Monday, January 17, 2022

Boswell events - VIrtual Events with Nick Petrie (in person at capacity), Jacquelyn Mitchard, Bob Shea

Boswell events for the week!

Tuesday, January 18, 6:30 pm
Nick Petrie, author of The Runaway
In conversation with Margret Petrie
Register for the virtual component event here.

The in-store component of this event is at capacity. We are no longer taking reservations. Signed copies available. Books are 20% off through at least January 24. $5 media mail shipping available in the continental United States.

It’s a thrill to welcome hometown hero Nick Petrie back to Boswell for the release day celebration of his latest Peter Ash thriller, The Runway. In his latest, Ash rescues a woman who’s stranded in Nebraska only to find that both of them are soon in far deeper trouble than he ever imagined. And how cool is that for Petrie to be in conversation with someone who knows him better than just about anybody else.

Jim Higgins reviews The Runaway in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Even in a tense thriller about a serial killer roaming the northern Great Plains, Whitefish Bay novelist Nick Petrie infuses touches of humor...Petrie also gives a bad guy named Wiley the perfect wingmen: a pack of vicious coyotes. But Ash, a creative fighter himself, has a canine card to play, too."

From Booklist: "Petrie creates fully fleshed, likable people only to blow them away in explosions of blood and bone, and the book itself seems to vibrate from the shock. This is a lava-flow of action, and a rich reading experience as well."

Publishers Weekly calls the novel "gripping" and "nail biting." Plus: "Shifting points of view serve to heighten the suspense. This adrenaline-fueled ride will keep readers turning the pages."

From Sarah Weinman in The New York Times: "Of all the characters vying for Jack Reacher’s thriller throne...my current favorite is Peter Ash, the itinerant, PTSD-afflicted war veteran of Nick Petrie’s seven-book-strong series."

And Kirkus: "Readers might guess the story's outcome, but the trip is violent and downright frightening fun. And they will admire Helene, who will do anything to protect herself and the baby in her belly. She believes that 'fortune favors the bold.' Roy is obsessed with her and the mistaken thought that she's having twins, but if he ever finds out the truth, she's dead. The monster is a bottomless wellspring of shootings and neck snappings, and the story's survivors tie up the plot in a neat bow. This is one hellacious ride for crime fiction fans."

If you haven't read Nick Petrie, what are you waiting for?

Milwaukee-area native Nick Petrie is the author of six novels in the Peter Ash series, most recently The Breaker. His debut, The Drifter, won both the ITW Thriller award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel, and was a finalist for the Edgar and the Hammett Awards. Margret Petrie is a visual artist and creativity podcaster.

Wednesday, January 19, 7 pm
Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Good Son
in conversation with Karen Dionne for a virtual event
Register for this virtual event here.

Join us for a special virtual evening with Jacquelyn Mitchard, the beloved author of The Deep End of the Ocean (the very first Oprah Book Club pick!) and Cage of Stars, and former Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist. In conversation with Karen Dionne, author of The Marsh King's Daughter and The Wicked Sister.

Books
are 20% off through at least January 24. $5 media mail shipping available in the continental United States. This event is cohosted by Books & Company - you can buy copies from them here.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard comes the gripping, emotionally charged novel of a mother who must help her son after he is convicted of a devastating crime. What do you do when the person you love best becomes unrecognizable to you? For Thea Demetriou, the answer is both simple and agonizing: you keep loving him somehow.

Stefan was just seventeen when he went to prison for the drug-fueled murder of his girlfriend, Belinda. Three years later, he’s released to a world that refuses to let him move on. Thea struggles to understand her son. At times, he is still the sweet boy he has always been; at others, he is a young man tormented by guilt and almost broken by his time in prison. But as his efforts to make amends meet escalating resistance and threats, Thea suspects more forces are at play than just community outrage. And if there is so much she never knew about her own son, what other secrets has she yet to uncover about the night Belinda died?


From Library Journal: "Mitchard's emotional yet precise writing sets readers firmly in the story, amid the Wisconsin weather and the characters, from Thea's calm football coach husband to her not-so-sympathetic colleagues at the university where she teaches."

From Booklist: "Mitchard devotes more time to the mystery of Esme and Thea's over-protectiveness of her son than she does to exploring guilt and punishment, but this is a compassionate tale with a gripping, ripped-from-the-headlines premise."

From Christina Baker Kline: "This novel, about a family and a community wracked by grief, regret, and rage over the murder of a teenage girl, is gripping, heart-rending, and quietly devastating."

From Karin Slaughter: "Not since The Deep End of the Ocean has Mitchard so profoundly examined the layered motherhood narrative. The Good Son is timely, gripping, suspenseful, and resonant. Mitchard's best yet by far."

Plus more from Kristin Hannah, Jodi Picoult, Scott Turow, Lisa Genova.

Jacquelyn Mitchard is author of twelve novels for adults, seven novels for teenagers, and five children's books. Her short stories, articles, essays and book reviews have been widely published. Mitchard is a frequent lecturer and a professor of fiction and creative nonfiction at Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.

Thursday, January 20, 9:30 am
Bob Shea, author of Chez Bob
Virtual School Event – Open to the Public
Register for this Elmbrook Schools event here.

We're glad to invite you to join a special, open to the public school visit from the Eisner Award-nominated author/illustrator Bob Shea, who'll offer up a special presentation on Chez Bob, one of our favorite newer picture books that asks that oh-so-important question: can a hungry alligator learn to be a good friend? This special event is hosted by Elmbrook School District.

This virtual school visit program will be broadcast via On24, so click this sentence and register for it right now! This event is great for parents, kids, and homeschoolers, plus it's a great opportunity for teachers who might not otherwise be able to set up virtual events for their classrooms to present a wonderful author to your students. You can (and should!) also order your copy of Chez Bob now, too, at 20% off and $5 media mail shipping in the continental United States. Schools can place orders through our school events coordinator Jenny.

Welcome to Chez Bob, which seems like a real restaurant, until you realize... it's located on an alligator's NOSE! Bob's got a hidden plan for his customers: "Birds will come to eat, but I will eat the birds!" As they fly in from all over the world to dine on Bob's face, something starts to happen that takes the lazy, hungry reptile by surprise - the birds stay. "More yummy birds!" he rejoices - he'll want for nothing! But when the time is right, will Bob make the right choice?

Boswellian Jen Steele gives Chez Bob her seal of approval, saying, "What starts out as a devious plan by a lazy but hungry alligator soon turns into a story of friendship and trust. Bob Shea's latest is sure to be a family favorite."

From Kirkus: "Readers will laugh at this funny story, told mostly via Bob's hilariously self-centered, dryly witty dialogue. He's a riotous hoot whose nature is shown to develop subtly, and kids will cheer for the heartwarming ending. Appropriately droll illustrations perfectly match the lively shenanigans and depict Bob with a toothy, expressive mug. This is one to devour."

Bob Shea is author of Who Wet My Pants?, Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great, the Dinosaur Vs series, and many more hilarious books for young people.

Photo credits!
Nick Petrie by Troy Fox
Karen Dionne by Robert Bruce
Bob Shea by Colleen Shea

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