Book Spotlight, Short Author Q&A, & Giveaway: As Night Fall by Jenny Milchman (CLOSED)

Jenny Milchman has quickly become one of my favorite authors. She has a new book coming out, As Night Falls,
at the end of this month and I am looking forward to reading it. I was fortunate to be sent duplicate
advanced copies of this book, so you, my readers, will benefit – two lucky readers
can win a copy! See below.

Title: As Night Falls   

Author: Jenny Milchman       

Published: June 2015, Ballantine Books  

Format: Hardcover, 384 pages   

From the acclaimed author of Ruin Falls and Cover of Snow
comes a breathless new novel of psychological suspense about a dark,
twisted turn of events that could shatter a family—a read perfect for
fans of Gillian Flynn, Chris Bohjalian, and Nancy Pickard.

Sandy
Tremont has always tried to give her family everything. But, as the sky
darkens over the Adirondacks and a heavy snowfall looms, an escaped
murderer with the power to take it all away draws close.

In
her isolated home in the shadowy woods, Sandy prepares dinner after a
fight with her daughter, Ivy. Upstairs, the fifteen-year-old—smart,
brave, and with every reason to be angry tonight—keeps her distance from
her mother. Sandy’s husband, Ben, a wilderness guide, arrives late to
find a home simmering with unease.

Nearby, two desperate men
on the run make their way through the fading light, bloodstained and
determined to leave no loose ends or witnesses. After almost twenty
years as prison cellmates, they have become a deadly team: Harlan the
muscle, Nick the mind and will. As they approach a secluded house and
look through its windows to see a cozy domestic scene, Nick knows that
here he will find what he’s looking for . . . before he disappears
forever.

Opening the door to the Tremont home, Nick brings not
only a legacy of terror but a secret that threatens to drag Sandy with
him into the darkness.

An Interview with Jenny Milchman:

What makes AS NIGHT FALLS distinct from your previous two books?

The whole novel takes place in the course of just one night. About eight hours. Writing with that kind of sped-up time frame made for some very interesting pacing issues – early readers have said that the book moves so fast, they had to put it down to catch their breath. It was a challenge to make the characters full and real people when the reader sees them only during a single life-and-death crisis. There is a novel-within-a-novel in the book, with chapters dating back to 1975, and that allowed me to layer in some of what made these people who they are.

I also delved into the head of my “bad guy” more than in my first two books, and I have a teenage point of view character, whom I really enjoyed getting to know. Finally, there is a dog who becomes a hero in this book. I love the role he plays in the story – and he’s based on a real dog I met on the road.

All of your novels feature female protagonists. Why?

Ah. This is one for Doctor Freud maybe. Because in some ways they are all me? Or at least the person I hope I would be if I were ever – and I pray that I am not – faced with the kind of situation I put my characters into. But I’ve been gladdened to find that I have male readers as well as female, and I hope that’s because independent of who the protagonist is, these stories are about digging down and finding strength inside ourselves. That’s something we all can relate to – male or female.

Your book tours were extensive: seven months in 2013 and four months in 2014. Isn’t that pretty “old school?” Why devote so much time to physical tours in the Internet age?

I think that virtual reality only makes real reality that much more important. We’re surrounded by internet chatter: Spam, requests to Like, Tweets. We all “know” so many people these days – I sometimes wonder what would happen if Laura Ingalls were suddenly plunked down in front of a computer. There’d be more people posting on her wall than ever lived in De Smet, South Dakota! And yet, in a way we don’t know these people until we’ve walked up and given them a hug or shook their hands…just like people did back in 1880. Everything’s changed, and at the same time, not that much has changed. Meeting someone in person adds something I don’t think a computer will ever be able to replace.

So that’s why I go out on the road – so I can meet and hug and thank all those people I’ve gotten to know over the years. I have to be grateful for the net, though. Without it, there wouldn’t be all those people to meet “for real.” It’s when the online meets the face-to-face that I think the true magic happens. 

Why do you write crime fiction? Why do you think people like to read about terrible events?

I love this question because I believe that crime fiction is where some of the best, most vibrant, lush, exciting, deep and substantive writing is going on today. Which makes sense – crime fiction deals with universal themes and questions of human existence. I write these stories with crime fiction, more than any other genre, lies the potential to right an unjust world, to triumph over forces that feel very – that are very – real. And I suspect a lot of people read it for the exact same reason.  

What is the number one thing you hope readers take away from reading your novels?

It’s not something they take away – it’s that I hope they will be taken away. I hope that someone reading one of my books will forget life for a little while, all the small annoyances or worries, all the big shadows and bereavements, too. I hope that time will pass for a spell unnoticed while they live in another world, one where even though bad things happen, good can triumph in the end. One person told me that reading Cover of Snow allowed her to finally process her brother’s suicide. I remember my mother reading Sophie’s Choice after losing a late-term pregnancy. Books can be portals away from life when we need them, and books can lead us back to life as well. If I can give a reader such a channel, it’s my honor and my privilege and one of the greatest joys I get.

 

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GIVEAWAY DETAILS – (US only)  

Thanks to the publisher, two readers can win a copy of  As Night Falls by Jenny Milchman. (Please note giveaway is for an advanced copy edition.) To enter the giveaway, please fill out the form by June 26th.

Form closed

This giveaway is open to US residents only and ends June 26th.

 

Good Luck!!!