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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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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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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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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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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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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