Dear reader:

Hoping not to sound too corny, our post-election update is one of hope: for the nation, the world, and the small area of it within which we operate. Hope, along with expectations, that the largest issues facing all of us will start being addressed, and gratitude that so many of us no longer feel ashamed of our country. And gratitude to so many of our writers who have addressed, in their fiction, the darker side of American power; the part that needs fixing.  Like Charles Holdefer’s whose novel, The Contractor, which we published last year, viscerally focused on the price paid by his protagonist who, as an outside contractor, interrogated suspected terrorists at a secret prison outside of our shores. Or Lucia Orth’s Baby Jesus Pawn Shop, just released, that is set in Ferdinand Marco’s Manila. Neither novel is a screed, but goes to the heart of great moral issues.

Speaking of Baby Jesus Pawn Shop, it has continued to get excellent early reviews as these recent snippets will attest:

   “The suffering of the Filipino people under the tyrannical Marcos regime is the setting for an impossible love affair in this earnest, at times elegant debut. Starting with horrific acts of cruelty on page one, Orth’s forceful condemnation of the Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines dominates the book.”  —Kirkus 

 “Fine fiction always offers a strong sense of time and place along with a compelling plot,memorable characters and a significant theme, but what first-time novelist Lucia Orth has pulled off with Baby Jesus Pawn Shop is really impressive:  a haunting, suspenseful, beautifully written love story that takes place in The Philippines. The time is 1982, during the despotic regime of that brutal thug, Ferdinand Marcos, venal wife, Imelda, and their military toadies. The wonder of Baby Jesus Pawn Shop is that it’s not a political screed but a tale essentially about the Filipino people. Think Dr. Zhivago in Southeast Asia.” —Joan Baum, National Public Radio

“About two-thirds of the way through Baby Jesus Pawnshop, protagonist Rue Caldwell experiences an epiphany. As Ferdinand Marcos is being inaugurated to the office of President of the Philippines, Rue realizes that her position as the wife of an American counter-insurgency specialist renders her a willing conspirator in the political system that is responsible for all of the injustices, economic and otherwise, she has seen throughout her stay in that nation. This sentiment nicely captures the position of Rue throughout the novel and underscores the tension that drives this insightful and intensely humane political thriller forward. Where a lesser novelist might stoop to the errant didacticism of moral high-handedness, Orth revels in parsing the complexities of ethical gray areas. Overall, a compelling and thought-provoking read.”  —Marc Schuster, Small Press Reviews

Reviews like this are what gives us hope in our smaller world of book publishing. Like the Publishers Weekly review (along with Haila William’s assessment) for our forthcoming novel, M.F. Bloxam’s The Night Battles, out in December, and the Kirkus review for Christopher Brookhouse’s Silence, due in January:

    “Bloxam delivers fine Sicilian literary horror in the vein of Tom Piccirilli and Sara Gran. When Joan Severance finds her career as an anthropology professor on the rocks, she returns to Sicily, her childhood home, and finds work as an archivist, performing research in the coastal village of Valparuta. Immediately, she is attracted to fellow archivist Cosimo Chiesa, who reacquaints Joan with Sicily’s Mafia. Paranormal forces are also at work: Joan learns of the benandanti, a fertility cult whose spirits battle evil witches to ensure a bountiful harvest. This spiritual struggle has continued until now, as Joan and Cosimo, a self-admitted benandanti, are thrust into the terrifying “night battles.” Bloxam’s ornate prose is the perfect complement to her complex heroine and the creepy goings-on in this eerie and satisfying debut novel.”                   —Publishers Weekly 

   “With the finesse and timing of a skilled athlete, M.F. Bloxam unravels the rigid defenses of an American archivist by placing her in a Sicilian village where medieval spirits—allied with the townspeople—engage in epic battles between good and evil.  Reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now, Bloxam’s masterful blending of psychological undercurrents with compelling narrative results in a beautifully balanced work which will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned.”  —Haila Williams, Blackstone Audiobooks

    “Silence is a quiet novel of personal and seasonal change set in a small town in New Hampshire. Nicki Groh seems to have it all. She’s about to graduate from high school, and although she just missed being valedictorian, she’s off to Princeton in the fall. But a week before graduation she agrees to attend an evening boat party with Willie Boots, a hot-shot pitcher for the baseball team and son of a prominent businessman. Willie tries to rape Nicki, who barely escapes. She swims to shore and is rescued by Russell Blatt, a former classmate who’s about to leave for greener—or at least warmer—pastures. Nicki decides to go with him, not simply to escape the Willies of the world but also to get away from a heated but dead-end sexual relationship she was having with the high-school math teacher and the pressures of going to an Ivy League school she’s not at all sure she wants to attend. Nicki and Russell, who much to Nicki’s chagrin is gay, travel to North Carolina and find jobs waiting tables at a summer resort. Back in New Hampshire, village life begins to unravel. Nicki’s adoptive parents are at first concerned about and then resigned to her absence. Meanwhile, Willie’s father grows estranged from his wife. Willie gets a summer job as a security guard and finds himself entangled, both literally and metaphorically, with Joan Doyle, who casually dispenses sexual favors to local high-school boys. When Nicki comes back at the end of the novel, she’s serene, mature and pregnant. Brookhouse (Dear Otto, 1995, etc.) writes confidently and unobtrusively about authentic issues.” —Kirkus

Add to this the continuing interest in Chris Knopf’s Sam Acquillo mystery series: the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association (IMBA) listed his first, The Last Refuge, on their Best Sellers List for September—tied for seventh place.

Lastly, we’ve formed an alliance with those who enjoy reading together by offering book clubs a 50% discount on orders of eight copies or more. All you need to do is phone 631-725-1101 to place an order.

Martin & Judith Shepard, co-publishers; Susan Ahlquist, executive editor; Rania Haditirto, managing editor; and Stephanie Beroes, accounts receivable.