MacAdam/Cage

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of our publisher, David Poindexter, who died on Monday after a brief battle with cancer.

We may post more here as time permits, but for now please read Bridget Kinsella's thoughtful piece at Shelf Awareness:

"Few people go into the book business thinking they will make a ton of money. Most say they stay in it because of the other people they know who who stay in it. On Monday, we lost one such person, whom many saw as a true champion of the printed word.

Just three months after being diagnosed with cancer, David Poindexter died in his sleep on Monday at the age of 59. In 1998, using the proceeds from a lucrative printing business, he founded MacAdam/Cage, a boutique publishing company dedicated to the discovery of new narrative voices. One of the company's debut books, the memoir Infidelity by Ann Pearlman, landed the author on Oprah's couch."

Read the rest at Shelf Awareness.

Another Great review for Jeffrey B. Burton's The Chessman.

http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/chessman

“The Chessman succeeds in drawing in the reader with action and drama, wearing us down with mystery and suspense, and finally rewarding us for our tenacity by giving us a well-deserved, satisfying ending. . . . Well done; well written.”

“Chess demands total concentration.”
—Bobby Fischer

The Chessman is not unlike the game of chess itself: It’s all about strategy and out thinking your opponent. Jeffrey Burton has succeeded in creating a visual of this fact, allowing the reader to strategize and attempt to think one or two moves ahead as they delve further into this exciting novel.

But while the story is about a mysterious copycat serial killer that confounds the authorities, it’s also about several hardcore bad guys who take delight in torture and murder. That said, The Chessman is not for the faint of heart: Rapes, drownings, beatings, and other miscellaneous inhumane acts are an integral part of the story. The mayhem is perpetrated by characters author Burton created, yet whom I imagine, aren’t entirely fictional.

The story’s protagonist, ex-FBI Special Agent Drew Cady, is reluctantly brought back into the Bureau to help find the copycat killer because of his knowledge about the original killer. And while Cady was able to solve that case, he was maimed and almost killed in the process. The ordeal of that investigation sullied his reputation and cost him his marriage. Now that a murderer of the same ilk as the chessman has surfaced, Cady has a shot at rebuilding his self-esteem as well as his standing among his peers.

The Chessman is a journey with peaks and valleys that are sure to challenge readers. The author plants clues along the way, some of which will aid the reader in determining who wears the white hats, while others are meant to detour readers away from the truth. Regardless, it all adds up to one heckuva good story. And while there may be perhaps a few too many characters, Mr. Burton does a fine job in developing the ones who carry the story.

Equally enjoyable is the fact that there is a puzzling financial component involved—one that makes Bernie Madoff’s scheme look childish in comparison. That element adds contemporary realism and forces the reader to try to analyze the mechanics of the fraud. The two dynamics—murders and Ponzi schemes—make The Chessman a timely and compelling mystery.

The Chessman succeeds in drawing in the reader with action and drama, wearing us down with mystery and suspense, and finally rewarding us for our tenacity by giving us a well-deserved, satisfying ending.

Mr. Burton also does an excellent job in describing the gritty action scenes, creating an element of suspense and horror that may cause some readers to flinch. Other parts of the story have some pretty incredible action that makes this novel a thriller as well. Easy to picture this story up on the big screen.

Well done; well written.
Reviewer John M. Wills is the author of Gripped by Fear (TotalRecall Publications), the second novel in the Chicago Warriors Thriller Series. His book, Targeted, won 1st Place in 2011 at the Public Safety Writers Association Convention; he is also a former Chicago Police Officer and retired FBI Agent.

Great review from Nancy Fontaine on Blogcritics.org and Seattlepi

http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-The-Weight-of-Memory-by-Jennifer-3572225.php

Related author: Jeffrey B. Burton

The Chessman, by Jeffrey B. Burton was voted one of the best new books of the week by Publishers Weekly!

PW Picks: The Best New Books for the week of May 21, 2012

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/book-news/tip-sheet/article/52008-pw-picks-the-best-new-books-for-the-week-of-may-21-2012.html

The Chessman by Jeffrey B. Burton (MacAdam/Cage, $25; ISBN 978-1-59692-370-6).
Burton’s outstanding serial killer thriller, which opens with the murder of the new SEC commissioner in Washington, D.C., offers plot convolutions that are both mind-boggling and well-conceived. Even seasoned practitioners of this subgenre will be impressed.

A Silence of Mockingbirds: The Memoir of a Murder
by Karen Spears Zacharias

In the era of Nancy Grace, calling for vengeance for the murder of children has become a kind of pornography. But the literary merits of A Silence of Mockingbirds, a memoir by former crime reporter Karen Spears Zacharias, outweigh any prurient interest, and the art with which she carefully reconstructs events leading up to a senseless, painful tragedy is reminiscent of In Cold Blood in its power.

In 2005, three-year-old Karly Sheehan was beaten to death in Corvallis, Ore., by her mother's boyfriend, who was subsequently jailed after a high-profile trial. Both Karly's father and her daycare provider had noticed suspicious physical signs and behavior leading up to the little girl's death, but a sloppy inquiry by the state left Karly in harm's way. Zacharias, a foster mother of sorts to Karly's mother, is admittedly biased here, but her reaction to the overwhelming atrocity is the awakening of a pure reportorial instinct to ferret out every detail in order to bring out the truth. In doing so, Zacharias employs a sure sense of pace and description that enables this heartbreaking, never-salacious memoir to read like a thriller.

Zacharias intends A Silence of Mockingbirds as a call to action, a "never again" plea. Indeed, Karly's case has inspired legislation designed to strengthen abuse investigations. But Zacharias has, perhaps unwittingly, created something else. For if the point of art is to touch, to affect, to say something profound about the human condition, than A Silence of Mockingbirds is more than a rallying cry; it is a work of art.--Cherie Ann Parker, freelance journalist and book critic

Discover: A reported memoir that reinforces the power of storytelling in the wake of human tragedy.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59692-370-6

Bookseller Kathleen Caldwell, Joe Di Prisco, Dorothy Smith, reporter Bridget Kinsella, David Poindexter, Daniel Neeson

The theme was "Meet me at the Mausoleum" as over 200 well wishers got together at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland to give Joe Di Prisco's new novel All for Now a good send off into the world of great books.

Check out the Shelf Awareness story on the attached link. 

www.shelf-awareness.com

Here's a link for the New York Times obituary for William Gay written by Bruce Weber - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/arts/william-gay-novelist-rooted-in-tennessee-dies-at-70.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries

We are heartbroken to report that our dear friend and author William Gay passed away Thursday night of an apparent heart attack.  He was the author of three novels - The Long Home, Provinces of Night, and Twilight which was acclaimed by Entertainment Weekly as the best novel of 2007. 

He also published numerous short stories, critical articles, and essays. William was working on his latest novel Lost Country and was due to deliver the final manuscript next month. We will post more information about this remarkable person and his stellar career when the shock has eased a bit. On a personal note, I was honored to visit William on occasion at his cabin in Tennessee and these meetings were like going to church for me as we sat for hours talking books and baseball under a pall of tobacco smoke and that unique sweet smell of a house full of books. He was a genius of a man and a writer, but more so a wonderful friend. – D. Poindexter

Related author: Joseph Di Prisco

Looks like Joe Di Prisco's ALL FOR NOW is going to be a favorite with booksellers:

"Joseph Di Prisco has crafted a completely original thriller. What happens
AFTER we die? It's the question Brother Stephen asks in Di Prisco's All for
Now. Can Brother Stephen solve the case he was working on when he died or can he discover how he got where he is and why he's still here? The quick pace and sharp writing make All for Now a book you can't bear to put down." – Kathleen Caldwell, A Great Good Place for Books

“It is especially moving to read a book that looks so broadly at the ubiquitous issue of Roman Catholicism and pedophilia. Brother Stephen, the novel's narrator and protagonist, dies suddenly in the midst of managing a lawsuit dealing with the alleged abuse of a former student by his former mentor - Brother Charlie. Shannon, the plaintiff, is also a former "friend" of Stephen's. The distance that the afterlife affords Stephen gives the book its psychological charge. Suddenly, it is simultaneously the late 1960's and the present moment, and our culturally shifting views of this ever-existing problem collide. Joseph Di Prisco has given us a brave, bumbling, soul-searching hero whose wry humor only enhances his honesty.”
- Jan Weissmiller, Prairie Lights Books

We have a few hardcover first editions in our warehouse of Under the Harrow by Mark Dunn and a marketing "genius" here thought it would be a good idea to give these away since we're coming out with paperback version next month. Okay, so the only catch is that you read the book and if you like it (which of course you will), tell people about it so we can sell a bunch of paperbacks. Shoot us your address and we'll ship you a free book - orders@macadamcage.com.

Related author: Karen Spears Zacharias

“A Silence of Mockingbirds is beautifully written by a very talented investigative journalist. But, even more, this is Karen Zacharias's  own story too, one of trust betrayed. A tragic book that we should all take to heart. We cannot change the past but we can save children who are in peril now. Karen has given us Karly's legacy, that of a small, bright spirit who loved and was loved. And yet destroyed by heedless caretakers. A must read. Compelling and heartbreaking.” - Ann Rule, author of Don’t Look Behind You and In the Still of the Night

Great early PW review for Joe Di Prisco's All for Now!

Di Prisco (Sun City) takes a bold and unexpectedly amusing look at the unfortunately joined subjects of religion and pedophilia. When Brother Stephen, an administrator of a Roman Catholic religious teaching order dealing with lawsuits from former students who claimed to have been molested by his brothers, suddenly dies, he finds himself in the afterlife—driving a Prius in Northern California as an NPR interview of himself plays on the radio. Needless to say, he’s shocked and confused, but he discovers that this is only the beginning of the oddities he will soon encounter. He returns to an amorphous afterlife version of his former high school, where, in a nod to Orwell, all doors lead to “Room 101,” and one of them holds his old girlfriend Shannon, now a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits. The dreamlike events that ensue with not only Shannon but also former mentor Brother Charlie and a student Brother Stephen taught 30 years ago forces Stephen to confront truths that he would rather have left unexamined. Though Di Prisco takes a heartbreaking look at the scars left by pedophilia, and some readers will surely feel anger at the sins, the tale unfolds, bravely, with much humor thanks to Brother Stephen’s bemused narration. Agent: Elisabeth Trupin-Pulli, JET Literary Associates. (Mar)

MacAdam/Cage has a new website!

After our old site was infected with an sql virus transmitted by an internet bot (whatever all that means), our good friends at Sonnet Media (thanks Sean and Jim) have gotten us back up and running again. It will take a little more time to slowly get all of our information loaded up and your patience is much appreciated. Now we can focus on trying to figure out what this Facebook and Twitter stuff is all about.

Author Howard Bahr has been awarded the Mississippi Governor’s Award for Excellence in Literature. Mr. Bahr is the author of The Black Flower (Nautical & Aviation Press, 1997), The Year of Jubilo (Henry Holt, 2000), The Judas Field (Henry Holt, 2006), and Pelican Road (MacAdam/Cage, 2008).

The Governor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts are presented annually to outstanding writers, artists, performers, craftsmen and educators who have made significant and lasting contributions through their work.

A Silence of Mockingbirds: The Memoir of a Murder by Karen Spears Zacharias will be published April 1, 2012 as a tie-in to Child Abuse Prevention Month. This new MacAdam/Cage title has recently received the support and endorsement from the national organization CHILDHELP.  “Karen Spears Zacharias has written a compassionate and comprehensive story of how abuse affects us all,” according to Sara O’Meara, Chairman & CEO and Yvonne Gedderson, President of CHILDHELP.

A Silence of Mockingbirds: The Memoir of a Murder by Karen Spears Zacharias will be published April 1, 2012 as a tie-in to Child Abuse Prevention Month. This new MacAdam/Cage title has recently received the support and endorsement from the national organization CHILDHELP.  “Karen Spears Zacharias has written a compassionate and comprehensive story of how abuse affects us all,” according to Sara O’Meara, Chairman & CEO and Yvonne Gedderson, President of CHILDHELP.

MacAdam/Cage has announced that their lead title for Spring 2012 will be Joseph Di Prisco’s brilliant and engaging new novel All for Now. 

MacAdam/Cage has announced that their lead title for Spring 2012 will be Joseph Di Prisco’s brilliant and engaging new novel All for Now.  When Brother Stephen, a member of a Catholic religious order dies, we follow him into the afterlife where the problems of living take on new drama and intensity. On sale March 2, 2012.