Midnight Rain

Exclusive to the Earthling edition are:
Foreword by Ed Gorman
Afterword by James Newman
Illustrations by Alex McVey

Do you remember the exact moment your childhood ended?

1979. Jimmy Carter is elected America's 39th President. New York police apprehend the "Son of Sam," and the King of Rock n' Roll has permanently left the building.

In a town called Midnight, North Carolina, twelve-year-old Kyle Mackey couldn't care less about any of that. He has his own problems to deal with, as he ventures toward a strange new world called manhood...

Kyle's older brother Dan is going away to college. Several years ago their father was killed in Viet Nam, and Mom is an alcoholic devoted more to the bottle these days than to her family. Kyle has never felt so alone. The night before Dan's flight leaves for Florida, Kyle visits what he calls his "Secret Place." All boys have a Secret Place, he believes, and his is an old shack in the woods bordering Midnight. Kyle's love for his secret place is shattered, however, when he stumbles upon something that proves his favorite spot in the world is neither as private nor as innocent as he once thought...

It begins with the naked, battered corpse of a young woman.

And, standing over her, a man Kyle knows...

MIDNIGHT RAIN is a dark coming-of-age novel in the vein of Robert McCammon's BOY'S LIFE and Stephen King's THE BODY (STAND BY ME). It is a tale of growing up in the South, a reflection of boyhood and all its wonders, and the story of how one boy deals with a terrible secret that threatens to tear apart both his family and hometown.

This will be the true first edition of James's debut novel, due out late June 2004

Limited to 250 numbered clothbound hardcovers, signed by James Newman