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Gary Zebrun, a Lambda Award finalist for his first novel, SOMEONE YOU KNOW,
is the Sunday news editor at The Providence Journal. A graduate of the Brown University writing program, he is the recipient of Yaddo, MacDowell and Breadloaf fellowships.
He lives in Providence, R.I.
September, 9, Just Buffalo Series, Talking Leaves Bookstore, Buffalo
September 17, Book Launch, Books on the Square, Providence
October 6, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh
October 15-18, Atlanta Queer Literary Festival, Atlanta
October 28, New York City, With Jim Grimsley, Barnes and Noble, Upper West Side, Broadway
Novermber 6-7, Wordstock, Portland, Oregon
November 10, Elliot Bay Book Co, Seattle
November 12, A Different Light Bookstore, Los Angeles
November 15, Borders Bookstore, Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, CA
SOMEONE YOU KNOW was a finalist for a 2005 Lambda Literary Award.
Newspaper columnist Daniel Caruso has a wife he loves deeply, a daughter who means everything to him, and a secret that could destroy them. At a conference in Seattle, he meets and spends a passionate night with Stephen Hart, a handsome firefighter. Awakening alone and deeply conflicted, Daniel flies home to Providence, R.I., but on a layover in Chicago he receives a bizarre and frightening message indicating that someone knows of his deception. At home with his family, the serenity of a weekend morning is shattered by the arrival of a second message: a gruesome package, the contents of which make clear that Stephen Hart has been murdered. The messages increase in regularity, filled with chilling details about Daniel's activity and making it clear that the killer knows every move he and his family make. His desperation to shield his wife and daughter from the truth is replaced by fear for their safety, as the killer becomes puppet master, dragging Daniel deeper into a netherworld of bathhouses and S-and-M bars where the killer stalks him openly. Journalist Gary Zebrun's debut novel is a nerve-shattering thriller of psychological terror, sexual obsession, and the devastating price of secrecy.
“Cool as witch hazel, frightening as a fresh body part ... guaranteed to give you sleepless nights ... If you’ve ever wondered what goes on inside those big old clapboard houses in Providence, Rhode Island, this beautifully crafted novel will give you the horrifying scoop.” -- Edmund White,THE FAREWELL SYMPHONY, FANNY
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“In this first novel, Gary Zebrun introduces himself as a major fiction writing talent ... SOMEONE YOU KNOW is not only a compelling mystery, but an emotionally charged and acutely observed psychological portrait of a lost and secretive man forced by a widening circle of murders to confront who he is ....” -- Ron Hansen, ATTICUS, MARIETTE IN ECSTASY
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“Gary Zebrun’s SOMEONE YOU KNOW is a harrowing and at times heartbreaking account of one good man’s futile hope that he can contain the increasingly dangerous mess his closeted life has created for him ... This is a hugely impressive debut, filled with tenderness, wisdom, and clarity of insight. -- Jim Shepard, PROJECT X and LOVE AND HYDROGEN
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“This novel reminds us, in beautifully perceptive prose, that imagining another person’s life is perhaps the best thing we can do for one another. -- Karen Shepard, EMPIRE OF WOMEN, THE BAD BOY'S WIFE
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Kirkus Reviews:
"A closeted gay journalist is stalked by a serial killer who sends him the victims' body parts.Visiting Seattle from Providence, Rhode Island, for a convention, newspaper columnist Daniel Caruso picks up hunky local firefighter Stephen Hart. Next day, Hart is found murdered, and the killer begins sending Daniel threatening messages as well as a box containing (presumably) Hart's sexual organ. Daniel's wife, Sarah, and his children, Jamie and Aidan, notice his edginess but have no clue about his double life, which has included regular forays to bathhouses and various shadowy cruising spots for one-night stands. Daniel's policeman friend Jared O'Connor, who's been working with him on a gay-bashing case and guessed his secret, learns that Hart was the victim of a serial killer whose victims are somehow linked to Daniel. When he receives a human hand and increasingly menacing messages, Daniel begins to fear for his family's safety as well as his own. His inner struggle to be honest about his homosexuality-with Sarah, with his kids, and with himself-becomes as consuming as the search for the killer. Intending to trap his tormentor, Daniel complies with his instruction to rendezvous at a New York S&M club where leather hood masks are required. But his plan goes awry. First-novelist Zebrun
uses his nominal mystery as a MacGuffin for a heartfelt, gracefully written, and explicit tale of sexual angst and self-discovery"
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Asim Zahid is headed to the University of Michigan, ready to bust out of Lackawanna, a rundown steel town outside of Buffalo, New York. But his dream of a bright future is derailed when his father dies and leaves behind the Bethlehem Theater and Sonia, his old man’s longtime mistress. Soon there’s another reason frustrating the restless son's plans to leave Lackawanna — an Irish redhead named Billy, who’s been flirting with Asim from the window of the Pig Iron Pub across the street from the theater. Asim wonders whether he might be happy in Lackawanna after all, until he discovers his brother,Tarik, is headed off to some kind of training camp in the Afghanistan desert. Not long after, he receives a package with a skull of a Jewish boy that initiates a terrifying and ultimately deadly set of events that peak on September 11, 2001.
"With his memorable cast and nicely underplayed big themes, Zebrun delivers a new and worthy perspective on the 9/11 experience." -- Publishers Weekly
"Coming of age in a dying American town is hard enough. But if you're Middle Eastern and gay... Zebrun's ruminative second novel captivates through the complexity and vulnerability of its characters and the excellence of its prose, polished to a luminous transparency." -- Kirkus
"Only the Lonely" is a perceptive work of modern fiction, a gripping tale of dreams dashed amidst the dust of 9/11 ... a truly involving narrative about a teenager named Asim, his father's dying wish, a passion for cinema, and a country hurtling toward September 11." -- Buffalo Spree Magazine
"This quietly perceptive, insightfully written novel ... doesn't speculate but lets the chilling tale play out to a climax that is as frightening as it seems inevitable." -- The Providence Journal
"A rich dive into the tempest of family, the cold depths of loneliness and the riptide of fundamentalism ... haunting." -- JustOut, Portland, Oregon
"Much like the old black-and-white movies that Sonia loved, ONLY THE LONELY reads ... like an artsy independent film ... a modern-day update of THE GLASS MANAGERIE." -- Desert Daily Guide, Palm Springs, Calif.
"A very intimate story that reflects international concerns in miniature, about one immigrant family’s struggles with secrets, discrimination, and religion." -- Bay Windows, Boston
"...once you start you won't stop ... for noir novel lovers." -- OutSmart, Houston
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"Hugely impressive debut ..." -- Jim Shepard, PROJECT X
"A beautifully crafted thriller ..." -- Edmund White, FANNY
"A novel I found myself remembering long after I'd finished it. It's that good." Ron Hansen, ATTICUS
"The sympathy Zebrun incites ... is evidence of just what a fine writer he is." -- Karen Shepard, EMPIRE OF WOMEN
Bestsellers Lists: NowVoyager, Provincetown; Lambda Rising, D.C.; OpenBook, Sacramento
"Seductive ... savage ... searing ... an electrifying page-turner." -- Richard Labonte, Book Marks
"Stark...tightly written murder mystery... compelling." --Booklist
"Inticing and danger-filled." -- Instinct
"Mesmerizing ... "Do not try this at home." TmeOut NY, top summer books
"This astonishing first novel combines excellent prose, dialogue, and character, drawing with throat-gripping suspense that invites comparison with Hitchcock, Woolrich and Charlotte Armstrong. -- Ellery Queen Magazine
"A cautionary tale for anyone contemplating a one-night stand ... fast paced and dark thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat." ReFresh (London)
"Barnburner of a first novel ... deft and frightening." -- Tony Lewis, Providence Journal
"A heartfelt, gracefully written, explicit tale of sexual angst and self-discovery" -- Kirkus
"First-time novelist triumphs ... a terrifying thriller inspired by spree killer Andrew Cunanan." -- Thrust Magazine
"Zebrun successfuly captures the angst of a closeted gay man ..." -- Publishers Weekly
"Harrowing page-turner about a heterosexually married, tragically closeted newspaper columnist and a homo-hating serial killer..." Kevin Riordan In Newsweekly; Washington Blade
"A claustrophobic atmosphere that imprisons even the most squeamish reader and keeps him or her white-knuckling through to the climax of this dark tale." -- Lavender Magazine (Twin Cities)
"If you enjoy having the hair on the back of your neck stand on end with terror, this is the book for you." --The Open Book (Sacramento)
"... read this book in one sitting if you can ... vividly dark and sexually charged." -- staff pick, Lambda Rising Books
"Mystery readers, as well as fans of horror novels, ... are drawn ever deeper into the mind of a serial killer who will stop at nothing to get at the ultimate object of his desire -- Daniel Caruso himself. Rating A+" -- The Texas Triangle
"A graphic and frightening thriller..."-- Provincetown Banner
"A tour-de-force ... "Someone You know" may have you shivering like it's still winter, but there's plenty of the sizzle of promised summer heat, too." --Clean Sheets
"A twisted game of cat and mouse ...an entertaining walk on the dark side." -- TWN Book Report, South Florida
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