CANCELLED 9/30/20 DUE TO COVID19*
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Authors Discussion & Signing with D.M. Pirrone and Adam J. Shafer
Titles (respectively): Promises to the Dead: A Hanley & Rivka Mystery
Never Walk Back
Date: October 11, 2020
Day: Sunday
Time: 2 PM
* SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE IN STORE!
About the Author
D. M. Pirrone is the nom de plume of Diane Piron-Gelman. She lives near Chicago with her husband and sons. Her debut novel, No Less in Blood, was published by Five Star in 2011. She is also the author of the Hanley & Rivka Mysteries, Shall We Not Revenge (2014), For You Were Strangers (2015), and Promises to the Dead (2020) – all published by Allium Press of Chicago.
About the Book
As Chicago recovers from the Great Fire of 1871, the Civil War continues to haunt its residents. What begins for Detective Frank Hanley as the simple case of a missing railroad clerk quickly escalates into something much more complex. Ezra Hayes, who has made a daring escape from forced servitude on a Louisiana sugar plantation, brings to Chicago proof of nefarious doings in the South. His information implicates the missing clerk’s employer, a major shipper of sugar. As Hanley struggles to untangle the web of circumstances surrounding the railroad’s role in the clerk’s disappearance, Rivka Kelmansky faces her own personal struggle. Her brother is pressuring her to marry a young man from her tight-knit Jewish community, but she still dreams of forging a new life with Hanley. When her mulatto sister-in-law is wrongfully accused of murder, Rivka turns to Hanley for help. Facing opposition on multiple fronts, they must race against time to save Ada’s life and uncover the shocking truth.
About the Author
Adam J. Shafer’s short stories have appeared in a number of literary magazines. His story “Brushed Nickel” received Honorable Mention in the Carve Magazine Raymond Carver Contest in 2013, and he received The Jabberwock Review Nancy D. Hargrove Prize for Fiction in 2014 for his story “Fugue.” Never Walk Back is his debut novel. He lives in Chicago with his family.
About the Book
All Ruth Casper wants is to make her mark on the world, but in the post-Civil War South she’s considered a person of no consequence. After witnessing a speeding locomotive massacre a herd of wild elk, she conjures up the design for an improved railroad brake. It’s based on an invention that her husband, Henry, a tinkerer and a dreamer, has been unable to bring to reality. Ruth encourages him to construct the brake, and the two of them undergo a perilous trip north to Washington to have it patented. There they encounter Augustus Windom, the man-child heir to his father’s railroad empire, who’s obsessed with establishing his own legacy. When he decides that he’d rather steal Henry’s creation than pay for it honestly, the three of them set upon a collision course with each other that has far-reaching consequences. Rich in historical details, this novel will appeal equally to railroad enthusiasts and readers who enjoy stories about women who chase their dreams with boldness and grit.
