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WORK TITLE: Exit Strategy
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1963
WEBSITE: https://www.charltonpettus.com
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: no2018063104
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2018063104
HEADING: Pettus, Charlton
000 00925nz a2200193n 450
001 10747188
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008 180509n| azannaabn |n aaa c
010 __ |a no2018063104
035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca11338995
040 __ |a IAhCCS |b eng |e rda |c IAhCCS
100 1_ |a Pettus, Charlton
370 __ |e Los Angeles (Calif.) |2 naf
372 __ |a Rock music |a Authorship |a Popular music — Writing and publishing |2 lcsh
373 __ |a Tears for Fears (Musical group) |2 naf
374 __ |a Guitarists |a Composers |a Authors |a Sound recording executives and producers |2 lcsh
375 __ |a males |2 lcdgt
377 __ |a eng
670 __ |a Pettus, Charlton. Exit strategy, 2018: |b title page (Charlton Pettus) book jacket flap (Charlton Pettus is a songwriter and producer living in Los Angeles. Since 2000 he has been a member of Tears for Fears, producing their last record and touring with the band as lead guitarist. Exit Strategy is his first novel.)
PERSONAL
Born 1963.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Songwriter. Music producer. Tears for Fears, guitarist and producer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Charlton Pettus is a Los Angeles-based writer, music producer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has scored songs for television shows and films and produced music for artists including Selena Gomez, Sinead O’Connor, and Junky HL. In 2000 he joined the band Tears for Fears as a producer and touring lead guitarist. Exit Strategy is his first novel.
Jordan Parrish, the protagonist of Pettus’ novel, seems to have it all. As a successful biotech startup founder and brilliant scientist with an equally impressive Harvard professor as a wife, Jordan’s life would appear enviable to anyone. Yet while his superficial life appears perfect, problems are simmering below the surface. Jordan’s recent business decisions may just ruin his company and bankrupt his family. Worse yet, his marriage is already falling apart, following the recent death of his and his wife’s baby. Jordan is desperate, and he begins to consider his options. Suicide is out, as this would destroy his life insurance policy. The only other option is to contact Exit Strategy, a secret organization dedicated to helping individuals quietly ‘exit’ out of their former lives.
A simple phone call later and Jordan is whisked out of his Boston office. While he is being flown to Tokyo to start his new life, his wife is told that he has died in a car crash alongside a fictitious mistress. Jordan is told he is never allowed to contact his wife or two children again, and he is given intensive facial plastic surgery to ensure he will never be recognized. Though it seems that Jordan has saved his family the pain of bankruptcy and a nasty divorce, he soon finds himself longing for them. Exit Strategy gives him a second chance, moving him from Tokyo to France. Yet his longing remains. Jordan regrets his decision to leave his family and finds himself perusing his wife’s Instagram page. Although he is not supposed to contact her, he figures an Instagram ‘like’ of one of her photos will not hurt. Yet as soon as he makes this simple gesture, Exit Strategy turns on him, determined to destroy him as he has broken the agreement. Jordan must now flee France and fight for his life as the organization tries to hunt him down.
“This fast-paced debut thriller will appeal to fans of Christopher Reich and Harlan Coben,” noted Karen Keefe in Booklist. A contributor to Publishers Weekly described it as “cerebral and visceral,” adding, “this is a top-notch thriller,” while Theodore Feit in MBR Bookwatch wrote, “the book certainly is well-written and satisfying.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2018, Karen Keefe, review of Exit Strategy, p. 54.
MBR Bookwatch, July, 2018, Theodore Feit, review of Exit Strategy.
Publishers Weekly, March 5, 2018, review of Exit Strategy, p. 50.
Charlton Pettus’s
Exit Strategy is a cutting-edge, globe-trotting thriller
about the type of shadowy organization that most of us
have long suspected
exists behind the scenes.
A fast-paced, hemisphere-spanning debut thriller about the downside of starting a new life...The folks at Exit Strategy take their mission seriously.
—Kirkus Reviews
Exit Strategy is a winner. A smart, fast-paced, expertly written thriller that rockets around the globe gathering speed all the way to its satisfying conclusion. Part Ludlum, part Crichton, part Coben, it's a grabber from page one and gives new meaning to the words: 'be careful what you wish for!'
—Christopher Reich, New York Times bestselling author of Rules of Deception
A fast and satisfying read, Exit Strategy captures the magic of The Fugitive and wraps it in the shining chrome of a techno-thriller. It's a white-knuckle ride that just might teach you something about bio-tech before it's over.
—Daniel H. Wilson, bestselling author of Robopocalypse and The Clockwork Dynasty
Exit Strategy demonstrates the way a thriller should work, as it continually defeats the reader's expectation of what is about to happen. Pettus is in thorough control of his intricate story and capably takes the reader along for the ride.
—Michael Tolkin, author of Among The Dead and NK3
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"CEREBRAL AND VISCERAL, THIS IS A TOP-NOTCH THRILLER."
-Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Charlton Pettus
For event or publicity inquiries, contact Meredith Barnes
meredith.barnes@harpercollins.com
212-207-6937
Charlton Pettus
Charlton Pettus is a songwriter and producer living in Los Angeles. He has worked with artists as diverse as Selena Gomez, Sinead O’Connor, and Junky HL, in addition to scoring and writing songs for film and television. Since 2000 he has been a member of Tears for Fears, producing their last record and touring with the band as lead guitarist. EXIT STRATEGY is his first novel.
Print Marked Items
Exit Strategy
Theodore Feit
MBR Bookwatch.
(July 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Full Text:
Exit Strategy
Charlton Pettus
Hanover Square Press
195 Broadway, N.Y, N.Y. 10007
http://hanoversqpress.com
c/o Harlequin
www.Harlequin.com
9781335016928, $26.99, Hardcover, 368 pp.
Life certainly offers a myriad of choices, but Jordon Parrish narrowed what was available to him when
everything seemed to be going belly-up. A brilliant scientist and co-head of his public company (albeit for
some strange reason listed on the Hong Kong exchange rather than on NASDAQ here in the States), the
experiment he was working on, which the company hoped would be a bonanza, showing no progress, the
company's finances in a shambles and his marriage going on the rocks, he looked to possible solutions,
narrowing them down to suicide (which would kill any insurance), or selecting a secret organization that
would give him a new identity, allowing him to disappear, care free.
Of course, he chooses the strategy that allow him to exit from all his woes, and he is relocated to Tokyo,
where eventually he begins to miss is wife and two children. Provided with another chance, he is moved to
France, but the same nostalgia for his family arises. Apparently the "Exit Strategy" is not to his taste, and
not what he wished for. The remainder of the novel describes his efforts to extricate himself from his hidden
life and return to his former one.
This is a first novel, and it is well done, at least up until the denouement which, to this reader at least, is
overdone. The author has written a thriller, but has ended it with a heavy hand, rather than a subtle
conclusion. Perhaps he's seen too many movies. On the whole, however, the book certainly is well-written
and satisfying, and can be--and is--recommended.
Theodore Feit
Senior Reviewer
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Feit, Theodore. "Exit Strategy." MBR Bookwatch, July 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A550300576/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c4222e99.
Accessed 19 Oct. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A550300576
Exit Strategy
Karen Keefe
Booklist.
114.15 (Apr. 1, 2018): p54.
COPYRIGHT 2018 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Full Text:
Exit Strategy. By Charlton Pettus. May 2018.400p. Hanover Square, $26.99 (9781335016928).
Jordan Parrish thought that his bad decisions had ruined his bioresearch company and would bankrupt his
family. It turns out, though, that the real bad decision was in phoning Exit Strategy, a company that
promised to make all of Jordan's problems disappear. Next thing you know, Jordan's wife, Stephanie, is told
that her husband and a fictitious mistress died in a car crash. Meanwhile, Jordan is undergoing plastic
surgery to make himself unrecognizable. Jordan is warned not to try to reclaim his former identity or contact
anyone from his old life. But one small mistake shows him just how far the company will go to maintain the
illusion of his death. No longer trusting the motives of the company or the circumstances leading to that
fateful call, Parrish plots his escape from anonymity, which jump-starts a continent-hopping game of cat and
mouse. This fast-paced debut thriller will appeal to fans of Christopher Reich and Harlan Coben. An L.A.
songwriter and music producer, Pettus has been a member of the band Tears for Fears since 2000.--Karen
Keefe
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Keefe, Karen. "Exit Strategy." Booklist, 1 Apr. 2018, p. 54. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A534956875/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=ac74d362.
Accessed 19 Oct. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A534956875
Exit Strategy
Publishers Weekly.
265.10 (Mar. 5, 2018): p50+.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* Exit Strategy
Charlton Pettus. Hanover Square, $26.99
(400p) ISBN 978-1-335-01692-8
Brilliant scientist and biotech startup founder Jordan Parrish, the hero of songwriter and producer Pettus's
terrific first novel, is in despair. His marriage to Stephanie, his Harvard professor wife, is falling apart after
the recent death of their baby, and his company is failing. Jordan decides it's in the best interest of Stephanie
and his two surviving children to call on Exit Strategy, a service that helps wealthy people in trouble
disappear. When he steps out of his Boston office, he's immediately spirited away to a new life under a
different name. Jordan comes to regret his choice to separate permanently from his loved ones, and, with a
single "like" of Stephanie's Instagram photo, sets in motion a cascade of events that he can barely control.
By violating Exit Strategy's no-contact rule, he puts his own life at risk, as well as those of his wife and
kids. Jordan is no trained assassin like Bourne or Bond, but he does push his body and mind to the limit in
his attempt to return to his family. Cerebral and visceral, this is a top-notch thriller. Agent: Stephen Barbara,
Inkwell Management. (May)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Exit Strategy." Publishers Weekly, 5 Mar. 2018, p. 50+. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A530430269/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=cd338e76.
Accessed 19 Oct. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A530430269