the journey took the author to Vietnam, where he confronted Duong Tu Anh, the former Viet Cong commander responsible for the attack that killed Jeff. The encounter was chilling, extraordinary, and life-changing.

OUR BROTHER'S KEEPER is more than a moving and beautifully written family saga of the Vietnam War and its bitter and ongoing aftermath. It is also the story of how America has either been in denial or in recovery in many important ways ever since.

But most of all, it is an inspiring personal tale of loss and healing, anger and forgiveness, self-discovery—and the transcendent power of love.

Click here to read the opening chapter

Coming July 2012

DEATH HAS ITS BENEFITS

by Ronald Aiken

We are pleased to bring you this page-turning noirish thriller from first-time novelist, Ronald Aiken. 

What would you do if your best friend told you his boss was going to kill him? Try to save his life because he once saved yours? Well if you’re Tony Benson, and your best friend is a prankster like Leo Radigan, you’d do nothing, just laugh it off and say, “That’s a novel approach to work-force reduction.” If only it was that simple.

Leo’s boss, the mysterious Hike Muertens, is an influential businessman and philanthropist, but Leo insists he’s not the man he appears to be. “With this guy you gotta give an arm to keep a leg,” he insists.

At first, Tony believes Leo’s ever increasing paranoia is fueled by problems at home—a bad marriage, spoiled kids and rising debt. After all, why would a man of Muertens’ stature commit murder? But as Tony tries to help his friend through his personal crisis, he finds himself being drawn into Leo’s paranoid world, and begins to wonder if there might be something to his crazy tales, after all.

As paranoia becomes reality, Tony’s darker side emerges and he must successfully navigate his way through the state’s mental health and criminal justice systems to save his own life.

Click here to read the opening chapters

Coming September 2012 

KING OF THE HOBOS

by Jeff Dennis

“A millionaire superhero. Derek Parnell can outfight you and out-think you. He's equally at home in a boardroom or a hobo camp. And he's on our side! A fun read about a fantasy crusader in a very real world. Great character for a series: a millionaire riding the rails, paying cash to stay anonymous, spouting libertarian ideals and hunting criminals … it’s a great hook.”

 — Heywood Gould ... Bestselling author of Fort Apache The Bronx, 
                                              Cocktail, and The Serial Killer's Daughter

A devastating Wall Street Crash has plunged the U.S. into a second Great Depression. The unemployment rate hovers near 40%. Millions are homeless, roaming the country in search of food and work and two pennies to rub together. Vagabonds ride freight trains. Hobo camps have popped up everywhere. The American landscape is dangerous, teeming with violent predators. Only the strongest and most fearless survive in this Mad Max milieu where everything, including human life, is up for grabs.

Masquerading as a hobo, Derek Parnell—newly wealthy thanks to an anonymous benefactor—rides the rails through the vast Southwest in search of his wife’s and daughter’s murderer. He’s also looking for his mysterious financier—a man known to him only as Croesus—and the reasons behind the man’s inexplicable financial gift. Parnell’s journey takes him from a gypsy fortuneteller in Sedona to a meeting with a strange operative named Thor at the Mesa Verde Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings. Further clues lead Parnell to a connected high-roller in Las Vegas and a fringe anti-government paramilitary group, The Liberty Dogs, in the remote wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.

Within the hobo community, Derek Parnell is known as “King Midas,” the legend with the golden touch, a man most generous with his money. But to his enemies Parnell is “The Man with Tombstone Eyes,” a ruthless vigilante—judge, jury, and executioner. His mindset? “Karma determines who gets to live or die, and sometimes karma has to be helped along a little.” On his search for elusive truths, Derek Parnell leaves a path of death and destruction in his wake. And what he discovers is startling and life-changing.

Click here to read the opening chapters