Not for former Salisbury lawyer John Hart, who will present his novel, “The King of Lies,” at The Country Bookshop on Thursday, May 25, at 4 p.m.
Even before its official release date of May 23, Hart’s thriller about a humble North Carolina lawyer with a shattered family history, has received starred reviews from all the major trade publications.
“Publisher’s Weekly” featured him in an article about first-time novelists to watch. Kirkus Reviews included his book in its “Our Picks for Beach Reads,” the Library Journal calls it a “must read” and the American Bookseller’s Association named the novel one of its “Booksense Picks.” Foreign rights have been sold. A movie deal is complete. And Hart has a contract with St. Martin’s Press to write two more novels.
“We’re very pleased to be one of the very first stops on Mr. Hart’s book tour,” says a spokesman for The Country Bookshop. “When he is famous, we hope the people who come to the signing will brag about meeting him and having an autographed copy of his book.”
Hart, grandson of Deryl Hart, a former president of Duke University, was born in Durham and moved to Salisbury when he was seven. He attended Woodberry Forest, a boys’ preparatory school in Virginia — where one of his dorm mates was Pilot publisher, David Woronoff.
“I heard from a friend that John had written a book,” says Woronoff, who immediately picked up the phone to call Hart. “We haven’t seen each other since we graduated and lost touch. I’m happy that he is coming to Southern Pines for a book signing. I'm proud of his success and excited to renew our friendship.”
Woronoff has already purchased the book and has begun reading it, calling it “a fun read.”
Hart recalls those days at Woodberry well.
“I can safely say that David was one of my best buds there,” he says. “Believe it or not, he was a good kid, and I am not surprised at his success. In a lot of ways, being a newspaper man fits perfectly.”
Hart graduated in 1989 from Davidson College with a degree in French literature and earned a master’s degree in accounting from UNC-Chapel Hill. After college he held a number of eclectic jobs including bartending in a London pub, working on helicopters in Alaska, refurbishing sailboats on the coast of North Carolina, and working at Wachovia Bank.
After earning a law degree from Franklin Pierce Law Center, Hart clerked for the New Hampshire courts where he was involved in a number of murder trials as well as many civil matters. He returned to Salisbury with his wife, Katie, took the bar and joined a small local law firm.
His career was focused on criminal defense work until his first daughter was born. Two weeks after her birth he was assigned to defend a child molester, an assignment he was unwilling to take.
He shifted his practice to civil litigation, where he worked primarily on matters involving employment and labor law. After two years he left private practice to write a novel.
“I was living in Salisbury,” says Hart. “Nothing is secret in a small town like that, so it was very public when I quit my law practice to write the book. It took most of a year, I had a new baby, and there were plenty of people around willing to tell me that I was insane to try it. Keeping a positive attitude was probably the hardest part. I couldn’t have done it without my wife.”
Once Hart finished the manuscript, he sought representation and worked to sell the novel.
“Nothing happens in a vacuum, and bringing a novel to publication is no exception. It takes time and faith, and the road can be long.”
While waiting to find a publisher, Hart accepted a position with Merrill Lynch as a financial adviser in the firm’s Greensboro office. While there he built a base of private and corporate clients, and eventually consulted on just over $1 billion in assets.
Hart met Pete Wolverton, associate publisher for Thomas Dunne, an imprint of St. Martin’s Minotaur. Wolverton eventually became Hart’s editor.
“John’s ability to craft a page-turning thriller with such power and emotion simply overwhelmed us,” Wolverton says.
There were others Hart encountered along the way — “people whose paths I never imagined I would cross — who have helped to make the whole experience more than I ever hoped it could be.”
Included in those were “wonderful authors who have been kind enough to read this book and share their thoughts on it.”
Mark Childress, author of “Crazy in Alabama,” wrote that Hart’s “debut in the world of fiction is that most engrossing of rarities, a well-plotted mystery novel that is written in a beautiful poetic style. ‘The King of Lies’ will mark the beginning of a long and stellar career.” Pat Conroy, Hart’s favorite author, said “The King of Lies” “is the work of an amazing new talent.”
Hart lives in Greensboro with his wife and two daughters. He has decided to leave Merrill Lynch to write full time.
“The King of Lies” is a standalone, but the publisher did request that Hart consider setting the second novel in Salisbury.
“I’m halfway finished with that one, and it is tentatively scheduled for release in the fall of 2007,” he says.
The working title is “Down River,” another murder mystery centered around the proposed construction of a new nuclear facility on the Yadkin River.
“It will have many of the same emotional components of the first — family secrets, dark deeds and questionable motives,” says Hart. “Should be fun.”
To reserve an autographed copy of Hart’s book or for information, call The Country Bookshop at 910-692-3211.
Features Editor Faye Dasen contributed to this story.
