#1 New York Times bestselling author and prolific creative Chris Bohjalian is back as the featured author for Words Alive’s Author’s Luncheon & Fundraiser! This highly anticipated event will take place on Monday, May 16 at the Farmer and the Seahorse in San Diego. To purchase tickets, visit: www.wordsalive.org/authors2022.

A novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, Chris boasts several renowned works such as Hour of the Witch released earlier this year and The Flight Attendant, which is now an 8-hour HBO Max television series starring Kaley Cuoco.

As one of the authors featured at our 2009 Author’s Luncheon & Fundraiser for his book Skeletons at the Feast, Chris returns with his upcoming historical thriller, The Lioness at the Author’s Luncheon!

The Lioness, by Chris Bohjalian

An image of Chris Bohjalian’s new historical suspense thriller, *The Lioness,* coming out May 10, 2022.

Penguin Random House describes The Lioness as a riveting historical thriller, equal parts psychological drama and suspence page turner in which a glamorous African safari for a Hollywood starlet and her entourage turns deadly.

“In THE LIONESS, Bohjalian turns his adrenaline-pumping pen to the Serengeti in 1964, where A-list actress Katie Barstow has taken her new husband and glittering entourage of co-stars, managers, and publicists for a safari adventure. Lulled by visions of candlelit dinners and capturing wildlife on film, Katie’s dream honeymoon suddenly turns into a nightmare when a team of Russian mercenaries descends upon the party. As the botched kidnapping sees the plains run red with blood and violent uncertainty spirals into the night, Katie and her entourage must confront which they fear more: nature or man.

DEATH ON THE NILE meets OUT OF AFRICA, with the glamour of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD and the pace and stakes of a John Le Carré novel, THE LIONESS weaves the rich atmosphere of 1960s Los Angeles cinema with the Serengeti in the newly formed Tanzania as violence and rebellion rage next door in the eastern Congo. Readers spend time inside the perspective of each member of the party, including Katie’s best friend and fellow starlet Carmen Tedesco; Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film, Tender Madness; Katie’s psychiatrist brother, who still bears the scars of their traumatic childhoods; her publicist, an Okinawa veteran with some demons of his own; her Beverly Hills gallerist husband, who may just have ties to the CIA; their safari guide, a Hemingwayesque game hunter of a bygone age of Colonialism; and more.” – Penguin Random House

Recommended by in a New York Times article as one of “18 New Works of Fiction to Read this Spring,” The Lioness was praised by Publishers Weekly: “Bohjalian does a superb job of judiciously rolling out information of how past transgressions may have led to the heart-stopping episodes of chaos and carnage as the shocking, twist-filled plot builds up to the revelation of ‘the real reasons for the safari nightmare.’”

Who is Chris Bohjalian?

Image credit: https://chrisbohjalian.com/the-flight-attendant/

Chris Bohjalian graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Amherst College, where he was also awarded an Honorary Degree alongside Champlain College and Castleton University.

He has authored 24 books, which have been translated into 35 languages and adapted into three movies and an Emmy-nominated TV series on HBO Max. Chris has also written for a variety of magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Reader’s Digest and The Boston Globe Sunday Magazine and was a weekly columnist for the Burlington Free Press in Vermont from 1992 to 2005. In addition to earning a plethora of awards for his works, he received the Walter Cerf Medal for Oustanding Achievement in the Arts and the ANCA Freedom Award for his work educating Americans about the Armenian Genocide. As he continues to write, Chris is currently a Fellow of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He lives in Vermont with his wife, photographer Victoria Blewer. Their daughter, Grace Experience, works as a young actor and audiobook narrator in New York City.

Chris Bohjalian on the set of *The Flight Attendant* with star of the TV series and executive producer, Kaley Cuoco. Image credit: https://chrisbohjalian.com/the-flight-attendant/

What is the Author’s Luncheon & Fundraiser?

The Author’s Luncheon & Fundraiser is our fundraising event that features renowned authors such as Mary Kubica, Salman Rushdie, and Isabelle Allende. It allows attendees the opportunity to learn more about the author’s life and work and the work of Words Alive. Join us for a celebration of the power of reading, while meeting some of your favorite authors!

How Can I Participate in this Event?

Virtual and in-person tickets available. More information on the 2022 Author’s Luncheon & Fundraiser can be found on our website: http://www.wordsalive.org/authors2022

Sources:

https://chrisbohjalian.com/bio/

https://chrisbohjalian.com/the-flight-attendant/