GrubStreet Launch Lab: Family and Friends; Expect the Unexpected

Harvard Book Store and GrubStreet welcome Launch Lab participants DAVID MARSHALL HUNT, ALICE LOCICERO, and LORI REISENBICHLER as they present their recently published works. David Marshall Hunt's mystery novel Flower Girl explores an unexpected family business against the backdrop of Cheju-do, Korea. Alice LoCicero's Why “Good Kids” Turn Into Deadly Terrorists reflects on the well-liked brothers who are accused of violent acts that stirred disbelief. Lori Reisenbichler's novel Eight Minutes is the story of a suburban mom who comes to believe her son's imaginary friend is neither imaginary nor friendly. 

On Flower Girl

What happens when a scientist with top secret clearance and a rogue CIA agent join forces, and he happens to be her father? As a kidnapped orphan she hires out as a flower girl on Cheju-do Island, Korea the honeymoon capital of Asia. At 12 she is rescued from being sold as a child bride. Her rescuer is a rogue CIA Agent, who happens to be her father, who returns her to the USA to get an education. At 26 she is a scientist and linguist with a top secret clearance working for a government contractor when her rogue agent father suggests that they start a family business as assassins for hire. An unexpected turn of events on an assignment sends them back to Cheju-do where she is faced with the difficult choice of service to family and community or revenge. "To start a family business you first need a family." Hunt (circa 1990) A novel of mystery, adventure, and discovery, with a touch of whimsy, where past meets present as an atypical family comes together and learns about themselves while learning to trust each other as they start up an unusual and dangerous family business.

On Why "Good Kids" Turn into Deadly Terrorists: Deconstructing the Accused Boston Marathon Bombers and Others Like Them

The shock of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings was soon followed by a revelation initially disturbing and mystifying: two apparently unremarkable brothers—one a teenager, the other a young adult; both well-liked immigrants and longtime U.S. residents—had allegedly triggered the bombs. Why were these two seemingly "normal" individuals driven to commit such acts of coldblooded violence? This book examines not only the lives, motivations, and key influences of these infamous brothers, but those of other young, unexpected terrorists worldwide, comparing factors that contributed to their decisions to become terrorists and identifying methods used to recruit them into that deadly fold.

The chapters teach readers warning signs that youths are being drawn in to terrorism and serve to spur meaningful conversations among citizens, politicians, and policymakers about what we can do to prevent such recruitment of youths and young adults, including other U.S. residents who might consider emulating the Tsarnaev brothers. The book also addresses larger, related questions, such as whether humans are naturally violent, who benefits when young individuals engage in terrorism, and why minors are recruited to become killers.

On Eight Minutes

On the night that Shelly Buckner finally became a mother, she very nearly became a widow. Her husband, Eric, seriously injured in a car accident on the way to the hospital, was dead for a full eight minutes before being revived—all while Shelly was in labor. Those eight minutes changed everything Shelly thought was possible.

Three years later, their son, Toby, brings home an imaginary friend. But he’s no ordinary playmate—John Robberson is a fighter pilot and Vietnam vet. As Toby provides unlikely details about John’s life—and Toby’s tantrums increase—Shelly becomes convinced that John was real and now wants something from Toby. But her husband has his doubts, and as Shelly becomes involved, even obsessed, with finding out the truth, their marriage begins to disintegrate. Torn between protecting her child and keeping the peace with her husband, Shelly desperately searches for a way to finally put John Robberson out of their lives.