paperback edition of The Ticket Out
(12/8/03) A NEW REVIEW FROM SAN FRANCISCO
(2/9/03) A NEW REVIEW FROM KANSAS CITY
(2/3/03) A NEW INTERVIEW WITH HELEN KNODE
(1/23/03) L.A. WEEKLY ON THE NOVEL
Helen Knode's first novel is set for a January 23, 2003 release. The novel totals 352 pages, and is dedicated to her husband, novelist James Ellroy. Publisher Harcourt-Brace's official description follows:
"Ann Whitehead is sick of her job. She's a movie critic for a counterculture rag in Los Angeles and she needs a break badly. Instead of a break, she gets a murder. A woman dies in Ann's bathtub: the victim is a film school grad and Industry hopeful. It's the kind of story Ann was born to write, but the disgraced LAPD detective leading the investigation is determined to stop her. The search for the killer turns into a search for the victim's missing script, the story of another woman murdered in 1944. Suddenly there are two killers, and a complicated conspiracy spanning decades. Ann is smack in the middle and everyone she meets wants into the film business whatever the price. There's never been a thriller hitched as brilliantly to the new underbelly of Hollywood as this one. Helen Knode is a startling and original voice."
Ellroys World was shot a galley copy of The Ticket Out back in late November. Quick summary: Helen Knodes first novel incorporates the real life, unsolved murder of socialite Georgette Bauerdorf, found dead in her bathtub in 1944. She had been raped and beaten. Knode postulates a second bath tub murder involving an up and coming screenwriter. Hollywood, film and film criticism are central to the book. The novel also references a number of recent Hollywood releases, as well as current actors, actresses and directors. Sardonic appraisals of the state of American cinema, and its stars, abound. Prediction: If The Ticket Out is ever optioned for film, Tom Cruises name will never be attached to the project.
(1/22/03) USA Today raves....
(1/22/03) The Charlotte Observer weighs in favorably....
(1/19/03) The Kansas City Star has given The Ticket Out a rave review.
Kirkus dubs Knode's first novel "A promising start down the mean streets of Culver City," for "the protagonist of what may well become a series."
Retired L.A. Sheriff's detective Bill Stoner (of My Dark Places fame) says the book is "a winner. It has the common connection of homicide and detectives that we all expect with an Ellroy book, but she writes in her own style and has the reader turning pages very quickly to see where it will take us next."
The Harcourt Brace American edition constitutes the true first edition of Helen Knode's first novel (ISBN: 0-15-100184-7). The book is presented in a 6x9 hardcover format and designed by Cathy Riggs.
An unknown number of uncorrected proofs were prepared in mint green wraps.
Jan. 25, 2003 Helen Knode will appear at Mysterious Galaxy, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd., #302, San Diego, CA (1-800-811-4747) at 2:30 p.m.
Feb. 3, 2003 Helen Knode will appear at Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 117 Cherry St. / Seattle, WA 98104 / (206) 587-5737 on Monday, Feb 3 at noon.
Feb. 4: Helen Knode makes a stop in New York, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble Upper East Side, 240 East 86th (at 2nd). 212.794.1962.
Feb. 25 Helen Knode will appear at Arizonia's Poison Pen Bookshop at 7 p.m., 4014 N Goldwater Blvd. Suite 101, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. Tel: 480-947-2974 Toll Free: 888-560-9919
(From Harcourt-Brace)
" Helen Knode was born in Calgary, Alberta, in 1957. She worked as a film critic and columnist for the L.A. Weekly from 1985 to 1991. She lives in California with her husband, bestselling author James Ellroy. This is her first novel." Helen Knode also is a contributor to the book After 9/11: Solutions for a Saner World.
