Ace Atkins is a bit of a character. A former defensive end on Auburn’s undefeated ’93 team turned Pulitzer Prize nominated crime reporter turned Edgar-nominated Mystery writer. Now he’s adding a graphic novel to the mix, teaming up with artist Marco Finnegan for an adaption of his novel Crossroad Blues.
Crossroad Blues is the first novel in the Nick Travers series concerning a missing professor who was in search of lost recordings of the famed bluesman Robert Johnson. Johnson was known for the song Crossroad Blues and legend had it, sold his sold to the devil at the crossroads. Of course, the Atkins version of Crossroads Blues has a hitman who thinks he’s Elvis, so there’s all manner of musical references here.
Official PR follows:
Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist turned New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins and artist Marco Finnegan (Last Fair Deal Gone Down) team up for CROSSROAD BLUES: A NICK TRAVERS GRAPHIC NOVEL this April.
Adapted from the beloved first novel of the Nick Travers series, CROSSROAD BLUES is a thrilling tale of crime and mystery that brings the history of the blues and the Mississippi Delta to life on every page in moody, atmospheric black-and-white art.
After a New Orleans college professor goes missing while searching for the rumored lost recordings of bluesman Robert Johnson—who, as legend has it, sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads—Nick Travers is sent to find him. Clues point to everyone from an eccentric albino named Cracker to a hitman who believes he is the second coming of Elvis Presley.
“Crossroad Blues is where it all started for me,” said Atkins. “And to see it come alive through Marco’s art, exactly twenty years later, is a real thrill. The Southern iconography of New Orleans, the Delta, blues music, and Elvis Presley work so well for a graphic novel. Can’t wait to expose new readers to this pop culture mash-up of music, crime writing, and art.”
“This book is a dream come true,” said Finnegan. “Ace is one of my favorite novelists of all time, and I’m thrilled to bring his work to comics!”
CROSSROAD BLUES: A NICK TRAVERS GRAPHIC NOVEL (Diamond code: FEB180513, ISBN: 978-1-5343-0648-6) hits comic book shops Wednesday, April 25th. The final order cutoff deadline for comics retailers is Monday, March 12th.
This is actually the second Ace Atkins/Marco Finnegan graphic novel after Last Fair Deal Gone Down, the first written & long unpublished Nick Travers story.
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