Down goes The Cypress House! More event chaos...

The rescheduled Indianapolis event at Big Hat Books has been cancelled, I just learned. New date pending.

Cleveland, I'll see you on February 25.

And Houston...please say you'll see me Monday? I think it's time to retreat to another corner of the country. I'll study the tactics of the Midwest in February, look for a weakness, and come roaring back.

Cleveland Rescheduled

The winter storm continues to make its impact. The signing at Crocker Park in Cleveland has been cancelled for tomorrow night. It has been rescheduled to Friday, Feb. 25. Please make note of the change, and I hope to see you Clevelanders out in late February! Many thanks.

Events rescheduled due to weather!

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING CHANGES DUE TO WEATHER

Due to a forecast that sounds like a kinder, gentler version of the Apocalypse in the Midwest this week, both stores and publisher have agreed that it would be best to reschedule some events, as we want to not only see people in attendance, but to see them travel safely! Please note the following changes:

Bloomington, Indiana, Tuesday, Feb. 1, Barnes & Noble. This event has been moved to Saturday, February 5, at 1 p.m. Hope to see you on a sunny Saturday instead. If you brave the elements on Tuesday (please don't) then leave your name and desired inscription with the great staff at this store and I'll sign the book on Saturday.

Indianapolis, Indiana, Wednesday, Feb. 2, Big Hat Books. This event has been moved to Saturday, February 5, at 6 p.m.
Also, a reminder that the Saturday signing in Ann Arbor has been cancelled. We are in the process of finding a replacement date, and I apologize.

As of now, Cleveland's signing at Barnes & Noble Crocker Park remains scheduled, pending weather developments.

Thanks to you all for your patience, and travel safe. And remember -- if the roads are a pain, most of your favorite bookstores will ship right to your door! Nothing better on a snowy night than reading an eerie thriller by candlelight. Keep it in mind. This one is event set in Florida -- will warm your ice-covered home with tropical breezes, I promise.

Some nice mentions of the book over the last week:

Entertainment Weekly keeps me at a perfect 3.0 grade average in my history with them: "The Cypress House picks up steam, building to a seriously tense and twisted final act. With its evocative Gulf Coast setting, the book makes for a warm beach read in midwinter." B

The New York Times Book Review's Marilyn Stasio includes THE CYPRESS HOUSE in her crime fiction roundup, and remarks on “Koryta’s knack for putting a supernatural spin on the angst depicted in classic noir fiction.”

The Columbus Dispatch: “(Koryta) paces the novel masterfully, allowing it to steam for a while, simmer as threads from the past are added to the mix, then come to a rolling boil for the last 100 pages. When violence enters the picture, and it often does, Koryta lets the horror speak for itself rather than exploiting it. His knowledge of the Gulf Coast landscape helps with the novel's credibility but never intrudes on the action…..Koryta is quickly taking his place among the top American writers of supernatural suspense.”

And we're off...

Only a few days into release for THE CYPRESS HOUSE and we've had some very nice mentions:

1) Colette Bancroft's review/interview in the St. Petersburg Times labels the book a "gripping noir thriller-ghost story."

2) ABC and the Associated Press call the novel a "spooky thriller...(of) dark and dangerous times...graced with masterly descriptions."

3) The Seacoast newspaper of beautiful Maine says, "The noir atmosphere drips with steamy Gulf Coast humidity, and crackles with human chemistry. The supernatural element heightens the eerie feel while the story's foundations go deep into the real hopelessness of the Depression."

4) The Houston Chronicle's take: "Deftly blending all genres, Koryta balances the scary violence of Judge Solomon Ward and his tame sheriff -- a nightmare of despotic small-town lawmen peculiar to a later South -- with the sexual currents stirred up among the three people effectively trapped in the house: Arlen, the romantic, love-besotted Paul, and Rebecca, with her layers upon layers of secrets."

Hope to see you out along the tour!

Release week

Well, it's that time again. The Cypress House is officially in stores, or, if it's your preference, available in audio and e-book form. I hope you have a chance to give it a look. Many thanks are due to all the people at Little, Brown and Co. who work so hard to get the book out there. I had the pleasure of visiting the Hachette distribution center in Lebanon, Indiana, and it's always great to see the wonderful people there, who actually make it possible for the books to show up on the shelves. A minor detail, that!

I'll try to post some updates from on tour, and I hope to see you out there. I know, I know, it's winter and the weather is bad and the last thing you possibly want to do is venture out into the cold to go to a book signing. But let me remind you that...well, that the cover is pretty? So, yeah, come by and check out that cover. Ploy Siripant does one hell of a job on those.

Some nice words from sources who might do more to intrigue you:

"In fiction, I read an advance proof of Michael Koryta's THE CYPRESS HOUSE, which greatly impressed me, so much so that I went back and read his previous book, SO COLD THE RIVER, which is terrific." Dean Koontz, in an interview with Bookreporter discussing his new novel WHAT THE NIGHT KNOWS

"An enthralling novel that easily melds mystery fiction, the supernatural and just a touch of the old-fashioned western and historical novels without losing the conventions of each genre. Yet "The Cypress House" is so grounded in reality that no plot turn or character rings false. "The Cypress House" works as a novel about post-war stress, small-town corruption and the dusty Great Depression. Koryta dredges up the dread that festers below the surface of the characters who reside at "The Cypress House."
As he did in last year's supernatural-tinged "So Cold the River," Koryta again shows his affinity for incorporating varied genres into a cohesive story and, along the way, stretching the boundaries of each...Koryta, who won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 2009 for 'Envy the Night' and has been nominated for myriad awards, continues to display masterful storytelling in each novel."
Oline H. Cogdill, South Florida Sun Sentinel