Mallory Meer has just turned fifteen years old, and within an hour, thanks to the only boy she’s ever loved, she’ll be dead, a victim of the General Slocum steamship disaster. Bound by love to her grieving family, and outraged by the multitude of senseless deaths, Mallory haunts those responsible for the tragedy, determined to see that justice is served.
T. K.Welsh’s beautifully crafted novel, his first for young adults, is at once a chilling ghost story, an ode to the power of love, and a tribute to those who died in the second-largest disaster in New York City history.
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
Mallory Meer turns fifteen the week before she boards a steamship in 1904 on what will be her last voyage before the steamship burns and kills her and a thousand others. Yet she lingers, a ghost, unable to leave her love or family until the fire's setters are brought to justice. Turn-of-the-century Manhattan comes to life in a wonderfully different kind of ghost story.
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There's a whole genre of young adult books that would have me running to find the nearest Graham Greene. The Unresolved is one of the rare young adult novels that can entertain adults who were alive when Carter was President.
Welsh takes an oft overlooked chapter of New York history and breathes life into it by making his main character otherworldly. The sense of unrest and unease is uniquely potrayed as not just the province of those souls in limbo, but also of the very real flesh and blood cast that are living in early twentieth century New York. The intrigue, jealousies and destructive behavior are taut enough to satisfy any modern millie,(imagine early twentieth century Desperate Housewives angst)while keeping the veracity of the historical perspective.
T K Welsh proves that you don't have to be a wizard to write a book that both parents and children will read and enjoy. I look forward to his future endeavors.
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Mallory Meer, 13-year old Lutheran German immigrant, dies on the deck of the General Slocum, a steamship, as she sails up the East River during a church outing, in New York, 1904. We learn this in the first paragraph of The Unresolved, a mesmerizing, often brilliant new historical YA novel by T.K. Welsh. Of the 1,200 or so who set sail that fateful summer morning, over a thousand perished: drowned or burned to death aboard the blazing General Slocum. Mallory keeps a rendezvous with a beautiful young teenage boy named Dustin Brauer, a poor kid, and Jewish, with whom she shares her first kiss ... and it is he who is blamed for the disaster by the grieving citizenry of Kleindeutchland, on Manhattan's lower east side, as they struggle to cope with the loss of their loved ones.
Caught in that netherspace between this world and the next, there is no place where Mallory belongs. She cannot remain, now that she dangles upside down from those shipboards, and quite dead, burned black and in pieces - all now that remains of the General Slocum. Nor can she finally move on - though she'd like to - to that other space, until those responsible for the tragedy are exposed, judged and punished, the dead finally avenged, and her hunger to linger with Dustin dissolves.
There is a public trial. None of the ship's safety measures lived up to their promise. Life vests disintegrated as they soaked up sea water, dragging the desperate who wore them down to a watery grave. Fire hoses burst like overstuffed sausages. The lifeboats were lashed to the deck, contemptuously rigid, uncompromising. The crew was both cowardly and untrained. Those responsible were indicted and ultimately paraded before a public inquest by the city coroner, cross-examined and often found guilty. In the end, however, it was only the captain who fell, the tastiest of lambs, already cooked by the fire.
And there is a private trial, as Dustin - the sad, handsome boy Mallory loves - is reviled as the cause of the tragedy, and the rest of his family are disgraced and debased by the anti-Semitic community.
The Unresolved is a story of a love that's so great the rupture of death cannot break it. It's a story of a girl's spirit, unresolved yet resilient, betwixt this and what follows; neither child nor adult; neither lover nor friend. It's a story of the ultimate outsider.
What a startling, evocative and promising debut! The Unresolved, T.K. Welsh's first novel for young adults, is at turns mesmerizing, breathtaking, informative, entertaining, heart-breaking and redemptive. Clearly constructed upon a platform of exhaustive research, you will soar upon its language, while feeling yourself drawn downward, downward, into the dark whirlpool of this beautiful new novel. Set in the 1904 German immigrant community of Kleindeutchland, on Manhattan's lower east side, Mallory Meer's dark, curious world is yours for the page-turning. A must for any teenage girl, aged 13+, who likes historical fiction, who feels uncertain of her place in the world, and who has ever been in love.
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Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Miss Hall, New York, Arvin Brauer, Van Schaick, Dustin Brauer, Lamp Room, Golden Rose, Otto Goldstein, Herr Goldstein, Knickerbocker Steamboat Company, General Slocum, North Brother Island, Pieter Max, Cornelius Plimpton, Henry Lundberg, Herr Brauer, Middle Village, Hans Bering, Stanley Sikorsky, William O'Gorman, Frank Barnaby, Kiefer Munch, Lanip Room, The Goldsteins, Twenty-sixth Street
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