Writers at the Wrecking Bar Presents Michael Farris Smith in conversation with Thomas Mullen – Lay Your Armor Down
Wednesday, Jun 04, 2025 7:00 PM
Location:
The Marianna Room at the Wrecking Bar Brewpub
292 Moreland Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30307
“Lay Your Armor Down” is an exceptional exploration of the existential malaise that drives us to find our paths in a cruel and indifferent world. Not to be missed. —S.A. Cosby, bestselling author of “All Sinners Bleed”
At the June edition of Writers at the Wrecking Bar, A Cappella Books proudly welcomes Michael Farris Smith to celebrate the release of his new novel, “Lay Your Armor Down.” Smith will appear in conversation with Atlanta's own Thomas Mullen, acclaimed author of “The Rumor Game."
Hosted by Chuck Reece, editor of Salvation South.
About the Book
An old woman, riddled with dementia, walks off into the woods in the middle of the night. A light in the wood draws her to a campfire with two strange, dangerous men, one young and one old, who are there plotting a crime of as-yet-indeterminate purpose. The two men have a job to do. They are hunting something precious but have only been told: you’ll know it when you see it. When they arrive at the place, an abandoned church cellar in the burned-out countryside, they find an answer they never could have predicted. Now, the job feels dubious, one that’ll surely bring them to ruin. Yet if they’re to go against orders, no step can be undone, and nothing can be taken back.
In spare, imagistic prose, “Lay Your Armor Down” reduces the epic to its most elemental. It charts the course of several broken people, all outrunning danger’s dark fingers, and all brought together for one last chance at redemption.
About the Author
Michael Farris Smith is an award-winning writer whose novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists with Esquire, NPR, Southern Living, Garden & Gun, Oprah Magazine, Book Riot, and numerous other outlets, and have been named Indie Next, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Best of the Month selections. As a screenwriter, he scripted the feature-film adaptations of his novels “Desperation Road” and “The Fighter,” titled for the screen as “Rumble Through the Dark.” With his band MFS & The Smokes, Smith wrote and released the record “Lostville,” which was produced by Grammy nominee Jimbo Mathus. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters.
About the Conversation Partner
Thomas Mullen is the internationally bestselling author of eight novels, including “Darktown,” an NPR Best Book, which was shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southern Book Prize, and the Indies Choice Book Award, and was nominated for or won prizes in France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The follow-up, “Lightning Men,” was named one of the Top Ten Crime Novels of 2017 by The New York Times and was shortlisted for a CWA Dagger Award. His debut, “The Last Town on Earth,” was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction.
About Writers at the Wrecking Bar
A Cappella Books presents Writers at the Wrecking Bar, a series of live author interview events showcasing some of the country's freshest voices in literary and contemporary fiction. Each program includes writers in conversation with an arbiter of Atlanta's book scene, giving the audience a chance to experience and participate in the Q&A and get a signed copy of the book. Held upstairs in the Marianna Room of the Wrecking Bar Brewpub, Writers at the Wrecking Bar hosts a cash bar, starting at 7 PM. The author conversation and book signing follow at 7:30 PM.
