Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

Liz Garrigan

Of All Places

A Nashville journalist maps a Syrian-American restaurateur’s moving journey to Hendersonville

By turns heartbreaking and inspiring, Jordan Ritter Conn’s The Road from Raqqa recounts in vivid detail the triumphs and grim realities of a Syrian immigrant, Riyad Alkasem, struggling to make a new life in the U.S. while trying to maintain family bonds across the world. Conn will appear with Riyad Alkasem at the 2020 Southern Festival of Books, held online October 1-11.

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Elder Appeal

Frail and failing, retired detective Buck Schatz defends lethal punishment for a serial killer he put away

When last we checked on author Daniel Friedman’s character Buck Schatz, we were hoping the long-retired Memphis police detective would make it to his next decade — in spite of his medical issues, miserable outlook, and unwavering commitment to Lucky Strikes. Fortunately for fans of memorable mysteries, Friedman has delivered the third book in the series, which, given that Schatz is now nearly 90, is aptly titled Running Out of Road.

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Great Expectations

Former UN ambassador Samantha Power considers the reality of imperfect outcomes

Part captivating study in modern foreign affairs and part working mother tell-all, former U.N. ambassador Samantha Power’s The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir should be required reading for anyone who wants to make a difference in a complicated world. Power will appear at the 2019 Southern Festival of books, held in Nashville on October 11-13.

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Unhappy Endings

How a big-time swindler turned a young Knoxville woman’s life upside down

In My Friend Anna, Knoxville native Rachel DeLoache Williams delivers a fast-paced tell-all about her whirlwind friendship with Anna Delvey, the now-notorious New York con artist who posed as a rich German heiress. Williams will appear at Union Avenue Books in Knoxville on August 25.

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Real-Life Applications

Scott Hylbert’s debut thriller is scary because its implications are so authentic.

In the age of Craigslist killers, illicit mail-order drugs, and cryptocurrencies, debut Nashville author Scott Hylbert renders a thriller about a Silicon Valley service-for-hire startup that’s chilling in its implications.

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Secret Lives

Mania meets narcissism—and murder—in R.J. Jacobs’s debut thriller

In And Then You Were Gone, Nashville debut novelist R.J. Jacobs creates an unlikely heroine in a child psychologist with an unstable past. Jacobs, a practicing psychologist, will appear at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on April 27.

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