A Night to Remember!

Psst. What are you doing next Tuesday?

How'd you like to hang out with Lee Child?

Maybe swap stories wth Tess Gerritsen?

Have a beer with Joe Finder and William Martin?

Get Lisa Gardner to make you a character in her next book?

Get some writing tips from Gary Braver?

(And be one of the first to get me to sign my new DRIVE TIME?)

Well, sure, Hank, I hear you saying. That would be fantastic! But how do I get to do one of those?
Listen. To. This. You can do all of them.

And much, much more.

You can win Red Sox paraphernalia

Enjoy the best in blues and rock n' roll

Sample the best desserts in Boston

And support a wonderful cause at the same time.

What's more, the brains behind the whole glorious event belong to the force of nature and best-selling author you know as Michael Palmer.

Well, here. Let him tell you about it.

Michael Palmer here.

I’m pleased to announce that my fifteenth medical thriller, The Last Surgeon, is ready for its publish date this coming Tuesday, February 16th, 2010.

HANK: Well, congratulations! Most of us just have lovely launch parties at bookstores. But you are going all out!

MICHAEL: Definitely. To celebrate the book’s launch, we’re having the Home Base Books & Bands Event, a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Fundraiser at the Paradise Rock Club. The Home Base Project is an effort of the Red Sox Foundation and Mass General Hospital to support the thousands and thousands of vets and active servicemen suffering from PTSD. And everyone is invited!

HANK: What a terrific idea. So it's your launch day..and you're making it into a real extravaganza! All your pals will be there, which is pretty amazing. And it's a wonderful and important cause. When?

MICHAEL: It's also on February 16th, starting with a VIP reception at 6pm and then...well, check this site for all the particulars. It's really going to be fun, with famous authors, great bands, lots of books to have personalized, contests, drawings for Red Sox Gear and tickets, and the best desserts in Boston... You can even bid to have your name be a character in a bestselling novel by authors including Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Joseph Finder, Lisa Gardner, William Martin, Gary Braver, the wonderful Hank Phillippi Ryan, and me.

HANK: Aw, thanks. But why the PTSD fundraiser? What's the story behind it?

MICHAEL: Two years ago, I met a Marine veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder on a brief flight from Boston to D.C. Although we did not stay in touch, I was very moved by our conversation, and not long after returning home I began thinking about weaving a story around this sad, frightening condition.

The result is The Last Surgeon—a terrifying tale of Army trauma surgeon Captain Nick Garrity, working on a mobile medical van caring for vets and the homeless in D.C. while he tries to conquer the fallout from the suicide bomber who killed everyone in Nick’s field hospital in Afghanistan except Nick and his best friend, Umberto. When Umberto, whose PTSD is even more virulent than Nick’s, disappears, Nick is brought into the crosshairs of brilliant psychopath Franz Koller, the remorseless master of the non kill—murder that does not look like murder.

I’m really excited for the book (I'm sure it's my best one yet)

HANK: :-)

MICHAEL: and the fundraiser event at the Paradise Rock Club. I encourage Boston folks to get tickets and attend the event and everyone else to check out The Last Surgeon, to be officially released on February 16th, 2010. And one more great thing--we'll be auctioning off character names! So you could be in my next book. Or Lee's. Or Lisa's. Or William Martin's. (Or Hank's!)

HANK: So here's the scoop. Click on the party website for all the details, and you can also

find out more by visiting Michael's website, which is a fun place to go no matter what the occasion. Will we see you at the party?

Questions? Who knows who will be here to answer them...watch this space for a special guest!

And we're giving two free tickets to the bash--courtesy of Jungle Red!--to a lucky commenter.

So just say--hi. Or hurray. Or just tell Michael you think he's a good guy.

MICHAEL: Thanks all for your time, and thank you Hank, for letting me contribute to your blog.

HANK: Hey! You're always welcome at Jungle Red. And see you Tuesday!