J.D. O’Brien and Jim Ruland

Although Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen welcomed J.D. O’Brien and Jim Ruland to the bookstore, he turned the event over to the two authors. O’Brien and Ruland are friends, and they drove over from LA together. So, Ruland joked they had time to warm up their act. There are copies of their books, J.D. O’Brien’s Zig Zag and Jim Ruland’s Make It Stop, in the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s Zig Zag.

“A stoned odyssey across the dive bars, neon-lit motels, and lost highways of the American West.”

Capri Dall has a foolproof plan to knock over the marijuana dispensary where she works. But when her boyfriend botches the heist, the two of them end up in a stolen car with a trunkful of rare high-end weed—and an unhinged security guard on their trail.

Harry Robatore is a burned-out rhinestone cowboy, barely scraping by as a bail bondsman. Agreeing to help out an old pal, and settle his bar tab, he sets out to track down the lovers on the run. The chase begins in the San Fernando Valley and leads him deep into the heart of the Mojave Desert—building to an explosive showdown at a ghost town tourist trap.

Zig Zag is equal parts Elmore Leonard and Charles Portis—with Larry McMurtry’s cowboy hat along for the ride.


J.D. O’Brien’s hometown is Easthampton, Massachusetts.


A speculative tale of dysfunctional vigilantes, sex-crazed junkies, and corporate healthcare run amok from best-selling chronicler of LA punk Jim Ruland. 

Scores of detox and rehab centers across Southern California have adopted a controversial new conditional release policy that forces patients to stay until they pay their bills. And if they can’t pay? They don’t leave.

Enter: Make It Stop, a group of highly skilled recovering addicts dedicated to rescuing those trapped in these prison hospitals by posing as patients and getting them out by any means necessary. But when Scary Gary, one of their top ops, gets killed on assignment, Melanie Marsh and her crew set out to avenge his death and unravel an unthinkable medical conspiracy that threatens to destroy the organization and cripple the city with a dangerous new drug. Melanie may be LA’s best hope but if, and only if, she can stay sober.

From decrepit rehab wards to beachside punk clubs, Make It Stop takes readers into LA’s darkest corners, exploring sobriety, sanity,  and a society hell-bent on profiting off those who need its help the most.


Jim Ruland is the co-author of Do What You Want with Bad Religion, and My Damage with Keith Morris, the founding vocalist of Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and OFF! Ruland has been writing for punk zines such as Flipside and Razorcake for more than twenty-five years and his work has received awards from Reader’s Digest and the National Endowment for the Arts.


Check out the conversation with J.D. O’Brien and Jim Ruland.

Amanda Quick’s The Bride Wore White

Let’s admit that the conversation is all over the place with friends Amanda Quick, J.T. Ellison, and The Poisoned Pen’s owner Barbara Peters. They do get to the 1930s and Quick’s The Bride Wore White, but they talk about several other subjects first. There are signed copies of The Bride Wore White in the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/2ce8rdfu

Here’s the description of Amanda Quick’s latest book, The Bride Wore White.

A psychic desperate to escape her destiny—and a killer—finds her future in the coastal town of Burning Cove in New York Times bestselling author Amanda Quick’s latest novel.

Being Madame Ariadne, Psychic Dream Consultant, wasn’t Prudence Ryland’s ideal gig, but it paid well which was reason enough to do the work—until she realizes that her latest client intends to kill her. But Prudence, a master at reinvention, finds a new job and home as far away as possible and is finally able to relax—which turns out to be a big mistake. Letting her guard down means being kidnapped and drugged and waking up in a bloodstained wedding dress in the honeymoon suite next to a dead man. With the press outside the hotel, waiting with their cameras and police sirens in the distance, it’s obvious she’s being framed for the man’s murder. Prudence knows who is responsible, but will anyone believe her?

It doesn’t seem likely that rumored crime boss Luther Pell or his associate, Jack Wingate, believe her seemingly outrageous claims of being a target of a ruthless vendetta. In fact, Prudence is convinced that the mysterious Mr. Wingate believes her to be a fraud at best, and at worst: a murderer. And Jack Wingate does seem to be someone intimately familiar with violence, if going by his scarred face and grim expression. So no one is more shocked than Prudence when Jack says he’ll help her. Of course, his ideas for helping her involve using her as the bait for a killer, but Prudence feels oddly safe with Jack protecting her. But who will protect Prudence from her growing fascination with this enigma of a man?


Amanda Quick is a pseudonym for Jayne Ann Krentz, the author, under various pen names, of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers. There are more than 35 million copies of her books in print. She is also the author of the Ladies of Lantern Street novels and the Arcane Society series.


Enjoy the discussion.

Brian Klingborg discusses The Magistrate

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Brian Klingborg for a virtual event. Klingborg’s latest Inspector Lu Fei novel, The Magistrate, takes readers back to China. There are signed copies of The Magistrate available in the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/2bs9wce2

A brutal murder investigation with connections to corruption at the very highest level threatens not just the career but also the life of Inspector Lu Fei in Brian Klingborg’s latest mystery…


BRIAN KLINGBORG has both a B.A. (University of California, Davis) and an M.A. (Harvard) in East Asian Studies and spent years living and working in Asia. He currently works in early childhood educational publishing and lives in New York City. Klingborg is also the author of Kill Devil Falls.


Enjoy the conversation about China and Klingborg’s The Magistrate.

Sara Herchenroether’s Debut

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, mentioned how much she enjoys bringing debut novels to readers. Sara Herchenroether’s debut is The Night Flowers. There will be signed copies available through the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/3kz4xpht Peters asks Herchenroether to talk about her personal experience that led her to write a novel about the parallel between crime and cancer.

Here is the description of The Night Flowers.

People tend to think of us as shadows. Blurred black mist. Often, it’s “out of the corner of my eye.” People sense the cold. I’ve heard of ghost hunters who use a tape measure, laying it on the ground to mark our boundaries. I don’t want to be measured.

In 1983, deep in New Mexico’s Gila National Forest, the bodies of a young woman and two children were found. Who were they? How did they get there?

Thirty years later, two women find themselves drawn to the cold case. Librarian Laura MacDonald begins her own investigation as a way to distract herself from breast cancer treatments and becomes consumed by her search for answers. Jean Martinez is a veteran detective determined to keep working cold cases for the Sierra County police force even as her family begs her to retire. With only fragments from dusty case files and a witness who doesn’t want to remember, this unlikely duo is determined—no matter the cost—to uncover the truth behind the murders. And with their help, the woman in the woods is finally able to tell her story on her own terms and summon the power to be found.

The Night Flowers
—a haunting debut thriller written with pulse-pounding precision and a deep understanding of the psychology of violence and the tenacity of those who combat it—announces the arrival of Sara Herchenroether as an exciting new voice.


Sara Herchenroether lives outside Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, four young children, one old dog, and two rescue kittens. Sara is a breast cancer survivor.


Enjoy the conversation.

May Book Picks

Do you need something to read? You can’t go wrong with book suggestions from The Poisoned Pen. Here’s an entire list of suggestions to help you pick something from The Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

There are several lists of paperbacks. Barbara Peters, owner of The Pen, has some picks, and Rob Rosenwald has some suggestions as well. Check them out! I hope you find a book to love. Enjoy browsing!

OUR MAY SMALL PAPERBACK PICKS

Brennan, Allison. Silenced ($8.99).

Castillo, Linda. The Hidden One

McMahon, Jennifer. The Children on the Hill

Moriarty, Liane. Apples Never Fall

Sanders, Angela M. Witch Upon a Star

Silva, Daniel. Portrait of an Unknown Woman

Ware, Ruth. One By One

OUR MAY LARGE PAPERBACK PICKS

Bohjalian, Chris. The Lioness

Box, C J. Treasure State

Burke, James Lee. Every Cloak Rolled in Blood

Castillo, Linda. The Hidden One

Caudwell, Sarah. Thus Was Adonis Murdered

Flynn, Vince. Enemy at the Gates

Goodman, Alison. The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

Gray, Claudia. The Late Mrs Willoughby

Haig, Matt. The Midnight Library

Hillier, Jennifer. Things We Do in the Dark

Horowitz, Anthony. With a Mind to Kill: A James Bond Novel

Krueger, William Kent. Fox Creek

Martin, William. December ’41

Morrison, Boyd/Beth. The Lawless Land

Pavone, Chris. Two Nights in Lisbon

BARBARA’S  PICKS

Banville, John. The Lock-Up

Barry, Dave. Swamp Story

Bohjalian, Chris. The Lioness

Box, C J. Treasure State

Beanland, Rachel. The House Is on Fire

Caudwell, Sarah. Thus Was Adonis Murdered

Cervantes, JC. The Enchanted Hacienda

Crosby, Ellen. Blow Up

Dunn, Mark. Ella Minnow Pea: 20th Anniversary Illustration

Edwards, Martin, ed. The Edinburgh Mystery

Goodman, Alison. The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies

Gray, Claudia. The Late Mrs. Willoughby

Mason, Tim. The Nightingale Affair

Newman, TJ. Drowning

Slocumb, Brendan. Symphony of Secrets

Smith, Martin Cruz. Independence Square

ROB’S PICKS

Barry, Dave. Swamp Story

Crosby, Ellen. Blow Up

Edwards, Martin, ed. The Edinburgh Mystery

Miller, Max. Tasting History

Newman, TJ. Drowning

Slocumb, Brendan. Symphony of Secrets

Smith, Martin Cruz. Independence Square

Verghese, Abraham. The Covenant of Water

Dennis Lehane in Conversation with Michael Koryta

While Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, had a few questions, then introduced Michael Koryta and Dennis Lehane. Dennis Lehane’s new book is Small Mercies. Koryta had “pages” of questions for Lehane. There are signed copies of Small Mercies available in the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/djzv8ax2

Here is the summary of Small Mercies.

Small Mercies is thought provoking, engaging, enraging, and can’t-put-it-down entertainment.” — Stephen King

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River—an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.

In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart.

One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances.

The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched—asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him, men who don’t take kindly to any threat to their business.

Set against the hot, tumultuous months when the city’s desegregation of its public schools exploded in violence, Small Mercies is a superb thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power, and an unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism. It is a mesmerizing and wrenching work that only Dennis Lehane could write.


Dennis Lehane is the author of thirteen novels—including the New York Times bestsellers Live by Night; Moonlight Mile; Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; Shutter Island; and The Given Day—as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He grew up in Boston, MA and now lives in California with his family.


You really want to listen to Dennis Lehane talk about the background of Small Mercies.

Michael Farris Smith’s Latest Epic

Patrick Millikin recently welcomed Michael Farris Smith to The Poisoned Pen for a virtual event. Smith’s latest epic is Salvage This World. There are signed copies of it available through the Webstore. https://tinyurl.com/2sjudff9

Here’s the summary of Salvage This World.

In Michael Farris Smith’s latest “riveting” epic, a young woman returns home with her child to her ghost-haunted father, while a religious extremist hunts the stormridden territory to find the girl who may be the region’s savior. (Laird Hunt, National Book Award-nominated author of Zorrie and Neverhome)There was no rising from the dead and there was no hand to calm the storms and there was no peace in no valley.

In the hurricane-ravaged bottomlands of South Mississippi, where stores are closing and jobs are few, a fierce zealot has gained a foothold, capitalizing on the vulnerability of a dwindling population and a burning need for hope. As she preaches and promises salvation from the light of the pulpit, in the shadows she sows the seeds of violence.

Elsewhere, Jessie and her toddler, Jace, are on the run across the Mississippi/Louisiana line, in a resentful return to her childhood home and her desolate father. Holt, Jace’s father, is missing and hunted by a brutish crowd, and an old man witnesses the wrong thing in the depths of night. In only a matter of days, all of their lives will collide, and be altered, in the maelstrom of the changing world.

At once elegiac and profound, Salvage This World journeys into the heart of a region growing darker and less forgiving, and asks how we keep going—what do we hold onto—in a land where God has fled.

Garden & Gun Top Reads of 2023 • Bibliolifestyle Best Literary Fiction of 2023  Southern Living Southern Writers to Read Right Now


Michael Farris Smith is an award-winning writer whose novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists with Esquire, NPR, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Book Riot, and numerous other outlets, and have been named Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Best of the Month selections. He has also written the feature-film adaptations of his novels Desperation Road and The Fighter, titled for the screen as Rumble Through the Dark. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters.


Enjoy the conversation with Michael Farris Smith.

Victoria Thompson’s Gaslight Mysteries

John Charles from The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Victoria Thompson for a virtual event. Thompson’s latest Gaslight Mystery is Murder on Bedford Street. You can order copies of Thompson’s books through the Webstore, including the new book. https://tinyurl.com/3m37bza3

Here’s the summary of Murder on Bedford Street.

Midwife Sarah Malloy and her private investigator husband, Frank, must stop a killer lurking among a young family in the newest installment of the USA Today bestselling Gaslight Mysteries.

Hugh Breedlove is far from the most agreeable client private investigator Frank Malloy has ever had, but his case is impossible to refuse: his young niece, Julia, has been wrongfully committed to an insane asylum by her cruel and unfaithful husband, Chet Longly. Though Breedlove and his wife seem more interested in protecting the family reputation than their niece’s safety, Frank and Sarah agree to help for the sake of Julia and the young son she left behind.

Frank and Sarah’s investigation reveals a dark secret—a maid at the Longly home died suspiciously under Chet’s watch, and now it seems Julia’s son might also be in danger. The Malloys fear they are dealing with a man more dangerous than they had anticipated, one who will do anything to defame his wife. But all is not as it seems in the Longly family, and perhaps another monster is hiding in plain sight….


Victoria Thompson is the Edgar® and Agatha Award–nominated author of the Gaslight Mysteries, the Counterfeit Lady series, and numerous historical novels. She lives in the Chicago area with her family.


Enjoy John Charles’ conversation with Victoria Thompson.

Don Bentley & T. Jefferson Parker, in Conversation

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Don Bentley and T. Jefferson Parker to the bookstore. Bentley’s latest Matt Drake thriller is Forgotten War. Parker’s The Rescue is the current Hot Book of the Week. You can order signed copies of both books through the Webstore. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the description of Forgotten War.

“A fascinating, action-packed thriller from one of the genre’s most talented authors. Don Bentley delivers a blistering adventure loaded with excitement and fabulous characters. You will not want it to end!”—Brad Thor, New York Times #1 bestselling author of Dead Fall

A brotherhood born in battle is endangered by a deadly secret in the latest astonishing thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy Zero Hour and Hostile Intent.

As a team, Matt Drake and his partner, Frodo, have watched each other’s backs through some very dark days. But one thing they’ve never doubted was their commitment to each other…until now. 

Frodo has been accused of a war crime ten years after leaving Afghanistan. Matt is determined to prove his friend innocent, but what will he do when he finds that his closest friend has secrets he won’t share?


Don Bentley is the New York Times bestselling author of the Matt Drake series (Forgotten WarHostile IntentThe Outside ManWithout Sanction) and three Tom Clancy novels. Bentley spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot and deployed to Afghanistan as an air cavalry troop commander. Following his time in the military, Bentley worked as an FBI special agent and was a SWAT team member. Bentley is also a graduate of the Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction MFA program. He resides in Austin, Texas, with his family.


Here’s the summary of Parker’s The Rescue.

The Rescue is a gripping thriller that explores the strength of the human-animal bond and how far we will go to protect what we love by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker.

While reporting on a Tijuana animal shelter, journalist Bettina Blazak falls in love with one of her story’s subjects—an adorable Mexican street dog who is being treated for a mysterious gunshot wound. Bettina impulsively adopts the dog, who she names Felix after the veterinarian who saved him.

In investigating Felix’s past, Bettina discovers that his life is nothing like what she assumed. For one thing, he’s not a Mexican street dog at all. A former DEA drug-sniffing dog, Felix has led a very colorful, dangerous, and profitable life. With Bettina’s story going viral, some interesting people are looking for Felix, making him a target—again.

Bettina soon finds herself drawn into a deadly criminal underworld from which she and her beloved dog may not return.


T. Jefferson Parker is the author of numerous novels and short stories, the winner of three Edgar Awards (for Silent JoeCalifornia Girl, and the short story “Skinhead Central”), and the recipient of a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best mystery (Silent Joe). Before becoming a full-time novelist, he was an award-winning reporter. He lives in Fallbrook, California.


Enjoy the conversation.