John Brandon will be signing his latest novel, Citrus County, at Off Square Books. Jack Pendarvis will be joining John for this event.  I hate to sketch out the story’s events of John Brandon’s gem of a second novel as to do so would only serve to reduce. The principal characters are two high school students, Toby, a disturbingly isolated and inward-driven boy, and Shelby, a bright, independentspirited girl whose angst intensifies when her younger sister is suddenly kidnapped. Shelby’s and Toby’s fathers, along with Mr. Hibma, one of their high school teachers, and Shelby’s Aunt Dale, whom Shelby’s never met but with whom Mr. Hibma initiates a bizarre correspondence, are the semi-detached adults who are not doing a whole lot to ease or even understand the more-than-standard teenage agony experienced by Shelby and Toby. All these characters are brought to life so expertly by their author that the reader is utterly consumed by the quietly screeching roller-coaster drama of their lives. John Brandon’s second novel is a scary and sweet little thing of genius and mystery. RH Listen to John's interview on the MPB Arts Hour here.