Does a red hot mystery take the chill off your cold winter’s night? Then I invite you to take a trip to Newark. It’s not a tourism draw from Mayor Cory Booker. It’s Faces of the Gone; the debut novel from Brad Parks.

How does a guy from Connecticut get to know the streets of Newark? He writes about it.

Brad Parks has always loved the written word, from "self-publishing" his first story at the age of 7 to writing rhapsodic descriptions of girls’ basketball for The Ridgefield (Conn.) Press 7 years later. A trailblazer, Parks expanded on this experience and started his own weekly sports newspaper at Dartmouth as an undergrad. This ambitious undertaking opened the door to internships at The Boston Globe and The Washington Post where he became part of the staff.

At The (Newark, N.J.) Star-Ledger, Parks expanded his news horizons. The morning of September 11th 2001, found Parks on his way to Giants training camp. One call to his editor and his assignment changed, as did our world. He needed to write a piece that would make sense of the incredible tragedy. Driving on the New Jersey Turnpike, Parks found his inspiration pulled over onto the side of the road. A father was mulling over how he would explain the events of the day to his 7-year-old. This interaction set the tone for Parks’ piece. In the week that followed, Parks did not cover sports but rather covered news in "train towns" such as Summit, Chatham & New Providence. This was the catalyst to his switch to hard news.

Covering a quadruple homicide in Newark sowed the seeds of inspiration for a novel. Parks grew up devouring mysteries. The Travis McGee Series from John D. McDonald was a perennial favorite. In these Florida-based novels, McDonald shared his insight into the social and cultural clashes of the day soaked in murder tinged with humor.

For Parks, part of being a writer is seeing the absurdity in life. In an excerpt from the book featured on his website, intrepid reporter Carter Ross is surrounded by gang members, who ask if he likes to party. A nervous laugh and the question "Are you asking me if I want to smoke pot"? shows that Ross is willing step out of his comfort zone to get at the heart of the matter. Finding commonality is important even if it means falling to your knees unable to think straight in a smoky room. Both Parks and Ross gain respect in the community by giving it and approaching people with genuine curiosity. "Regardless of how different our lives may be we all share the common thread that we need to have purpose, be a part of something bigger and ultimately that are understood," Parks told The Alternative Press.

Parks now lives in Virginia with his wife and children in order to write full-time. Though he does miss the opportunity for good pizza, it is the spirit of New Jersey that keeps his pen to paper. "New Jersey has an energy that is not found anywhere else. When so many people of different races & different walks of life are forced to interact interesting thing happens," Parks said.

When asked if there were similarities between himself & Carter Ross, the author remarked that his hero was better looking, better dressed, and a better reporter.

Faces of the Gone hits your favorite bookstores December 8th. Meet the man himself December 12th at The Towne Bookstore in Westfield & Sages Pages in Madison.

SATURDAY December 12th
10:30am – 12:00 pm
THE TOWN BOOKSTORE
270 E Broad St
Westfield, NJ

SATURDAY December 12th
3pm-4pm
SAGES PAGES
250 Main Street
Madison, NJ.