Bzz ... bzzzz....

Can you hear it? That’s, um, the buzz surrounding THE BLACK TOWER, set to hit bookstores before another month is finished. But, hey, don’t take my word for it.

Publisher’s Weekly: “A compelling and sympathetic narrator instantly draws the reader into Bayard’s stellar third historical….Bayard keeps the reader guessing until the end….Few writers today can match the author’s skill in devising an intelligent thriller with heart.”

Kirkus Review: “Having previously channeled Dickens and Poe, historical novelist Bayard … throws down the gauntlet to Dumas in another high-energy melodrama. Dastardly plots, thrilling last-minute rescues and escapes … are cast together in a whirligig narrative whose impertinent momentum never flags ….[The narrator] is a perfectly suitable unwilling (and quite sensibly unheroic) hero, and the ego-driven, Rabelaisian Vidocq drags the story along by his flaring coattails, never fearing any challenges to his wit and resourcefulness …. The novel’s witty succession of trapdoor endings, culminating (we think) in ‘the quietest of abdications,’ keeps surprising us long after it seems Bayard’s plot has nowhere else to go. Who says they don’t write ’em like this anymore? Long may Bayard reign.”

Well, there you go. In any event, here's the current schedule for book appearances. Come by and see me when you get a chance!

ATLANTA
Sunday, August 31, 2008
12 NOON
DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL
Decatur, GA 30030

WASHINGTON, DC
Saturday, September 6, 2008
6:00 PM EST
Discussion & Signing
POLITICS & PROSE
5015 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008

NORTHERN VIRGINIA
Monday, September 8, 2008
7:30 PM EST
Discussion & Signing
BORDERS BOOKS & MUSIC
5871 Crossroads Center Way
Baileys Crossroads, VA 22041

BOSTON
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
7:00 PM EST
Discussion & Signing
BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH
279 Harvard ST
Brookline, MA 02446

WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
7:00 PM EST
Discussion & Signing
ODYSSEY BOOKSHOP
9 College ST
South Hadley, MA 01075

WASHINGTON, DC
Thursday, September 11, 2008
7:00 PM EST
Discussion & Signing
OLSSON'S BOOKS AND RECORDS
Olsson's & Best Cellars Wine Shop Author Events
1307 19th ST NW
Washington, DC 20036

EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
Saturday, September 13, 2008
1:00 PM EST
CHESTER COUNTY BOOK
COMPANY
975 Paoli Pike
West Chester, PA 19380

COLUMBUS, OHIO
Friday, September 19, 2008
7:30 PM
THURBER HOUSE
77 Jefferson AVE
Columbus, OH 43215

NEW JERSEY
Sunday, September 21, 2008
12:30 PM
NAIBA 2008 MOVEABLE FEAST
Crowne Plaza
2349 W. Marlton Pike
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

WASHINGTON, DC
Saturday, September 27, 2008
NATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave SE
Washington, DC 20540-4920

AMELIA ISLAND, FL
Friday, October 3 – Saturday, October 4, 2008
AMELIA BOOK ISLAND FESTIVAL
Fernandina Beach, FL 32034

BALTIMORE
Thursday, October 9 – Sunday, October 12, 2008
BOUCHERCON 2008: Charmed to Death
Sheraton Baltimore City Center
101 West Fayette Street
Baltimore , Maryland 21201

INDIANAPOLIS
Thursday, October 30
10AM - 2PM
"Guilded Leaf" Book & Author Luncheon
RITZ CHARLES
12156 N Meridian St.
Carmel, Indiana 46032

ALBUQUERQUE
Friday, November 7 - Sunday, November 9
TONY HILLERMAN WRITERS CONFERENCE

PHILADELPHIA
Sunday, December 14
1PM
MYSTERY BRUNCH
Time Restaurant
1312 Sansome St.
Philadelphia, PA 19107