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THE SUMMER OF '65 WAS HOT...AND DEADLY. "I LOVED IT!" - Caroline Leavitt - New York Times bestselling author. "A WICKED, MARVELOUS BOOK." - David Corbett, award-winning author of DO THEY KNOW I'M RUNNING?, THE DEVIL'S REDHEAD, DONE FOR A DIME, and THE ART OF CHARACTER (nonfiction). "Witty and gritty and paced like a rocket, Matt Bayan's The Firecracker King is an utter gas to read. A kicker of a plot, wily characters deftly portrayed, a sneakily straightforward style that betrays a subtle, insightful mind-I was smiling with every turn of the page, when I wasn't laughing out loud. Please excuse the all-too-obvious pun, but this book is an absolute blast. "Matt Bayan understands a sneaky, subtle truth: that the harshest realties always come salted with an earthy wit. My God, what a funny, jarring, gripping book. You will be laughing as you compulsively turn the pages, wondering; how can this man known so much? How can he convey it so wryly? How can he understand the human condition so unapologetically. What a wicked, marvelous book. What a treat for any serious reader." ----- --A.C. Crispin - New York Times bestselling author. (The STARBRIDGE Series, Star Wars - THE HAN SOLO TRILOGY; Pirates of the Caribbean - THE PRICE OF FREEDOM) "Bayan's description of the firecracker slugfest out on the lake had me howling with laughter. Not many authors can say they've achieved that. The only thing I can compare the writing to (and it holds up very favorably) is Stephen King's THE BODY - the story that inspired the film STAND BY ME." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Set in 1965, The Firecracker King depicts a quiet lakeside neighborhood that is shocked by the brutal murder of a beautiful teenage girl. Jake's idealism is battered by hatred and betrayal as he tries to survive in a dangerous adult world. Part mystery, part coming-of-age story, part thriller, THE FIRECRACKER KING builds its pace to a breakneck ending, yet along the way contains a full measure of humor and insight.