Kent State grad’s adventure
has reporter traveling world
As summer approaches, Ohioans flock to the playgrounds of the North Coast: Put-in-Bay, Kelleys Island, Sandusky, all places mentioned in Sandustee: The Search for the Nazarene’s Code, a globe-hopping adventure that is the seventh in Bob Adamov’s series about Emerson Moore, a Washington Post reporter with a big reputation and an even bigger expense account.
Acting on a tip, Emerson travels to Germany to research the history of a manuscript called the Nazarene’s Code, allegedly powerful enough to enable the possessor to control the world. From Germany it’s off to Israel, then Turkey and Rhodes, all while flirting with the alluring antiquities specialist he’s been partnered with. Danger hides in the form of a pair of hired goons who follow Emerson everywhere from Key West to Washington, where he inspects national monuments to find clues that might have been left by Abraham Lincoln on his way out the door to Ford’s Theatre.
Emerson’s travels also include locations from previous books, the New Orleans of Promised Land and Key West of When Rainbows Walk. Every time he orders a grouper sandwich or a cocktail, he’s ducking a bullet.
Sandustee (351 pages, hardcover) costs $24.95 from Adamov’s Packard Island Publishing. The next book, Zenobia, is listed as “coming soon.” Bob Adamov lives in Wooster and is a graduate of Kent State University.
Kenyon professor pens novel
Twentieth-century Irish and American affairs are a running thread in Irish Eyes, a novel by Kenyon College professor Peter Rutkoff, but Irish Eyes is at its heart story of two brothers who diverge in their approach to their search for justice and faith.
Jamie and Mike are the sons of Helen McCormack and her husband, Bill, a World War II Merchant Marine veteran, who doesn’t care if his sons squabble about whether the Giants or Dodgers are better, as long as neither follows the Yankees. The family lives over a New York bar named Irish Eyes, where Bill talks politics and where the boys duck in to catch the World Series scores.
The carefree existence splinters in 1956, and the family cannot sustain the blows of illness, alcoholism and disillusionment. Mike’s deep involvement in the civil rights and peace movements perplexes Jamie, who, in scenes set in the present day, looks over keepsakes and considers the family’s long history of activism.
Irish Eyes (256 pages, softcover) costs $25 from Birch Brook Press.
Writing workshops
The Learned Owl will be the site of a series of three writing workshops led by local writers, beginning June 9 with Kent State University assistant professor Varley O’Connor, author of The Master’s Muse, the novel about George Balanchine’s wife Tanaquil Le Clercq. She will lead “Writing Creative Non-fiction.” The July 14 “Putting the Story in Storybooks” class features When Blue Met Egg author Lindsay Ward, and Lisa and Laura Roecker, author of the Liars Society teen series, lead “Finding Your Inner Teenager: Writing YA Fiction.”
The series costs $100 or $45 for an individual class. Each class is from 5 to 7 p.m. Call 330-653-2252 to register.
Events
Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library (3512 Darrow Road, Stow) — Terry Pluto is the guest speaker at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Library, talking about Faith and You, Volume 2: More Essays about Faith in Everyday Life, 2 p.m. Tuesday. Refreshments served. Free, but reservations required; call 330-688-3295.
Barnes & Noble (Great Lakes Mall, 7900 Mentor Ave., Mentor) — Sam Thomas tells the Ladies Night Out book group about his historical novel The Midwife’s Tale, 7 p.m. Tuesday; all are welcome.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Brook Park branch, 6155 Engle Road) — Barbara Warny talks about and signs her novel Women in Prison, 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Akron-Summit County Public Library (Northwest branch, 1720 Shatto Ave.) — Jane Turzillo signs Wicked Women of Northeast Ohio, 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Boulevard, Shaker Heights) — Tracy Chevalier, author of The Last Runaway, which takes place in Northeast Ohio, signs her book at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Case-Barlow Farm (1931 Barlow Road, Hudson) — Chevalier appears at a fundraiser for the historic farm beginning at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, talking about her research methods and signing The Last Runaway. Tickets are $20 and include refreshments and tour; call the Learned Owl Book Shop at 330-653-2252.
Hartville Hardware (1315 Edison St.NW) — Maryanne Shaw signs The 9 Day Miracle, about her son’s recovery from an accident, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.