Silver Medal for David Eugene Perry’s “Upon This Rock” from Pace Press
Media Contact: Jaguar Bennett / publicity@quilldriverbooks.com
Silver Medal for David Eugene Perry’s “Upon This Rock” from Pace Press
33rd Annual Benjamin Franklin Awards from Independent Book Publishing Association Honor Critically-Acclaimed Mystery Thriller in LGBT Category
14 May 2021 – Fresno, CA: First-Time author David Eugene Perry took home a coveted Silver Medal in the LGBT category in ceremonies last night marking the 33rd Annual Benjamin Franklin Awards from the Independent Book Publishers Association for his critically-acclaimed mystery thriller Upon This Rock from Pace Press.
“Ben Franklin was always my favorite patriot so this award thrills me,” said Perry, 59. “In a year when COVID made us all turn even more to books, the IBPA had more submissions than at any time since 2008. I’m greatly honored to have been nominated among so many fine writers and to have won this prize and so grateful to Pace Press.”
The IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards, recognizing excellence in book editorial and design, are regarded as one of the highest national honors for independent publishers
“This is a well-deserved honor for an exceptional novel,” said Kent Sorsky, publisher of Pace Press/Linden Publishing. “Upon This Rock is a delightfully intricate thriller that readers have embraced. We have never had this response to a first-time novelist before.”
Upon This Rock is an “elegant twisty thriller” (Armistead Maupin, author ofthe international sensation Tales of the City) and “the gay DaVinci Code, but a lot better” (Fenton Johnson, Guggenheim Fellow, author of The Man Who Loved Birds); Upon This Rock is “for those readers who love Italy and who love crime fiction” (Lucinda Hawksley, great-great-great-granddaughter of Charles Dickens, author of Dickens’s Artistic Daughter, Katey); “Perry’s novel sparkles with campy wit but is written with serious clues that keep you reading. And, oh yes, because it is a mystery, there’s a killer of a surprise at the end. Move over, Sam Spade and Nick and Nora Charles. Welcome the new kids to the neighborhood, Lee and Adriano.” (Will Snyder,Bay Area Reporter); Upon This Rock is “a perfect read for anyone who is into thrillers, mysteries and historical fiction, like John Grisham and Dan Brown for sure.”(Ankita Dasgupta, The Bookworm Resort); “This is a wild read. Perry’s ability to build suspense is impressive and the denouement of this thriller will not just surprise you, but literally stun.”(Erika Atkinson, author of Ode to the Castro).
“You will not find a more exquisite, captivating, well written first novel than David Eugene Perry’s Upon This Rock. I was literally hooked from the first chapter. Set in the Italian city of Orvieto, Perry takes us on a roller-coaster ride that begins with the Sixteenth Century papacy of the de Medici Pope, Clement VII, and then quickly plummets us to the present day. A wonderfully addictive and engrossing story with brilliant characters and an ending that will have you perusing your favorite bookstore looking for Perry’s next novel”(Dennis Koller, author of The Rhythm of Evil). “You will not be able to put his book down. It is a page-turner from the first sentence until the twisted unexpected ending.” (Lynn Ruth Miller, author of Getting the Last Laugh). In short, David Eugene Perry’s Upon This Rock is “A potboiler thriller with nail-biting suspense” (Lew J. Whittington, New York Journal of Books); a “sexy, historical thriller” (Julissa James, Nob Hill Gazette);”a love letter to Orvieto like Tales of the City is a love letter to San Francisco” (Eric Jansen, SF Bay Times & Out In the Bay).
Perhaps Emmy Award winning journalist, famed Hollywood reporter Jan Wahl put it best: “Upon This Rock is fabulous. This historical thriller is a sexy ‘DaVinci Code.’ I can’t wait for the movie.”
Upon This Rock by David Eugene Perry / 360 pages / $18.95 / Quilldriver Books, Fresno, CA.
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[…] the time of this publication, Upon This Rock won the Silver Medal for “Best LGBT Novel” of 2020 from the prestigious Independent Book Publisher’s […]