Debut Novel "The Cana Mystery" by David Beckett Tops Amazon Kindle Downloads

Oct. 24, 2013 - PRLog -- Oct. 24, 2013 - David Beckett’s 2013 thriller, The Cana Mystery, has experienced meteoric success. At the novel's October 5^th debut event, Twig bookstore employees watched in amazement as their complete stock sold out in 90 minutes, a store record. This outcome mirrors online performance: readers snapped up the first shipment in hours. By October 16, The Cana Mystery had reached #1 on Amazon, a position the book held for nearly three full days until displaced by John Grisham’s Sycamore Row. During this hectic span, more than 63,000 enthusiastic readers downloaded The Cana Mystery’s kindle edition.

What elements explain the book's popularity? It could be the fascinating plot, which reviewers have compared to Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Da Vinci Code. Another factor might be the book’s beautiful, dramatic locations. As the author explained, “I admired the way classic adventure writers set their tales in romantic locales – places I wanted to visit and explore. As a storyteller, my priority is to generate compelling, vivid descriptions enlivened with rich historical detail. Yes, it’s a suspenseful thriller, but I try to offer something more than bloody shootouts, high-speed chases, and hair-raising escapes.”

Beckett began writing fiction last year. A prominent litigator who clerked under Chief U.S.D.C. Judge Hayden Head and worked for the Washington D.C.-based firm Verner, Liipfert, Bernard, McPherson, & Hand, Beckett was busy with the independent law practice he’d established. Then, to win a bet with his wife, Catherine, he composed The Cana Mystery in his spare time. “I was just writing, with no contract, no agent, and no long-term plan. My focus was creating something cool for us to enjoy.” In 2012, Catherine encouraged him to enter a writing contest “sponsored by Tuscany Press, with a $1,000 cash prize. I did some research, determined the contest wasn’t a scam, and gave it a shot.” One month later, Beckett had a check and a publishing deal. “We flew up to Cambridge and met the boss [Tuscany Press founder Peter Mongeau]. It was a fun trip. We hardly discussed business. Instead, we bonded over poetry. I recall Peter’s ardor for Longfellow. We spent lunch discussing [Dante’s] Divine Comedy.”

Beckett has emerged as Tuscany’s best-selling author by a wide margin. Boasting an enviable 4.8 (out of 5) rating on Goodreads, The Cana Mystery is currently 2^nd on the website’s list of “Best Mystery/Suspense/Thriller Reads of 2013.” It's closing fast on James Patterson’s Alex Cross, Run. Beckett’s work appeals to an elite audience: intelligent readers seeking a change from overwrought teenage vampire stories or Fifty Shades of Grey’s explicit bedroom antics. Like a screenwriter of Hollywood’s golden age, Beckett keeps it clean, a decision many find refreshing. Although the novel contains a romantic sub plot, Beckett opts to close the metaphorical curtains, never describing his characters’ most intimate moments. Evoking something akin to the romantic chemistry that sizzled between Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, The Cana Mystery leaves readers free to imagine the fireworks that might or might not be erupting behind tastefully locked hotel room doors. Given the novel’s remarkable debut and its eye-popping sales, fans anticipate a sequel in the not-too-distant future.