Author Jahmal Mayfield told Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen that he wanted to talk about race with honesty. He said we don’t want to have honest conversations about race. Mayfield’s novel is Smoke Kings. It’s available through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/49fEVcg

Here’s the description of Smoke Kings.

“As everything goes up in flames, Mayfield leans all the way into the discomfort zone” – Sarah Weinman, The New York Times

“A fresh and fierce new voice to crime fiction...a stunning book that takes the reader on an intense and harrowing journey that is truly unforgettable. Consider me a big fan.”— Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Cartel, The Force and City on Fire

“Jahmal Mayfield roars to the top of the writer-to-watch list with this sizzling debut. Smoke Kings is straight fire. Every page simmers with an undercurrent of rage, each line a hard dose of smoldering truth. I can’t wait to see what Mayfield does next.” – Eli Cranor, Edgar Award Winning Novelist of Don’t Know Tough

In the vein of Get Out and Razorblade Tears, a feast of noir fiction and probing social commentary that asks us to consider what would happen if reparations were finally charged and exacted.

Nate Evers, a young black political activist, struggles with rage as his people are still being killed in the streets 62 years after Emmett Till. When his little cousin is murdered, Nate shuns the graffiti murals, candlelight vigils, and Twitter hashtags that are commonplace after these senseless deaths. Instead, he leads 3 grief-stricken friends on a mission of retribution, kidnapping the descendants of long-ago perpetrators of hate crimes, confronting the targets with their racist lineages, and forcing them to pay reparations to a community fund. For 3 of the group members, the results mean justice; for Nate – pure revenge.

Not all targets go quietly into the night, though, and Nate and his friends’ world spirals out of control when they confront the wrong man. Now the leader of a white supremacist group is hot on their tail as is a jaded lawman with some disturbingly racist views of his own.

As the 4 vigilantes fight to thwart their ruthless pursuers, they’re forced to accept an age-old truth: “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

Smoke Kings is a powerful and propulsive novel with a diverse and unforgettable cast of characters. Like Steph Cha’s Your House Will Pay it explores decades of racial tensions through a fictional landscape where the line between justice and revenge is blurred.

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Jahmal Mayfield  was born in Virginia but currently resides in New Jersey. In addition to writing crime fiction, he serves as the director of a nonprofit program that provides employment support to people with disabilities. SMOKE KINGS was inspired by Kimberly Jones’ passionate viral video, “How can we win?”

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Here’s the conversation with Jahmal Mayfield and Patrick Millikin.

Alexander Sammartino’s debut novel is Last Acts. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Sammartino to the bookstore to talk about his book, set in Arizona. You can order a signed copy of the debut through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3I0BXMO

Here’s the description of Last Acts.

Named a MOST ANTICIPATED book of 2024 by Nylon and The Millions

Following a near-death experience, an entrepreneurial father-and-son duo wreak havoc and fend off bankruptcy in this unflinching portrayal of the absurdities of American life.

“Hilarious, exceptional.” —Dan Chaon, The New York Times Book Review•“Honest, highwire, virtuosic writing that summons up the world with all its charms and hazards.” —George Saunders

Even though his firearms store is failing, things are looking up for David Rizzo. His son, Nick, has just recovered after a near-fatal overdose, which means one thing: Rizzo can use Nick’s resurrection to create the most compelling television commercial for a gun emporium that the world has ever seen. After all, this is America, Rizzo tells himself. Surely anything is possible. But the relationship between father and son is fragile, mired in mutual disappointment. And when the pair embarks on their scheme to avoid bankruptcy, a high stakes crash of hijinks, hope, and disaster ensues.

Featuring a cast of unforgettable characters, this razor-sharp social satire lays bare both the gun and opioid crises. Fans of Don DeLillo and Stephen Markley will be thrilled by this smart, inventive debut.

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Alexander Sammartino lives in Brooklyn. He received his MFA from Syracuse University. Last Acts is his first novel. (But, he grew up in Arizona.)

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Here’s the conversation about Arizona and Alexander Sammartino’s debut, Last Acts.

On Valentine’s Day, John Charles, romance manager for The Poisoned Pen, welcomed authors Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jenn McKinlay. He did warn people that the signed copies of the authors’ books are going fast, so no promises! You can check the Webstore, https://store.poisonedpen.com/, for their books. Phillips’ new book is Simply the Best. McKinlay’s latest Library Lover’s Mystery is Fatal First Edition.

Here’s the description of Simply the Best.

“The queen of the football romance is not Taylor Swift. It’s Susan Elizabeth Phillips.”—Wall Street Journal

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips returns with the next book in her Chicago Stars series where a successful sports agent and the sister of his biggest client engage in a take-no-prisoners battle of the sexes.

Take one hard-driving sports agent…

Throw in a failed chocolatier…

And her superstar football player brother…

Add a quirky pink and purple food truck…

Then, to really screw things up, mix in a very unfortunate murder.

Brett Rivers is the hottest sports agent in the business—fast and furious, swift and deadly. Failure? Not an option.

Rory Garrett is—let’s be honest—a disaster. She has a big heart, an empty bank account, a passion for making exquisite chocolate, and a huge inferiority complex from living in the shadow of Brett’s most important client, her football legend brother.

Brett and Rory should never have met, and they absolutely, positively should never have had to deal with the consequences of one stupid, drunken night…one disastrous lie…one career in jeopardy…one missing football player…and a very dead body.

It’s going to get messy…and dangerous…and heartbreaking…and sexy. To Rory, Brett represents skewed values and a devious mind. To Brett, Rory is forbidden fruit, off limits, do not disturb, and no entry—definitely no entry.

A woman who has succeeded at nothing and a man who’s succeeded at everything confront the challenge of their lives as they struggle with themselves and each other. When it comes to love—what price are any of us willing to pay to be simply the best?  

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Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a #1 New York Times bestselling author whose books have been published in over thirty languages. Guided by the motto, “Life is better with happily-ever-afters,” she loves writing about love in all its forms. Among her accomplishments, Susan created the sports romance with her novel Fancy Pants. She is best known for her Chicago Stars and Wynette, Texas series, as well as multiple stand-alone books. Visit Susan’s website at www.susanelizabethphillips.com.

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Here’s the description of Jenn McKinlay’s Fatal First Edition.

People are dying to get their hands on a rare, valuable book in the newest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot and the Pendulum.

Briar Creek Library director Lindsey Norris and her husband, Sully, are at a popular library conference in Chicago to hear book restoration specialist Brooklyn Wainwright give a keynote address. After the lecture, Lindsey looks under her seat and finds a tote bag containing a first edition of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, inscribed to Alfred Hitchcock. Brooklyn determines the novel is one of a kind and quite valuable, so Lindsey and Sully return the book to the conference director, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

But just hours after the pair boards the train back to Connecticut, rumors that the Highsmith novel has gone missing buzz amongst the passengers, and they soon find the conference director murdered in his private compartment. And worse—the murderer planted the book in Lindsey and Sully’s room next door, making them prime suspects. Now, they must uncover the murderer and bring them to the end of their line, before they find themselves booked for a crime they didn’t commit.

Featuring a cameo by a beloved character from the New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle’s Bibliophile series!

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Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.

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This is a really funny event. Enjoy the conversation!

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, said she and author Gregg Hurwitz have a long history together. Hurwitz has been appearing at The Pen even before the Orphan X books. Bur Hurwitz talks about the background of the Orphan X books. Lone Wolf is the ninth Orphan X book. There are still signed copies of Lone Wolf available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/4bCabDW

Here’s the description of Lone Wolf.

Once a black ops government assassin known as Orphan X, Evan Smoak left the Program, went deep underground, and reinvented himself as someone who will go anywhere and risk everything to help the truly desperate who have nowhere else to turn. Since then, Evan has fought international crime syndicates and drug cartels, faced down the most powerful people in the world and even brought down a president. Now struggling with an unexpected personal crisis, Evan goes back to the very basics of his mission – and this time, the truly desperate is a little girl who wants him to find her missing dog.

Not his usual mission, and not one Evan embraces with enthusiasm, but this unlikely, tiny job quickly explodes into his biggest mission yet, one that finds him battered between twisted AI technocrat billionaires, a mysterious female assassin who seems a mirror of himself, and personal stakes so gut-wrenching he can scarcely make sense of them.

Evan’s mission pushes him to his limit – he must find and take down the assassin known only as the Wolf, before she succeeds in completing her mission and killing the people who can identify her – a teenaged daughter of her last target, and Evan himself. Matched skill for skill, instinct for instinct, Evan must outwit an opponent who will literally stop at nothing if he is to survive.

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GREGG HURWITZ is the author of the New York Times bestselling Orphan X novels. Critically acclaimed, his novels have been international bestsellers, graced top ten lists, and have been published in thirty-two languages. Additionally, he’s sold scripts to many of the major studios, and written, developed, and produced television for various networks. Hurwitz lives in Los Angeles.

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Enjoy the conversation with Gregg Hurwitz.

Ten years ago, Terry Hayes’ I am Pilgrim was released. Now, he made his first appearance at The Poisoned Pen with his latest thriller, The Year of the Locust. He is also the co-author of Argylle, published under the name Elly Conway. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Hayes, who told the story of his writing, and the years between books. You can order a signed copy of The Year of the Locust through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/48m4neN

Here’s the summary of The Year of the Locust.

Terry Hayes, author of the #1 global bestseller I Am Pilgrim, returns with a terrifying and eagerly awaited new thriller.

If, like Kane, you’re a Denied Access Area spy for the CIA, then boundaries have no meaning. Your function is to go in, do whatever is required, and get out again—by whatever means necessary. You know when to run, when to hide—and when to shoot.

But some places don’t play by the rules. Some places are too dangerous, even for a man of Kane’s experience. The badlands where the borders of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan meet are such a place—a place where violence is the only way to survive.

Kane travels there to exfiltrate a man with vital information for the safety of the West—but instead he meets an adversary who will take the world to the brink of extinction. A frightening, clever, vicious man with blood on his hands and vengeance in his heart…

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Terry Hayes is the New York Times bestselling author of I Am Pilgrim and The Year of the Locust and is the award-winning writer and producer of numerous movies. His credits include Payback, Road Warrior, and Dead Calm (featuring Nicole Kidman). He lives in Switzerland with his wife, Kristen, and their four children.

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Oh, I can assure you you’ll want to listen to Terry Hayes discuss his work.

Books and love go hand-in-hand, according to Tom Scanlon’s article, “Scottsdale + books: A love affair” in the East Valley Tribune. And, The Poisoned Pen puts romance and love together with books. The article quotes two of The Pen’s managers, John Charles and Bill Smith. It also talks about the Valentine’s Day event at the bookstore, an event featuring authors Jenn McKinlay and Susan Elizabeth Phillips, https://bit.ly/3wg48Vp. It will be held at 7 PM on Wednesday.

Here’s the article to share book love in Scottsdale. https://bit.ly/3SVWgBd

The Lantern’s Dance is the eighteenth book in Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series. It’s also the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. King’s event at the bookstore was a pre-launch event, hosted by Barbara Peters, owner of the bookstore. You can still order a signed copy of the book through the Webstore. https://bit.ly/3SUpnoA

Here’s the summary of The Lantern’s Dance.

“Deftly interlacing present and past, King offers further fascinating insights into Holmes’s family while also delivering an intriguing mystery.”—The Washington Post

After their recent adventures in Transylvania, Russell and Holmes look forward to spending time with Holmes’ son, the famous artist Damian Adler, and his family. But when they arrive at Damian’s house, they discover that the Adlers have fled from a mysterious threat.

Holmes rushes after Damian while Russell, slowed down by a recent injury, stays behind to search the empty house. In Damian’s studio, she discovers four crates packed with memorabilia related to Holmes’ granduncle, the artist Horace Vernet. It’s an odd mix of treasures and clutter, including a tarnished silver lamp with a rotating shade: an antique yet sophisticated form of zoetrope, fitted with strips of paper whose images dance with the lantern’s spin.

In the same crate is an old journal written in a nearly impenetrable code. Intrigued, Russell sets about deciphering the intricate cryptograph, slowly realizing that each entry is built around an image—the first of which is a child, bundled into a carriage by an abductor, watching her mother recede from view.

Russell is troubled, then entranced, but each entry she decodes brings more questions. Who is the young Indian woman who created this elaborate puzzle? What does she have to do with Damian, or the Vernets—or the threat hovering over the house?

The secrets of the past appear to be reaching into the present. And it seems increasingly urgent that Russell figure out how the journal and lantern are related to Damian—and possibly to Sherlock Holmes himself.

Could there be things about his own history that even the master detective does not perceive?

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Laurie R. King is the award-winning, bestselling author of seventeen previous Mary Russell mysteries, a new series featuring SFPD cold-case inspector Raquel Laing, the contemporary Kate Martinelli series, the historical Stuyvesant & Grey stories, and five acclaimed standalone novels. She lives in Northern California, where she is at work on her next Mary Russell mystery.

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It’s a fascinating discussion with two people who know the history of India. Enjoy the conversation.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, says Ava Lee is her favorite financial ninja. Ian Hamilton talks about the story arc, and the latest in the Ava Lee series, The Fury of Beijing. There are signed copies available in the Webstore. https://bit.ly/48dZzZ9

Here’s the description of The Fury of Beijing.

AVA LEE IS OUT FOR REVENGE IN THE LATEST INSTALLMENT OF IAN HAMILTON’S BESTSELLING THRILLER SERIES

Still reeling from the brutal murder of her close associates Lau Lau and Chen, Ava Lee embarks on a quest for revenge that takes her from Toronto to Los Angeles to Beijing. Along the way, Ava is aided by some familiar faces and old comrades-in-arms, including Sonny Kwon, Jimmy Li, Lop, and Xu, the mountain master of Shanghai.

The search leads first to Ava’s old opponent, Mo, the chairman of the China Movie Syndicate, and then to a shadowy figure at the very top of the Chinese Security Service-the man who gave the order to kill her friends. Events reach a deadly climax in front of the Tianqiao Theatre in Beijing, but exacting her revenge is only half the battle-getting out of China alive is another matter entirely …

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IAN HAMILTON is the acclaimed author of sixteen books in the Ava Lee series, four in the Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung series, and the standalone novel Bonnie Jack. National bestsellers, his books have been shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada Award (formerly the Arthur Ellis Award), the Barry Award, and the Lambda Literary Prize. BBC Culture named him one of the ten mystery/crime writers who should be on your bookshelf. The Ava Lee series is being adapted for television. 

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Enjoy the conversation, especially Ian Hamilton’s backstory for Ava Lee.