Publication Day: The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead

Robert Olmstead is the author of the national bestseller Coal Black Horse and Far Bright Star, which won the Western Writers of America Spur Award. An amazing writer whose work has been compared to Cormac McCarthy and Crane’s Red Badge of Courage, his latest work The Coldest Night has already started getting rave reviews from media and booksellers.

To celebrate the publication day of this new book, we’ll be giving away 3 copies. Leave a comment below to enter!

 

About the Book:

Award-winning novelist Robert Olmstead mounts a fast-moving tale of a love story—as destructive as it is irresistible—that sets a boy’s course toward an epic and life-changing battle. Henry Childs is just seventeen when he falls into a love affair so intense it nearly consumes him. But when young Mercy’s disapproving father threatens Henry’s life, Henry runs as far as he can–to the other side of the world.

It is 1950, and the Korean War hangs in the balance. Descended from a long line of soldiers, Henry enlists in the marines and arrives in Korea on the eve of the brutal seventeen-day battle of the Chosin Reservoir–the turning point of the war–completely unprepared for the forbidding Korean landscape and the unimaginable circumstances of a war well beyond the scope of anything his ancestors ever faced. But the challenges he meets upon his return home, scarred and haunted, are greater by far.

Robert Olmstead’s riveting new novel is not only a passionate story of love and war, it is a timeless and contemporary story of soldiers coming home to a country with little regard for, and even less knowledge of, what they’ve confronted. Through Henry, Olmstead charts the unspoken truth about combat: that for many men, the experience of war is the most enlivening, electric, and extraordinary experience of their lives.

 

Praise for The Coldest Night:

“Thought-provoking [and] unabashedly romantic” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“[An] elegiac, gritty coming-of-age novel.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review

“It’s extremes that rivet us in Olmstead’s searing seventh novel: the heaven of first love; the hell of the battlefield . . . Olmstead’s extraordinary language gives us new eyes. An exceptionally fine study of love, war and the double-edged role of memory, which can both sustain and destroy. Prize-winning material.”Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Olmstead (Coal Black Horse) has a spare, direct style that is most effective in the brilliant, engrossing combat descriptions and ironic marine banter.”–Library Journal

“Olmstead employs different authorial voices to shape the story. At times the tone is mythic, at times surreal . . . The Coldest Night is powerful, and often beautiful, storytelling.” —Booklist

 

Read an excerpt:

[scribd id=77385341 key=key-khrfd6vivn21ljzw59h mode=list]

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40 comments on “Publication Day: The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead

  1. I am a huge fan would love yo read his new book.

  2. Looks like a great one!:)

  3. Looks like a great one!:)

  4. Looks like a great one!:)

  5. This book has been on my radar since I read about it in February. I’ve seen comparisons of Mr. Olmstead’s style to Hemmingway and Cormac McCarthy so I definitely believe “gritty” will be part of the novel’s tone. I’m looking forward to being immersed in the coming of age of Henry Childs.

  6. This book has been on my radar since I read about it in February. I’ve seen comparisons of Mr. Olmstead’s style to Hemmingway and Cormac McCarthy so I definitely believe “gritty” will be part of the novel’s tone. I’m looking forward to being immersed in the coming of age of Henry Childs.

  7. This book has been on my radar since I read about it in February. I’ve seen comparisons of Mr. Olmstead’s style to Hemmingway and Cormac McCarthy so I definitely believe “gritty” will be part of the novel’s tone. I’m looking forward to being immersed in the coming of age of Henry Childs.

  8. Great author. Would really enjoy the book!

  9. Great author. Would really enjoy the book!

  10. Great author. Would really enjoy the book!

  11. This sounds like a great book! My dad is a Korean war vet, I’d love to give him a copy of this book for Father’s Day.

  12. This sounds like a great book! My dad is a Korean war vet, I’d love to give him a copy of this book for Father’s Day.

  13. This sounds like a great book! My dad is a Korean war vet, I’d love to give him a copy of this book for Father’s Day.

  14. LOVED the first two (read them at the recommendation of Luis Alberto Urrea; ya gotta love Facebook 🙂

  15. I have just read this excerpt and am already hooked! I love the raw and yet rich descriptions of the mountains, forests and life in this community. I could smell the earth and flowers and feel the cold of the air on my skin whilst I read.
    I do love to read accounts of lives in worlds so far away from my own. If I don’t win this book I’ll look out for it anyway. Good luck with this one Robert!

  16. I have just read this excerpt and am already hooked! I love the raw and yet rich descriptions of the mountains, forests and life in this community. I could smell the earth and flowers and feel the cold of the air on my skin whilst I read.
    I do love to read accounts of lives in worlds so far away from my own. If I don’t win this book I’ll look out for it anyway. Good luck with this one Robert!

  17. I have just read this excerpt and am already hooked! I love the raw and yet rich descriptions of the mountains, forests and life in this community. I could smell the earth and flowers and feel the cold of the air on my skin whilst I read.
    I do love to read accounts of lives in worlds so far away from my own. If I don’t win this book I’ll look out for it anyway. Good luck with this one Robert!

  18. Great-sounding story with important historical and social content. I’d love to get one of these copies. Thanks very much.

  19. Great-sounding story with important historical and social content. I’d love to get one of these copies. Thanks very much.

  20. Great-sounding story with important historical and social content. I’d love to get one of these copies. Thanks very much.

  21. Love to talk up books with our patrons! This looks like a great one.

  22. I am absolutely intrigued by the review of this book and would love to receive a copy. I cannot afford to buy books and haunt our tiny and unrrsplendent local library. After I (if I win) have read the book I will donate it to said library so others would have the opportunity to peruse this splendid author. Thank you and have an excellent enjoyable and safe day!!

  23. I am absolutely intrigued by the review of this book and would love to receive a copy. I cannot afford to buy books and haunt our tiny and unrrsplendent local library. After I (if I win) have read the book I will donate it to said library so others would have the opportunity to peruse this splendid author. Thank you and have an excellent enjoyable and safe day!!

  24. I am absolutely intrigued by the review of this book and would love to receive a copy. I cannot afford to buy books and haunt our tiny and unrrsplendent local library. After I (if I win) have read the book I will donate it to said library so others would have the opportunity to peruse this splendid author. Thank you and have an excellent enjoyable and safe day!!

  25. I’ve been anticipating reading this book since I read an early review in February. I would love the opportunity to receive a copy of the book. Thanks!

  26. Whoops – my earlier post wasn’t showing up. (That just shows how interested I am in getting my hands on the book, right? :))

  27. Whoops – my earlier post wasn’t showing up. (That just shows how interested I am in getting my hands on the book, right? :))

  28. Whoops – my earlier post wasn’t showing up. (That just shows how interested I am in getting my hands on the book, right? :))

  29. There are too few books that include the Korean War. The write-up on this one sounds wonderful!

  30. There are too few books that include the Korean War. The write-up on this one sounds wonderful!

  31. There are too few books that include the Korean War. The write-up on this one sounds wonderful!

  32. I never read this author but plan to now that I see all the outstanding reviews.

  33. I never read this author but plan to now that I see all the outstanding reviews.

  34. Sounds brilliant! Reminds me of my great uncle who never spoke if his 2nd world war experiences.

  35. Coal Black Horse changed the way I think about war and violence. He’s an incredible writer. I would love the chance to receive a copy of this book.

    Thanks,

    Bart Hackett

  36. Coal Black Horse changed the way I think about war and violence. He’s an incredible writer. I would love the chance to receive a copy of this book.

    Thanks,

    Bart Hackett

  37. Coal Black Horse changed the way I think about war and violence. He’s an incredible writer. I would love the chance to receive a copy of this book.

    Thanks,

    Bart Hackett

  38. Is this cntest over? Or can I still hope to win?

    My father is a Korean War veteran. He told me once something similar to what I read elsewhere about this book. He was in combat in Korea He talked about how awful it was to come home and walk among people who did not share his experience, didn’t know a thing about it, and didn’t care.

  39. Here I am in the hospital, looking for a good book to read..this sounds like I have found one.

  40. Here I am in the hospital, looking for a good book to read..this sounds like I have found one.

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