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Acts of Violence.
About the Book
Katrina Marino is about to become America's most infamous murder victim.
This is Katrina's story, and the story of her killer. It is also the story of Katrina's neighbors, those who witness her murder and do nothing: the terrified Vietnam draftee; the woman who thinks she's killed a child, and her husband who will risk everything for her; the former soldier planning suicide and the man who saves him. And others whose lives are touched by the crime: the elderly teacher whose past is catching up with him; the amateur blackmailer who's about to find out just what sort of people he's been threatening; the corrupt cop who believes he is God's "red right hand."
Shocking and compassionate, angry and gripping, Acts of Violence is a sprawling, cinematic tour-de-force, a terrifying crime novel unlike any other.
Reviews
"Brutal and immediate . . . at times I had to stop reading to catch my breath . . . cleverly written, accomplished and gripping."
--The Bookseller
"An addictive and compelling read. . . . As the title says, there is a lot of violence, but there's also humanity, empathy, and insight into damaged lives."
--BookTime
"Atmospheric insights into our way of life."
--Books Quarterly
"Acts of Violence is an astounding piece of fiction. It grips you like a vice from the beginning and doesnt let you go."
--Crimesquad
"An audacious, inventive piece of literary thriller writing. . . . Jahn's novel is subtle, delicately constructed and displays a fine ear for dialogue. It also announces the arrival of a distinctive new talent."
--Daily Mail
"Dark, compelling and powerful ... Jahn is a rare and fine talent."
--R. J. Ellory
"Ryan David Jahn's first novel makes . . . for a gripping and thoughtful psychological thriller . . . Terse, telegraphic and present-tense, Jahn's style creates a voyeuristic distance between reader and characters that perfectly matches his theme, the fearfulness and atomisation of urban life that encourages each man to be an island."
--Financial Times
"The narrative is a kaleidoscope . . . the effect is of watching, unseen, through a dozen different windows . . . Powerful, compassionate and authentic, it works both as a mystery and as a snapshot of America in the early 1960s."
--Guardian
"Without doubt, the most outstanding novel I have read this year."
--It's a Crime!
"Jahn's violent amorality tale has . . . drawn well-earned comparisons with Bret Easton Ellis and James Ellroy. . . . Gripping, and layered with juicy, scathing insights into the relationships and politics of the era, Jahn proves himself as a promising noir talent."
--The List
"Gripping."
--The Times
Hardcover: 280 pages
Publisher: Macmillan New Writing (6 Nov 2009)
ISBN-10: 0230743595
ISBN-13: 978-0230743595
Low Life.
Coming July 2010 . . .
When Simon Johnson is attacked in his shabby L.A. apartment, he knows he must defend himself or die. Turning on the lights afterwards, Simon realizes two things: one, his attacker is dead; two, the resemblance of the man to himself is uncanny.
Over the coming days, Simon's lonely life will spiral out of control. But Simon has a plan. Gradually, he begins to assume the dead man's identity, fooling his attacker's colleagues, and even his wife. However, when mysterious messages appear on the walls around Simon's apartment, he realizes that losing his old self will be more difficult than he'd imagined. As the contradictions mount, recent events will resolve themselves in the most catastrophic way.
Combining gritty noir, psychological drama and dazzling plotting, Low Life is a shocking novel that announces Jahn as a brilliant new American voice.
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Macmillan (2 Jul 2010)
ISBN-10: 0230746829
ISBN-13: 978-0230746824
2011.
Biography.
Ryan David Jahn wrote his first short story in a school notebook when he was ten. By the time he was twelve, his mom and stepdad had bought him a typewriter (a used Remington Letter-Riter De Luxe).
He made his first attempt at a novel when he was sixteen, writing a 55,000-word horror tale in six weeks. Between then and Macmillan's acceptance of his debut novel, Acts of Violence, he piled up fifteen years, three more novels, and nearly fifty short stories, most of which were little more than failed experiments (as early writings tend to be).
He has lived in Arizona, California, Georgia, Missouri, and Texas, and, in addition to a brief stint in the army, has worked as a janitor, a day laborer, and a forklift driver.
Since 2004 he has worked in television and film, and currently lives with his wife Mary in Los Angeles.
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News.
2 March 2010: Penguin has licensed U.S. rights to Acts of Violence. Looks like a summer 2011 release, and it will probably have a new title.
12 November 2009: While in London, learned that German rights to Acts of Violence and Low Life had been licensed to Heyne Verlag, part of the Random House group. First release may be available as early as winter 2010.
1 September 2009: Cover art for the paperback edition of Acts of Violence done. Looks good, and has a generous blurb from R.J. Ellory.
11 August 2009: Signed a two-book deal with Pan Macmillan. The first book, Low Life, should be available sometime next year (very possibly in the summer). The second is being worked on at present and will most likely be a 2011 release. (Remember when 2011 was a futuristic-sounding year? Now it's just when your driver's license expires.)
13 July 2009: Signed and numbered copies of Acts of Violence now available for preorder here.
1 July 2009: Acts of Violence selected as a Goldsboro Books book of the month for October. 250 signed, thumbprinted, and numbered copies will be available.
Full reviews.
11 January 2010: Acts of Violence in the Financial Times..
24 November 2009: Acts of Violence in the Times.
12 November: Acts of Violence in The Bookbag.
30 October 2009: Acts of Violence in the Times and The List.
19 October 2009: Acts of Violence inIt's a Crime!
17 October 2009:Acts of Violencein theGuardian.
Words.
Blog.
15 November 2009: "My Kind of Town: Los Angeles," a short travel piecefor the Sunday Telegraph.
2 November 2009: An interview (as well as a review of Acts of Violence) in the November issue of CrimeSquad.
1 November 2009: An interview at the Macmillan New Writing blog.
1 November 2009: A short essay in Crime Time about basing Acts of Violence on a true story.
23 October: The opening chapter of Acts of Violence and a short interviewavailable on the Pan Macmillan site.
15 October 2009: "First Word" interviewinThe List.
Coming soon.
Contact.
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The Warden Group
8840 Wilshire Blvd., 1st Floor
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(323) 852-1028
EMAIL
ryandjahn [at] gmail.com
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