Nashville

As a teenager, Maci Willis fled the poverty and sexual abuse of her Louisiana childhood with the hope of finding a new life as a Nashville recording star or greasy spoon waitress. Despite the odds, the former fate unfolded, and Maci recorded hit songs for two decades while indulging a pampered lifestyle void of risks and regrets. But all of that changed during one fateful performance. While Maci sang a fourth encore to a crowd of 18,000, the music was shattered by a gunshot fired by an obsessed fan. She emerged triumphant from the attempt on her life—only to face another attempt shortly afterwards. Was it a coincidence? Or was something more sinister at work? Nashville: Music & Murder follows Maci's frantic flight from danger—and toward redemption. Along the way, it exposes the glamour of stardom, the loneliness of fame and the seedier side of the Nashville music scene. Antagonized by the mass media, victimized by her record label executives, stalked by deranged fans and hunted by local and federal authorities, Maci leads readers through a fast-paced descent into hysteria, chaos and murder. In an attempt to get away from it all, Maci finds herself returning to the childhood she fled. In the end, the woman who faced life on her terms alone soon finds out that loneliness is a walking prison from which she'll never walk away. Author Tom Carter has collaborated to write the autobiographies of more country music stars than any other writer in the world. Carter co-wrote with Reba McEntire, Glen Campbell, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, George Jones, Ronnie Milsap, LeAnn Rimes, Jason Aldean and Ralph Emery. Including hard back and paperback editions, Carter's co-written memoirs have been listed seven times on the New York Times and twice on the USA Today best-sellers list. "Tom Carter did wonderful work while writing my life story with me," said Reba McEntire. "He's got the gift of writing like country stars have the gift of singing," said the late George Jones. Now, for the first time, Carter has written a fictional murder mystery set on Nashville's Music Row, home to celebrities and their recorded music. Nashville: Music & Murder is a nail-biting saga rife with riveting plot turns, and is country music's answer to the mysteries of John Grisham.