Sunday, March 16, 2008

Pg. 99: Seth Harwood's "Jack Wakes Up"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Seth Harwood's Jack Wakes Up.

About the book, from the publisher:
Four years ago, when his first action movie, Shake ‘Em Down, came out, Jack Palms had everything he could want. But after his wife brought him up on false charges of assault, then filed for a divorce, he bottomed out on drugs and his sequel got scrapped. No one in Hollywood would return Jack’s calls.

Since then, in the three years since Jack went clean—no drugs, no drinking, no life—he’s added seventeen pounds of muscle, read 83 books, and played it straight down the line. Now he’s bored, has gone through most of his money and doesn’t know what comes next, but wants to leave his self-imposed exile.

When an old friend offers him a chance to work one big score, a single drug trade that’s going to set them up for life, he finds himself introduced to a trio of Eastern Europeans looking to score enough coke to settle down and start their own business. All Jack has to do is keep them entertained and get them through their purchase. But when people start turning up dead, and an old nemesis on the police starts calling, Jack finds himself in danger. With the cop giving him just 24 hours to find San Francisco’s biggest drug supplier or face charges that will put him behind bars, Jack has to find out quickly which side of acting and action he’s really on.

Ad libbing his way through a minefield of Colombian drug men, San Francisco gangsters and ex-KGB agents, Jack comes to see that the only way to know exactly what’s real—who’s doing the killing, what’s actually going on, and where he’s headed with the beautiful bartender who brought him home—is to see this thing through to its end, no matter what. He’s waking up to a whole new version of his life… however long it’s going to last.
Among the early praise for Jack Wakes Up:
"Seth Harwood has created a thrilling noir story that pulls the listener into the dark world of Jack Palms."
--Spinetingler Magazine

“Harwood sucker-punches crime fiction. It’s not a fair fight…”
--Scott Sigler, bestselling author of Ancestor and Infected

“A supercool cocktail of chicks, Czechs, cars and coke, Jack Wakes Up is an immaculately paced thrill-ride by a writer to watch.”
--Allan Guthrie, author of Savage Night

"Thumbs up. It's a firecracker of a novel, powered by jet fuel. Never lets up. And this Palms fellow, he's an interesting guy--hang around him for five minutes, and trouble will find you both, no doubt. Makes for a fun vacation."
--Anthony Neil Smith

Read an excerpt from Jack Wakes Up at Spinetingler Magazine, and learn more about the book and its author at Seth Harwood's website, his blog, and his MySpace page.

Seth Harwood teaches writing and literature at the City College of San Francisco and Chabot College. In July 2006, he began the Jack Palms Crime Podcast Series.

Read more the Palm/Palms Sunday Jack Wakes Up sales chart offensive at The Rap Sheet or at Harwood's blog.

The Page 99 Test: Jack Wakes Up.

--Marshal Zeringue