Fiction Review

The Torqued Man is Peter Mann’s debut novel, and Mann discusses the inspiration for the book in The Poisoned Pen’s virtual event. There are signed copies of this debut available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3HLdJE2

Here is the summary of The Torqued Man.

“A damn good read.”—Alan Furst

A brilliant debut novel, at once teasing literary thriller and a darkly comic blend of history and invention, The Torqued Man is set in wartime Berlin and propelled by two very different but equally mesmerizing voices: a German spy handler and his Irish secret agent, neither of whom are quite what they seem.

Berlin—September, 1945. Two manuscripts are found in rubble, each one narrating conflicting versions of the life of an Irish spy during the war. 

One of them is the journal of a German military intelligence officer and an anti-Nazi cowed into silence named Adrian de Groot, charting his relationship with his agent, friend, and sometimes lover, an Irishman named Frank Pike. In De Groot’s narrative, Pike is a charismatic IRA fighter sprung from prison in Spain to assist with the planned German invasion of Britain, but who never gets the chance to consummate his deal with the devil. 

Meanwhile, the other manuscript gives a very different account of the Irishman’s doings in the Reich. Assuming the alter ego of the Celtic hero Finn McCool, Pike appears here as the ultimate Allied saboteur. His mission: an assassination campaign of high-ranking Nazi doctors, culminating in the killing of Hitler’s personal physician.

The two manuscripts spiral around each other, leaving only the reader to know the full truth of Pike and De Groot’s relationship, their ultimate loyalties, and their efforts to resist the fascist reality in which they are caught.

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Peter Mann has a PhD in Modern European history and is a past recipient of the Whiting Fellowship. He teaches history and literature at Stanford and the University of San Francisco. He is also a graphic artist and cartoonist. This is his first novel.

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Check out this discussion with Peter Mann.

Michael Robotham is based in Australia, so who knows what time it was there when The Poisoned Pen’s virtual event appeared there. Robotham appeared to discuss his latest novel, When You Are Mine. There are copies available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3t5o9ud

Here’s the description of When You Are Mine.

From the multi-million-copy bestselling author behind The Secrets She Keeps, a major BBC series, comes a gripping new standalone thriller

Philomena McCarthy has defied the odds and become a promising young officer with the Metropolitan Police despite being the daughter of a notorious London gangster. Called to the scene of a domestic assault, she rescues a young woman, Tempe Brown, the girlfriend of a decorated detective. The incident is hushed up, but Phil has unwittingly made a dangerous enemy with powerful friends.

Determined to protect each other, the two women strike up a tentative friendship. Tempe is thoughtful and sweet and makes herself indispensable to Phil, but sinister things keep happening and something isn’t quite right about the stories Tempe tells. When a journalist with links to Phil’s father and to the detective is found floating in the Thames, Phil doesn’t know where to turn, who to blame or who she can trust.

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Enjoy Barbara Peters’ discussion with Michael Robotham as they talk about the book, and as they digress.

James Rollins actually appeared live at The Poisoned Pen to kick off this year’s events. He has a long origin story for his latest book, The Starless Crown. You can order signed copies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3q0CUMV

Here’s the description of The Starless Crown.

An alliance embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the secrets of the distant past and save their world in this captivating, deeply visionary adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling thriller-master James Rollins.

A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death.

Fleeing into the unknown she is drawn into a team of outcasts:

A broken soldier, who once again takes up the weapons he’s forbidden to wield and carves a trail back home.

A drunken prince, who steps out from his beloved brother’s shadow and claims a purpose of his own.

An imprisoned thief, who escapes the crushing dark and discovers a gleaming artifact – one that will ignite a power struggle across the globe.

On the run, hunted by enemies old and new, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in strange, beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation.

But with each passing moment, doom draws closer.

WHO WILL CLAIM THE STARLESS CROWN?

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JAMES ROLLINS is the #1 New York Times bestseller of international thrillers, sold to over forty countries. His Sigma series has earned national accolades and has topped charts around the world. He is also a practicing veterinarian, who still spends time underground or underwater as an avid spelunker and diver.

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Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed James Rollins to the store. Enjoy their discussion.

When author Dana Stabenow hosted Dr. Emily Levesque for The Poisoned Pen, she was so excited she said that since Carl Sagan, she’s been waiting for someone like Emily Levesque to write about astronomy. Levesque is the author of The Last Stargazers: The Enduring Story of Astronomy’s Vanishing Explorers. You can order copies through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3qTiOnd

Here’s the description of The Last Stargazers.

The story of the people who see beyond the stars—an astronomy book for adults still spellbound by the night sky.

Humans from the earliest civilizations through today have craned their necks each night, using the stars to orient themselves in the large, strange world around them. Stargazing is a pursuit that continues to fascinate us: from Copernicus to Carl Sagan, astronomers throughout history have spent their lives trying to answer the biggest questions in the universe. Now, award-winning astronomer Emily Levesque shares the stories of modern-day stargazers in this new nonfiction release, the people willing to adventure across high mountaintops and to some of the most remote corners of the planet, all in the name of science.

From the lonely quiet of midnight stargazing to tall tales of wild bears loose in the observatory, The Last Stargazers is a love letter to astronomy and an affirmation of the crucial role that humans can and must play in the future of scientific discovery.

In this sweeping work of narrative science, Levesque shows how astronomers in this scrappy and evolving field are going beyond the machines to infuse creativity and passion into the stars and space and inspires us all to peer skyward in pursuit of the universe’s secrets.

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EMILY LEVESQUE is a professor at the University of Washington and lives in Seattle. She received her SB in physics from MIT and a PhD from the University of Hawaii. She has won the American Astronomical Society’s Annie Jump Cannon Award and Newton Lacy Pierce Prize, among other awards.

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Levesque is an enthusiastic speaker, and Dana Stabenow is excited about the topic. Enjoy the event!

You might have missed Laura Bradford’s chat with The Poisoned Pen’s John Charles because of the holidays. Bradford’s latest book, the first in a new series, is A Plus One for Murder. It’s available through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/bdf7y9b4

Here’s the summary of A Plus One for Murder.

Entrepreneur Emma Westlake is reinventing herself as a hired friend when murder gets in the way in this exciting new mystery series from USA Today bestselling author Laura Bradford.

Emma Westlake has always wanted to be in business for herself. As a kid, she had her own successful lemonade stand and dog-walking business. And when she entered adulthood, Emma sunk all her cash into her dream job of travel planning. But as her customers became more and more internet savvy, the need for her services declined. At a loss for what to do next, she turns to an elderly friend who suggests she try to get paid for doing something she’s really good at–being a paid companion. Emma thinks it’s a crazy idea until requests start pouring in. Big Max from down the block wants her to act as his wingman at the local senior center’s upcoming dance, nurse practitioner Stephanie needs a workout partner, and writer Brian Hill asks Emma to be his cheering section at an open mic night.

Brian will be reading from his latest work and wants to know someone will clap for him when he’s done. When Emma balks at the notion that people wouldn’t, he tells her the room will be filled with people he’s invited–most of whom will likely want him dead by the time he’s done reading. Assuming he’s joking, she laughs. But when Brian steps up to the mic and clears his throat to speak, he promptly drops dead. Emma is one of the last people to see him alive, and so she becomes an immediate suspect. Now she’ll have to cozy up to a killer to save her skin and her new business.

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While spending a rainy afternoon at a friend’s house as a child, Laura Bradford fell in love with writing over a stack of blank paper, a box of crayons, and a freshly sharpened number-two pencil. From that moment forward, she never wanted to do or be anything else. Today, Laura is the USA Today bestselling author of the Amish Mysteries, including Just Plain Murder and A Churn for the Worse. She is also the author of the Emergency Dessert Squad Mysteries, and, as Elizabeth Lynn Casey, she wrote the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries.

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Enjoy the conversation with Laura Bradford and John Charles.

T. Jefferson Parker’s upcoming virtual event for The Poisoned Pen is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 10 at 7 PM MST (9 PM EST). He’ll be talking about 1968, and his latest book, A Thousand Steps. You can still order a signed copy of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3sXQWRp

Before you check out the summary of the book, Parker did an interview for CriminalElement in November in which he talked about “The Books Behind A Thousand Steps“. You might be interested in checking out the titles he said inspired his novel. https://www.criminalelement.com/the-books-behind-a-thousand-steps/

Here’s the description of A Thousand Steps.

A Thousand Steps is a beguiling thriller, an incisive coming-of-age story, and a vivid portrait of a turbulent time and place by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker.

Laguna Beach, California, 1968. The Age of Aquarius is in full swing. Timothy Leary is a rock star. LSD is God. Folks from all over are flocking to Laguna, seeking peace, love, and enlightenment.

Matt Anthony is just trying get by.

Matt is sixteen, broke, and never sure where his next meal is coming from. Mom’s a stoner, his deadbeat dad is a no-show, his brother’s fighting in Nam . . . and his big sister Jazz has just gone missing. The cops figure she’s just another runaway hippie chick, enjoying a summer of love, but Matt doesn’t believe it. Not after another missing girl turns up dead on the beach.

All Matt really wants to do is get his driver’s license and ask out the girl he’s been crushing on since fourth grade, yet it’s up to him to find his sister. But in a town where the cops don’t trust the hippies and the hippies don’t trust the cops, uncovering what’s really happened to Jazz is going to force him to grow up fast.

If it’s not already too late.

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T. Jefferson Parker is the author of numerous novels and short stories, the winner of three Edgar Awards (for Silent Joe, California 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.

Emily Levesque, author of The Last Stargazers, will appear virtually on Facebook and YouTube for The Poisoned Pen on Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 5 PM (7 PM EST), hosted by author Dana Stabenow. Levesque is an award-winning astrophysicist whose book is available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3pOb7z8

Before you watch the event, you might want to check out Levesque’s TED Talk, “A Stellar History of Modern Astronomy.

Here’s the description of The Last Stargazers.

The story of the people who see beyond the stars—an astronomy book for adults still spellbound by the night sky.

Humans from the earliest civilizations through today have craned their necks each night, using the stars to orient themselves in the large, strange world around them. Stargazing is a pursuit that continues to fascinate us: from Copernicus to Carl Sagan, astronomers throughout history have spent their lives trying to answer the biggest questions in the universe. Now, award-winning astronomer Emily Levesque shares the stories of modern-day stargazers in this new nonfiction release, the people willing to adventure across high mountaintops and to some of the most remote corners of the planet, all in the name of science.

From the lonely quiet of midnight stargazing to tall tales of wild bears loose in the observatory, The Last Stargazers is a love letter to astronomy and an affirmation of the crucial role that humans can and must play in the future of scientific discovery.

In this sweeping work of narrative science, Levesque shows how astronomers in this scrappy and evolving field are going beyond the machines to infuse creativity and passion into the stars and space and inspires us all to peer skyward in pursuit of the universe’s secrets.

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EMILY LEVESQUE is a professor at the University of Washington and lives in Seattle. She received her SB in physics from MIT and a PhD from the University of Hawaii. She has won the American Astronomical Society’s Annie Jump Cannon Award and Newton Lacy Pierce Prize, among other awards.

James Rollins is guest author on Tuesday, January 4. The event will be broadcast on Facebook and YouTube at 7 PM (9 PM EST). One topic will be his current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen, The Starless Crown. Signed copies are available through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/2p8cv37u

Here’s the description of Rollins’ fantasy novel, The Starless Crown.

An alliance embarks on a dangerous journey to uncover the secrets of the distant past and save their world in this captivating, deeply visionary adventure from #1 New York Times bestselling thriller-master James Rollins.

A gifted student foretells an apocalypse. Her reward is a sentence of death.

Fleeing into the unknown she is drawn into a team of outcasts:

A broken soldier, who once again takes up the weapons he’s forbidden to wield and carves a trail back home.

A drunken prince, who steps out from his beloved brother’s shadow and claims a purpose of his own.

An imprisoned thief, who escapes the crushing dark and discovers a gleaming artifact – one that will ignite a power struggle across the globe.

On the run, hunted by enemies old and new, they must learn to trust each other in order to survive in a world evolved in strange, beautiful, and deadly ways, and uncover ancient secrets that hold the key to their salvation.

But with each passing moment, doom draws closer.

WHO WILL CLAIM THE STARLESS CROWN?

---

JAMES ROLLINS is the #1 New York Times bestseller of international thrillers, sold to over forty countries. His Sigma series has earned national accolades and has topped charts around the world. He is also a practicing veterinarian, who still spends time underground or underwater as an avid spelunker and diver.

With The Poisoned Pen closed until January 3, the blog will take a short break as well. Enjoy the weekend! Happy Reading in 2022!

2021 is still winding down, but The Poisoned Pen is already geared up for 2022. Check out the list of authors appearing in January. After you watch the virtual event on The Poisoned Pen’s Facebook or YouTube page, you can find the books in the Web Store. Or, if one of these authors is a favorite,, don’t miss the chance to own the book. Buy it now! https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s the schedule for early January (always subject to change).