Parks Hints Future Carter Ross Books May Include Westfield

If one thing becomes clear in spending time with author Brad Parks, it's that he loves New Jersey. The towns, the Parkway, the Shore, the ethnic melting pot, the pizza joints all are part of the fabric of the former Star-Ledger reporter. One almost expects him to be snacking on a taylor ham, egg and cheese sandwich from the diner in between signing books.

Parks was at The Town Book Store Saturday morning signing copies of his first book, Faces of the Gone, where he found time to talk about his love of the Garden State and how he is incorporating it into his books. Faces of the Gone, by St. Martin's Press, is the first of what Parks describes as a series of books following Carter Ross, a young Newark based reporter who is Parks' alter ego. Faces of the Gone is based in several New Jersey towns including Newark, Millburn, Nutley and Hoboken and future books will continue to incorporate the Garden State, which Parks describes as a writer's dream location.

"New Jersey fills up a writer's tool box with possibilities," he said. "We are of course one of the richest states in the union but we also have two of the poorest cities in Newark and Camden. We have every ethnic group and we are the most densely populated state in the union."

Parks notes that the dense population causes many of the diverse ethnic groups to collide, which provide great stories for a reporter or fiction writer. Parks left the Ledger last year and moved from Maplewood to Virginia for his wife's job and started his dream of book writing.

Parks, who has covered Westfield and spent recreation time in the downtown, strongly hints that alter ego Ross will be making a visit to Westfield in one or more of the future books. Parks has already penned the second and third novels and is working with St. Martins Press on the publication of those books.

"I've always loved Westfield, it was one of our favorite places to come," Parks said. "There is a strong chance that Carter Ross will come to Westfield in future books. I'm sure there are nefarious things lurking under the gilded cover of Westfield."

Parks has been on a tour of New Jersey in recent days promoting Faces of the Gone and meeting with his New Jersey based fans. The book has received critical acclaim and he notes that the reaction has been favorable with sales exceeding what he and his publisher projected. Some of the people who have come out to his readings and signings have been old friends, but many are newcomers who have heard about the book through reviews and articles in local media.

"Ultimately I am a first time author and I am grateful for the people who have given me a chance," Parks said.

Parks said much of the reaction he has gotten to the book here in New Jersey comes from the fact that the book and Carter Ross are like the author, creatures of New Jersey.

"People like books that are paying attention to them," he said. "It is about New Jersey, for New Jersey and New Jersey people enjoy reading a book that mentions the Garden State Parkway and a pizzeria that they've been to."