April 28, 2010
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates
by Wes Moore
Spiegel & Grau
Available April 27, 2010 in Hardcover
Two kids with the same name lived in the same decaying city. One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business leader. The other is serving a life sentence in prison. Here is the story of two boys and the journey of a generation.
In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun ran a small piece about Wes Moore, a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also ran a series of articles about four young men who had allegedly killed a police officer in a spectacularly botched armed robbery. The police were still hunting for two of the suspects who had gone on the lam, a pair of brothers. One was named Wes Moore.
Wes just couldn’t shake off the unsettling coincidence, or the inkling that the two shared much more than space in the same newspaper. After following the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion, he wrote a letter to the other Wes, now a convicted murderer serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. His letter tentatively asked the questions that had been haunting him: Who are you? How did this happen?
That letter led to a correspondence and relationship that have lasted for several years. Over dozens of letters and prison visits, Wes discovered that the other Wes had had a life not unlike his own: Both had grown up in similar neighborhoods and had had difficult childhoods, both were fatherless; they’d hung out on similar corners with similar crews, and both had run into trouble with the police. At each stage of their young lives they had come across similar moments of decision, yet their choices would lead them to astonishingly different destinies.
Told in alternating dramatic narratives that take readers from heart-wrenching losses to moments of surprising redemption, The Other Wes Moore tells the story of a generation of boys trying to find their way in a hostile world.
April 27, 2010
In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance
by Wilbert Rideau
Knopf
Available April 27, 2010 in Hardcover
From Wilbert Rideau, the award-winning journalist who spent forty-four years in Louisiana prisons working against unimaginable odds to redeem himself, the story of a remarkable life: a crime, its punishment, and ultimate triumph.
After killing a woman in a moment of panic following a botched bank robbery, Rideau, denied a fair trial, was improperly sentenced to death at the age of nineteen. After more than a decade on death row, his sentence was amended to life imprisonment, and he joined the inmate population of the infamous Angola penitentiary. Soon Rideau became editor of the prison newsmagazine The Angolite, which under his leadership became an uncensored, daring, and crusading journal instrumental in reforming the violent prison and the corrupt Louisiana justice system.
With the same incisive feel for detail that brought Rideau great critical acclaim, here he brings to vivid life the world of the prison through the power of his pen. We see Angola’s unique culture, encompassing not only rivalries, sexual slavery, ingrained racism, and daily, soul-killing injustices but also acts of courage and decency by keeper and kept alike. As we relive Rideau’s remarkable rehabilitation — he lived a more productive life in prison than do most outside — we also witness his long struggle for justice. In the Place of Justice goes far beyond the confines of a prison memoir, giving us a searing expose of the failures of our legal system framed within the dramatic tale of a man who found meaning, purpose, and hope in prison. This is a deeply moving, eloquent, and inspirational story about perseverance, unexpected friendships and love, and the possibility that good can be forged under any circumstances.
March 28, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lynda McWhirter
Director, Marketing & Promotion
office: (913) 322-0520 ext. 103
mobile: (936) 581 4287
LyndaM@MidMerc.com
FINALLY! A SUSPENSE/ESPIONAGE NOVEL WITH AFRICAN-AMERICAN MAIN CHARACTERS.
(Kansas City, MO, March, 2010)
THREE LIVES
At the core of Joe Washington’s debut novel, Three Lives, is Nicholas Gambit, a young African American hero in training that hails from the center of the nation.
Like a lot of mid westerners, Gambit can’t help but to be genuine, evident even when he’s in the process of dismantling a team of well trained “people killers”. This quality draws readers ever closer to him, leaving them invested in his survival and desperate to see him flourish. Without pandering, Washington’s main character is extremely likeable, transporting readers into his adventures rather than merely witnessing them.
Though the story takes the reader all over the world and has shown remarkable promise with people from all backgrounds, this book will hold special interest for people of color. Except for Mosley and the Alex Cross novels by Patterson, we seldom see black characters in today’s literary marketplace, both male and female, portrayed with such strength, diversity and legitimacy.
For readers of any ethnic background however, Three Lives delivers a host of attributes that will surprise and move: action that literally causes one to grip the pages of the book a little tighter; Joe’s clear understanding and familiarity with issues related to combat and international espionage; and most importantly, characters that ring true because of their humanity — flaws and all.
Throughout the development process, we have endeavored to find legitimate comparison titles. The outcome of our search was surprising. We simply could not find any. Three Lives could become the new standard for African American fiction, especially in a genre that has been virtually untouched by black authors.
THREE LIVES
Joe Washington
Publisher: Midnight Mercury
Price: Paperback $12.99 ISBN: 9780615279930
Hardcover $22.95 ISBN: 9780982417409
EBook $7.99 ISBN: 9780982417416
Availability Date: 4/30/2010
Publication Date: 5/15/2010
Pages: 357 Trim: 5.5/8.5
Subject Category: Fiction/Suspense
Distribution Website: www.midmerc.com
Distribution: Book Hub, Inc., Wholesalers: Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Bookazine
Description: For most of us, one life is enough. Imagine having three. Nicholas Gambit did. One man, three very different reasons for being. Almost graduated from University and soon to leave a Kansas City ghetto he can’t wait to get away from, Nicholas is drawn into a conflict he wants no part of. His world crashing down around him, surrounded by violence, he learns he has some very special talents. Even with those talents, he finds he can’t protect everyone and when the nightmare is finally over, he is consumed. He is devoid of purpose, inconsolable, lost.
Upon observing how Nicholas conducts himself, and what he is capable of, agent John Wilkes devises a new purpose for him. He soon invites his protégé to enlist in a program few know exists. Too emotionally drained to see that it is a mistake, Nicholas allows himself to be secreted away into a life that he thinks will give his existence meaning and pit him against those who place themselves above the law. Instead, he finds himself at war with his own principles — fearful he will become the enemy he has sworn to fight.
In the course of the transformation from artless college student to inconceivably skilled government operative, Nicholas finds love where it is forbidden, is made into a cold blooded murderer, and ultimately seeks out redemption by allowing another a chance to rediscover her own humanity.
Marketing Strategies:
• Marketing will include 10 city author tour (coast to coast with heavy emphasis on the Midwest), trade and consumer advertising, mailings, trade show-BEA, online promotion
• $15,000 marketing budget over course of first year title is in print
• Publicity team promotes book on websites that cater to readers that read Ludlum, Clancy and Patterson novels and author interviews and television during tour
• Staged marketing approach. Local, then national and international. Target African Americans, the military, college age readers, adventure readers and general readers of fiction in bookstores, libraries, book clubs and discount stores
• Amazon, Borders, Barnes and Noble, all AALBC properties, Blackexpressions.com and military distributor’s Bestseller lists.
• Midmerc.com advertisement and promotions on search engines
BIOGRAPHY
After serving in the military, Joe distinguished himself in the private sector, working with detective and contract security firms throughout the United States. His new company, MidMerc L.L.C. offers unique perspectives on many fields: Real Estate; Holistic Healthcare, and of course – publishing.
Joe has long held a passion for literature and the arts, writing media scripts and freelancing for corporate firms as well as performing in advertising campaigns, television and print.
Reader Comments:
On my last deployment, I took the book to Iraq with me. After arriving, a friend asked me to read it so I told him he could borrow it. It took me five months to get it back and by that point, every Marine on the base had read it except for me! When I finally did get a chance to read it, I understood why it been in such high demand. Three Lives is a great, fun and unique book. I DARE you not to get sucked into it.
- Carl Orrell, Iraq War Vet and Purple Heart Recipient
Although I don’t find myself reading a lot of books in this genre, I have to admit . . . this book drew me in from page one and kept me caught up in the action until the very end. I loved it and I can’t wait to see what comes out of Mr. Washington’s brain (pen) next.
- Sandra Moran, Professor of Anthropology and Freelance Writer
February 27, 2010
A Question of Freedom: A Memoir of Learning, Survival, and Coming of Age in Prison
by R. Dwayne Betts
Avery Trade
Available 05/04/10 in Paperback
A unique prison narrative that testifies to the power of books to transform a young man’s life
At the age of sixteen, R. Dwayne Betts-a good student from a lower- middle-class family-carjacked a man with a friend. He had never held a gun before, but within a matter of minutes he had committed six felonies. In Virginia, carjacking is a “certifiable” offense, meaning that Betts would be treated as an adult under state law. A bright young kid, he served his nine-year sentence as part of the adult population in some of the worst prisons in the state. A Question of Freedom chronicles Betts’s years in prison, reflecting back on his crime and looking ahead to how his experiences and the books he discovered while incarcerated would define him. Utterly alone, Betts confronts profound questions about violence, freedom, crime, race, and the justice system. Confined by cinder-block walls and barbed wire, he discovers the power of language through books, poetry, and his own pen. Above all, A Question of Freedom is about a quest for identity-one that guarantees Betts’s survival in a hostile environment and that incorporates an understanding of how his own past led to the moment of his crime.
January 10, 2009
The Hands of Love
by Omar Scott
Available 12/24/08
Lorenzo Love, or Ren as he’s known on the streets, is not your typical veteran detective. He’s a smooth-talking, streetwise brother who is quite cunning. He cleverly juggles his home life, which includes his young son and loving wife, a needy mistress, and a narcotics unit of dirty cops that have been taking money under the table from dangerous drug-dealers. Ren has always been crafty at maneuvering his way out of difficult situations. But now his “bad-boy” ways are finally catching up with him. His relationship with his mistress is unraveling, Internal Affairs is investigating his crew for an illegal shooting, and a string of young ladies are brutally murdered one by one with the evidence pointing directly at Ren. The race is on to cover his tracks, clear his crew, and find a serial killer before it’s too late. Can Ren slip out of another tight squeeze, or will he finally go down? The Hands of Love is a fast paced well-crafted novel weaving its way through the crime infested streets of East Dallas. This intense thriller will have your eyes glued to every page right up to the unbelievable ending.
June 6, 2008
Politics Noir: Dark Tales from the Corridors of Power (Paperback)
edited by Gary Phillips
From authors including National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, Deadly Ink 2007 winner Darrell James, and renowned social commentator turned short-story writer Mike Davis, a chilling and subversive collection of new crime stories with stark themes of greed, corruption and insatiable ambition in the very highest places.
With stories by:
• Ken Bruen
• Mike Davis
• Robert Greer
• Pete Hautman
• Darrell James
• Jake Lamar
• Michele Matinez
• Twist Phelan
• John Shannon
• Ken Wishnia
• and others
