Local Thriller Author Brings Debut Novel to Peabody

Peabody, MA - Local author Michael Hartigan was born and raised in Saugus and went to school in Danvers, but his gritty debut novel, Stone Angels, takes readers on a road trip from Providence to Key West, Florida.

Hartigan will be signing copies of his debut thriller from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 9 at the Peabody Barnes and Noble on Andover Street.

The novel, published by Merrimack Media out of Cambridge has received extensive praise and Hartigan recently received an Outstanding Writer of 2015 award from Merrimack Media.

Hartigan’s journalistic work and travel writing has been featured in numerous national and regional publications, including USA Today, The Arizona Republic, and Destinations Travel Magazine.

Stone Angels is a gritty, fast-paced and suspenseful fiction story that follows a young man dealing with extreme guilt. College senior Augustine Shaw embarks on a road trip from Providence to Key West, Florida, hoping the spring break atmosphere will help him forget the tragedies that marked his college years. But on the long road home, Shaw is thrust into a dizzying array of memories, forcing him to relive the heartache he caused, the reputations he shattered, and the two friends he killed. Ultimately, Shaw must decide: bury his secrets forever or make a full confession.

The book has garnered numerous positive reviews. Contemporary Book Reviews called it a, "lyrical and thoroughly engrossing story." Award-winning Saugus writer Tom Sheehan said, “I went at this book on a sleepy evening and woke up in a hurry, and it went that way until the last word of all.” Author Kelly Easton said Stone Angels, “shimmers with style,” and “Hartigan is a master builder of suspense and plot.” And the Advocate newspaper wrote, “The detail that Hartigan weaves throughout his writing is tangible and phenomenal…you’re planted right on the page, a part of the story itself.”