Arroyo

A Novel

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Pub Date 15 Oct 2019 | Archive Date 31 Dec 2020
Darcie Rowan PR | Rare Bird Books

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Description

** LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER LIST for 7 WEEKS

**SCIBA BESTSELLING FICTION

**VROMAN'S BESTSELLING BOOK FOR 15 WEEKS

**AMAZON BESTSELLING BOOK


If you love a book where the dog steals EVERY SCENE, you will love Arroyo! 


Set against two distinct epochs in the history of Pasadena, California, Arroyo tells the parallel stories of a young inventor and his clairvoyant dog in 1913 and 1993. In both lives, they are drawn to the landmark Colorado Street Bridge, or "Suicide Bridge," as the locals call it, which suffered a lethal collapse during construction but still opened to fanfare in the early twentieth century automobile age. When the refurbished structure commemorates its 80th birthday, one of the planet's best known small towns is virtually unrecognizable from its romanticized, and somewhat invented, past.

Wrought with warmth and wit, Jacobs' debut novel digs into Pasadena's most mysterious structure and the city itself. In their exploits around what was then America's highest, longest roadway, Nick Chance and his impish mutt interact with some of the big personalities from the Progressive Age, including Teddy Roosevelt, Upton Sinclair, Charles Fletcher Lummis, and Lilly and Adolphus Busch, whose gardens were once tabbed the "eighth wonder of the world." They cavort and often sow chaos at Cawston Ostrich Farm, the Mount Lowe Railway, the Hotel Green and even the Doo Dah Parade.

But it's the secrets and turmoil around the concrete arches over the Arroyo Seco, and what it means for Nick's destiny, that propels this story of fable versus fact. While unearthing the truth about the Colorado Street Bridge, in all its eye-catching grandeur and unavoidable darkness, the characters of Arroyo paint a vivid picture of how the home of the Rose Bowl got its dramatic start.

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Author bio … Chip Jacobs is an award-winning author and journalist. His previous books include Strange As It Seems: the Impossible Life of Gordon Zahler, The People's Republic of Chemicals and the international bestselling Smogtown: the Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles (both with William J. Kelly), The Ascension of Jerry, and the stories collection The Vicodin Thieves. He has also contributed to anthologies, including the bestselling Los Angeles in the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine. His reporting has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Daily News, CNN, The New York Times, Bloomberg, L.A Weekly, among others.

Arroyo is his debut novel. Jacobs’ books have been honored by the Independent Book Publishers (IPPY) Awards, the Indies Book of the Year awards, the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature, the Shanghai Book Awards, the Southern California Book Festival, and elsewhere. He and his subjects have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Wired, Marketplace, and C-Span, among others. His reporting has garnered seven Los Angeles Press Club/Southern California Journalism awards, as well as one from the California Newspaper Publisher Association the Los Angeles Times.


Praise: 

“Jacobs’ thoroughly researched debut novel excavates the buried history of Pasadena by focusing on the complex history of this bridge. (The protagonist) has visions of the bridge’s future, in a manner that brings to mind Ali Smith’s How to Be Both (2014)…overall this is a riveting and enjoyable look at how local myths are constructed, and a vivid depiction of a time and a place that felt full of possibilities” — Booklist

CrimeReads names Arroyo one of the best new books (in the crime novel, mysteries and thrillers category) for 2019

Arroyo savors “the city of Pasadena in all its ambition, vanity, humanity, vigor, variety, and beauty. Like a city in a glass globe the novel offers views from multiple angles…in Chip Jacobs’ deft hands (the bridge) spans not only the arroyo, but also life span(s) and its connection to the other side. (A) completely original and genre-defying work—both historical novel and metaphysical noir— The author has caught the brass ring and given it to us as pure gold in the tastes, sounds, sights and smells of 1913 Pasadena … the ending that pulls together all the elements of this ambitious novel is a satisfying tour de force — Tristine Rainer, authorApprenticed to Venus, My Years With Anaïs Nin

“Who’d have thought the ghosts clustered under an old bridge could slip so artfully into a cast of real and imagined characters? Plus, there’s a horny, sandwich-stealing dog nudging people toward cosmic truth. What more could a reader want? Arroyo is unrelentingly bizarre, perversely funny, and absurdly true—mostly. Pure jazz!” — Ron Franscell, bestselling author of The Darkest Night

“Chip Jacobs combines the historical deep-dives of Erik Larson and Caleb Carr with the sweep and grandeur of E.L. Doctorow’s best work, albeit with a sense of new-age (for lack of a better term) whimsy one doesn’t typically associate with those authors, or this genre. Jacobs’ maiden venture into the realm of fiction—a departure from his award-winning, investigative non-fiction—is an almost impossible blend of the historical with the supernatural…and the result is sublime. This reader is very much looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next!” — David Kukoff, bestselling author of Los Angeles in the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine

An “amazing history…Jacobs is one of the best wordsmiths I know, and his Arroyo and…unique presentation of the real facts using real and imagined characters, along with a nice bouquet of romance and you have a story that is guaranteed to bring you a lot of laughs, a few tears and a very real knowledge of Old Pasadena and the important role it played in the formation of early LA. A delightful read, highly recommended” — Steve Hodel, bestselling author of Black Dahlia Avenger

“I hear T.C. Boyle. I hear Tom Wolfe…This “trans-dimensional tale revolves around the…Colorado Street Bridge (the so-called Suicide Bridge), an iconic Southern California structure, an architectural gem with a sordid and glorious history— and some unfinished business … Edgy and satirical, yet rooted in fact, Arroyo is a fact-paced technicolor timepiece that bridges life and death and the present” — Mike Consol, author of Hardwood


** LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER LIST for 7 WEEKS

**SCIBA BESTSELLING FICTION

**VROMAN'S BESTSELLING BOOK FOR 15 WEEKS

**AMAZON BESTSELLING BOOK


If you love a book where the dog steals EVERY SCENE, you...


Advance Praise

“Jacobs’ thoroughly researched debut novel excavates the buried history of Pasadena by focusing on the complex history of this bridge. (The protagonist) has visions of the bridge’s future, in a manner that brings to mind Ali Smith’s How to Be Both (2014)…overall this is a riveting and enjoyable look at how local myths are constructed, and a vivid depiction of a time and a place that felt full of possibilities” — Booklist

CrimeReads names Arroyo one of the best new books (in the crime novel, mysteries and thrillers category) for 2019

Arroyo savors “the city of Pasadena in all its ambition, vanity, humanity, vigor, variety, and beauty. Like a city in a glass globe the novel offers views from multiple angles…in Chip Jacobs’ deft hands (the bridge) spans not only the arroyo, but also life span(s) and its connection to the other side. (A) completely original and genre-defying work—both historical novel and metaphysical noir— The author has caught the brass ring and given it to us as pure gold in the tastes, sounds, sights and smells of 1913 Pasadena … the ending that pulls together all the elements of this ambitious novel is a satisfying tour de force — Tristine Rainer, authorApprenticed to Venus, My Years With Anaïs Nin

“Who’d have thought the ghosts clustered under an old bridge could slip so artfully into a cast of real and imagined characters? Plus, there’s a horny, sandwich-stealing dog nudging people toward cosmic truth. What more could a reader want? Arroyo is unrelentingly bizarre, perversely funny, and absurdly true—mostly. Pure jazz!” — Ron Franscell, bestselling author of The Darkest Night

“Chip Jacobs combines the historical deep-dives of Erik Larson and Caleb Carr with the sweep and grandeur of E.L. Doctorow’s best work, albeit with a sense of new-age (for lack of a better term) whimsy one doesn’t typically associate with those authors, or this genre. Jacobs’ maiden venture into the realm of fiction—a departure from his award-winning, investigative non-fiction—is an almost impossible blend of the historical with the supernatural…and the result is sublime. This reader is very much looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next!” — David Kukoff, bestselling author of Los Angeles in the 1970s: Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine

An “amazing history…Jacobs is one of the best wordsmiths I know, and his Arroyo and…unique presentation of the real facts using real and imagined characters, along with a nice bouquet of romance and you have a story that is guaranteed to bring you a lot of laughs, a few tears and a very real knowledge of Old Pasadena and the important role it played in the formation of early LA. A delightful read, highly recommended” — Steve Hodel, bestselling author of Black Dahlia Avenger

“I hear T.C. Boyle. I hear Tom Wolfe…This “trans-dimensional tale revolves around the…Colorado Street Bridge (the so-called Suicide Bridge), an iconic Southern California structure, an architectural gem with a sordid and glorious history— and some unfinished business … Edgy and satirical, yet rooted in fact, Arroyo is a fact-paced technicolor timepiece that bridges life and death and the present” — Mike Consol, author of Hardwood


“Jacobs’ thoroughly researched debut novel excavates the buried history of Pasadena by focusing on the complex history of this bridge. (The protagonist) has visions of the bridge’s future, in a...


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* National Publicity Tour

* NetGalley Amazon and Goodreads Reviews

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* Blog Review Campaign

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* Interviews with Book Podcasts

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Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781644280287
PRICE $27.00 (USD)
PAGES 384

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Average rating from 6 members


Featured Reviews

This was an entertaining book, I love historical fiction and this had such a interesting premise and characters that I really enjoyed reading it.

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Charming and quirky the whole way through. Honestly, I picked up this novel based on its setting: Pasadena, my new home town of the past two years. And wow, I learned so much about my new home in probably the most entertaining way I could have. Arroyo is a fun ride the whole way through.

Nick, the protagonist, is a true joy even when he makes you want to throw your hands up in exasperation with him. He's fun and clever, he tries so hard and fails spectacularly but never stops trying. It's easy to root for a character who manages to get themselves into messes without meaning to, and somehow takes it in stride. Nick wears his heart on his sleeve but he stands up for things when it's important. And, it's impossible not to love Royo. Really, all the characters are so interesting, I honestly liked them all.

Pasadena itself is a character, along with her infamous bridge. I can't wait to travel around and see the places mentioned in the story, and revel in the fact that I get to live in a place that lends itself so well to story and to remembering history. I'm a bit of a local history buff so every page about this great town (Best Small Town in America, you know) was a treat. I had a ton of fun reading this novel and hated to put it down.

I will admit, there were some strange parts. Particularly there was one twist that was so twisty about 3/4ths of the way through that I was not at all prepared for but after another chapter I was just as hooked when I could see the groundwork the author was laying out. But you know, the strangeness, the over-the-top-ness of it at times suits not just the story but the place it portrays. It's a true love letter to Pasadena, a place so dear to my heart, and it was utterly delightful the whole way through.


Note: I received a free Kindle edition of this book via NetGalley in exchange for the honest review above. I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher Darcie Rowan PR, and the author Chip Jacobs for the opportunity to do so.

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