NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
GOSPEL TRUTHS
Before The Da Vinci Code, before Holy Blood, Holy Grail, before The Secret ... there was GOSPEL TRUTHS!
Re-released after more than a decade, it's time to read the book that started it all.
THE GOD MACHINE
J.G. Sandom is just weeks away from completing THE GOD MACHINE, the long-awaited sequel to GOSPEL TRUTHS. The book is due out next year.
THE GOD MACHINE
The first draft of THE GOD MACHINE, the long-awaited sequel to GOSPEL TRUTHS, has finally been delivered to the publisher. THE GOD MACHINE is scheduled to be released by Bantam next year.
Meanwhile, it's gratifying to see that books continue to live, long after their pub dates. Sites like BookCrossing are encouraging book-owners to "release" books into the wild so that they can be "caught" and enjoyed by new readers. Both THE HUNTING CLUB and GOSPEL TRUTHS have been "released" in such far-off locations as Soux Falls, South Dakota, and Queanbeyan, New South Wales (Australia)!
THE UNRESOLVED
THE UNRESOLVED has been nominated for a Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 2007 Teens' Top Ten Books. The list is compiled by teen reading groups from all across the country. They nominate their favorite books, and then give everyone else a chance to vote. VOTE for your favorites during Teen Read Week ~ October 14 - 20, 2007 ~ @ www.ala.org/teenstopten/!
A shout-out to Cindy Valler for adding THE UNRESOLVED to her Recommended Books to Read list at Thistles and Pirates. Cindy has written for Appraisal: Science Books for Young People and Library Media Connection, and currently reviews books for Historical Novels Review and Pirates and Privateers.
IN OTHER NEWS
GOSPEL TRUTHS
J.G. Sandom's most recent TV interview on "Breezin' with Bierman" is available at YouTube. See the author read from GOSPEL TRUTHS, and chat about his other recent publications. Sandom is also featured under One to Watch at BookReporter.com. Check out the in-depth author interview.
Booklist called GOSPEL TRUTHS, "a splendid, tautly woven thriller ... (and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth." Library Journal said,"A masterful first novel, based on a true incident, which spins a complicated web of corruption, greed and deception." Mostly Murder characterized it as, "A fascinating mystery ... captivating and engrossing." And the (New York Daily) News said, "GOSPEL TRUTHS is a monumental novel of suspense ... almost epic in proportion ... complex, yet skillfully crafted."
When City of London Police Inspector Nigel Lyman is assigned to investigate the death of a notorious Italian Banker found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London, the inquiry leads him to the Amiens and Chartres cathedrals in France in pursuit of a shadowy arch criminal -- leader of a corrupt Masonic lodge, the I Four -- intent on acquiring an ancient Gnostic Gospel whose discovery would undermine the very foundations of Christianity.
For an excerpt from GOSPEL TRUTHS, click here.
To challenge yourself with a GOSPEL TRUTHS puzzle, click here
To buy your copy, click here.
RESURRECTION MEN
RESURRECTION MEN has been named a Junior Library Guild selection. (NOTE: J.G. Sandom writes his young adult novels under the name T.K. Welsh.)
And a heartfelt thank you to New York's Sullivan County Board of Cooperative Education Services for nominating RESURRECTION MEN for a mock Michael L. Prinz Award. Much appreciated!
Finally, RESURRECTION MEN, was just selected as an "Under the Radar" book (Friday, August 31st, 2007), by Collen Mondor at Chasing Ray. Thanks Colleen. To read the complete "Under the Radar" review from YA YA YAs, click here.
The results are in for last month's READERS' POLL. The question was, "What did Victor see when he looked through the glass doors into Dr. Crumm's house?" With almost 78% of the vote, the correct answer was, "Rebecca, riding naked on a carousel." For the results of previous Polls, click here.
Publishers Weekly called RESURRECTION MEN, "A haunting tour of London's underclass during the 1830s...(Sandom's) visceral descriptions of industrial London are unflinching...Teens will likely be both captivated by Victor's harrowing story as well as his ability to prevail in the face of harsh injustices." VOYA said, "(Sandom's) plot and writing style are reminiscent of Oliver Twist by Dickens but far more graphic. Teen readers will thoroughly enjoy the hair-raising suspense in this historical thriller." And KLIATT said, "Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory."
Inspired by the 1831 "Italian Boy trial" of body snatchers in London, England, RESURRECTION MEN is a spine-tingling murder mystery that pits a beggar boy named Victor against a nefarious group of Resurrection Men. In this tumultuous dark underworld, where a fresh subject can fetch as much as nine guineas -- the yearly salary of a working man -- Victor must risk his life to uncover the identity of the murderer who is at the heart of London's furtive trade in human corpses.
For a sample chapter of RESURRECTION MEN, click here.
If you already own a copy, click here to access a secret section of the site...just for you. [NOTE: Make sure to enter the name Secret (S-e-c-r-e-t) and the correct Password, printed at the rear of the book.]
To buy your copy, click here!
THE UNRESOLVED
Ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2006 by the Washington Post, THE UNRESOLVED has been nominated for a Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 2007 Teens' Top Ten Books. The novel was named a 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Teens by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, which recognized only six works in Jewish teen literature this year. The novel was also nominated for the 2006 Cybils literary awards, and for the 2007 Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) by the American Library Association. It's currently featured as one of the Best Teen Books of the year 2006 at BarnesAndNoble.com.
The Washington Post said, "(Sandom) writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction." School Library Journal said, "THE UNRESOLVED tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way." Horn Book Magazine called THE UNRESOLVED, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story ... (and) a tightly wound novel." Kirkus Reviews termed it, "A remarkable account." Romantic Times said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a book you shouldn't pass up." The Edge of the Forest said, "It may be the most beautifully written novel I've read this year." All About the Book said, "The Unresolved is a great one. Mallory is the most well-developed ghostly character I've seen in a long, long time..." And Midwest Book Review called THE UNRESOLVED, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story."
Inspired by the tragic events of 9/11, THE UNRESOLVED reaches back into history to explore what was, until recently, the greatest disaster in New York City history. Based on the sinking of the General Slocum steamship -- which caught fire in the East River, New York, in 1904, resulting in the death of over 1,000 mostly German immigrants on a church outing -- THE UNRESOLVED is at once a ghost story, a courtroom drama, an examination of immigrant life, and a tale of love, redemption and revenge. The novel dramatizes how a single life -- and death -- can have a powerful influence on history.
(NOTE: J.G. Sandom writes his young adult novels under the name T.K. Welsh.)
For a sample chapter of THE UNRESOLVED, click here.
To buy your copy, click here!
REVIEWS (Excerpted in August)
GOSPEL TRUTHS -- Reader Reviews
Lee Titus @ www.jgsandom.com, August 2007
"Wow! Great read! I first encountered the Divine Principle in '75. The mathmatical relationships between science and religion, the spirit world, spiritual life and truth and the physical world, including historical mathmatical developements in human history, is simply mind-boggling yet comforting. What has been hidden is revealed in an open mind and an open heart. May God truly guide your wonderfully magnificent work! Thank you from Lee! P.S. I really look forward to reading The God Machine."
RESURRECTION MEN -- Editorial Reviews
Necropsy -- The Review of Horror Fiction, Summer 2007
"A complex frame tale very loosely based upon the infamous exploits of those most infamous of resurrection men, Burke and Hare...Resurrection Men is a well-written story."
The YA YA YAs, August 2007
"(J.G. Sandom) brings Victor's surroundings, which range from his idyllic days on the English coast to a dirty, squalid, awe-inspiring London, to life in vivid detail. He doesn't flinch from messy, gory descriptions, but neither does he dwell in them. Likewise, Victor is a worthy and sympathetic hero, making the most of his circumstances and determined to save his friends when it becomes apparent that someone is kidnapping and killing London's poor children to supply doctors with corpses."
RESURRECTION MEN -- Reader Reviews
Trevor at www.goodreads.com
"The dark, putrid, gray atmosphere of 1830s London is recreated here in vivid and sometimes brutal detail, accurately reflecting the environment of the era...Welsh has incorporated gothic, mystery, and horror genres into a historical novel that is very readable...The feel of the language of the time has been maintained without getting bogged down in exact replication...The action and pace is steady and quick, rarely pausing, and finishes in an unforgettable, movie-quality fight-to-the-death."
AlchemistsofFlames @ YouTube, August 2007
"Resurrection Men by (J.G. Sandom) was probably my favorite book and the way the author wrote it was amazing."
To buy your copy, click here!
THE UNRESOLVED -- Editorial Reviews
Church and Synagogue Library Association (CSLA), August 2007
"Filled with intrigue, corruption, and revenge motifs, (Sandom) weaves a fast-paced romance with time shifts clearly delineated. This is (Sandom's) first young adult novel, although (he) has written seven books in the adult fiction category. Let's hope this is just the beginning of more young adult books from this author."
To buy your copy, click here!
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