Contemporary Authors

• August Snow ( novel) Soho Crime (New York, NY), 2017

1. August Snow LCCN 2016030513 Type of material Book Personal name Jones, Stephen Mack, author. Main title August Snow / Stephen Mack Jones. Published/Produced New York, NY : Soho Crime, 2017. Description 312 pages ; 22 cm ISBN 9781616957186 (hardback) CALL NUMBER PS3610.O6289 A94 2017 Copy 1 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms

• Soho Press - https://sohopress.com/authors/stephen-mack-jones/

  STEPHEN MACK JONES

  Stephen Mack Jones is a published poet, award-winning playwright, and recipient of the prestigious Kresge Arts in Detroit Literary Fellowship. He survived a number of years in advertising and marketing communications. Mr. Jones was born in Lansing, Michigan, and currently lives in Farmington Hills, outside of Detroit. August Snow is his first novel.

  ===book===

  AUGUST SNOW
  Stephen Mack Jones

  ISBN: 9781616957186
  PUBLISHED: FEBRUARY, 2017
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  STEPHEN MACK JONES
  Detroit, MI
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  Description

  From the wealthy suburbs to the remains of Detroit’s bankrupt factory districts, August Snow is a fast-paced tale of murder, greed, sex, economic cyber-terrorism, race and urban decay.

  Tough, smart, and struggling to stay afloat, August Snow is the embodiment of Detroit. The son of an African-American fathe...

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  “All of us begin in grace and great promise and, staring at the door left open behind, wonder where they’ve gone. Stephen Mack Jones knows this, as does his narrator August Snow, as does their battered city, Detroit. Jean Cocteau believed the world is a misunderstanding. We read searching for stories that help us untangle some of that misunderstanding; August Snow is one.”
  –JAMES SALLIS

  “Drawing on the hard-boiled detective template established by Raymond Chandler and refined by Robert B. Parker, Jones introduces a sleuth who is noble, steadfast in a fight with his fists or guns, and manages to charm the ladies. Readers will definitely want to see more of August Snow.”
  —LIBRARY JOURNAL

  “Strong prose and a hero with a distinctive multicultural background (August is half African-American, half Mexican)... Convincing smartass dialogue brings the Detroit denizens of poet and playwright Jones's first novel to life.”
  —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ON AUGUST SNOW

  “[A] hugely likable hero who uses his wealth to bring his neighborhood back to life; a feel for the vitality and pride in run-down urban neighborhoods as good as George Pelecanos on Washington, D.C.; appealing supporting characters who give life to the book's theme of the solace to be found in communities. It adds up to a very pleasurable read...we are at the beginning of an excellent new series.”
  —KIRKUS REVIEWS ON AUGUST SNOW

  “This debut novel by poet and playwright Jones offers a welcome inside view of a city in turmoil and the viewpoint of a Mexican and African-American protagonist who now finds himself among gentrifiers... where library shelves lack heroes of color, add Jones’ work.”
  —BOOKLIST ON AUGUST SNOW

  “[A] polished, gripping debut. Poet Stephen Mack Jones’ novel bristles with energy, compassion, humor and a page-turning plot.”
  —MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE ON AUGUST SNOW

  “[A] witty, mayhem-packed first novel...Snow’s own voice has echoes of Raymond Chandler’s. Be assured that when the showdown comes, Snow—an action-hero with the heart of a mensch—and his crew prove up to that task.”
  —WALL STREET JOURNAL ON AUGUST SNOW

  “As far as compelling reads, this book is what you want. It’s the perfect PI-meets-wealthy-lady-and-now-someone-is-dead plot. The book takes the reader into the depths of Detroit, exploring, race, class and the cities that contain it all.”
  –THE RUMPUS ON AUGUST SNOW

  “Wonderful.”
  —NANCY PEARL FOR KUOW SEATTLE ON AUGUST SNOW

  “Mack Jones’ prose is poetic and cutthroat, seemingly paradoxical elements he sees in his Detroit. You should meet this guy.”
  —MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL ON AUGUST SNOW

  “August Snow is an absolute joy to read from start to finish; Stephen Mack Jones has infused a real love of Detroit into every page. Characters are full of life, with August being a modern day anti-hero to a T, burdened with responsibility he never asked for but with the moral compass to ensure that he gets the job done regardless...We can only hope this isn’t the last we see of him. ”
  —THE MICHIGAN DAILY

  “Stephen Mack Jones' rock-solid debut, August Snow, is powered by the outgoing personality of the title hero and his deep affections for his hometown of Detroit. This author proves himself a natural entertainer.”
  —CHICAGO TRIBUNE

  “[Stephen Mack Jones] has deftly created a unique multi-faceted character in the best hard-boiled tradition, easily enjoyed by those who appreciate quick-thinking, fast-shooting detectives. This is a well-polished first novel with exceptionally strong characters and unexpected plot twists; it’s a superb start for a new series.”
  —LANSING STATE JOURNAL

  “Compelling...strong one-on-one dialogue that keeps the story moving. August Snow is an entertaining read that gives Jones — and Detroit — plenty to celebrate.”
  —TOLEDO BLADE

  “Jones, a Detroit-area poet and playwright brings the city, its environs, and its eateries to vital life in a mystery coiled around the contemporary crime du jour of cyber-finance meddling. His is that rare tale that, despite its thriller-level violence, maintains a fiercely warm heart at its core — and ends far too quickly.”
  —BOSTON GLOBE ON AUGUST SNOW

  “[August Snow] is persistent, courageous, true to his friends... Now here is an interesting book.”
  —LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR

  “Lyrical and sly and rich with a mix of poetry and wisecracking... [the] cast of characters is lovingly drawn, and the setting is a 21st-century map of mean streets that say something about our world.”
  —REVIEWING THE EVIDENCE ON AUGUST SNOW

  “Debut Crime Novel August Snow Gets On Hollywood Hot List​"”
  –MYSTERY SCENE

• Publisher's Weekly - https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/72068-down-and-dirty-in-detroit-pw-talks-with-stephen-mack-jones.html

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  Down and Dirty in Detroit: PW Talks with Stephen Mack Jones

  By Jordan Foster | Nov 18, 2016
  Comments subscribe by the month

  Photo by Albert Cauchi
  Police corruption and violence run rampant in poet and playwright Stephen Mack Jones’s debut novel, August Snow (Soho Crime, Feb. 2017). The title character, Snow, the son of a black father and a Mexican mother, is back in hometown Detroit a year after winning a $12 million settlement from the city after being driven out of the Detroit Police Department thanks to the actions of a corrupt partner. Now there’s a murder to investigate, and Snow is pulled back into a world he thought he left behind.

  Why did you decide on a plot that is driven by police corruption and violence?

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  It’s a little uncomfortable for me to discuss, primarily because I have never really experienced such a thing. I know that it exists. That it exists is just a fact of life in America, especially in this age of the immediacy of social media. Though it may be uncomfortable for me to talk about, based on my personal experience, I look at what happened in Ferguson and what’s happening now with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and I find it unbelievable and unconscionable that in both cases you see on one side people who may be carrying placards and chanting, and on the other side, you see armored vehicles, automatic weapons, and face masks.

  Why did you choose crime fiction as a medium for addressing these issues?

  Crime fiction is a great platform to have these discussions, not necessarily as a full-fledged sounding board, which easily becomes politicized, but as a reflection of who we are as a people, who we are as a nation. To deny these things is just a denial of the reality that impacts us all. Readers are very, very smart at determining when a story has danced around a subject, or avoided a subject altogether. Fiction, for a great number of people, is an easier way to digest what’s actually happening in the world.

  In August Snow, you draw from a real-life corruption scandal that blew up in Detroit, stemming from former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s actions starting in 2008. It seems as though it would have been disingenuous to both the fictional story and the true Detroit to gloss over that part of the city’s recent history in Snow.

  I think that’s absolutely true. My brother once said, talking about cities and towns, that things are not as good as residents say they are and they’re not as bad as the media would like you to think. The truth is always somewhere in between. Detroit has taken a lot of knocks. And a lot of that is self-imposed. I see Kwame Kilpatrick as ground zero for the necrotizing bacteria that got into the politics. His infection of the body politic and of the police administration was absolutely horrifying. I’m absolutely certain that the percentage of Detroit cops involved was extremely small. But like bacteria or a virus, something that small can become deadly.

  Return to the main feature.

  A version of this article appeared in the 11/21/2016 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: Down and Dirty in Detroit
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  August Snow by Stephen Mack Jones
  READ AN EXCERPT
  Look Inside

  August Snow
  By STEPHEN MACK JONES

  Category: Crime Mysteries | Suspense & Thriller
  Paperback +
  Hardcover –
  Hardcover BUY
  Feb 14, 2017 | 320 Pages

  Ebook +
  ABOUT AUGUST SNOW

  From the wealthy suburbs to the remains of Detroit’s bankrupt factory districts, August Snow is a fast-paced tale of murder, greed, sex, economic cyber-terrorism, race and urban decay.

  Tough, smart, and struggling to stay alive, August Snow is the embodiment of Detroit. The son of an African-American father and a Mexican-American mother, August grew up in the city’s Mexicantown and joined the police force only to be drummed out by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. But August fought back; he took on the city and got himself a $12 million wrongful dismissal settlement that left him low on friends. He has just returned to the house he grew up in after a year away, and quickly learns he has many scores to settle.

  It’s not long before he’s summoned to the palatial Grosse Pointe Estates home of business magnate Eleanore Paget. Powerful and manipulative, Paget wants August to investigate the increasingly unusual happenings at her private wealth management bank. But detective work is no longer August’s beat, and he declines. A day later, Paget is dead of an apparent suicide—which August isn’t buying for a minute.

  What begins as an inquiry into Eleanore Paget’s death soon drags August into a rat’s nest of Detroit’s most dangerous criminals, from corporate embezzlers to tattooed mercenaries.

  SEE LESS
  PRAISE

  Praise for August Snow

  “August Snow is one of my favorite books that I’ve read recently, and I’m not just saying that . . . The plot just takes off . . . This book is so good, I actually put it down, and I briefly entertained the notion of moving back to Detroit.”
  —Nancy Pearl on NPR’s Morning Edition

  “All of us begin in grace and great promise and, staring at the door left open behind, wonder where they’ve gone. Stephen Mack Jones knows this, as does his narrator August Snow, as does their battered city, Detroit. Jean Cocteau believed the world is a misunderstanding. We read searching for stories that help us untangle some of that misunderstanding; August Snow is one.”
  —James Sallis

  “[A] witty, mayhem-packed first novel . . . Snow’s own voice has echoes of Raymond Chandler’s. Be assured that when the showdown comes, Snow—an action-hero with the heart of a mensch—and his crew prove up to that task.”
  —The Wall Street Journal

  “Wonderful.”
  —Nancy Pearl for KUOW Seattle

  “Stephen Mack Jones’s rock-solid debut, August Snow, is powered by the outgoing personality of the title hero and his deep affections for his hometown of Detroit. This author proves himself a natural entertainer.”
  —Chicago Tribune

  “Jones, a Detroit-area poet and playwright brings the city, its environs, and its eateries to vital life in a mystery coiled around the contemporary crime du jour of cyber-finance meddling. His is that rare tale that, despite its thriller-level violence, maintains a fiercely warm heart at its core—and ends far too quickly.”
  —The Boston Globe

  “[August Snow] is a quintessential setup, like a black Raymond Chandler [story]. It’s the most literary crime novel that I’ve read in years.”
  —Harvey Weinstein, via The Hollywood Reporter

  “[Stephen Mack Jones] has deftly created a unique multi-faceted character in the best hard-boiled tradition, easily enjoyed by those who appreciate quick-thinking, fast-shooting detectives. This is a well-polished first novel with exceptionally strong characters and unexpected plot twists; it’s a superb start for a new series.”
  —Lansing State Journal

  “Mack Jones’ prose is poetic and cutthroat, seemingly paradoxical elements he sees in his Detroit. You should meet this guy.”
  —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

  “[A] polished, gripping debut. Poet Stephen Mack Jones’ novel bristles with energy, compassion, humor and a page-turning plot.”
  —Minneapolis Star Tribune

  “Compelling . . . strong one-on-one dialogue keeps the story moving. August Snow is an entertaining read that gives Jones—and Detroit—plenty to celebrate.”
  —Toledo Blade

  “August Snow is an absolute joy to read from start to finish; Stephen Mack Jones has infused a real love of Detroit into every page. Characters are full of life, with August being a modern day anti-hero to a T, burdened with responsibility he never asked for but with the moral compass to ensure that he gets the job done regardless . . . We can only hope this isn’t the last we see of him.”
  —The Michigan Daily

  “[August Snow] is persistent, courageous, true to his friends… Now here is an interesting book.”
  —Lincoln Journal Star

  “As far as compelling reads, this book is what you want. The book takes the reader into the depths of Detroit, exploring, race, class and the cities that contain it all.”
  —The Rumpus

  “Lyrical and sly and rich with a mix of poetry and wisecracking… [the] cast of characters is lovingly drawn, and the setting is a 21st-century map of mean streets that say something about our world.”
  —Reviewing the Evidence

  “[A] hugely likable hero who uses his wealth to bring his neighborhood back to life; a feel for the vitality and pride in run-down urban neighborhoods as good as George Pelecanos on Washington, D.C.; appealing supporting characters who give life to the book’s theme of the solace to be found in communities. It adds up to a very pleasurable read . . . We are at the beginning of an excellent new series.”
  —Kirkus Reviews

  “Drawing on the hard-boiled detective template established by Raymond Chandler and refined by Robert B. Parker, Jones introduces a sleuth who is noble, steadfast in a fight with his fists or guns, and manages to charm the ladies. Readers will definitely want to see more of August Snow.”
  —Library Journal

  “Strong prose and a hero with a distinctive multicultural background (August is half African-American, half Mexican) . . . Convincing smartass dialogue brings the Detroit denizens of poet and play-wright Jones’s first novel to life.”
  —Publishers Weekly

  “This debut novel by poet and playwright Jones offers a welcome inside view of a city in turmoil and the viewpoint of a Mexican and African American protagonist who now finds himself among gentrifiers . . . where shelves lack heroes of color, add Jones’s work.”
  —Booklist

  SEE LESS
  PRODUCT DETAILS

  Hardcover | $25.95
  Published by Soho Crime
  Feb 14, 2017 | 320 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 | ISBN 9781616957186

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8/9/17, 3)11 PM
.
Print Marked Items
August Snow
Henrietta Verma
Booklist.
113.8 (Dec. 15, 2016): p21. From Book Review Index Plus.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
August Snow.
By Stephen Mack Jones.
Feb. 2017.320p. Soho, $26.95 (9781616957186); e-book, $14.99 (9781616957193).
Former Detroit PD officer August Snow just wants to enjoy his very early retirement. After termination for exposing police-department and city-government corruption, followed by a $12 million wrongful-dismissal-lawsuit payout, he wants to settle back in Mexicantown, fix up some houses, and help his less-well-off neighbors. But trouble can't stay away, and when he's asked by a wealthy matriarch in a decidedly different Detroit neighborhood to investigate shady goings-on in her family's bank, it takes all his police and army skills just to stay alive. This debut novel by poet and playwright Jones offers a welcome inside view of a city in turmoil and the viewpoint of a Mexican and African American protagonist who now finds himself among gentrifiers. While the writing sometimes veers into thriller cliche ("One second. One bullet. Two lives."), veterans and other readers who enjoy a story of military loyalty and old friends should try this, along with some Vince Flynn; where library shelves lack heroes of color, add Jones' work as well as Joe Ides 2016 debut, IQ.--Henrietta Verma
Verma, Henrietta
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Verma, Henrietta. "August Snow." Booklist, 15 Dec. 2016, p. 21. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476563454&it=r&asid=7cc7d3ce1f15200cb23b45d33fd25273 Accessed 9 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A476563454
about:blank Page 1 of 3
8/9/17, 3)11 PM
Jones, Stephen Mack: AUGUST SNOW
Kirkus Reviews.
(Dec. 15, 2016): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Jones, Stephen Mack AUGUST SNOW Soho Crime (Adult Fiction) $25.95 2, 14 ISBN: 978-1-61695-718-6
An ex-cop comes home to Detroit and finds himself embroiled in the investigation of a local business magnate's death. August Snow, whose name gives this volume its title, had been framed and drummed out of the force after uncovering corruption at the highest levels of the city. A successful suit for wrongful termination makes him a wealthy man, and he returns to his decaying neighborhood, Detroit's Mexicantown, where he grew up with his Mexican mother and African-American father. As a cop, August had uncovered embezzlement at the bank presided over by the much- despised businesswoman Eleanor Paget. When she dies, an apparent suicide, a day after asking him to work for her, his investigation into her death sets him up to tangle with all manner of local thugs and, possibly, international crooks who turn banks into their own private money-laundering operations. Let's get the flaws out of the way. The author, a poet, playwright, and first-time novelist, tends to overdo both the noir fatalism and the tough-guy stuff (especially when it comes to detailing Snow's arsenal). An important supporting character is made to pay for a past sin in a way that feels very judgmental. There's a shade too much cyberage paranoia. And the book climaxes with two--count 'em-- sieges when one would do. But it's easy to overlook those flaws considering what this book gets right: a hugely likable hero who uses his wealth to bring his neighborhood back to life; a feel for the vitality and pride in run-down urban neighborhoods as good as George Pelecanos on Washington, D.C.; appealing supporting characters who give life to the book's theme of the solace to be found in communities. It adds up to a very pleasurable read. This mostly terrific debut holds out the promise that we are at the beginning of an excellent new series.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Jones, Stephen Mack: AUGUST SNOW." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2016. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA473652427&it=r&asid=b0451e0c86b4ac643c74cdc98d309306. Accessed 9 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A473652427
about:blank Page 2 of 3
8/9/17, 3)11 PM
.
August Snow
Publishers Weekly.
263.47 (Nov. 21, 2016): p89. From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
August Snow
Stephen Mack Jones. Soho Crime, $26.95 (320p) ISBN 978-1-61695-718-6
Convincing smartass dialogue brings the Detroit denizens of poet and playwright Jones's first novel to life. Police officer August Snow was fired from the force for whistle-blowing on the city's mayor and a bunch of crooked cops. His wrongful dismissal suit got him $12 million. After traveling the world, he's home in Detroit's Mexicantown when he's summoned to posh Grosse Pointe by Eleanor Paget, the head of a private wealth-management and investment bank, whose husband he once investigated for embezzlement and murder. She's convinced someone's trying to take over her empire and wants August's help. When Eleanor turns up dead, a supposed suicide, the plot starts to go off the rails. In pursuit of justice, August and his buddies, armed with countless military weapons, take on hired assassins working for evildoers whose crimes against the bank include extortion, racketeering, and implausible cybercrimes. Strong prose and a hero with a distinctive multicultural background (August is half African-American, half Mexican) make up only in part for muddled storytelling. Agent: Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management. (Feb.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"August Snow." Publishers Weekly, 21 Nov. 2016, p. 89+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471273950&it=r&asid=cb195c28fc86ee5e253e1e82237e5941 Accessed 9 Aug. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A471273950
about:blank Page 3 of 3

Verma, Henrietta. "August Snow." Booklist, 15 Dec. 2016, p. 21. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476563454&it=r. Accessed 9 Aug. 2017. "Jones, Stephen Mack: AUGUST SNOW." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2016. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA473652427&it=r. Accessed 9 Aug. 2017. "August Snow." Publishers Weekly, 21 Nov. 2016, p. 89+. PowerSearch, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=GPS&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA471273950&it=r. Accessed 9 Aug. 2017.

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  http://www.npr.org/2017/06/29/534709986/i-want-the-pages-to-turn-librarian-nancy-pearls-summer-reading-list
  Word count: 1498

  'I Want The Pages To Turn': Librarian Nancy Pearl's Summer Reading List

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  June 29, 20174:28 AM ET
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  NANCY PEARL
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  Recently, Nancy Pearl has found herself in search of fast-moving stories. "I think that what I'm looking for these days is just a lot of plot," she explains. "I want the pages to turn of their own accord. I want some reason to really keep on reading."

  Looking for great reads? Browse 300+ handpicked titles in the 2016 Book Concierge >>
  NPR
  Ahead of the July 4th weekend, the Seattle-based librarian shares a stack of recent favorites with host Steve Inskeep.

  These recommendations have been edited for clarity and length.

  Design for Dying
  Design For Dying
  by Renee Patrick
  Renee Patrick is the pen name for husband-and-wife team Rosemarie and Vince Keenan. This is their first novel. In 1937, a young woman named Lillian Frost comes to Hollywood to make her fortune. She's very beautiful, and like many girls at that time, she wants to be discovered by some famous director who sits next to her at a soda fountain. Then, one of her former roommates is found dead wearing a dress that has been stolen from the Paramount Studios. Lillian recognizes the dress and decides to take on the job of finding out whodunit.
  Who was working at Paramount Studios at that time? Costume designer Edith Head. So Lillian meets the great dresser for the stars and together they set off to find out what happened.
  This is great fun and, at the same time, they've woven in real people so you meet a very young Bob Hope and Barbara Stanwyck. It's the first of a series. The second one, Dangerous to Know, is just out and continues Lillian and Edith's detective business.
  August Snow
  August Snow
  by Stephen Mack Jones
  August Snow is one of my favorite books that I've read recently, and I'm not just saying that because I'm from Detroit and it's set in Detroit. The main character, August Snow, was a former Detroit policeman who was kicked off the police force because he was part of an investigation into the mayor's malfeasance. August sued for being punished as a whistleblower and won. He got lots of money, spent a few years abroad, and now has come back home. Once he moves back, he gets a call from a woman asking him to investigate dirty dealings happening at the bank she owns. The plot just takes off.
  This book is so good, I actually put it down when he was describing an area of Detroit and I looked for houses that were for sale and briefly entertained the notion of moving back.
  Lions
  Lions
  by Bonnie Nadzam
  Lions is a soon-to-be ghost town in the high plains of Colorado. This is the story of the last 11 people who live in that town, focusing on the Walker family. The son, Gordon, and his longtime girlfriend, Leigh, have for years planned to go away to school and escape the town.
  It is a book that is so evocative of this once-active town where there's nothing left. It's a beautiful book. I think fans of Kent Haruf's novels will find this novel to their liking as well. I was just blown away by the writing.
  The Year of the Runaways
  The Year Of The Runaways
  by Sunjeev Sahota
  This is a book that talks about the evils of the caste system and the plight of Indian economic migrants in Britain. It's told in a non-linear style, so you might think: Dickens for the contemporary period — a lot of social commentary. But instead, what the author does is focus in on the lives of three young men: What brought them to Britain, how they live. And because each of these characters is so well drawn and their experiences are so both general and very specific to them, it feels less like social commentary and more like you're inside their lives.
  It's living hand-to-mouth. It's always finding a job, finding work. How can we get through? How can we send money back to our families left in India? It's no way to live, and yet they're living that way.
  It's not an easy book to read, and yet it's so worthwhile and eye-opening.
  The Widow Nash
  The Widow Nash
  by Jamie Harrison
  This book is set in 1904 and the main character, the widow Nash, is a young woman named Dulcy Remfrey. She's living in New York when she gets a call from her father's business partner, Victor — who also happens to be her ex-fiancé — to come to Seattle where her father is dying. When she gets there, her father is dying a not-very-pretty death. It turns out that a great sum of money that he has mysteriously stashed away cannot be found. When her father dies and Dulcy and her sister are on the train taking her father's body back to New York, Dulcy realizes that she needs to find the money on her own. So what does she do? She hops off the train. She decides to remake herself as the Widow Nash and lands in Livingston, Mont., which is the author's home town.
  What keeps you reading is not just the quality of the writing, which is just absolutely wonderful, but also to find out: Is she going to do this? Can this be successful? Or is she going to be found out? Are Victor and his brothers going to track her down and, if they do, what's going to happen to her?
  Defectors
  Defectors
  by Joseph Kanon
  Joseph Kanon is one of my go-to authors when I want a good thriller, a good spy novel. Defectors is set in the early '50s, at the height of the Red Scare. It's the story of two brothers who have taken very different paths: The older brother, Frank, was the pride of the CIA and turned out to be, for many years, selling secrets to Moscow. He defects and he's living in Moscow now with his wife and other American defectors. Frank has gotten permission to write a memoir about his life and he realizes he needs an editor. So he invites his younger brother Simon, who is at a New York publishing house — whose life has been really thrown into upheaval because of what his brother did — to help. Simon comes to Moscow to help his brother write this book and nothing goes as one might expect. It's great.
  Proving Ground
  Proving Ground
  by Peter Blauner
  This is a great thriller. The main character in this book is a young man known as Natty Dread. Natty's father is a famous civil rights attorney. Sons can rebel against their fathers in many ways, and Natty rebels by joining the Army. When the book opens, Natty has finished serving several tours of duty in Iraq. When Natty's father is murdered, Natty comes under suspicion. Enter a young policewoman named Lourdes Robles. This will be the first of a series. I just kept turning those pages.
  The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors
  The Legend Of Rock Paper Scissors
  by Drew Daywalt and Adam Rex
  This is a book that begs to be read out loud. René Kirkpatrick, one of my favorite children's booksellers, introduced me to this book, and said not only do you have to read it out loud, but if possible, read it as though you were announcing a motocross race.
  It's perfect for six- to nine-year-olds. Sometimes we forget once kids can read on their own — a lot of people tend to think they don't need to be read to anymore. But there is nothing better — nothing more conducive to closeness and family togetherness — than sitting with a child or two and reading a book to them.
  More Recommendations From Nancy Pearl

  Librarian Nancy Pearl Maps Out A Plan For Your Summer Reading
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  CRITICS' LISTS: SUMMER 2011
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• Boston Globe
  https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2017/03/23/these-mysteries-trouble-hand/ccUpaMRgn9FUxsmlXe21XJ/story.html
  Word count: 1239

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  In these mysteries, trouble is at hand

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  By Daneet Steffens GLOBE CORRESPONDENT MARCH 24, 2017

  AFRICA STUDIO/FOTOLIA

  Former Detroit cop August Octavio Snow, narrator of Stephen Mack Jones’s “August Snow,’’ has a knack for making the right friends, a quality that comes in handy when he embroils himself in a banking magnate’s apparent suicide. The son of an African-American father and a Mexican mother — his middle name honors poet Octavio Paz — Snow was recently awarded $12 million in a suit for wrongful dismissal from the city’s police force. He was fired for blowing the whistle on high-level corruption and is using the payout to regenerate his Mexicantown neighborhood, several houses at a time. Meanwhile, his generosity and direct approach engage a proliferating, rag-tag network of intensely loyal allies, including a blue-eyed FBI agent, a former soldier willing to fight the good fight, a handful of neighbors — including the mightily entertaining Carmela and Sylvia — and a young lad that Snow pulls from the brink of becoming a drug dealer.

  Jones, a Detroit-area poet and playwright, has immense fun with his first novel. He brings the city, its environs, and its eateries to vital life in a mystery coiled around the contemporary crime du jour of cyber-finance meddling. His is that rare tale that, despite its thriller-level violence, maintains a fiercely warm heart at its core — and ends far too quickly.

  If newly-diagnosed asthma, fatherhood to six-month-old Emma, and mostly-happy domesticity with his girlfriend, Beth, has softened a few of Detective Inspector Sean Duffy’s edges, it hasn’t dulled his keen survival instinct or determined pursuit of dastardly criminals in the slightest. (That said, those two qualities are often in direct conflict with each other when it comes to Duffy.) In Adrian McKinty’s “Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly,’’ when challenged by a medical test, Duffy actually cuts down on his cigarettes-and-vodka-gimlet intake, but rest assured that nothing could ever cut down his curiosity-driven investigative work. There’ve been no murders in Carrickfergus in nearly a year, so when someone appears to be using drug dealers as targets for their crossbow practice, Duffy and his trusted colleagues, super brainy Detective Constable Lawson and semi-gentleman farmer Detective Sergeant McCrabban, jump on the case. But they are working in 1988’s Northern Ireland, a country mired in the violence of The Troubles: Are these new attacks the work of the Direct Action Against Drug Dealers group, or are they politically motivated?

  McKinty imbues his writing with same level of attention to wit and cultural touchstones as the scrupulous care he takes structuring the police-procedural aspects of the novel. In the first chapter alone, there are references to philosopher Gaston Bachelard, Ireland’s once all-encompassing Holocene forest, “The Wicker Man,” and Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick, creator of the iconic Che Guevara portrait; elsewhere we learn of Duffy’s favorite musical accompaniments to life (he’s partial to Arvo Pärt, can’t stand Kylie Minogue, and considers Ella Fitzgerald, Schubert and Mozart comfort music). All this, plus we get to observe the normally flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants detective grappling intentionally with his future.

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  Julia Dahl’s intrepid reporter Rebekah Roberts is in investigation mode once again in Dahl’s latest, “Conviction.’’ A freelancer primarily for a New York City tabloid, Roberts discovers a possible wrongful conviction involving one DeShawn Perkins, a man who has spent two decades in prison for a triple murder. As Roberts delves into the long-ago crime — which occurred during a time of heated unrest between the African-American and Jewish communities in early-’90s Brooklyn — she gets a shock: Her semi-mentor, friend, and mom’s current boyfriend, Saul Katz, was an arresting officer in the original case.

  Dahl’s previous Roberts novels, “Invisible City’’ and “Run You Down,’’ are as much powerful indictments of the damage wrought by contemporary social issues as they are cannily crafted mysteries, and “Conviction’’ is no different. Dahl deftly weaves two timeframes and two stories — the crime and its belated reinvestigation — into a suspenseful and compulsive page-turner while adroitly capturing Brooklyn in what’s left of its melting-pot glory. And Roberts is a terrific character: She grapples with a certain amount of built-in anxiety, but she’s also tenacious, determined, and genuinely curious about the world around her; she brings immense empathy to her work, diligently homing in on and exposing the most damning issues damaging our civil fabric. Roberts’s dogged, heart-and-mind-centered pursuit of truth, fairness, and justice shines like a beacon in the dark, and Dahl renders this with grace and substance. What honed Dahl’s savvy writing? My favorite clue is in the acknowledgements, where she thanks her mom “for telling me to ‘bring a book’ wherever I go.”

  AUGUST SNOW

  By Stephen Mack Jones

  Soho, 312 pp., $25.95

  POLICE AT THE STATION AND THEY DON’T LOOK FRIENDLY

  By Adrian McKinty

  Seventh Street, 319 pp., paperback, $15.95

  CONVICTION

  By Julia Dahl

  Minotaur, 320 pp., $25

  Daneet Steffens is a journalist and book critic. Follow her on Twitter @daneetsteffens.
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• Aunt Agathas
  http://auntagathas.com/aa/2017/02/26/stephen-mack-jones-august-snow/
  Word count: 534

  Stephen Mack Jones: August Snow
  Posted by Agatha on February 26, 2017
  As I started this book I have to admit I was a tad suspicious – the author is a poet and a playwright, not always the recipe for creating a down and dirty private eye novel. But as I read this novel set in Detroit’s Mexicantown and featuring half African American, half Mexican ex-cop August Snow, I found instead that the book fitted neatly in with work by Loren Estleman and Steve Hamilton, being a refreshingly straightforward, if gritty, private eye novel and making no bones about it.

  Like David Housewright’s Minnesota P.I. Mackenzie, who has a ton of money at his disposal, so does August Snow, who won a settlement against the Detroit Police Department and is using the money in his own way to recreate the warm Mexicantown neighborhood he fondly remembers from his childhood. He’s been on the run – more or less – for a year and is back home, settling into his life in Detroit, when he gets a call from an old client, one who helped cause much of the ruckus that got him on the outs with the Detroit cops. Reluctantly, he makes the trek across town to the woman’s Grosse Pointe mansion to see what he can help her with.

  He turns down her request to look into possibly shady happenings at the wealth management firm and bank she owns, but when she’s discovered dead shortly after they’ve talked, August, being the true white knight private eye hero, thinks there’s something wrong about her apparent suicide and can’t get it out of his head.

  The back and forth of the street characters and hackers August deals with, contrasted with the ultra wealthy banker types, creates a good back and forth dynamic as the book unfolds. And even the name of this detective – August Snow – summer, winter, two opposites in the same name – helps define the way he’s able to straddle the street, the FBI and police and his wealthy clients.

  I thought this book took a bit of time to get warmed up – as though Mack Jones was finding his footing and establishing his bonafides, but once he gets rolling, this is a wonderfully plotted P.I. novel, full of action and great characters. As readers we also meet the one of the few African American private eyes on the scene, so this is a welcome book and I hope the start of a series. There just aren’t enough books like this one being written at the moment.
  Categories : Reviews
  Tags : Michigan, P.I.
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• Kirkus
  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/stephen-mack-jones/august-snow/
  Word count: 382

  AUGUST SNOW by Stephen Mack Jones
  AUGUST SNOW
  by Stephen Mack Jones
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  KIRKUS REVIEW
  An ex-cop comes home to Detroit and finds himself embroiled in the investigation of a local business magnate's death.

  August Snow, whose name gives this volume its title, had been framed and drummed out of the force after uncovering corruption at the highest levels of the city. A successful suit for wrongful termination makes him a wealthy man, and he returns to his decaying neighborhood, Detroit's Mexicantown, where he grew up with his Mexican mother and African-American father. As a cop, August had uncovered embezzlement at the bank presided over by the much-despised businesswoman Eleanor Paget. When she dies, an apparent suicide, a day after asking him to work for her, his investigation into her death sets him up to tangle with all manner of local thugs and, possibly, international crooks who turn banks into their own private money-laundering operations. Let's get the flaws out of the way. The author, a poet, playwright, and first-time novelist, tends to overdo both the noir fatalism and the tough-guy stuff (especially when it comes to detailing Snow's arsenal). An important supporting character is made to pay for a past sin in a way that feels very judgmental. There's a shade too much cyberage paranoia. And the book climaxes with two—count 'em—sieges when one would do. But it's easy to overlook those flaws considering what this book gets right: a hugely likable hero who uses his wealth to bring his neighborhood back to life; a feel for the vitality and pride in run-down urban neighborhoods as good as George Pelecanos on Washington, D.C.; appealing supporting characters who give life to the book's theme of the solace to be found in communities. It adds up to a very pleasurable read.

  This mostly terrific debut holds out the promise that we are at the beginning of an excellent new series.

  Pub Date: Feb. 14th, 2017
  ISBN: 978-1-61695-718-6
  Page count: 320pp
  Publisher: Soho Crime
  Review Posted Online: Dec. 6th, 2016
  Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15th, 2016

• Portsmouth Review
  http://portsmouthreview.com/book-signing-stephen-mack-jones-greenwich-ct/
  Word count: 1064

  THE PORTSMOUTH REVIEW
  Northern New England and Beyond – Reviews of Local and National Arts
  ABOUT
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  Stephen Mack Jones
  BOOK SIGNING: STEPHEN MACK JONES IN GREENWICH, CT
  REBECCA SKANE BOOK SIGNINGS 0 COMMENTS JANUARY 4, 2017
  Stephen Mack Jones will present August Snow at the Greenwich Library as part of the AuthorsLive series, in Greenwich CT on February 23, 2017. Time to be scheduled.

  August Snow

  Stephen Mack Jones | 9781616957186 | Hardcover |
  PUB DATE: 2/14/2017 | $25.95 | Soho Crime
  Publicist: Abby Koski • (212) 260-1900
  Order on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/August-Snow-Stephen-Mack-Jones/dp/1616957182/

  FROM THE WEALTHY SUBURBS TO THE REMAINS OF DETROIT’S BANKRUPT FACTORY DISTRICTS, AUGUST SNOW (SOHO CRIME | FEBRUARY 14, 2017) IS A FAST-PACED TALE OF MURDER, GREED, ECONOMIC CYBER-TERRORISM, RACE AND URBAN DECAY.

  Tough, smart, and struggling to stay alive, August Snow is the embodiment of Detroit. The son of an African-American father and a Mexican-American mother, August grew up in the city’s Mexicantown and joined the police force only to be drummed out by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. But August fought back; he took on the city and got himself a $12 million wrongful dismissal settlement that left him low on friends. He has just returned to the house he grew up in after a year away, and quickly learns he has many scores to settle.

  It’s not long before he’s summoned to the palatial Grosse Pointe Estates home of business magnate Eleanore Paget. Powerful and manipulative, Paget wants August to investigate the increasingly unusual happenings at her private wealth management bank. But detective work is no longer August’s beat, and he declines. A day later, Paget is dead of an apparent suicide—which August isn’t buying for a minute.

  What begins as an inquiry into Eleanore Paget’s death soon drags August into a rat’s nest of Detroit’s most dangerous criminals, from corporate embezzlers to tattooed mercenaries.

  PRAISE FOR AUGUST SNOW

  “All of us begin in grace and great promise and, staring at the door left open behind, wonder where they’ve gone. Stephen Mack Jones knows this, as does his narrator August Snow, as does their battered city, Detroit. Jean Cocteau believed the world is a misunderstanding. We read searching for stories that help us untangle some of that misunderstanding; August Snow is one.”
  —James Sallis

  “Drawing on the hard-boiled detective template established by Raymond Chandler and refined by Robert B. Parker, Jones introduces a sleuth who is noble, steadfast in a fight with his fists or guns, and manages to charm the ladies. Readers will definitely want to see more of August Snow.”
  —Library Journal

  “Strong prose and a hero with a distinctive multicultural background (August is half African-American, half Mexican) . . . Convincing smartass dialogue brings the Detroit denizens of poet and play-wright Jones’s first novel to life.”
  —Publishers Weekly

  “This debut novel by poet and playwright Jones offers a welcome inside view of a city in turmoil and the viewpoint of a Mexican and African American protagonist who now finds himself among gentrifiers . . . where shelves lack heroes of color, add Jones’s work.”
  —Booklist

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
  Stephen Mack Jones is a published poet, an award-winning playwright, and a recipient of the prestigious Kresge Arts in Detroit Literary Fellowship. He was born in Lansing, Michigan, and currently lives in Farmington Hills, outside of Detroit. He worked in advertising and marketing communications for a number of years before turning to fiction. August Snow is his first novel.

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  Tagged: book signing, Connecticut, Stephen Mack Jones

  Rebecca Skane
  ABOUT REBECCA SKANE
  Rebecca Skane is the self-instated editor-in-chief for the Portsmouth Review. She holds a Bachelor of the Arts degree from Lawrence University in Wisconsin and resides in Portsmouth, NH with her husband and two children. She is the founder of The Portsmouth Book Club which boasts over 1,000 members. She also doubles as a professional escapist. Her genres are scifi and fantasy, both adult and young adult - but she often reads outside of her preferred genres. You can follow her on GoodReads.

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• WSJ
  https://www.wsj.com/articles/do-the-right-thing-1486154186
  Word count: 148

  Tom Nolan on the Best New Mysteries
  “August Snow” features an action hero with the heart of a mensch. “Six Four” is the unsolved murder of a Tokyo girl.
  Updated Feb. 3, 2017 3:46 p.m. ET
  The title of Michigan author Stephen Mack Jones’s outspoken, witty, mayhem-packed first novel, is not an odd weather prediction: “August Snow” (Soho, 312 pages, $25.95) is the narrator’s name. August Octavio Snow is an ex-Marine and (like his late African-American father) a former cop. Fired from the force for exposing corruption, he sued the city and won $12 million, some of which this “Blaxican” is using to fix up his family home and neighboring dwellings in his Mexicantown neighborhood. Thanks to this money, he is also able to finance his own investigation into the supposed suicide of a wealthy man’s widow who...

  TO READ THE FULL STORY

• Chicago Tribune
  http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/sc-crime-fiction-roundup-books-0222-20170222-column.html
  Word count: 1026

  Life & Style Books
  Strong debuts lead crime fiction roundup
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  Chicago Tribune
  "The Dime" by Kathleen Kent, Mulholland, 352 pages, $26

  Dallas narcotics cop Betty Rhyzyk can knock back tequila and ride the mechanical bull with the best of them. But the wiry protagonist of "The Dime," Kathleen Kent's terrific crime fiction debut, is anything but your typical Texas cop. Nearly 6 feet tall, with bright red hair, she hails from Brooklyn, doesn't like much of anything about Texas and may well be the only openly lesbian officer in 500 miles. She lives with Jackie, a pediatric radiologist whose hopes for a tranquil home life get eighty-sixed when the severed head of the biggest cocaine supplier in the area is delivered to their door. And then things get worse. Betty becomes entangled not only in the dealings of a Mexican drug cartel and local meth dealers but also the nasty designs of a strange family-run cult led by the world's scariest mom. Betty has no family herself after the cancer deaths of her father and uncle and the suicide of her brother, all of them cops. For someone whose life has been defined by loss, will it ever be possible to "expunge the dark chaos" surrounding her? Guided through her dreams by her beloved, decorated uncle, who was full of sayings — "Are you done Reaping the Grim?" — she learns to reject victimhood by relying on her wits. Kent's own ability to avoid predictable outcomes and keep the reader on edge bodes well for future installments in this series.

  ADVERTISING

  "August Snow" by Stephen Mack Jones, Soho Crime, 320 pages, $25.95

  Stephen Mack Jones' rock-solid debut, "August Snow," is powered by the outgoing personality of the title hero and his deep affections for his hometown of Detroit. The loving son of an African-American father and Mexican-American mother who lives in the house in which he grew up, Snow is intent on contributing to the Motor City's rebound from bankruptcy by rehabbing houses in his neighborhood. He has a ton of money to spend on the cause, having won $12 million in a wrongful dismissal suit against the city after the force pushed him out for testifying against dirty cops. When ill-tempered philanthropist Eleanor Paget dies of what police say was a self-inflicted gunshot but Snow suspects was murder, he doubles down on his promise to investigate shady dealings at her wealth management bank. He is drawn into a web of violence involving her family members and associates, most of whom are not who they appear to be. The assault scenes pitting Snow and a woman he's protecting against a stream of gunmen seem imported from a different kind of thriller. But Jones, whose background as a playwright figures into his mastery of one-on-one dialogue scenes, is otherwise in complete command. Whether focusing on a street kid that Snow rescues from a life of crime or licking his lips over the tangy food offerings in Mexicantown — don't miss Schmear's Deli — this author proves himself a natural entertainer.

  "What You Break" by Reed Farrel Coleman, Putnam, 368 pages, $27

  A retired cop who drives an airport shuttle and works security for a dumpy hotel out on Long Island, Gus Murphy is slowly recovering from the unexpected death of his 20-year-old son and the end of his marriage. Trouble rears its head after he accepts an offer from an overbearing rich guy "who looked like he was wearing sins in the pores of his skin" to investigate the brutal murder of the man's granddaughter. And then a Russian hit man comes gunning for Murphy's darkly mysterious friend Slava, the night bellman. A onetime policeman in Russia, the Polish-born Slava saved Murphy's butt in "Where It Hurts," the debut novel in this first-rate series, and Murphy is happy to return the favor. But his bond is tested when he learns that Slava, to his friend's eternal shame, participated in bombing atrocities in Chechnya. What should he do when the assassin threatens to harm his actress girlfriend Maggie if he doesn't tell him where he has stashed Slava? A man "ambitious in his rage," Murphy is also quite the romantic. Coleman overplays the grief and girlfriend business but more than makes up for that with his deft mix of corrupt cops, gangbangers, drug dealers and makers of "ghost guns." And the scruffy side of Suffolk County (read: not the Hamptons) has rarely been captured more colorfully. Considering how dim most of the settings are, that's saying something.

  Lloyd Sachs, a regular contributor to the Tribune, is the author of "T Bone Burnett: A Life in Pursuit."

  “Ugly Food: Overlooked and Undercooked,” by Richard Horsey and Tim Wharton, and photographed by Tanya Ghosh, invites readers to look beyond the pretty in supermarkets, butcher shops, fish stalls and farmers markets for foods that are delicious. These 10 delicacies made the list. And click here for tips from our Food & Dining team on how to rescue ugly, overlooked fruits and vegetables from a sad fate.

  A lot of stars have written memoirs, but fewer have published fiction books. Ever wonder if Hugh Laurie is as good at mystery writing as he is at dramatic acting? Or if Kylie and Kendall Jenner can hold their own in the young adult category? From James Franco and Willie Nelson to the late Carrie Fisher, here are 21 novels written by celebrities.
  Summer is synonymous with escape, and good books can both supplement a vacation and offer an alternate getaway when you can't get away. Following are some of the season's most promising literary diversions.

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• Lansing State Journal
  http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/entertainment/books/2017/02/24/detroit-based-august-snow-superb-debut-crime-novelist/98344346/
  Word count: 539

  Detroit-based ‘August Snow’ a superb debut for crime novelist
  Ray Walsh, For the Lansing State Journal Published 6:58 a.m. ET Feb. 24, 2017
  51bomlCVAbL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_
  (Photo: Courtesy image)
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  “August Snow” by Stephen Mack Jones (Soho Crime, $25.95) is a fast-paced, highly-acclaimed new crime novel set primarily in the Detroit area and northern Michigan.

  Mack grew up in Lansing, graduated from J. W. Sexton High School and got a degree from Michigan State University.

  As an African–American with a long career in the mostly white advertising industry, he undoubtedly could have written a novel offering a unique perspective on the field.

  Instead, he’s produced an excellent, compelling violence–packed thriller that showcases Detroit ex-cop August Snow who was forced out of the police department.

  Snow sues the city, getting a multi-million dollar settlement. He is a determined survivor who finds it tough not to think like a cop.

  Half-Mexican and half African-American, Snow enjoys the challenges in Detroit, returning to live in his old family home in the urban area known as Mexicantown.

  Although he’s helping to revive a deteriorating neighborhood, he gets sidetracked. He’s drawn into a complicated case when haughty, wealthy Eleanor Paget tries to hire him to investigate questionable financial dealings.

  Soon, Paget is dead; although local police are convinced it’s a suicide, Snow has doubts.

  As he searches for answers, he gets help from various unusual associates, including a mysterious computer specialist known only as “Skittles”.

  Snow is understandably shunned by most, but not all, other Detroit cops.

  His unauthorized quest gains notice of the FBI, which launches its own investigation.

  The ex-cop is raising too many red flags, and someone is trying to stop Snow’s interest – permanently.

  There are numerous action-packed scenes where Snow, a former Marine sniper, battles nasty military-trained villains, and the body count rises significantly.

  Jones, a poet and award-winning playwright, offers great insights into the rebirth of Detroit, exploring positive and negative aspects of life in the struggling metropolis.

  Longtime residents and newcomers alike will have no difficulty recognizing assorted local restaurants, streets, geographic landmarks and neighborhoods.

  The author has deftly created a unique multi-faceted character in the best hard-boiled tradition, easily enjoyed by those who appreciate quick-thinking, fast-shooting detectives.

  This is a well-polished first novel with exceptionally strong characters and unexpected plot twists; it’s a superb start for a new series.

  Ray Walsh, owner of East Lansing’s Curious Book Shop, has reviewed crime novels and Michigan books regularly since 1987.

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• Mystery Tribune
  https://www.mysterytribune.com/debut-crime-novel-august-snow-gets-hollywood-hot-list/
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  Stephen Mack Jones book August Snow has grabbed the attention of famous Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein crime novel
  By: Mystery Tribune May 4, 2017 Blog, Movies, News
  Debut Crime Novel “August Snow” Gets On Hollywood Hot List
  The debut crime novel of Stephen Mack Jones titled “August Snow” has grabbed the attention of famous Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein as he wants to make a TV show out of the story.

  Stephen Mack Jones, 62, narrates the story of a black Latino ex-Detroit cop in his novel who testified against a crooked mayor and corrupt police honchos and is adjusting to a Motor City that’s both gentrifying and decaying.

  In August Snow, tough, smart, and struggling to stay alive, August Snow is the embodiment of Detroit. The son of an African-American father and a Mexican-American mother, August grew up in the city’s Mexicantown and joined the police force only to be drummed out by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. But August fought back; he took on the city and got himself a $12 million wrongful dismissal settlement that left him low on friends. He has just returned to the house he grew up in after a year away, and quickly learns he has many scores to settle.

  It’s not long before he’s summoned to the palatial Grosse Pointe Estates home of business magnate Eleanore Paget. Powerful and manipulative, Paget wants August to investigate the increasingly unusual happenings at her private wealth management bank. But detective work is no longer August’s beat, and he declines. A day later, Paget is dead of an apparent suicide—which August isn’t buying for a minute.

  What begins as an inquiry into Eleanore Paget’s death soon drags August into a rat’s nest of Detroit’s most dangerous criminals, from corporate embezzlers to tattooed mercenaries.

  stephen mack jones author of crime novel august snow
  Stephen Mack Jones, Author of crime novel “August Snow”
  Since its February release, the book has received critical acclaim from media outlets such as Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune and the Boston Globe. This apparently got the attention of Weinstein, the film producer and studio executive who co-founded Miramax and serves as co-chairman of The Weinstein Co. with his brother Bob.

  Jones got laid off from his advertising job around “12 to 15” years ago and started a freelance career afterwards. At one point, he worked as a salesman at a Toys R Us but his luck finally turned in 2012 when he won a Kresge Fellowship for the Literary Arts, a $25,000, no-strings-attached award given to Metro Detroit artists.

  He began writing “August Snow” about two and a half years ago partially as a tribute to his father, who was a skilled tradesman at the Lansing Oldsmobile plant, and his mother, who at age 93 still reads “two books a week.” He hopes the potential TV show means he can write a series of August Snow novels.

  August Snow, blog, movies, news, Stephen Mack Jones
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  Behind extraordinary mystery reads, there are extraordinary authors. Mystery Tribune is a magazine about these authors and their books. We search the globe to find great reads and authors who inspire, excite and thrill us with their writing.

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• Toledo Blade
  http://www.toledoblade.com/Books/2017/03/19/Detroit-sets-stage-for-debut-thriller-by-Michigan-author-Stephen-Mack-Jones.html
  Word count: 524

  BOOKS BOOK REVIEW Detroit sets stage for debut thriller by Michigan author Stephen Mack Jones will sign copies of novel at Aunt Agatha's in Ann Arbor
  By SHANNON E. KOLKEDY | BLADE STAFF WRITER Published on March 19, 2017 | Updated 1:56 p. m.
  COMMENTS
  Stephen Mack Jones found inspiration close to home for his compelling debut novel August Snow.

  The poet and award-winning playwright from Farmington Hills, Mich., introduces title character August Snow, a former Detroit cop who tackled corruption in the police department and the city head-on.

  Snow’s efforts to clean up the city cost him his job and numerous friends, but resulted in a $12 million wrongful termination settlement.

  SMackJones-jpg
  Author Stephen Mack Jones will sign copies of his debut novel ‘August Snow’ on Thursday at Aunt Agatha’s, 213 S. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.

  SOHO PRESS Enlarge
  After about a year of traveling abroad, Snow can’t resist the pull of Detroit’s Mexicantown and returns to the house in which he grew up.

  At first, he begins putting his new wealth to work for the city, buying and renovating homes in his neighborhood. He’s quick to help out his neighbors and anyone else who needs a hand.

  Soon, however, he is summoned to the Grosse Pointe home of Eleanor Paget, a powerful business magnate and well-known philanthropist.

  Snow had met Paget while he was investigating her husband’s death years before, and Paget wants the former officer to investigate suspicious activity at her wealth management bank.

  Snow declines, and a day later Paget is dead.

  Though the woman’s death is ruled a suicide, Snow has his doubts and is immediately drawn to the investigation — and into the sights of a deadly criminal underworld.

  Drawing on the few friends he has remaining and a new ones he picks up along the way, Snow battles white-collar embezzlers and assassins who might be connected to the government.

  As a sort of anti-hero, Snow is likable for his quest to do what’s righ. Guided by his own conflicted sense of right and wrong, Snow becomes a thorn in the side of the justice system — first the Detroit Police Department and later the FBI.

  In many ways, Snow is representative of Detroit — he’s tough and resilient even when the odds are stacked against him.

  Jones clearly has an affection for Detroit and draws on his familiarity with the city to make the scenes come alive. And the author’s background as a playwright is evident in the strong one-on-one dialogue that keeps the story moving.

  August Snow is an entertaining read that gives Jones — and Detroit — plenty to celebrate.

  And why not? As Snow might say, There “ain’t no party like a Dee-troit party.”

  Stephen Mack Jones will sign copies for “August Snow” at 7 p.m. Thursday at Aunt Agatha’s, 213 S. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.

  Contact Shannon E. Kolkedy at: skolkedy@theblade.com.

• The News Herald
  http://www.thenewsherald.com/downriver_life/regional/farmington-hills-playwright-publishes-mystery-novel-august-snow/article_dc24b0a3-c509-51e1-8bf3-0d766a88af00.html
  Word count: 896

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  Farmington Hills playwright publishes mystery novel “August Snow”
  By Kurt Anthony Krug For Digital First Media Apr 23, 2017 Comments
  Stephen Mack Jones
  Stephen Mack Jones, 62, of Farmington Hills, is a published playwright and poet, whose first novel, “August Snow,” was just released
  Nicole Robertson
  It wasn’t a conscious decision for Stephen Mack Jones, a published playwright and poet, to write a hard-boiled mystery novel.

  “It was just a loose string of events that led to it,” Jones, 62, of Farmington Hills, says about “August Snow” (SOHO $26.95), his first novel.

  Snow, the title character, is a private investigator who was forced off the Detroit Police Dept. by a cabal of corrupt cops and politicians. He won $12 million in a wrongful dismal suit, which also earned him plenty of enemies.

  Grosse Pointe business magnate Eleanore Paget wants Snow to investigate some unusual activity at her bank, but he declines. When she’s found dead the next morning, Snow doesn’t believe the ruling of suicide. So he takes it upon himself to look into her death, only to come up against Detroit’s most dangerous criminals.

  “One thing I’ve been asked is where did the name August Snow come from,” Jones explains. “It just came from out of nowhere when I was mowing the lawn. I didn’t even know it was a name at that point but it was persistent; it wouldn’t leave me alone. ... I had to explore what those two words meant. Were they opposites coming together, or was it a name? I’d already written a 1-page treatment for a book. That’s how August Snow and the plot came together ... it was just a matter of time and happenstance.”

  Jones, a Lansing native and Michigan State University alumnus, lived in Detroit and in the greater Metro area for a majority of his adult life. So he combined Detroit, its politics and socioeconomic levels with 2008’s global financial crisis, which “came together in a bit of a boiling stew.”

  His influences include the late Robert B. Parker, author of the Spenser novels; Whitmore Lake’s Loren D. Estleman, author of the Amos Walker novels; and the late Bloomfield Hills author Elmore “Dutch” Leonard, whom Jones calls “intriguing, funny, insightful, mysterious and bloody.” Other influences include mystery genre icons Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, and Agatha Christie.

  “Growing up… whenever I got the flu and was homebound, there was nothing like a hot cup of tea with lemon, a blanket and Agatha Christie. I love me some Agatha Christie,” he says.

  Jones published his first poem, “The Dream of 13 Black Women,” in The Atlantic Monthly during his Sexton High School days in Lansing. He’s published many more since.

  “A whole lot of poets — that’s where I started learning how to write — influenced me: Langston Hughes, Octavio Paz, Seamus Heaney,” he says. “They’ve taught me and are still teaching me the weight of words — the color, the smell, the sound of words. Maybe this sounds stupid, but any budding novelists out there, regardless of age, if they want to learn how to write, they should read poetry.”

  Three of his plays — “Back in the World,” “The American Boys,” and “Cadillac Kiss” — have been produced. The first two were about Vietnam and the third was a comedy set in Detroit.

  Although he’s been successful in these other two forms, Jones prefers novels.

  “It gives me an opportunity to expand the universe that I’m creating and gives me more of an opportunity to explore — this may sound like BS — humanity. My humanity, personally, and the world around me,” he says.

  So far, “August Snow” has received critical acclaim from the Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune and The Boston Globe.

  “The reviews are wonderful, but what really makes me happy is this book that I wrote to both amuse and inform myself is having a ‘like’ effect on other people,” he says. “It’s like, ‘Thank you for enjoying what gave me enjoyment and informed me, what made me cringe and laugh; thank you for being in on the joke.’”

  Robin Agnew, co-owner of Aunt Agatha’s book store in Ann Arbor, hosted Jones and fellow novelist Chevy Stevens for an event in March.

  “As I started (‘August Snow’), I was a tad suspicious — the author is a poet and a playwright, not always the recipe for creating a down-and-dirty private eye novel,” Agnew says. “But as I read this novel set in Detroit’s Mexicantown and featuring half-African American/half Mexican ex-cop August Snow, I found instead that the book fit neatly in with work by (Estleman) and Steve Hamilton, being a refreshingly straightforward, gritty, private eye novel and making no bones about it.”

  For more information, visit sohopress.com/books/august-snow/.

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