Nathan Hill has worked as a journalist and is currently on leave from his job as an associate professor of creative writing. He's just published his debut novel The Nix to much critical acclaim, including starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Kirkus. And it was recently announced that Meryl Streep and J.J. Abrams plan on adapting The Nix for television.

Kerri Maniscalco is a debut novelist who has the honor of being the first author published by James Patterson's new young adult imprint called Jimmy Patterson Books and is distributed by Little, Brown. Stalking Jack the Ripper is the story of a 17-year-old girl named Audrey Rose Wadsworth who is fascinated by the Jack the Ripper case and is then terrified to learn that Jack might be closer to her than she suspects. Also, Stalking Jack the Ripper debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list for young adult hardcover! Congratulations Kerri!

Jason Miller is a noted Twitter funny person and contributor to the RiffTrax movie satire series. Jason first appeared on Book Talk in 2015 to talk about the first book in his Slim in Little Egypt mystery series, Down Don't Bother Me. 2016 brings book two in the series set in southern Illinois coal country, Red Dog.

Donald Ray Pollock came to writing later in life after having worked 30+ years in a paper mill in central Ohio. His first published book was a collection of short stories called Knockemstiff, followed by the novel, The Devil All the Time. 2016 sees the release of his second novel, The Heavenly Table, which is published by Doubleday.

Brad Taylor retired as lieutenant colonel from the United States Army after over 20 years of service, including time in what is popularly known as Delta Force. He then began writing thrillers about a shadowy special forces unit called The Taskforce, starring operator Pike Logan. The first book in the series was One Rough Man, and now in the summer of 2016, we have the tenth book in the series, Ghosts of War, which is published by Dutton.

Ace Atkins used to be a crime reporter down in Tampa, Florida, but turned to the world of fiction with his New Orleans set Nick Travers series. He then wrote four critically acclaimed historical novels based on true crimes. His currently writing two series. One is continuing the Spenser series for the Robert B. Parker estate, and his own Quinn Colson series, set in northern Mississippi, about an Army Ranger who retires back to his hometown and takes over as sheriff. Today we'll talk about the most recent book in the series, The Innocents.

 

Melissa Ginsburg teaches English and creative writing at the university of Mississippi, having received her MFA from the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop. As a writer, she is a poet and a novelist having published the collection of poems, Dear Weather Ghost, and Ecco/Harper Collins has recently published her debut novel, Sunset City.

Megan Miranda has enjoyed a lot of success in writing novels for young adults like Hysteria, Fracture, and The Safest Lies. Today we'll be talking about her first novel for the adult market, All the Missing Girls, about a woman returning to her small North Carolina hometown to face a new mystery and some old lies.

John Hart is a former criminal defense attorney who turned into one of America's most popular and respected writers of literary crime fiction. 2006 saw the publication of his debut novel, The King of Lies, his next two novels 2007's Down River and 2009's The Last Child each won the Edgar Award for Best novel, and Iron House followed in 2011. 2016 sees the publication of his fifth novel, Redemption Road, which is published by Thomas Dunne Books.

Stuart Gibbs is a veteran screenwriter who has moved to the world of fiction for younger readers. He started off with the Last Musketeer series, and is now juggling three different series, Fun Jungle, Spy School, and Moonbase Alpha. Today Stuart and I will talk about the second entry into the Moonbase Alpha mystery series, Spaced Out.