Cover Reveal: Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig

Hi everyone! Here on Pop! Goes The Reader we are proud, card-carrying members of the We Heart Caleb Roehrig fan club. Caleb is no stranger to the blog, having generously lent his voice to the Raise Your Voice 2016 and ‘Tis The Season: Authors Talk Holidays 2017 events, and I’m no stranger to his novels, having read (and loved) both his debut, Last Seen Leaving, and his sophomore release, White Rabbit. I’m constantly recommending his work to family, friends, and strangers alike, and if you haven’t had an opportunity to read his novels yet, I strongly urge you to change that as soon as you possibly can. You can therefore imagine my excitement and delight when Caleb recently approached me to ask if I could host the exclusive cover reveal for his third, upcoming novel, Death Prefers Blondes!

Coming to a bookstore and library near you January 29th 2019 from Feiwel & Friends, Death Prefers Blondes tells the story of Margo Manning, a teenage socialite who lives a double life, dodging the paparazzi by day, and the long arm of the law by night as she stages a series of elaborate cat burglaries along with her crew of kickboxing drag queens. But when both Margo’s personal life and the crew’s latest heist take a dark turn, there’s suddenly more at stake than the success of their latest job. The cover of Death Prefers Blondes was illustrated by Rich Deas, creative director of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group.

About Caleb Roehrig

Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Caleb Roehrig has also lived in Chicago, Los Angeles, Helsinki, Los Angeles (again,) and Chicago (again.) He has worn a lot of hats, and in the name of earning a paycheck, he has: hung around a frozen cornfield in his underwear, partied with an actual rock-star, chatted with a scandal-plagued politician, and been menaced by a disgruntled ostrich. Death Prefers Blondes will be his third novel.

Author Links: Website ● Twitter ● Instagram ● Goodreads

As a teenager, I was hooked on classic TV reruns, and I first had the idea that would one day become Death Prefers Blondes while watching an episode of The Lucy Show (1962-1968) on Nick at Nite. Its plot was questionable, mostly just an excuse for Lucille Ball to perform zany antics in a series of outlandish costumes, but one scene really captured my imagination: Dressed in a vinyl miniskirt, oversized sunglasses, and an extravagant wig, Lucy barges into her employer’s office, pretending to be a mod interior decorator named Margo.

Immediately, I had the beginnings of a character in my mind: an heiress — daring, headstrong, and emphatically stylish.

The story of Death Prefers Blondes went through numerous iterations after that initial spark, but two things always stayed the same: Margo’s name, and the bright, bold aesthetics of mod design that informed my visual motifs. That’s why the pop art sensibility of this cover by Rich Deas is so incredibly perfect. The vibrant colors and graphic styling, the font and the cheeky wink…it could be a poster for one of the great heist comedies of the 1960s, like William Wyler’s How To Steal A Million or Blake Edwards’s The Pink Panther — both of which also influenced the novel’s current plot. I couldn’t imagine a better fit for this book, and I am so excited to share it with the world!

Title Death Prefers Blondes
Author Caleb Roehrig
Pages 336 Pages
Intended Target Audience Young Adult
Genre Thriller
Publication Date January 29th 2019 by Feiwel & Friends
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon.com ● Chapters ● The Book Depository

Teenage socialite Margo Manning leads a dangerous double life. By day, she dodges the paparazzi while soaking up California sunshine. By night, however, she dodges security cameras and armed guards, pulling off high-stakes cat burglaries with a team of flamboyant young men. In and out of disguise, she’s in all the headlines.

But then Margo’s personal life takes a sudden, dark turn, and a job to end all jobs lands her crew in deadly peril. Overnight, everything she’s ever counted on is put at risk. Backs against the wall, the resourceful thieves must draw on their special skills to survive. But can one rebel heiress and four kickboxing drag queens withstand the slings and arrows of truly outrageous fortune? Or will a mounting sea of troubles end them — for good?