Three More Great Reviews For Blue Heaven

As BLUE HEAVEN remains on the New York Time extended best seller list for another week, the good reviews just keep coming.

The Boston Globe says, "Against a backdrop of wilderness, rich with the scent of pine and cattle, there are strong elements of classic tragedy here as well, as yearning propels all of the characters, good and bad, into mortal peril. 'Blue Heaven' is my favorite kind of thriller - one with a heart."

More praise from the Charlotte Observer:

C.J. Box has stepped outside the world of Joe Pickett, the star of his highly acclaimed mystery series, to pen a stand-alone thriller that will grab you on page one. I suggest you make sure you have time to finish this one before you need much sleep again. 

In this novel, you are rarely sure just whom to trust. Box proves again that he is a master storyteller who can use suspense to deal with such issues as greed, corruption and the clash between the modern world and traditional values.

The Billings Gazette weighs in:

Box excels in capturing the personalities and lifestyles of the inland Northwest. He also masterfully peels away the layers of lives to reveal secrets that influence folks' decisions across decades.

Fans of Joe Pickett will find the tortured good-guy values in Rawlins, too. And the added focus of the children struggling just to get home and erase the dangers makes the stakes higher.

It's four days of high tension and high action. And Box delivers surprises until the final page.

Click here for the full reviews.

Passing The Page 99 Test

Ford Maddox Ford once said, "Open the book to page ninety-nine and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you."

Marshal Zeringue started a fascinating blog called The Page 99 Test and applied Ford's theory to a wide range of new books and classics. He invited Kathleen George to administer the test to her new novel AFTERIMAGE, and here is her reaction:

I've sometimes administered something like the Ford Maddox Ford test on my own when browsing in a bookstore. Perhaps I didn't go to p. 99, but I opened the book at random to see if the author's voice was clear and compelling. Now I've been asked to do it to my own book -- and that's a test all right! I look at the bookshelf nervously. Will I protest? Will I say, "Oh, but there's so much more scene description elsewhere," or "Oh, oh, if you would just check out this other character, I think you'd be pleased."

So I heave a breath and open to p. 99 and I find that that's the scene in a poverty-ridden household in which the young rookie detective Colleen Greer is questioning a man about his daughter whose body has been found in the park. The man is lithe, gorgeous, alcoholic. Does he know anything at all? Is he hiding knowledge? Is he completely innocent?

The fact is, I've found a somewhat representative scene. Colleen Greer is trying to be polite. There is a horrible tragedy sitting in the room and yet she's quietly pressing him for details. And she's listening closely to the facts that she will have to sort out -- the alibi he gives her.

As I was writing this scene and others, the characters were (always are) very real to me. I can feel the pace of their heartbeats, I know when they swallow, I know when something gets caught in the throat. That means that, for moments, I must be them. Then, too, I think I know how they smell — breath, underarms. That means that in other moments I stand beside them. I also watch them interact. To do that, I have to stand back a few feet.

Inside: Deon Washington is heartbroken, confused, and hungover. Next to: He smells of sugar, alcohol, sweat, and sex. A few feet back: He hands over pieces of his life, bit by bit, as he can, to Colleen who treats them objectively, both of them focusing on ordinary details and putting off, for a time, the enormous grief for what has happened.

So, Kathy, did your book pass the test?

Blue Heaven Is Already A NYT Best Seller

C.J. Box's BLUE HEAVEN came out last week and is already #25 on the New York Times extended bestseller list!

His book tour has just started, so check his itinerary below to see if he's coming to a town near you! 

Chicago Production of Coronado Best of '07, Says Tribune

Chicago Tribune theatre critic Nina Metz named the Steep Theater Company's production of Dennis Lehane's play Coronado one of the top five storefront productions of 2007, saying "The actors swerved from playful seduction to cat-and-mouse anxiety, and I bought it every step of the way."

Congratulations to Dennis and all of the fabulous people at Steep!

Hell Freezes Over: Lehane Blogs

Dennis Lehane will be holding court over on the Barnes and Noble website from January 14th to the 18th, where he will answer readers' questions. Click here to join in the conversation!

Blue Heaven Book Tour

C.J. Box kicks off the whirlwind tour for his new novel BLUE HEAVEN on Thursday. Go see him at a town near you!

Thursday, January 10th at 7pm

Aunt Agatha's Mystery Bookstore

213 South 4th Avenue

Ann Arbor, MI

Saturday, January 12th at 12pm

Mystery One Bookshop

2109 North Prospect Avenue

Milwaukee, WI

Saturday, January 12th at 3pm

Booked for Murder

2701 University Avenue

Madison, WI

Saturday, January 12th at 6pm

Harry W. Schwartz Bookshop

4093 North Oakland Avenue

Shorewood, WI

Monday, January 14th at 5pm

Uncle Edgar's Mystery Books

2864 Chicago Avenue

Minneapolis, MN

Monday, January 14th at 7pm

Once Upon a Crime

604 West 26th Street

Minneapolis, MN

Tuesday, January 15th at 7pm

Powell's Books

3415 SW Cedar Hills Boulevard

Beaverton, OR

Wednesday, January 16th at 7:30pm

Auntie's Booktore

402 West Main

Spokane, WA

Thursday, January 17th at 2pm

Vandeford's Books & Office

201 Cedar Street

Sandpoint, ID

Saturday, January 19th at 12pm

Book Carnival

348 South Tustin Avenue

Orange, CA

Saturday, January 19th at 3pm

Mysteries to Die For

2940 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard

Thousand Oaks, CA

Saturday, January 19th at 5:30 pm

Mystery Bookstore

1036-C Broxton Avenue

Los Angeles, CA

Sunday, January 20th at 2pm

Mysterious Galaxy

7051 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, Suite 302

San Diego, CA

Tuesday, January 22nd at 7pm

Poisoned Pen

4014 North Goldwater #101

Scottsdale, AZ

Wednesday, January 23rd at 6:30pm

Murder by the Book

2342 Bissonnet Street

Houston, TX

Thursday, January 24th at 4pm

Kent News Company

Cheyenne, WY

Friday, January 25th at 5:30pm

Chickering Bookstore

203 South 2nd Street

Laramie, WY

Saturday, January 26th at 12pm

Murder by the Book

1574 South Pearl Street

Denver, CO

Saturday, January 26th at 3pm

High Crimes

946 Pearl Street

Boulder, CO

Monday, January 28th at 4pm

Ralph's Books

215 South Montana Avenue

Casper, WY

Tuesday, January 29th at 7pm

The Book Shop

117 North Main Street

Sheridan, WY

Wednesday, January 30th at 7pm

Barnes & Noble

530 South 24th Street West

Billings, MT

Monday, February 4th at 7:30pm

Tattered Cover

2526 East Colfax Avenue

Denver, CO

Tuesday, February 5th at 7pm

Barnes & Noble

1565 Briargate Boulevard

Colorado Springs, CO

Friday, March 28th at 10:30am

Public Library Association

Minneapolis Convention Center

Minneapolis, MN