By Louise Ure
I only get to do this once a year, so you have to bear with me. I’m going full-frontal, tongue-wagging, no-holds-barred, blatant self-promotion today.
My third novel, Liars Anonymous, hits the bookstores today.
And this time it’s being ushered in with a grand slam of starred reviews from all four of the big trade reviewers!
* Booklist (2/1/09)
“A powerful, masterfully constructed, action-packed novel with fiercely moral underpinnings and strong protagonist, this cements Ure’s position alongside such psychological thriller masters as Ruth Rendell and Minette Walters.”
* Kirkus Reviews (1/15/09)
“Ure (The Fault Tree, 2008, etc.) provides a meaty, twisty puzzle. But the real prize here is Jessie, a tough, conflicted heroine you won’t soon forget.”
* Publishers Weekly (2/2/09)
“Taut…. As Ure slowly peels back the layers of scar tissue to reveal [protagonist] Jessie’s past crimes, the investigation … takes on even more depth as readers come to realize just how damaged the feisty heroine truly is.”
* Library Journal (February 2009)
“Shamus Award–winning Ure’s third mystery (after Forcing Amaryllis and The Fault Tree) is perhaps her finest effort to date.”
Read the first chapter here, if those honey-sweet words above have piqued your interest.
And if that’s not enough crowing, how about the online reviewers, like “Mrs. Peacock” over at Crime Critics who just had me jiggling and giggling all day long.
“This is a book that feels real. It is dark, gritty and beautifully written. Jessie may not be a woman we can all relate to, but she is a woman many of us probably fantasize about being. She is morally-driven, determined to do right even if the cost is her life – or someone else’s. The heart of this book is the remarkable depth Ure captures in her characters … Here we find a protagonist believably hardened by her experiences. She is tough, street smart and competent. Her need to understand the crimes she finds herself tied up in, and a stubborn steak a mile long, leave readers understanding her actions even as they are wishing for a different path for her…
Ure writes us a tale not only strong in character development and story–but also in prose. The writing is beautiful but not distracting. I probably missed much of it as the story compelled me forward, but every now and again I would set the book down and just sigh. My husband would say, “What is it?” I’d read him the line. He would sigh. “I know,” I would say and pick the book up to read on…
The landscape, both physical and emotional, are described here in such sensory-driven detail that readers will find themselves reaching for a cool glass of water and a Glock nine millimeter…
In the end, LIARS ANONYMOUS is a hard-hitting, unapologetic look at the female survivor–in her glory and in her suffering.”
(I don’t know who you are, Mrs. Peacock, but I think I love you. Want a bottle of Cristal? Want the first puppy from the litter?)
In other good news, I took all your ‘Rati advice to heart this last two weeks, and have actually opened up the Work-in-Progress document on my desktop. ( My God, it’s written in third person. What was I thinking? I’ve never been able to write in third person!) I can’t say I’m over my Been Down So Long This Looks Like Up To Me doldrums, but as Obama says, “I see glimmers of hope.”
I’ll be signing at bookstores and reader gatherings beginning April 18 and would love to see you at one of the following events.
Saturday, April 18, 10:45 a.m.
The Bay Area Bluestocking Festival of Authors/Literary Women
PLEASANT HILL COMMUNITY CENTER
320 Civic Dr.
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Call 925-626-5200 for tickets
Saturday, April 18, 2:00 p.m.
With Cara Black
BELMONT LIBRARY
1110 Alameda de las Pulgas
Belmont, CA 94002
Sunday, April 19, 4:00 p.m.
BOOK PASSAGE
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
Tuesday, April 21, 7:30 p.m.
BOOKS INC. IN THE MARINA
2251 Chestnut St.
San Francisco, CA 94123
Friday, April 24, 12 noon
MYSTERIES TO DIE FOR
2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd.
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
Friday April 24, 5:00 p.m.
THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
1036C Broxton Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Saturday, April 25
LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
Signing at the Mysterious Galaxy (Booth #614) at 10:00 a.m.
Signing at the L.A. Mystery Bookstore (Booth #411) at 11:00 a.m.
Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, April 30
THE EDGAR AWARDS
The Grand Hyatt Hotel
New York, NY
Wednesday, May 6, noon
SEATTLE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
117 Cherry Street
Seattle WA 98104
Friday, May 8, 7:00 p.m.
CLUES UNLIMITED
123 S. Eastbourne
Tucson, AZ 85716
Saturday, May 9, 2:00 p.m.
POISONED PEN
With Laurie King
4014 N. Goldwater #101
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Saturday, June 13, 10:00 a.m.
SF ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA
Pyramid Alehouse
901 Gilman Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
July 16-19
BOOK PASSAGE MYSTERY CONFERENCE
51 Tamal Vista Blvd.
Corte Madera, CA 94925
October 15-18
BOUCHERCON
Indianapolis, IN
I hope to see you somewhere along the road.
LU
Yaaaay! Good luck, Louise!
Wow, sounds like a tour de force! Can’t wait to read it. Congratulations, LU!!!!
It is WONDERFUL!
I used to think I was a strong woman till I met your Jessie. Hell, honey – I’m just a mouthy broad with a sharp tongue. Jessie rocks. (and so does this Mrs. Peacock!)
And Louise? I’ll see you in October.
oh boy oh boy oh boy.
Congratulations on the release!!! And I’ll see you at the Mystery Bookstore party on the 24th!
J.D. and Alex, thank you both for the good wishes.
Yes ma’am, Kaye. We’ll be rocking Indianapolis. (And isn’t "Mrs. Peacock a joy?)
And Brett, I’m even coming down to LA a day early so that I don’t get stuck in traffic and miss the party like last year.
Congratulations on the new book Louise. Looking forward to it. I wish I could make one of the appearances, but sadly, travel is beyond my financial reach right now. 🙁 Hope you have a good time on your tour though.
Congratulations, Louise! Those reviews!!! Have a wonderful time out on the road, and so glad to hear you might have shaken the blackbirds.
Congratulations, Louise – can’t wait to read it!
I hear you, R.J. Save those sheckels for the good stuff … more books!
J.T. those blackbirds are still cawing, but I’ve got the windows shut against them today.
Hey all, I just heard that they’re converting Liars Anonymous to Kindle format right now, so all you Kindlers out there will have it available soon.
Wow, Louise. Congratulations and good luck.
Billie and Wilfred, thank you both. You’ve been good friends here at Murderati. I carry you with me.
I LOVE THAT FAME BY ASSOCIATION. I am so proud of you. Your writing is as special as you as a person are. Congratulations. Well Deserved! You’re my heroine. A beacon in the murky darkness of the writer’s hoping to be published world. Meeting you at Book Passages was a gift from the gods. – Gosh, I have brown stuff all over my nose. Judy
HAPPY LAUNCH DAY, LU! And what wonderful reviews — I am going out this afternoon and getting my copy. I can’t wait to read.
Miss Judy Brown Nose: Moi? A heroine? More like a cautionary tale.
And thank you, Toni! Man, I wish I could be out touring in your neighborhood today.
"Wahoo!" and "Yahoo!" and "Dance-Dance-A-Li!" Great news, Louise!
We’ll hope to see you when you’re in LA.
It’s a wonderful book, Louise, and oh, boy, the twists and turns in that plot 😉
Have fun on the road!
See you there, Tom! I’ll be the one wearing the big grin.
Thank you, Rae! Heal well. (Rae busted more bones in her leg and foot than even Humpty Dumpty could have done. She’s motoring around her house with this big ass cast and an office swivel chair.)
Hi Louise,
I just wanted to add my congratulations into the mix. Happy Launch Day! I was also wondering if you knew when Liars Anonymous would be available in an ebook format. Yes, I’m one of "those" ereader people these days. Again, woo hoo!
OK, I’m still road testing this new Murderati site. Tom, how did you manage to get bold face text in your post?
Mary-Frances, I was told yesterday that they’re "formatting the ebook edition as we speak." So I’m guessing that it should be within a week, no? It’s not like they have to print, bind and distribute those suckers.
Many congrats on the launch and the well-deserved praise, Louise, and hope you have a ball on the road ;-]
Congrats Louise!!!! Yay!
Thank you, Zoë!
And Sylvia, nice to see you here!
Louise,
I’m so happy for you! Congratulations on this shining success. May you have many, many more.
Louise asked, "Tom, how did you manage to get bold face text in your post?"
Look at the text below the post creation window. These are html tags for text. I used the ‘strong’ tag before the word I wanted to set bold, followed by the ‘/strong’ tag, known to some as the ‘not-strong’ tag, to indicate where the bolded text should end.
I do tech writing for a living, but I’m not sure that’s clear. Let me know.
GO LOUISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t wait to read it… you are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!
Well, the new site has eaten my last two replies to Pari, so I hope this one goes through. Thanks for the kind words, Murderati Mom.
Cornelia, you’re going to exhaust your supply of exclamation points!
And Tom, I’m going to try bolding here, but don’t have much hope for a score on the first try.
Hurray! It worked!
WOW! I missed the Grand Opening yesterday. Everything is so shiny and white! It’s lovely!
Congrats on the book release. It sounds wonderful
The world of HTML is yours for the taking, Louise. Do but reach out your hand . . .
Okay, I’m lying. A little. But it’s the order of the day!
Congrats, Louise. I can’t wait to read it!