J. G. Sandom ~ Author

The Wave — A John Decker Thriller

Kirkus said, "Sandom’s strength lies in the verve of his story, with writing that has both muscle ... (and) brains . . . Races from improbable to crazywild, all in good fun, with Sandom always one step ahead . . . A story with enough manic energy to be worthy of a nuclear explosion."

 

 

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 El Aqrab, a diabolical killer recently arrested in Tel Aviv whose calling card is to wrap his victims up with incendiary devices designed to produce flames in the shape of Koranic verses.  Some call it aesthetic destruction.

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 authorities never get the bomb.

While Homeland Security is convinced it's headed for New York, only Agent Decker — assisted by brilliant and beautiful oceanographer Emily Swenson — believes the bomb’s true destination is La Palma, in the remote Canary Island chain.

Now, Decker and Swenson have less than six hours to prove their theory, defuse the bomb, and prevent a mega-tsunami from annihilating the Eastern Seaboard.

 

Soon after it was released by Cornucopia Press, The Wave made it onto the Amazon Best Sellers list in the Terrorism Thrillers category: 

 

For an excerpt from The Wave, click here.

To see a host of pictures and videos associated with this title (i.e. turn the novel into a picture book!), click the Follow Me On Pinterest button below.

THE WAVE, Section I - October 2007 Excerpt

J.G. Sandom's THE WAVE is finally available at lulu.com and through most major booksellers and online bookstores.

This first post includes the Prologue and Chapters 1-4.

To view this selection, click here.

What do you think of this excerpt?  Go to Feedback and let the author know.

To buy your copy, click here.

KISS ME, I'M DEAD

Bookslut, October 2007

"Initially, (J.G. Sandom's Kiss Me, I'm Dead) read like a traditional historical novel, albeit with a narrator who dies in the opening chapter. (Sandom) does an excellent job of detailing the tragedy of the General Slocum, a steamship that caught fire in New York’s East River in 1904 and caused the deaths of more than 1,000 people. In the weeks after the accident it was revealed that much of the rescue equipment onboard was unusable, including fire hoses, life boats and life jackets. It’s a rotted life jacket that led to the drowning death of Mallory, the book’s undead protagonist, and is the reason why she is begins haunting many other people.

"The survivors are suspicious and they and their families need to find somebody to blame. The tragedy pulled apart the New York community of Little Germany and the deaths ultimately led to its demise. Mallory moves between family members and friends, sharing their thoughts, and then eases into the lives of those who were responsible for the tragedy, forcing liars to see the truth and not letting others forget. Along the way, she observes what it means to be not only dead, but to have left behind a body that is unrecognizable:

And then it was my turn. I saw my mangled body being lowered down the frightful lip of that mass grave -- great hole for the unrecognized and unremembered. I felt my torso slide, my legs unfold beneath me. Legs wrapped about yet other limbs, despite our individual coffins. And arms and fingers, intertwined. That’s how I stumbled onto Nixie. What was left of her was propped up underneath another girl so that it was hard to tell where one began and the other finished. They had been baked together by the fire. My sister sat there, looking so nonchalant, without fear, without the slightest trepidation. I caught her eye, and I could feel her smile.

"(Kiss Me, I'm Dead) scores on several levels, most notably as a drama that blows apart all preconceived notions of how history can be retold. Mallory is a very engaging protagonist, both alive and dead, but it is as she evolves as a ghost that she will truly resonate with readers. Equal parts naïve and determined, eventually she becomes a force to be reckoned with and the true face of an avenging ghostly angel."

What do you think of this review?  Click on Comments, below.

To buy your copy, click here!

SEPTEMBER, 2007, Readers' Poll

Here are the results for the September, 2007, Readers' Poll.

67% of you got this right.  Congratulations!

What did Mr. Tipple drop onto the table at the Naked Boy pub?

66.7% The freshly pulled jawbone of a man 11.1% A bag of gold coins 11.1% A bottle of rum 0% A blood-covered awl 11.1% Nico's hand

KISS ME, I'M DEAD

FLIP THE SWITCH: TEENS AWAKE, October 2007

"(Kiss Me, I'm Dead) is a historical mystery about the General Slocum steamboat fire. The steamboat fire was the worst disaster in New York City until the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. Sadly, this fire and shipwreck, in which over 1,000 people lost their lives, has largely been forgotten today. The cause of the fire was never determined.

"On June 14, 1904, members of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church boarded the steamboat on the way to their annual end of Sunday School class picnic. Most members of St. Mark’s were German immigrants. The story is told by the ghost of one of the trip takers, fifteen-year-old Mallory Meer. Mallory has a secret rendezvous to meet Dustin, a young Jewish boy she has a crush on and who also happens to be her father’s apprentice. Their secret meeting does not last very long, because soon after the immigrants board the ship, the fire starts. The life jackets were made of cork, and they disintegrated, allowing people to drown instead of float. The life boat bolts were rusted to the side of the boat and all water hoses burst making both items of no use to the trapped passengers.

"Mallory’s ghost chronicles the aftermath of the fire and shipwreck. She attends the coroner’s inquest, which were of great interest to the community. Historical records indicate that over 600 families lost someone in the fire and shipwreck. Mallory follows the life of the key players of the shipwreck throughout the course of the rest of their lives. (Kiss Me, I'm Dead) is a great quick read for those who like historical fiction or who want to know more about this forgotten tragedy.

"(Kiss Me, I'm Dead) is a nominee for the Teens Top 10...If it’s your favorite, don’t forget to place your vote during Teen Read Week, October 14-20, 2007."

Review by Marci @ Duraleigh Road Library

What do you think of this review?  Click on Comments, below.

To buy your copy, click here!

OCTOBER 2007

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 Teens’ Top 10 is the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. Fifteen (15) teen groups sifted through Advance Reader’s 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 Teens’ 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 bomb’s unexpected destination – La Palma, in the Canary Island chain. Decker’s convinced that El Aqrab’s 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!