Thrilling Mafia Tale! Author Robin Yocum Launches THE LAST HITMAN!

Join award-winning crime writer as he launches his latest novel, , a thrilling mafia tale where a hitman, marked for death, must figure out how to save himself and extract a final revenge before his past catches up to him. Yocum will be in conversation with fellow crime novelist .

A general admission ticket of $5 is waived if The Last Hitman is pre-purchased when registering. The book will also be available for purchase at the event.

BUCKEYE CRIME WRITERS is Gramercy’s Community Partner for this event.

Once upon a time, being a “made man” meant something. Angelo Cipriani was a member of the inner circle of the Fortuna Crime Family, one of the biggest mafia families in the Ohio Valley. Not that Angelo would ever admit to such an organization even existing, let alone to all of the bodies he dropped for his boss. Angelo even stayed loyal after taking a bullet in the back and winding up in a coma for three months.

But times have changed. Four decades have passed and the glory days of mob rule have waned. With FBI crackdowns and new rival gangs seizing territory, Angelo finds himself on the outs with the current administration, essentially “on the shelf.” Left with little excitement beyond a crush on the local diner waitress, he does the unthinkable and puts pen to paper, telling his story of coming up, a man of honor in a world that he barely recognizes.

But Angelo’s reminiscences are rudely interrupted by a visit from the FBI, and the realization that the past is far from dead and buried. Faced with old secrets and fresh betrayals, Angelo finds himself unretired: The Last Hitman is ready to get back to work.

is known for his fiction set in the Ohio River Valley. He has authored two non-fiction books and six novels. His most recent novel, The Sacrifice of Lester Yates, was released in April of 2021 by Arcade CrimeWise, and was a finalist for the 2021 Dashiell Hammett Award for outstanding crime writing. Favorite Sons was named the 2011 Book of the Year for Mystery/Suspense by USA Book News. A Brilliant Death was a Barnes & Noble No. 1 bestseller and a finalist for both the 2017 Edgar Award and the Silver Falchion Award for best adult mystery. He also is the host of the true-crime podcast, Dead Before Deadline, which features stories Yocum covered when he was a police and investigative reporter for the Columbus Dispatch, where he won more than 30 local, state, and national journalism awards. He is the principal at Yocum Communications, a public relations and marketing consulting firm in Galena, Ohio, which he founded in 2001. Yocum grew up in the Ohio River village of Brilliant, Ohio. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University.

Andrew Welsh-Huggins is the author of the recently released thriller, The Mailman. Welsh-Huggins is the Shamus, Derringer, and ITW Award-nominated author of the Andy Hayes Private Eye series, author of the Shamus Award-nominated An Empty Grave, and editor of Columbus Noir, the 101st title in Akashic Books' award-winning series of short mystery fiction anthologies. Library Journal called Andrew’s novel, The End of the Road, one of the best thrillers of 2023. His short mystery fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mystery Magazine, Mystery Tribune, the anthology The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021, and other magazines and anthologies. Andrew's nonfiction book, No Winners Here Tonight, is the definitive history of the death penalty in Ohio.

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