It’s been a while since I posted one of these updates, so here are a few year-end developments for Defending Jacob.
- The novel was named to several “best of 2012” lists, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kirkus Reviews, Toronto Globe and Mail, Kansas City Star, and my hometown Boston Globe.
- Stephen King included Defending Jacob on his list of “the best books I read in 2012,” in Entertainment Weekly, calling it “the best crime-and-courtroom drama in years.” Very cool.
- If that isn’t surreal enough for you, Google’s Zeitgeist 2012 list placed the book at #5 and its author #2 among trending search terms for U.S. books and authors, that is, “search queries with the highest amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2012 as compared to 2011.” Mom, is that you Googling me over and over?
- The town of Sharon, Massachusetts, chose Defending Jacob for its annual “One Book, One Town” program, which means everyone in town will read the book or face criminal prosecution. Or something. (I will be visiting Sharon as part of the event on Saturday, April 6, 2013 at 7:00 pm at the Sharon Middle School.)
- And just for fun, my favorite pull-quote from a review: “I am so in love with this book, I would marry it if it asked me.” Now that belongs on the cover of the paperback.
The mass-market paperback edition of Defending Jacob goes on sale February 26. The trade paperback edition (the larger paperback format) is coming in a few more months.
As ever, thanks to all of you for sticking with me. Happy 2013!
I just finished listening to the audiobook edition of “Defending Jacob”. I read a lot of books in the crime/courtroom genre and I appreciated the fact that this book had me engrossed to the very end. I have three sons, and I could certainly identify with the odd parts of Jacob’s behavior. If one of my sons had found himself in Jacob’s situation their comments could have been misconstrued by others. I also appreciated the idea that a parent could carry a blind defense of their child, even to the detriment of their marriage. And the tension between spouses was realistic as well. I have recommended this book to many people and look forward to reading more of your books.
Thank you!