RICHMOND REVIEW STORY
Death Game, by debut novelist Cheryl Swanson, was recently released and is being featured at Green Apple Book Store this month. Death Game was published by Zumaya Publications and introduces a hard-boiled, Irish Catholic female sleuth who lives in the Richmond District.
Cooper O’Brien spends her evenings prowling the area’s pubs and walking streets humming with Russian and Cantonese speakers. Her father is a counter-espionage agent and Cooper is pulled into her father’s shadowy world when her troubled teenage brother is targeted in a terrorist plot.
The waves of immigrants, not to mention a plethora of establishments serving food from every corner of the world, made the Richmond and Sunset an appealing setting for the novel, according to Cheryl Swanson. Not to mention the notorious fog, booming foghorns and marine breezes. Swanson said she found the area fascinating and exhilarating when she worked in it for several years.
Cheryl Swanson now lives in Kauai, but she visits often. “When I come, I take my five-year-old daughter to the Camera Obscura and hiking in Lincoln Park,” she said. Along the portion of the Coastal Trail that runs about six miles along the bluff above the sea she did research for her plot, sitting and watching traffic come under the bridge.
According to ForeWord Magazine, the leading reviewer of academic and independent press books, “Death Game is a sharp, fast-paced mystery.” ForeWord reviewer Maryann Miller said: “In this debut novel, the author weaves an intricate story with fine characterization and plenty of surprises. The pace is relentless and the language vivid.”
Many writers frequent the Richmond District, including best-selling author Amy Tam. Even though she uses Chinatown as the setting in her five novels, including The Joy Luck Club, she said in an article in the Charlotte Observer on January 28, 2007, “There's a cooler, lesser-known part of town where the newest immigrants from China, Vietnam and Russia have settled.” You guessed it. In the Richmond District, particularly around Clement Street.
Death Game
Cheryl Swanson
306 pages
Zumaya Publications
Softcover $14.99
978-1-55410-325-6
PDF and HTML $6.99
978-1-55410-326-3
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