John Burley, The Quiet Child

Bookshop Santa Cruz presents author John Burley for a book talk and signing of his new novel, The Quiet Child. John Burley is the award-winning author of The Absence of Mercy, honored with the National Black Ribbon Award, and of The Forgetting Place. With its suburban setting, domestic focus, and atmospheric prose, The Quiet Child is sure to appeal to readers of literary suspense.
It’s the summer of 1954 and the residents of Cottonwood, California are dying. Suspicion and gossip swirl around a strange six year old boy who never speaks, but seems to bring ruin to those around him, even his mother. When a stranger whips into town and Danny and his ten-year-old brother Sean go missing from the backseat of their father’s car, a search ensues in which everyone is a suspect—even their own parents—and the consequences of finding the two brothers may be worse than not finding them at all.
Leading the search is town Sheriff Jim Kent, who has watched his town suffer and is increasingly aware of the superstition and whispered rumors surrounding the boy. He worries about what drastic action the townspeople are willing to take to protect their loved ones from the secrets that are about to come to light. Burley threads together the impact of gossip, suspicion and loyalty to create an atmosphere of intrigue that will leave readers guessing until the very last page.

John Burley attended medical school in Chicago and completed his emergency medicine residency at University of Maryland Medical Center and Shock Trauma in Baltimore. He continues to serve as an emergency medicine physician in Northern California, where he lives with his wife, daughter, and Great Dane.
EVENT DETAILS: This free event will take place at Bookshop Santa Cruz. Open seating. Seats are generally set up one hour prior to the event's start time.