Bob Johnson interviews...

10:00 a.m. We begin with a conversation with Robert Alexander, author of Rasputin's Daughter. Alexander is a Chicago born Russian scholar who wrote the critically acclaimed Kitchen Boy, which concerns the final days and the execution of the Ramanov family at the height of the Russian Revolution. Rasputin's Daughter is the story of the last weeks of the life of Grigori Rasputin. He was the Russian religious advisor, healer, and dear friend to Tsar Nicholas and Tsaritsa Alexandra. Armchair Interviews says: "With mesmerizing characters, and an evocative atmosphere, Alexander has created an informative and enjoyable book full of historical insight into a tumultuous era." 11:00 a.m. Washington Post investigative reporter Robert O'Harrow discusses his book No Place To Hide. The New York Times says O'Harrow provides ... an authoritative and vivid account of the emergence of a security-industrial complex and the far reaching consequences for ordinary Americans. In his book OHarrow, with the help of conservative and liberal critics, details the links between business interests and government and how well they have gotten to know you and your associates. OHarrow writes This book is about you and your personal information- and the story isnt pretty. 12:00 noon Kris Nelscott, author of the Smokey Dalton Private Eye series, talks about her recent novel Days of Rage. The backdrop is the racial tensions and trial of the Chicago eight of 1969 Chicago. As black activists are being targeted by police, Smokey Dalton stumbles upon a burial ground and this time his investigation leads to Chicagos racist past and implicates some of the nations most powerful people in a deadly 1919 riot. Salon.com says that Kris Nelscott can lay claim to the strongest series of detective novels now being written by an American author. 1:00 p.m. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits is a story that begins with inflatable raft and thirty hopeful Moroccans fleeing to Spain. Laila Lalami will talk about her spell bounding tale of beauty, wit, and perseverance. Her book follows four survivors of that treacherous fourteen kilometer trip across Strait of Gibraltar. Booklist says: "Lalami's story lines are evocative, her characters arresting, the settings vivid, and her voice pure and penetrating, ensuring that these striking tales of unsanctioned journeys and urgently improvised lives are at once timely and timeless." Technorati tags: WPKN, WPKM, Bridgeport, New London, radio, Montauk