Authors @ Your Library - July 2014

ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY'S JULY AUTHORS @ YOUR LIBRARY SERIES LINEUP

The St. Louis Public Library is proud to present Terri Barnes, K. Makansi, Jim Merkel, Nicholas J.C. Pistor, and Karin Slaughter as part of the July installment of its popular Authors @ Your Library series. All events are FREE and open to the public.

* K. Makansi discusses and signs her book, The Sowing. The event takes place at the Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid Ave., on July 9 at 7 p.m.

Remy Alexander never thought she'd be hunted. Growing up in the posh comfort of the elite meritocracy of the Okarian Sector, she knew nothing of genetically modified food, drug regimes used to control and manipulate citizens, or the mysterious disappearances of powerful Sector scientists and politicians. But when her older sister Tai was killed in a brutal classroom massacre, Remy and her friend Eli swear to find the truth behind her sister's murder.

In this science-fiction dystopia, the mother-daughter writing team of Kristina, Amira, and Elena Makansi immerses readers in the post-apocalyptic world of the Okarian Sector where romance, friendship, adventure, and betrayal will decide the fate of a budding nation.

Books available for purchase courtesy of the author.

* Terri Barnes discusses and signs her book, Spouse Calls: Messages From a Military Life. The event takes place at Central Library, 1301 Olive St., on July 10 at 7 p.m.

Barnes continues to bridge generations with a "best of" collection sure to touch the hearts and homes of every reader. From her own kitchen table to Capitol Hill, she takes readers beyond the headlines and homecoming videos for an inside look at the day-to-day hardships, victories, and many ways military life shapes, challenges, and enriches its families.

She is the creator of "Spouse Calls," a weekly Stars and Stripes column about military life, in print and online since 2007. She has contributed to several other books about military life. Her work has appeared in Air Force/Army/Navy Times, The Huffington Post, Books Make a Difference, and other newspapers, magazines, and military base publications worldwide.

Books available for purchase courtesy of the author.

* Karin Slaughter discusses and signs her book, CopTown. The event takes place at Central Library, 1301 Olive St., on July 15 at 7 p.m.

Atlanta 1974: Dawn breaks over a city nearly paralyzed by social upheaval and political change. A cop killer is on the loose. A new female police officer is thrown into the deep end her first day on the job. Kate Murphy isn't the only one who wonders if that first day will be her last. The women of the Atlanta Police Department are never quite sure who their worst enemies are—the criminals on the street or their fellow cops who think the job is no place for a woman. As the entire force hunts for the killer, it quickly becomes clear that "protect and serve" only applies to a chosen few.

International bestselling and critically acclaimed author Karin Slaughter leaps forward with her first stand-alone novel. Written in her signature style with strong characters, compelling social issues, and razor sharp suspense, CopTown is an edge-of-the-seat thriller.

Books available for purchase courtesy of Subterranean Books.

* Nicholas J.C. Pistor discusses and signs his book, The Ax Murders of Saxtown: The Unsolved Crime That Terrorized a Town and Shocked a Nation.  The event takes place at Central Library, 1301 Olive St., on July 16 at 7 p.m.

An entire household massacred. A family feud. A sheriff found dead. Neighbor turned against neighbor. Reports of ghosts, bounty hunters, deathbed confessions, and legacy fortunes. The Ax Murders of Saxtown is a gripping tale of suspense and suspicion that exposes brand new information about the century-old killing of the Stelzriede family of Saxtown, Illinois, and showcases the flaws of the nineteenth-century justice system.

Pistor is a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who has broken stories on some of the biggest crimes in the Midwest and has been a consultant for CBS's 48 Hours true crime series. He grew up a few miles from the Saxtown murder scene, where talk of the crime kept him awake as a boy.

Books available for purchase courtesy of Left Bank Books.

* Jim Merkel discusses and signs his book, The Making of an Icon: The Dreamers, The Schemers and the Hard Hats Who Built the Gateway Arch. The event takes place at the Buder Branch, 4401 Hampton Ave.,on July 17 at 7 p.m.

The Making of an Icon compiles both well-known and rare stories about the visionaries, finaglers, protesters, and fearless-but-skilled hands involved in an incredible undertaking that courted as much controversy as it did enthusiasm. The dreamers included Luther Ely Smith, the St. Louis mover and shaker who envisioned a riverfront memorial to Thomas Jefferson, and architect Eero Saarinen, who spent fourteen years designing the Arch but didn't live to see it. Chief schemer was Democratic Mayor Bernard Dickmann, who threatened to throw Missouri to President Roosevelt's Republican opponent if the president wouldn't fund Smith's memorial. Construction was left to intrepid workers who walked without lanyards hundreds of feet above the ground.

A St. Louis author and journalist, Jim Merkel has written two previous books for Reedy Press, Hoosiers and Scrubby Dutch:  St. Louis' South Side, and Beer, Brats, and Baseball: St. Louis Germans.

Books available for purchase courtesy of Left Bank Books.

For more information, call 314-880-8759.

 

St. Louis Public Library

City of St. Louis