NEWS RELEASE
CREATIVE AGING BOOKS & IDEAS
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Mixing the suspenseful tactics of a Louise Penny novel with the psychological build-up of a Robyn Harding, @rhardingwriter, or Samantha Bailey, @sbaileybooks (shout-out to #Canadianwriters), criminal lawyer and Canadian bestselling author Robert Rotenberg’s eighth novel, One Minute More (@simonschusterca), is a compelling, fast-paced page turner that shifts between a Quebec-Vermont border town, Toronto and Montreal.
Set in Toronto in 1988 at the time of the 14th G7 summit, a gathering that hosts the most powerful leaders of the free world, Toronto police (cue in the RCMP) get a tip that a potential assassin intends to infiltrate the event and assassinate the leaders of these seven most powerful countries. A local police officer is sent to the U.S. border, where he finds an American border guard dead on the Canadian side.
Enter Toronto detective Ari Greene, who fans of Rotenberg have met before in his bestselling series of books, including What We Buried and Downfall. A prequel to these books, Ari Green is, in One Minute More, on the road to solving his first case.
Torontonians will love the salty Toronto landmarks that Rotenberg embeds into the pages, ones that are both famous and infamous, such as the old police station on Jarvis Street and the bridge over the Don Valley, which back in the day was notoriously known for its suicide attempts.
Suspense is built through the parsing down of hours, which begins with whole numbers — 75 — which oft times splits into half hours — 46.5 — until we hit 35 minutes, and then the one minute more. It’s a tactic that keeps the tension elastic-snap tight as our minds scurry forward trying to telepathically send Greene hints as to “who” the unanticipated assassin is.
Told in short static sentences — “cut the siren and hit the brakes” — Rotenberg delivers the kind of breathless flurry of compounded events that guarantee, once you start the read, you have to keep going, if only for one minute more.
Creative Aging Books & Ideas will be hosting Robert Rotenberg on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. Register for this free virtual event by going to cecescott.com.
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