by Sean Doolittle

Delacorte Press
Random House
www.bantamdell.com
www.seandoolittle.com
ISBN 978-0-385-33898-1
$24.00 Hardcover
On Sale February 24, 2009
Fiction / Suspense – contemporary fiction set in small college town in Iowa

“SAFER reminds us home can be the most dangerous place on earth….
Doolittle produces a smart, funny and powerfully suspenseful thriller.”
–People

 “SAFER is one great read! My laundry and dishes kept piling while I ignored them to read SAFER, but not for long, because I read it in 2+ sittings. …The story is wonderfully complex, but the author takes the reader by the hand without making us feel like we’re being led by the hand.  (I love the tool of explanations to the imaginary class.) …I think this book will have a lot of appeal to a wide [range] of people… I can’t wait to hand-sell this!”
– Jennifer Wills Geraedts, Beagle Books, Park Rapids, MN

 For more information about this book, please contact your Random House sales rep.  Order from Random House or your preferred wholesaler.
If you would like to inquire about publicity and events for author Sean Doolittle, please contact Sharon Propson, Publicity Manager, Bantam Dell, 212-782-9008, spropson@randomhouse.com.

NEW!  download these podcasts for SAFER —

Sean Doolittle, author of SAFER, reads from the second chapter of his noir thriller. 

Sean Doolittle talks about his new novel SAFER and reveals that the inspiration for the book’s story was rooted in one question: would you murder your neighbor if it guaranteed your own safety?

Visit the new Bantam Dell website featuring their top suspense books and authors!
http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/blood_on_the_page/

MBA Booksellers: earn up to $75 in rebates for promoting this book!  See the marketing information and rebate form below.

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• Midwest Connections Rebate Form (PDF)
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• Publisher press release (PDF)
• Author photo (JPG)
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• Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials

About the Book

“Just finishing up SAFER.  What a page turner!!  I started it yesterday afternoon and have not put it down.  It is so good!!   It is well written, and I love the literary references throughout.  It may be a little predictable at times, but then [the author] throws you a curve and keeps your attention from the first page to the very last.  He had me questioning whom to trust throughout the story — including whether or not I should trust the narrator, Paul Calloway!   I can definitely recommend this one to my customers!”
– Angie Grafstrom, Inspiration Hollow, Roseau, MN

“SAFER, a new thriller by Sean Doolittle is one great read! My laundry and dishes kept piling while I ignored them to read SAFER, but not for long because I read it in 2+ sittings. I love that the “sleuth” is an English Lit prof, but not the stuffy sort.  The story is wonderfully complex, but the author takes the reader by the hand without making us feel like we’re being led by the hand.  (I love the tool of explanations to the imaginary class). I think this book will have a lot of appeal to a wide group of people – East Coasters, Midwesterners, academics who need an intelligent enjoyable read, and of course thriller fans! Best of all, Doolittle avoided the annoying habit of so many thriller writers these days who feel they must use ridiculous metaphors. I can’t wait to hand-sell this!”
– Jennifer Wills Geraedts, Beagle Books, Park Rapids, MN

“[Doolittle's] novels are real gems, fine examples of timeless crime writing.”
- Chicago Sun-Times

“SAFER is a high-octane, rip-roaring page-turner. I read it in one sitting-and loved every minute.”
- Harlan Coben, New York Times bestselling author

“In SAFER, Sean Doolittle has crafted a taut, claustrophobic thriller in which our safe world of home and neighborhood becomes instead something terrifying and deadly. SAFER made me look twice at my neighbors and check the locks on my doors, and that earns Doolittle a solid A+ in skin-crawling suspense.”
- Kay Hooper, New York Times bestselling author

“Admirably complex.”
- Publishers Weekly

“The plot is slick and inventive. The author is skilled at ratcheting up the readers’ foreboding, sympathy, and fear, creating the deep need to see how things turn out. The primary characters … are vividly rendered, and lesser characters are well-sketched.”
-Booklist

From Dirt to The Cleanup, Sean Doolittle has dazzled critics and defied expectations, garnering bolder critical raves with each new novel. “Stylishly written” hailed the New York Times Book Review … “Superb” declared the Wall Street Journal … “Heart-stopping, gut-clenching, eye-opening” raved the Chicago Tribune. Now Doolittle fulfills all that promise-and more-in his latest novel, a powerhouse of suspense that will catch you off guard at every turn. Because in SAFER, a young couple moves into an idyllic little cul-de- sac-and ignites a harrowing journey into darkness as a shocking accusation is made, a family is shattered, and the mystery of a long-ago crime begins to unravel.

For Paul Callaway and his wife Sara, moving from the East Coast to a quiet Midwestern town was a major adjustment. But right from the start, Paul has tried to fit in. He’s played golf with the guys. He’s even joined the Neighborhood Patrol, grabbing a flashlight and a walkie-talkie to make these neatly tended streets even safer. Then Paul makes one mistake-and now they want him gone. But nothing could have prepared Paul and Sara for the quarrel that has erupted between Paul and a neighbor-the self-appointed leader of the Neighborhood Patrol. Or for the next outrage, as police arrest Paul for a sordid crime he didn’t commit. Suddenly Paul’s life, university career, and marriage are at risk, as he finds himself locked in a desperate fight with an angry man, a dark conspiracy, and a secret that began with a child’s disappearance ten years before.

About the author

SEAN DOOLITTLE is the author of four novels: The Cleanup, Rain Dogs, Burn (winner of the gold medal in the mystery category of ForeWord Magazine’s 2003 Book of the Year Award), and Dirt (an Amazon.com Top 100 Editor’s Pick for 2001). His short stories have been collected in Plots With Guns and The Year’s Best Mystery Stories 2002. He lives with his family in Omaha, Nebraska.  Author website: www.seandoolittle.com

Author photo credit:  Jessica Doolittle

Midwest Connections Marketing Plans

• $75 in REBATES from MBA for display photos, ads, features in your newsletters, e-newsletters, and on your store website – print out the REBATE FORM above and follow instructions
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• Reading copies of SAFER available from Delacorte Press and MBA – contact the MBA office if you need a book.
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