Join BookTowne in Welcoming Bestselling Author Chris Bohjalian
Event Information
About this event
Purchase of the ticket includes the signed copy of "The Lioness."
Doors open at 6:30pm. Event begins at 7pm.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Chris Bohjalian has done it again. Hot off the success of last year’s New York Times bestseller HOUR OF THE WITCH and HBO Max’s THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT series, which is currently in production on season two after an incredible critical and popular reception, the beloved Doubleday house author returns with his 23rd novel, THE LIONESS (Doubleday; May 10, 2022; $28.00), a riveting historical thriller in which a luxurious African safari turns deadly for a Hollywood starlet and her entourage.
In THE LIONESS, Bohjalian turns his adrenaline-pumping pen to the Serengeti in 1964, where A-list actress Katie Barstow has taken her new husband and glittering entourage of co-stars, managers, and publicists for a safari adventure. Lulled by visions of candlelit dinners and capturing wildlife on film, Katie’s dream honeymoon suddenly turns into a nightmare when a team of Russian mercenaries descends upon the party. As the botched kidnapping sees the plains run red with blood and violent uncertainty spirals into the night, Katie and her entourage must confront which they fear more: nature or man.
DEATH ON THE NILE meets OUT OF AFRICA, with the glamour of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD and the pace and stakes of a John Le Carré novel, THE LIONESS weaves the rich atmosphere of 1960s Los Angeles cinema with the Serengeti in the newly formed Tanzania as violence and rebellion rage next door in the eastern Congo. Readers spend time inside the perspective of each member of the party, including Katie’s best friend and fellow starlet Carmen Tedesco; Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film, Tender Madness; Katie’s psychiatrist brother, who still bears the scars of their traumatic childhoods; her publicist, an Okinawa veteran with some demons of his own; her Beverly Hills gallerist husband, who may just have ties to the CIA; their safari guide, a Hemingwayesque game hunter of a bygone age of Colonialism; and more.
Utterly unputdownable, THE LIONESS bears all the hallmarks of a Bohjalian bestseller: marrying topical themes (in this case, race, fame, and love in a world on the cusp of great change); with modern, complex protagonists pushing against conventions; in fabulous, expertly rendered settings; all aided by Bohjalian’s usual, deeply thorough research, with the author spending time in Tanzania and in the stacks to bring these vibrant settings to life as faithfully as possible.
Part psychological drama and part survival thriller, leavened with fame, love, and death, THE LIONESS is another vibrant masterpiece of suspense from one of our finest storytellers.
ABOUT CHRIS BOHJALIAN
CHRIS BOHJALIAN is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twenty-three books, including Hour of the Witch, The Red Lotus, Midwives, and The Flight Attendant, was the basis for the hit HBO Max television series starring Kaley Cuoco. His other books include The Guest Room; Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands; The Sandcastle Girls; Skeletons at the Feast; and The Double Bind. His novels Secrets of Eden, Midwives, and Past the Bleachers were made into movies, and his work has been translated into more than thirty-five languages. He is also a playwright (Wingspan and Midwives). He lives in Vermont and can be found at chrisbohjalian.com or on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Litsy, and Goodreads @chrisbohjalian.
ABOUT FIONA DAVIS
Fiona Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Dollhouse, The Address, The Masterpiece, The Chelsea Girls, The Lions of Fifth Avenue, and The Magnolia Palace. She lives in New York City and is a graduate of the College of William & Mary in Virginia and the Columbia Journalism School.