Matthew Sullivan with Daryl Gregory — 'Midnight in Soap Lake: A Novel'

Third Place Books is delighted to welcome Matthew Sullivan to our Lake Forest Park store for a discussion of his new book, , a sweeping, decade-spanning mystery brimming with quirky characters, and puzzle hunt scenarios. Midnight in Soap Lake is a modern day Twin Peaks—a rich, expansive universe that readers will enter and never forget. Matthew will be joined in conversation by Daryl Gregory, author of Spoonbenders and When We Were Real.

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When Abigail agreed to move to Soap Lake, Washington for her husband’s research she expected old growth forests and craft beer, folksy neighbors and the World’s Largest Lava Lamp. Instead, after her husband jets off to Poland for a research trip, she finds herself alone, in a town surrounded by desert, and haunted by its own urban legends.

But when a young boy runs through the desert into Abigail’s arms, her life becomes entwined with his and the questions surrounding his mother Esme’s death. In Abigail’s search for answers she enlists the help of a recovering addict-turned-librarian, a grieving brother, a broken motel owner, and a mentally-shattered conspiracy theorist to unearth Esme’s tragic past, the town’s violent history, and the secret magic locked in the lake her husband was sent there to study.

As she gets closer to the answers, past and present crimes begin to collide, and Abigail finds herself gaining the unwelcome attention of the town’s unofficial mascot, the rubber-suited orchard stalker known as TreeTop, a specter who seems to be lurking in every dark shadow and around every shady corner.

A sweeping, decade-spanning mystery brimming with quirky characters, and puzzle hunt scenarios, Midnight in Soap Lake is a modern day Twin Peaks—a rich, expansive universe that readers will enter and never forget.

Matthew Sullivan’s novel, Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore, was an IndieNext pick, a Barnes & Noble Discover pick, a GoodReads Choice Awards Finalist and winner of the Colorado Book Award. His new stand-alone novel, Midnight in Soap Lake (4/25), is published by Hanover Square Press/Harper Collins. He lives and writes in Anacortes, WA.

Daryl Gregory is a Seattle writer whose novels and short stories have been translated into a dozen languages and have won multiple awards, including the World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Crawford awards, and have been short-listed for the Hugo, Nebula, Edgar, and other awards. His latest novel is When We Were Real (April 2025), published by Saga Press / Simon & Schuster. His seven other novels include Revelator (a Washington Post book of the year), Spoonbenders (an IndieNext pick), and Pandemonium. Other books include the novellas The Album of Dr. Moreau and We Are All Completely Fine, and the collection Unpossible and Other Stories. He also teaches writing and is a regular instructor at the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.

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