Everybody Wants to Rule the World counts as Ace Atkins’ 31st book. Based in Atlanta during 1985, known as “The Year of the Spy”, the novel revolves around fourteen-year-old Peter Bennett who believes his mom’s new boyfriend Gary is a Russian agent. It’s a funny, fascinating, fast-paced book with characters the reader will love. Who knew Atlanta served as a hub for international espionage during the 1980s? Now, you know.
Atkins, a New York Times best-selling author, is a recipient of the Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award as well as the Harper Lee Award. Last year, Atkins was inducted into the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. Atkins’ 30th book–Don’t Let the Devil Ride–is in development for a television series by the writer Cheo Coker.
All Atkins’ work contains his signature sharp wit, and Everybody Wants to Rule the World is no exception, but a sad undercurrent pulls on the story. A divergent collection of eccentric characters inspire the reader to worry about their collective and individual fates: high school freshman Peter Bennett, KGB Deputy Director Vitaly Yurchenko, Miss Jackie Demure, a former defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons turned drag performer, young black FBI agent Sylvia Weaver and obscure writer Dennis X. Hotchner (based on the writer Ralph Dennis).
Atkins’ depiction of Atlanta in the 80s incorporates hotspots like The Varsity, the Majestic Diner, the Stein Club, The Fox Theatre and Virginia-Highland’s neighborhood institution, George’s Bar and brings to life the city set in a time before the Internet. The book’s 1985 soundtrack fits the narrative where the music of Don Henley, Phil Collins, Cyndi Lauper, Huey Lewis and MTV American culture blend into each character’s life.
By Chapter 43, the reader hangs from a cliff: “Hotch lifted the martini. It was no longer half full or half empty but completely gone. He looked up at the television playing over the bar. Dan Rather on mute, a clip of Gorbachev and then the Gipper. Lingering B-roll shots of lovely Geneva where, in less than a month, Reagan and Gorbachev would sit down to decide the fate of the world. And here sat Dennis X. Hotchner, once hailed as a “bold new voice in American noir,” with a study that could knock the chess pieces off the board. Would he live to tell about it? Would he save young Peter’s life? Would he have a second martini? Yes, to the last one.”
Atkins researches every book with the precision of a brain surgeon. He writes this complex story in a clear, concise style rendering Everybody Wants to Rule the World a timeless page-turner. Ace Atkins is a brilliant storyteller. Put his books on your radar…
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