Coffe & Crime with Kelly Braffet

According to Dennis Lehane: Kelly Braffet is the real deal. Save Yourself is an electrifying, tomahawk missile of a thriller with honest-to-God people at its core. It rocks the house!

We'll provide the caffeine, but we're not sure it will be necessary, as Kelly Braffet's new thriller is waking up early readers and knocking their socks off!

Save Yourself is written in the alternating voices of Patrick Cusimano and Verna Elshere. Patrick works a dead-end job at a convenience store, living in his childhood home with his brother Mike and his brother's girlfriend Caro, while their father sits in jail, convicted of a hit and run. It took 24 hours for Patrick to turn his father in after discovering evidence that he had drunkenly killed a six year old boy, and since then Patrick has lost his job, his friends, and his hope for any kind of normal life. Mike blames Patrick for destroying their family, and the rest of the town despises him for not turning his father in sooner. To make matters worse, Patrick suspects he might be in love with Caro, and the tension between them is pushing him to his breaking point.

Meanwhile, Verna has just started high school, where the shadow of her fmaily is threatening to crush her. Her strict fundamentalist upbringing and outspoken minister father have made her the target of a cruel group of classmates who taunt her at every turn. And her older sister, Layla, doesn't help matters by enthusiastically embracing her role as the school freak.

This ensemble of infamous outcasts is at a crossroads, grappling to find a place in a world that has rejected them, and solace soon leads to something sinister.

Kelly Braffet is the author of Josie and Jack and Last Seen Leaving. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University, where she received her MFA. Kelly lives in upstate New York with her husband, the writer Owen King.

This is Kelly's first visit to Mystery Lovers. Please join us in giving her a big Pittsburgh welcome. This event is free, but we want to be able to save you a spot (so you can sit on the edge of your chair!). Please use our Contact Us form on our website or give us a call at 412-828-4877 for a reservation.

Can't attend but want a copy of Save Yourself? Order now by phone or online, and we'll have it signed and mailed to you after the event.