Brad Parks

Brad Parks spent a dozen years as a reporter with the Washington Post and the [Newark, N.J.] Star-Ledger. His new novel is Faces of the Gone.

From a Q & A at his website:

Q. You and your main character, Carter Ross, seem to have a lot in common. Do you think of him as an alter ego?

A: Not really. There are similarities in our backgrounds. We both had advantages in our upbringing that the people we write about didn't get. We both have a certain yearning for truth-telling that drives a lot of journalists. And we're both stiff white guys who prefer pleated pants. But Carter is pure fiction. His life as a newspaper reporter is far more interesting than mine ever was. And he's a lot better looking.
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Q. Why do you write?

A: I love telling stories. I believe the desire to tell—and hear—stories is what makes us human. Once upon a time, naturalists thought human beings were unique for all kinds of reasons. We were supposedly the only animals capable of emotion, speech, rational thought, the Macarena—you name it. As we've come to understand our world better, we've discovered our species is actually not that unusual. Dolphins, for example, can be trained to dance the Macarena. But it turns out there's one thing that separates us from the beasts: We are the only...[read on]

Read an excerpt from Faces of the Gone, and learn more about the book and author at the official Brad Parks website and Facebook presence.

The Page 69 Test: Faces of the Gone.

--Marshal Zeringue