Two o'Clock, Eastern Wartime: A Novel - Hardcover

Dunning, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743201957 ISBN 13: 9780743201957

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2001

Synopsis

Widely acclaimed for his groundbreaking crime novels "Booked to Die" and "The Bookman's Wake," award-winning author John Dunning triumphantly returns with a riveting new thriller that takes us back to the summer of 1942, when radio was in its prime, when daylight saving time gave way to "wartime," when stations like WHAR on the New Jersey coast struggled to create programming that entertained and inspired a nation in its dark hour. Into this intense community of radio artists and technicians in Regina Beach, New Jersey, come Jack Dulaney and Holly Carnahan. They are determined to find Holly's missing father, whose last desperate word came from this noisy seaside town. Holly sings like an angel and has what it takes to become a star. Jack -- a racetrack hot-walker and novelist who's hit every kind of trouble in his travels from sea to sea -- tries out as a writer at WHAR and soon discovers a passion for radio and a natural talent for script writing. While absorbing the ways of radio, from writing to directing, he meets some extraordinarily brave and gifted people who touch his life in ways he could not have imagined -- actresses Rue, Pauline, and Hazel; actor-director Waldo, creator of the magnificent black show "Freedom Road; " and enigmatic station owner Loren Harford, among others. Jack's zeal for radio is exceeded only by his devotion to Holly, who needs his help but who is terrified for his safety. Strange things are happening in Regina Beach, starting with an English actor who walked out of the station six years ago and was never seen again. And Holly's father is gone too, in equally puzzling circumstances. As Jack and Holly penetrate deeper into the shadows of thepast, they learn that someone will do anything, including murder, to hide some devastating truths. In a stunning novel that transcends genre, John Dunning calls upon his vast knowledge of radio and his incisive reading of history to create a poignant, page-turning work of fiction that sheds new insights on some of the most harrowing events of the twentieth century. Like E. L. Doctorow's "Billy Bathgate" or Caleb Carr's "The Alienist," Dunning's brilliant tale of mystery, murder, and revenge brings to life another time, another place, another world.

About this title

Review:

Janet Evanovich author of "Hot Six" What a great book -- full of suspense, romance, and mesmerizing old-time radio lore. And that wonderful 1942 station, WHAR, is in my favorite state, New Jersey! If you haven't yet discovered John Dunning, you have a treat in store.

About the Author:

John Dunningis the Nero Wolfe Award-winning author of Booked to Die and The Bookman's Wake, a New York Times notable book of 1995. An expert on rare and collectible books, he owned the Old Algonquin Bookstore in Denver for many years. He is also an expert on American radio history and the author of On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio(Oxford, 1998) and was for many years host of the weekly Denver radio show Old-Time Radio. He has a personal archive of 40,000 shows on high-quality recordings. John Dunning lives in Denver, Colorado. His web site is www.johndunning.net.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0743201957
• ISBN 13: 9780743201957
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 478