NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
THE UNRESOLVED
THE UNRESOLVED has been nominated for a 2007 Teens' Top 10. Sponsored by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) and the YA Galley Committee, the Teensâ Top 10 is the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. Fifteen (15) teen groups sifted through Advance Readerâs Copies/Galleys to find the best books for teens published in 2006 and 2007. This year, 25 titles made it through the laborious process and were nominated for the Teensâ Top 10. In order to be nominated, a book must be selected by 3 different teens from within these 15 groups.
VOTE here for your favorites during Teen Read Week ~ October 14 - 20, 2007! It only takes a few seconds -- just 3 clicks!
THE WAVE
J.G. Sandom's THE WAVE is finally available @ lulu.com and through most major booksellers and online bookstores.
If you liked GOSPEL TRUTHS or THE HUNTING CLUB, if you enjoyed THE UNRESOLVED or RESURRECTION MEN, check out THE WAVE - A John Decker Thriller.
"Riveting and relentless...Takes Man's impact on our planet's ecosystems to its logical, most horrifying conclusion...Guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat."
When Cryptanalyst John Decker of the FBI is assigned to the Joint Terrorist Task Force in New York, he has no idea he is about to be thrust into a deadly plot of eco-terrorism masterminded by Jihadist El Aqrab, the Scorpion, recently arrested after slaughtering a family in Tel Aviv.
Following the theft of 8 kilos of Highly Enriched Uranium, an ultimatum is issued to the West: Release El Aqrab or a nuclear bomb will be detonated. But, at the last moment, El Aqrab escapes and the Israelis never get the bomb.
Now, only Agent Decker, assisted by brilliant and beautiful oceanographer Emily Swenson, can solve the mystery of the bombâs unexpected destination â La Palma, in the Canary Island chain. Deckerâs convinced that El Aqrabâs real plan is to blow up the Cumbre Vieja volcano in order to set off a mega-tsunami.
Decker and Swenson have only six hours to stop El Aqrab, defuse the bomb, and prevent an eighteen-storey wave from annihilating the Eastern Seaboard.
For an excerpt of THE WAVE, click here. Read the first Section and see what you think. We'll be adding a new chapter from the book each month until THE GOD MACHINE goes on sale in 2008. Enjoy!
To buy your copy, click here.
THE GOD MACHINE
THE GOD MACHINE, the long-awaited sequel to GOSPEL TRUTHS, is currently with the publisher. The novel is scheduled to be released by Bantam in 2008.
When Ben Franklin's coded journal is accidentally unearthed in Philadelphia, it reveals the presence of a secret map, hidden by Franklin at the birth of our nation, a map to the possible resting place of the Gospel of Judas -- a 2,000-year-old Gnostic text that threatens to unravel Christianity and to undermine the very foundation of the Church.
Working unwittingly for a secret Gnostic Masonic lodge, mathematician and architect Joseph Koster (who appeared in GOSPEL TRUTHS), accompanied by the beautiful and intelligent engineer Savita Sajan, begin a quest to discover the gospel's hiding place, a quest that takes them from Philadelphia to England and France.
But they are not alone. For the Knights Hospitaller of Malta, military agents of the Catholic Church in Rome, and minions of the Evangelical Christian right, are right behind them...and they'll do anything, kill anyone, to prevent the discovery of the Gospel of Judas.
All seems lost when Koster realizes that Franklin's map leads not just to the Gospel of Judas, but reveals a plan for the construction of a terrible device -- a God machine -- that, if completed, would open a doorway to heaven itself...or to hell.
IN OTHER NEWS
GOSPEL TRUTHS
Before The Da Vinci Code...before Holy Blood, Holy Grail and Labyrinth...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.
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.)
The results are in for last month's READERS' POLL. The question was, "What did Mr. Tipple drop onto the table at the Naked Boy pub?" 67% of you got this right. Congratulations! The correct answer was, "The freshly pulled jawbone of a man." 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.]
(NOTE: J.G. Sandom writes his young adult novels under the name T.K. Welsh.)
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 was recently nominated for a Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 2007 Teens' Top Ten, the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. The novel was previously 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 UNRESOLVED 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 September)
THE WAVE -- Reader Reviews
Maria @ www.lulu.com
"I've never read any of Sandom's books before but if they're anything like The Wave, I'm running out to buy them. Decker is a great character, resolute and yet flawed in interesting ways all at the same time. The story is relentless, and the action scenes well-crafted. A great thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat. Best of all, it could all come true tomorrow. Fantastic!"
Roninesque @ www.bookcrossing.com
"This book was absolutely riveting. Takes Man's impact on our planet's ecosystems to its logical, most horrifying conclusion. Guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Fantastic and yet highly plausible. A great read."
To buy your copy, click here.
RESURRECTION MEN -- Reader Reviews
Jan @ www.goodreads.com
"A dark story about child enslavement and other horrors of the Victorian age...a fascinating read."
To buy your copy, click here!
THE UNRESOLVED-- Editorial Reviews
Oz and Ends
"...I found the language of The Unresolved to be its strongest point: poetic, interesting, and evocative of the turn of the last century. The writing and imagination were strong enough for me to put (Sandom's) second historical novel for young people, Resurrection Men, on my list of books to read."
Gemini Moon
"A good suspence book...well written. The courtroom scenes reminded me a lot of the scenes from To Kill a Mockingbird."
To buy your copy, click here!
THE UNRESOLVED-- Reader Reviews
Teen Reviewer @ 2007 Teens' Top Ten Book Nominees
"Brilliant story, beautifully written."
To buy your copy, click here!
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