Roberto to the Dark Tower Came

Overview

Wall Street Journal - "Mr. Epperson, a veteran screenwriter as well as a novelist, keeps readers guessing until the very last."Roberto, a young left-wing South American journalist, receives an ominous phone call: leave the country in ten days, or die. Roberto is being targeted because of a series of articles he's written exposing government corruption and violence at the highest levels. Roberto believes the voice on the other end of the phone and has every intention of leaving, as soon as he follows a lead on a major story developing in the jungle: thousands of innocent lives are at stake. The book follows him on his perilous journey into the heart of darkness in pursuit of his story. Unknowingly, Roberto is headed toward a confrontation with an evil darker than he could possibly have imagined.

Reviews

"A South American journalist makes his way into the deepest heart of darkness … Epperson immerses readers in a dense jungle seething with treacherous flora and fauna and murderous men, punctuating terror with startling moments of beauty." — Publisher's Weekly

"Roberto to the Dark Tower Came works as a thriller, for sure, but also a wider conversation piece about very real dangers and perils in the world today.  This is a novel with a rounded-out character who we grow to know and care about, and a novel where atmosphere is important.  Roberto the Dark Tower Came could form the basis of an entire section of a modern novel or current issues in literature course.  Well done." — Reading & Literature Resources

"Epperson's  graphic depiction of the unmitigated brutality of the militias in the jungle is heart-stopping. While readers can't help admiring Roberto's investigative persistence, they will probably be shouting, 'Get out before the ten days are up!' VERDICT This page-turning novel, which proceeds to tell the story of Roberto's life day by day, will be enjoyed by readers who like their fiction dark." — Andrea Kempf, Library Journal

"Haunting and tense, Roberto to the Dark Tower Came is an unexpected thriller at every turn. Full of mystery, suspense and even a bit of romance, Tom Epperson has managed to craft a fast-paced political thriller, full of twists, turns, and a very unexpected ending . . . From start to finish, Roberto to the Dark Tower Came was difficult to put down and remarkable to digest." — Melissa Ratcliff, Paperback Paris 

Author Biography

Tom Epperson is a native of Malvern, Arkansas. He received a B.A. in English from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and an M.A. in English from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, then headed west with his boyhood friend Billy Bob Thornton to pursue a career in show business. Epperson's co-written the scripts for One False Move, A Family Thing, The Gift, A Gun, a Car, a Blonde, and Jayne Mansfield's Car. His book The Kind One was nominated in 2009 for both the Edgar Award and the Barry Award for Best First Novel. His second novel, Sailor, was published in 2012. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Stefani, three pampered cats, and a frisky dog.