Showing posts with label we is got him. Show all posts
Showing posts with label we is got him. Show all posts

Monday, December 12, 2011

On the third day of Christmas, Overlook Press gave to me ...

Happy Monday, and welcome to the third installment of the ongoing Overlook holiday giveaway bonanza! Last week two lucky readers scored literary prize packs featuring the complete Charles Portis paperback backlist and a pair of beautiful design books by Milton Glaser and Eva Zeisel. Congratulations to Friday’s winner Carl Scott, and a big thanks to all those who have entered so far.

Are you a history buff who also loves thrilling stories of mystery and intrigue? Do you crave meticulously researched period pieces but also seek a thrill? For today’s giveaway we’re offering three books that combine grisly true crimes and gripping historical mysteries: Murder in the First-Class Carriage by Kate Colquhoun, a signed copy of We Is Got Him by Carrie Hagen, and The Man Who Never Returned by Peter Quinn—the perfect gift for the whodunit enthusiast who seeks historical accuracy along with their white-knuckle suspense.

Kate Colquhoun’s Murder in the First-Class Carriage tells the true story of the death of Thomas Briggs, who in 1864 became the first murder victim in the history of the British rail system. The hunt for Brigg’s killer takes readers on a transatlantic journey from Victorian London to New York and reveals a suspenseful account of the investigation and trial of Briggs’ assailant.

Carrie Hagen was kind enough sign this copy of We Is Got Him, the captivating true story of the abduction of four year old Charley Ross in 1874, the first kidnapping for ransom in the history of the United States. The Philadelphia Inquirer calls We Is Got Him, “an elegantly told, superbly accomplished history of good and bad intentions gone awry.”

Peter Quinn’s The Man Who Never Returned blends fact and fiction in its original retelling of the disappearance of New York State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater on August 6th, 1930. Judge Crater’s disappearance remains one of New York’s most famous unsolved mysteries to date, and in addition to the book, we’ll also be giving away a Man Who Never Returned t-shirt, featuring the original missing person’s poster advertising his disappearance.

To enter, simply:

1. Comment on this post

2. Tweet at us the hashtag #OverlookChristmas

3. Leave a comment on our Facebook page

You can enter once in each area until 8 AM tomorrow morning, and we will be announcing a winner in tomorrow’s post. After all entries are received, we choose a winner using random.org. Please leave an email address when entering so we can contact you if you’ve won.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Carrie Hagen's WE IS GOT HIM December Events


Calling all Pennsylvanians! Carrie Hagen, author of We Is Got Him will be hitting the road this December, visiting bookstores and libraries throughout the Keystone State to meet her fans, answer questions, and read excerpts from her story of the 1874 kidnapping of Charley Ross. Four year old Ross was the victim of the first highly publicized kidnapping for ransom in America, and Hagen’s We Is Got Him is a deeply researched and critically acclaimed account of Charley’s abduction, as well as the reaction his disappearance drew from his family, the media, and the public at large. If you’re in the area and a fan of historically researched true crime, be sure to stop by these upcoming events:

Saturday, December 3rd

Free Library of Northampton Township

Richboro, PA

2-3:30 PM

Wednesday, December 7th

Swarthmore Public Library

Swarthmore, PA

7 PM

Wednesday, December 14th

Cheltenham Center for the Arts

Media, PA

11 AM

Saturday, December 17th

Barnes and Noble Oxford Valley

Fairless Hills, PA

3-5 PM

Sunday, December 18th

Barnes and Noble Jenkintown

Jenkintown, PA

2-4 PM

Carrie Hagen was recently profiled by the The Philadelphia Inquirer where she discusses writing her first book. For the latest news, be sure to follow her on Facebook and check out her blog, What Do I Care?


Praise for WE IS GOT HIM

"Relentlessly suspenseful . . . As sad and unsettling as this tale is, Hagen tells it with the splendidly compelling narrative momentum of a contemporary true-crime writer, with the kind of lively historic detail that may inspire new walking tours of Germantown and South Philadelphia . . . This is an elegantly told, superbly accomplished history of good and bad intentions gone awry." – Philadelphia Inquirer

"We Is Got Him is a riveting tale of the comprehensive search for a missing four-year-old boy from Germantown, PA, in 1874 . . . A must- read for those interested in true crime and law enforcement history.” – Library Journal

"Hagen’s writing balances journalistic sincerity and dispassion with exciting precision." – Publishers Weekly

“A slice of American crime history both instructive and tragically entertaining." – Kirkus

Thursday, September 30, 2010

In the house: Carrie Hagen, author of WE IS GOT HIM


We'll spare everyone pictures on this rainy, humid day, but today Carrie Hagen came into the Overlook offices to work with our new editor, Stephanie Gorton. (Welcome, Stephanie!) She has a book coming out this August called WE IS GOT HIM: ABDUCTION, MURDER, AND FEAR OF THE EVE OF AMERICA'S CENTENNIAL.

We launched this title last week, and everyone is waiting impatiently for the manuscript to be finished so we can start reading! It's true crime in the vein of Devil in the White City, and the story is absolutely fascinating. It's 1874, and a young boy named Charley Ross (learn more about him here) was snatched from his front yard in Philadelphia in what became the first kidnapping for random in America.

The title "We Is Got Him" comes from the famous random note, which we'll just preface with one [sic]:

Mr. Ross- be not uneasy you son charly bruster he al writ we as got him and no powers on earth can deliver out of our hand. You wil hav two pay us befor you git him from us. an pay us a big cent to. if you put the cops hunting for him yu is only defeeting yu own end. we is got him fitt so no living power can gits him from us a live. if any aproch is maid to his hidin place that is the signil for his instant anihilation. if yu regard his lif puts no one to search for him you money can fech him out alive an no other existin powers don't deceve yuself and think the detectives can git him from us for that is one imposebel
yu here from us in few day

Philadelphia was preparing to celebrate the American centennial after decades of civil war and recession, and Hagan weaves the story of this kidnapping--and how it threatened to unravel social confidence and plunge a city into despair--into the fight by the Philadelphia mayor to preserve the city's stature and other politicians using the Centennial as a chance to show America's endurance.

The research that went into We Is Got Him is incredibly daunting--Hagen worked on it while earning her MFA in Writing Nonfiction from Goucher College. We're absolutely thrilled to be publishing this--mark your calendars for August!