My new novel, Some Rise By Sin (written under the working title of Deliver Us From Evil), was completed in July, and is scheduled for a May 2, 2017, publication by Henry Holt & Co., which brought out A Rumor of War in 1977 and my first novel, Horn of Africa, in 1980.
Some Rise By Sin is set in the Mexican village of San Patricio, which is menaced by a bizarre, cultish drug cartel infamous for its brutality. As the townspeople try to defend themselves by forming a vigilante group, the Mexican army and police have their own ways of fighting back. Into this volatile mix of forces for good and evil (and sometimes both) steps an unlikely broker for peace: Timothy Riordan, an American missionary priest who must decide whether to betray his vows to stop the unspeakable violence and help the people he has pledged to protect.
Riordan’s fellow expatriate Lisette Moreno serves the region in a different way, as a doctor who makes “house calls” to impoverished settlements, advocating modern medicine to a traditional society wary of outsiders. To gain acceptance, she must keep secret her rocky love affair with artist Pamela Childress, whose troubled emotions lead Moreno to question their relationship.
Together, Lisette and Riordan tend to their community. But when Riordan oversteps the bounds of his position, his personal crisis echoes the impossible choices facing a Mexican nation beset by instability and bloodshed.
I’ll be posting more about my new novel in the months ahead.
Mr. Caputo:
I am a film director and screenwriter. My feature films include THE STONING OF SORAYA M (Lionsgate 2009), THE YOUNG MESSIAH (Focus Features, 2016), and the controversial 2006 ABC miniseries THE PATH TO 9/11.
I want very much to do a film set on the border and your upcoming book has piqued my interest. Can I have an advance look? Unless, of course, it’s already been acquired…? I was interested in CROSSERS but see it was snapped up by Joe Cohen.
Feel free to look me up on Wikipedia — I’m a serious person who makes serious films. I’m a great admirer of your work. Years ago, when it first came out, I read RUMOR OF WAR.
Best,
Cyrus Nowrasteh
(cnowrasteh@aol.com, 818 681 0562)
Phil: I have read almost all you have written and I look forward to your next book. Bill Calhoun
I recently bought your wife’s book “Dead Trees” purely because I figured anybody you married was bound to be a good read. I loved it. I laughed out loud repeatedly and re-read some paragraphs because they were so fun to read! Mrs. Malaprop was always highly entertaining and I plan to use a few of her lines. The book was articulate and intelligent, a good read that I shall offer to my book-loving friends.
Leslie was delighted by your comments, and so was I.Spread the word about her book if you can. Thank you for your comments
I also read read Leslie’s “Dead Trees”. A really great read, full of humor and irony and wisdom. Gave it five stars on Amazon. Recommended as a good ‘un.
Just dropped you a note, Tony — the kind written in the lost art of cursive. Leslie delighted by your Amazon review.
Thrilled and grateful to get anything from you, considering how busy you are. And you are the only person I know who will write a letter longhand. My scribble is incomprehensible. I am very proud of you for continuing to produce work. There’s little more important.
Great news and looking forward with eager urgency. I’ve read ’em all.
I also read Leslie’s new book and it knocked my sox off.