CrimeReads, from the makers of Literary Hub, launches next week. The new site will be dedicated to the best writing from the worlds of crime, mystery, and thrillers, with new articles every day from your favorite authors, fellow readers, booksellers, librarians, and critics. You can find it now at crimereads.com, where you can also sign up for the weekly newsletter.
Website: crimereads.com (also accessible through lithub.com)
Twitter: @CrimeReads
Facebook: @crimereads
The launch will feature Jason Overstreet’s essay on historical fiction and the black experience.
In this riveting and emotionally powerful historical drama, an ex-FBI agent plunges into the darkest shadows of 1930s Europe, where everything he loves is on the line . . .
International consultant Prescott Sweet’s mission is to bring justice to countries suffering from America’s imperialistic interventions. With his outspoken artist wife, Loretta, and their two children, he lives a life of equality and continental elegance amid Europe’s glittering capitals—beyond anything he ever dared hope for.
But he is still a man in hiding, from his past with the Bureau, from British Intelligence—and from his own tempting, dangerous skill at high-level espionage. So when he has the opportunity to live in Moscow and work at the American Embassy, Prescott and his family seize the chance to take refuge and at last put down roots in what they believe is a fair society.
Life in Russia, however, proves to be a beautiful lie. Reduced to bare survival, with his son gravely ill, Prescott calls on all his skills in a last-ditch effort to free his family from the grips of Stalin. But between honor and expediency, salvation and atrocity, he’ll be forced to play an ever more merciless hand and commit unimaginable acts for a future that promises nowhere to run . . .
Advance Praise For Jason Overstreet’s Beneath The Darkest Sky
“With impressive research that yields precise details, Overstreet manages to uncover a new layer to the black experience and reveal that there is so much about black history that remains unexplored. In Beneath the Darkest Sky, Overstreet uses lushly drawn characters and an edge-of-your-seat plot to teach us many important things we didn’t know, while thrilling us and entertaining us at the same time.” —Nick Chiles, New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
“Chilling and original, Beneath the Darkest Sky is a frightening and fascinating plunge into the world of Soviet paranoia and intrigue. From the nerve-rattling appearance of NKVD policemen on the very first page, to the stunning twists and turns of the final chapter, Jason Overstreet takes you on a taut and fast-paced journey of suspense and survival.” —Jack Ford, Emmy Award-winning news correspondent
“Sweet’s journey broke my heart but gave me hope—about this father’s quest for honor, and ultimately, in his determination to save those he loves more than life. Jason Overstreet’s newest historical thriller was a fascinating read!” —Rachel Howzell Hall, author of City of Saviors
“An unexpected tale about a family trapped in an unthinkable place during a historical time. I can’t get the imagery out of my head. Beneath the Darkest Sky is a chilling, thrill ride that keeps delivering!” —Karen Hunter, New York Times bestselling author, journalist, and radio talk show host
“Beneath the Darkest Sky transports us to 1930’s Russia, allowing us to witness Stalin’s atrocities. Thousands of Americans, hundreds of them black, fled the Great Depression for work in Russia, only to find themselves trapped behind the Iron Curtain. This novel shines a powerful spotlight on their unimaginable predicament.” —Van Jones, environmental and human rights activist and New York Times bestselling author of The Green Collar Economy