Stephen King called The Rumor Game, “A brilliant blend of crime, mystery, and American history … terrific entertainment.” Its author, Thomas Mullen, will be the Meet the Author presenter for March at downtown Eatonton’s Georgia Writers Museum (GWM).
The Rumor Game is about a determined reporter and a reluctant FBI agent who face off against fascist elements in this gripping historical thriller set in World War II-era Boston.
Reporter Anne Lemire writes the Rumor Clinic, a newspaper column that disproves the many harmful rumors floating around town, some of them spread by Axis spies and others just gossip mixed with fear and ignorance. Tired of chasing silly rumors about Rosie the Riveter’s safety on the job, she wants to write about something bigger.
Special FBI Agent Devon Mulvey spends weekdays preventing industrial sabotage and Sundays spying on clerics with suspect loyalties.
When Anne’s story about Nazi propaganda intersects with Devon’s investigation into the death of a factory worker, the two are led down a dangerous trail of espionage, organized crime, and domestic fascism – one that implicates their tangled pasts and threatens to engulf the city in violence.
“Time and again, Mullen’s suspenseful storytelling pulls us forward,” The New York Times Book Review said of The Rumor Game.
Mullen, who lives in Atlanta, is the internationally bestselling author of eight novels, including Darktown, an NPR Best Book that was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southern Book Prize, and the Indies Choice Book Award, as well as being nominated for or winning prizes in France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
The follow-up book, Lightning Men, was named one of the Top Ten Crime Novels of 2017 by The New York Times and was shortlisted for a CWA Dagger Award.
Mullen’s debut novel, The Last Town on Earth, was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today, and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction.
Mullen’s works have also been named to Year’s Best lists by The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Irish Times, Kirkus Reviews, The Onion’s A/V Club, The San Diego Union- Times, Paste Magazine, and The Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
His stories and essays have been published in The Huffington Post, Atlanta Magazine, Crime Reads, LitHub, and The Bitter Southerner.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. March 5 at GWM for a 7 p.m. start to Mullen’s presentation.
When arriving at the museum, visitors will be convinced they have stepped onto a World War II movie set with great, themed hors d’oeuvres.
Tickets are $40 each and are available online at georgiawritersmuseum. org, where guests can register now for this exciting evening and pre-order a copy of Mullen’s just-released book. He will be signing books after his presentation.