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Alan Drew
Photo: © Nina Subin

Alan Drew

Alan Drew is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Gardens of Water and Shadow Man. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. An associate professor of English at Villanova University, where he directs the creative writing program, he lives near Philadelphia with his wife and two children.

The Recruit by Alan Drew

The Recruit

Alan Drew

A detective on the hunt to solve a series of hate crimes stumbles upon a network of white supremacists hiding in the shadows of his quiet hometown in this gripping thriller.

Rancho Santa Elena in 1987 seems like the ideal Southern California paradise—that is, until a series of strange crimes threatens to unravel the town’s social fabric: workers attacked with mysterious weapons; a wealthy real estate developer found dead in the pool of his beach house. The only clues are poison and red threads found at both crime scenes. As Detective Benjamin Wade and forensic expert Natasha Betencourt struggle to connect the incidents, they begin to wonder: Why Santa Elena? And why now?

Soon Ben zeroes in on a vicious gang of youths involved in the town’s burgeoning white power movement. As he and Natasha uncover the truth about Santa Elena’s unsavory underbelly, Ben discovers that the group is linked to a much wider terror network, one that’s using a new technology called the internet to spread its ideology, plan attacks, and lure young men into doing its bidding. Ben closes in on identifying the gang’s latest target, hoping that the young recruit will lead him to the mastermind of the growing network. But as he digs deeper in an ever-widening investigation, Ben is forced to confront uncomfortable truths about himself and his beloved community, where corruption is ignored and prejudice is wielded against fellow citizens without fear of reprisal.

Chilling and timely, The Recruit follows one man’s descent into the darkness lurking just beneath the respectable veneer of modern life.

Praise for The Recruit:

“Extraordinary! The Recruit is as smart and stylish as it is compelling. The plot speeds like a race car on a breathtaking course filled with twists and turns, and the novel brims with rich psychological insights into the many fully drawn characters. I can think of no other thriller that portrays its vital themes—all relevant to our times—in such a riveting and up-close and personal way. Bravo!”—Jeffery Deaver, author of The Bone Collector

The Recruit is thoughtful, relevant, and brainy. Alan Drew paints such a vivid portrait of a seedy world, you’re convinced you’d never want to visit it. Yet as the story tightens its grip, you soon realize you can’t bear to leave.”—Graham Moore, author of The Holdout

Praise for Shadow Man

“Wonderfully imagined and wonderfully written, Shadow Man is everything a great thriller should be. . . . A home run.”—Lee Child

“Recommend this one to fans of Michael Connelly, Tana French, and Dennis Lehane.” Booklist (starred review)

“Excellent, atmospheric . . . [a] superb police procedural . . . [Ben Wade] is but one of many sharply etched characters who help make Shadow Man a stellar achievement, a book that unspools like a dark-toned movie in the reader’s mind.”The Wall Street Journal ("Best Mysteries of 2017")
   
“Drew’s engrossing novel works equally well as psychological study and cop thriller, literary novel and genre piece.”Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

 

Praise for Gardens of Water:

 “Fascinating . . . a remarkable first novel [of] people struggling to define themselves in a world that seems against them.”USA Today

“Sensitive and thought-provoking, Gardens of Water is set in a perfectly realized Istanbul, a city where traditionalism and modernity grind together like the fragments of a collapsing building." The New York Times Book Review


Contacts:

Literary:

Dorian Karchmar

William Morris Endevour

New York, NY

PH: 212.586.5100

Foreign Rights:

James Munro

William Morris Endevour

100 New Oxford Street

London, WC1A 1HB

jmunro@wmeentertainment.com

Film and Television:

Alicia Gordon

Willaim Morris Endevour

9601 Wilshire Blvd.

Beverly Hills, CA 90210

ALG@weentertainment.com

Media Inquiries:

Karen Fink

Penguin Random House,

New York, NY

kfink@penguinrandomhouse.com

Contact Alan Drew:

alandrewauthor@gmail.com

 

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