Down River - Edgar Winner!

John Hart’s 2006 debut novel, The King of Lies, a literary thriller featuring a charismatic reluctant lawyer, was nominated for the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The North Carolina native’s novel blending psychological intrigue, a hint of Southern Gothic, and evocative prose, earned him the respect of critics and became a national bestseller, charting on both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and being named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2006.

His second novel, Down River, was recently awarded the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel of 2007. It was also nominated for a SIBA Award from the Southern Independent Booksellers Association and a Strand Magazine Critics Award. Topping several best of the year lists (January Magazine, Library Journal, The New York Sun), the title was also named #6 in the mystery/thriller category of Amazon’s Top 100 books of 2007.

This complex Southern potboiler revolves around Adam Chase who left his small North Carolina town years ago under suspicion of murder. When he returns to town to help a friend, and more dead bodies pop up, Adam realizes he has to stop running and get to the bottom of the killings. Available on 10 compact discs, this skillfully layered novel is wonderfully brought to life by narrator Scott Sowers. Publishers Weekly says, “Hart writes with an intimate sense of melancholy and loss that Sowers resonates perfectly. Using a low-key, Southern accent to good advantage, Sowers draws the listener into the story from the very beginning with his simple, earnest delivery, and holds them tight.”

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