In A Town Called Paradox by Miriam Murcutt and Richard Starks

February 5, 2021 · by Rae Quigley · in Book Blast, Books. ·

Come celebrate the release of ‘In A Town Called Paradox’ – a historical fiction novel by Miriam Murcutt and Richard Starks. Available now!

Title: In A Town Called Paradox
Author: Miriam Murcutt and Richard Starks
Genre:20^th Century US historical fiction
Release Date: February 3, 2021

About The Book:

“I wasn’t looking for Marilyn Monroe when I bumped into her, even though I knew she was in town filming River of No Return…”

So begins In A Town Called Paradox – set in Utah, in the 1950s, when the Big Five Hollywood studios were lured to that state by the fiery red-rock scenery that formed the perfect backdrop to the blockbuster movies they planned to film. That’s the setting.

The story: Corin Dunbar – banished to live with her aunt Jessie, an obsessively religious spinster who runs a failing cattle ranch near Paradox – hates her new life, until the arrival of Hollywood turns the rural backwater into a playground for glamorous stars. Seduced by the glitz of the movies, Corin finds work with the studios, but after a brush with the casting couch, channels her growing ambition into saving the ranch—the jewel of the Dunbar family for three generations.

When Corin falls for Ark Stevenson – a charismatic stranger who was raised by missionaries in the Amazon jungle (then drawn to Paradox by his fascination with the Westerns that are filmed there) – her future seems bright. That’s not the outlook facing Yiska Begay, a Navajo Indian and convicted murderer who’s on the run near Paradox. These different lives unexpectedly collide when a tragic accident wrecks Corin’s dreams and forces her to make an agonizing decision that changes the course of her life forever.

Told mainly by Corin—now a middle-aged woman still haunted by this watershed moment—In A Town Called Paradox is a “compelling read” that redefines the meaning of love as it asks the question: If each of us has a life story, then who decides how it unfolds – and how it should end?

Pre-publication reviews – on NetGalley, Amazon and Goodreads – have praised the book’s “vividly descriptive” writing and “outstanding characters,” and have called it a “wonderful saga.” Says one reviewer, a former editor at Berkley Books, Bantam Books and Crown: “From the first page, the characters and their story take hold of you. In A Town Called Paradox is a beautifully crafted novel that has the propulsive energy of a bestseller…”

Purchase: Amazon

About The Author:

Miriam Murcutt is a former journalist and editor turned marketing executive, with wide experience in the publishing industry. She has an MA in English Literature and now works full-time as a writer. She has researched and written five books, which have been published in seven countries.

Co-author Richard Starks is an award-winning journalist, former investigative reporter, editor and publisher. He has written ten books, both fiction and non-fiction, in genres that include crime, horror, travel, true-life adventure and economics. He has also written for magazines as well as for television.