A bachelor party attended by five young men turns from harmless fun to horror, with the death of a beautiful young woman and friends turning against one another in guilt and fear. By the author of Gospel Truths. Reprint. AB. K.
J. G. Sandom, often referred to as the "Father of Interactive (Internet) Advertising," co-founded the world's first interactive advertising agency, Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), in 1984, before launching an award-winning writing career. He is the author of nine works of fiction, including THE GOD MACHINE; GOSPEL TRUTHS; THE WALL STREET MURDER CLUB; THE WAVE; KISS ME, I'M DEAD; and CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BODY SNATCHER.
Born in Chicago (December 19th, 1956), raised in Europe, and a graduate of Amherst College (where he won the Academy of American Poets Prize), Sandom moved to New York City in 1979 where, for the next five years, he worked as a freelance copy writer, public relations and advertising executive, and corporate spokesperson trainer for such companies as Hill & Knowlton and Ketchum Inc.
INTERNET PIONEER
In 1984, Sandom co-founded Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), the nation's first interactive advertising agency. It grew to become the largest digital marketing services firm when it was purchased by D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in 1994. Sandom continued to manage EASI on behalf of DMB&B through 1996. EASI clients included: Procter & Gamble, General Motors and Mars Incorporated/Uncle Ben's Rice, among others; plus several non-DMB&B clients such as Citibank, Compaq, McDonnell Douglas, and Merck & Co.
From January 1997 through October 1999, Sandom served as Director of Interactive at OgilvyOne Worldwide, a division of Ogilvy & Mather, where he grew the company from a loss of $2 million to an estimated $100 million in revenues in 30 months, and from 12 "permalancers" to 650 digital marketing specialists worldwide. In 1998, OgilvyInteractive was named "Best Interactive Ad Agency" of the year by Adweek, and won two premier Cyber Lions awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. OgilvyInteractive's clients included: IBM, GTE, Ameritrade, and Ford Motor Company.
From November 1999 through October 2003, Sandom served as President and CEO, and then Vice Chairman of RappDigital Worldwide, the interactive arm of direct marketing/direct response agency giant Rapp Collins Worldwide, an Omnicom Company. Within a year of inception, RappDigital became one of the nation's "Top Twenty" interactive ad agencies, according to Adweek. Sandom was responsible for executive management of the company, and its growth to more than $40MM in revenues in the U.S., with 300+ employees worldwide, and offices throughout North America, Europe and Latin America - at a time of industry contraction. RappDigital Network clients included SBC Communications, Mercedes-Benz, Philips Consumer Electronics, Pfizer, and Reuters, among others.
AUTHOR
Following the release of THE SEED OF ICARUS (1975) and THE BLUE MEN (1981), GOSPEL TRUTHS was published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell in 1992 (and re-issued in 2007). Since then, Sandom has written six other novels, including THE WALL STREET MURDER CLUB (Doubleday/Bantam/Dell), THE WAVE (Cornucopia Press) and THE GOD MACHINE (Random House/Bantam).
Booklist called GOSPEL TRUTHS, "a splendid, tautly woven thriller...(and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth." Library Journal said, "A masterful first novel, based on a true incident, which spins a complicated web of corruption, greed and deception." And Mostly Murder characterized it, "A fascinating mystery ... captivating and engrossing."
Scott Turow, author of Presumed Innocent and Ordinary Heroes, called THE WALL STREET MURDER CLUB, "A gripping story, well-told...not only a tale of murder and betrayal, but an intelligent exploration of issues of male identity." Kirkus Reviews termed the book, "A Big Apple Deliverance, endowing New York culture with all the corrosively dehumanizing power of Dickey's wild nature...Slickly entertaining right down to the last, inevitable twist. (Film rights to Warner Brothers -- and there's no mystery why.)" And Booklist said, "(Sandom) writes with stunning elegance and nearly poetic beauty...A sure hit with any suspense reader."
THE WALL STREET MURDER CLUB was optioned for Warner Bros. by Lee Rich for theatrical development; screenplay by Ronald Bass, with Joel Schumacher scheduled to direct.
While known mostly as a writer of thrillers and mysteries, Sandom is also the author of several award-winning Young Adult (YA) novels, originally released under pen name T.K. Welsh, including KISS ME, I'M DEAD (formerly titled THE UNRESOLVED - August 2006) and CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BODY SNATCHER (formerly titled RESURRECTION MEN - Spring 2007), both from Penguin/Dutton. New editions of both books have recently been released in softcover and eBook form under the author's birth name, and in a new collection titled TWO TEEN TERRORS, from Fangless Fables Press.
Publishers Weekly called CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BODY SNATCHER, "A haunting tour of London's underclass during the 1830s...Teens will likely be both captivated by Victor's harrowing story as well as his ability to prevail in the face of harsh injustices." BIG A, little a called the novel, "A moody, evocative tale...(J.G. Sandom) is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. His work transcends genre and audience classification." VOYA said, "Teen readers will thoroughly enjoy the hair-raising suspense in this historical thriller." TeensReadToo termed it, "an intense, dark work...I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction." KLIATT said, "Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory." Jen Robinson's Book Page called the novel, "Gripping and fast-paced, filled with intriguing historical details...Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction." The Miss Rumphius Effect said, "(J.G. Sandom), where have you been? I loved this book!" And School Library Journal said, "Part historical fiction and part adventure story, the novel brings excitement to Victorian England...Readers will be on the edge of their seats."
CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE BODY SNATCHER has been named a Junior Library Guild selection.
Ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of the year by the Washington Post, KISS ME, I'M DEAD was named a Notable Book for Teens by the Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, a Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Teen's Top Ten, and nominated for a Cybils literary award, a Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) by the American Library Association (ALA), and recently added to Horn Book's list of Recommended American Historical Fiction.
The Washington Post said, "(J.G. Sandom) writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction," and called the novel, "a subtle gem." School Library Journal said, "KISS ME, I'M DEAD tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way." Horn Book Magazine called the work, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story . . . (and) a tightly wound novel." Kirkus Reviews termed it, "A remarkable account." Romantic Times said, "KISS ME, I'M DEAD is a book you shouldn't pass up." Midwest Book Review called the novel, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story." And Bookslut.com said, "KISS ME, I'M DEAD scores on several levels, most notably as a drama that blows apart all preconceived notions of how history can be retold."
THE GOD MACHINE was released in May, 2009. Caroline Thompson (author of Edward Scissorhands) said, "Move over, Dan Brown...All hail J.G. Sandom...(THE GOD MACHINE) is a thrilling and breathless, rapturously-written and mind-blowing read. It'll keep you up all night, turning pages as fast as your little fingers can manage." Bookpage.com said "Sandom has a knack for combining legendary gospels, ancient secrets, star-crossed lovers and Masonic puzzles to create a simmering stew of conspiracy, intrigue and danger that keeps the plot pot boiling until the very end." And the Historical Novels Review said, "History galore, violence, and intrigue fill the pages of this tightly plotted, twisting and turning adventure story, reminding one of a multilayered Russian matryoshka doll. The reader will also learn a great deal about da Vinci, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and many more historical geniuses...Those who love numbers, physics, and a truly unpredictable, suspenseful mystery will relish the facts and ponderings replete in this well-written, mysterious spin-off of The Da Vinci Code. THE GOD MACHINE is a very impressive historical thriller!"
Sandom's most recent novel, THE WAVE, was reissued in June 2010 by Cornucopia Press. Kirkus said, "Sandom's strength lies in the verve of his story, with writing that has both muscle . . . (and) brains . . . Races from improbable to crazywild, all in good fun, with Sandom always one step ahead . . . A story with enough manic energy to be worthy of a nuclear explosion."
Sandom continues to consult in the world of interactive advertising and digital marketing communications through his Cyber Branding Solutions consultancy, and is currently working on a new novel.
BOOKS
The Seed of Icarus - 1975
The Blue Men - 1981
Gospel Truths - 1992, 2007
The Wall Street Murder Club - 1993
The Wave - 2002, 2010
Kiss me, I'm dead - 2006, 2010
Confessions of a Teenage Body Snatcher - 2007, 2010
The God Machine - 2009
Two Teen Terrors - 2010
