Jack Young Books

Jack Young’s third book, Fensetter Falls, is available in print on Amazon and as an e-book on your favorite digital platform.

On a snowy Thanksgiving Eve, the Fensetters are gathering in the failing New Hampshire town that bears their name. The family’s fortunes have declined, and the Fensetter heirs, Harlan and Emmett, are stunned to learn they will somehow have to scrape by with barely a million dollars each. 

Harlan is not a man to allow his supply of fine liquor, hot women, or flashy cars to be cut off, so he does what any self-respecting heir would do under the circumstances: he hires a hit man to take out his younger brother Emmett so he can get a larger piece of the inheritance pie. The pious but cowardly Emmett is Harlan’s polar opposite in everything but his desire for more money.

Left to their own devices, the brothers will likely take each other down—and the town right along with them. But they are up against a wily spinster who loves Fensetter Falls with all her heart. She will do whatever is necessary to ensure the survival of her town … and the brothers’ downfall.

Kirkus Reviews says:

“Young is genuinely witty and seems to be enjoying himself as he keeps the plot stirred.”

BookLife Prize in Fiction (Semi Finalist):

“Young’s short, hilarious farce stays perfectly on point…”

One muggy summer in New England, an unemployed agrostologist–otherwise known as the Grassman–goes to work for the wealthy Bill Borrington, a “rock-hard dreamer” with a motley crew of hangers-on and a cattle farm in the Berkshires. His mission: to transform a weed-ridden field into a carpet of pristine putting green that will bring riches to Bill and win the admiration of the ravishing Autumn Bliss. To reach his goal, the Grassman must contend with hostile cowboys, inmates from a women’s prison, bad digestion, and above all the dreaded curse of the Zombini Sisters.

Click here to read the full review from Kirkus.

Click here to see more from BookLife.

Available now on Amazon, preview below!

Kirkus Reviews raves:

“…consistently funny…tense, well-crafted plot.”

The island republic of Cigaros faces ruin when magnate Prescott Bullard, Junior vows to end the financial support given by his late father. Bullard Junior dispatches the underperforming Warren Hornsby to deliver the bad news. Smitten with the island’s eccentric customs (as well as with the daughter of the brothel owner), Hornsby realizes that he wants to stay on Cigaros even as an American warship looms on the horizon. The confrontation that ensues will test the mettle of the fledgling republic, its proud citizens, and perhaps most of all, Hornsby himself.

Click here to read the full review from Kirkus.

Available now on Amazon, preview below!

Jack Young grew up in the Olneyville section of Providence, a turbulent mix of proud cultures.  He slogged through twelve years of parochial schooling, emerging unimpressed and unconvinced.  Like many city kids he was drawn to the idea of the country life, graduating from the University of Rhode Island with a degree in agriculture.

Young’s path has been enjoyably erratic, moving from the secure but stifling embrace of Civil Service (Soil Conservation) to small-town cop, to crop management, which is touched on in his book Faraway Green. Young’s travels have, by choice, centered on the lesser Caribbean islands, some real, some whimsical, as found in his book Hail Cigaros!, a Kirkus featured review selection. A time spent selling cars gave him valuable lessons in human behavior that strongly informed his third novel, Fensetter Falls, a rollicking riches-to-rags saga that will have you questioning the value of family.

Jack Young lives with his wife, a social worker, on an underperforming mini-farm in eastern Connecticut.  He now devotes full time to writing after giving up teaching chemistry.

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