Set in the town of New Haven, Michigan in the late 1980s, the book tells the largely true story of a Macomb County kid-run newspaper with a supernatural twist.

LANSING, MICHIGAN, UNITED STATES, July 9, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Lansing author John K. Addis has released The Paper, a new coming-of-age thriller inspired by his own childhood experiences founding the local newspaper The New Haven Herald Jr. at the age of ten.

The story follows Jimmy Logan, a twelve-year-old boy who embarks on creating a small newspaper with his friend Dale Dunkle. Through their journalistic venture, encounters with bullies, a mysterious abandoned house, and internal conflicts within their circle of friends, Jimmy confronts horror, loyalty, puberty, and the impact of choices on one’s future.

“The Paper is a compelling and haunting novel that showcases John K. Addis’s talent for blending psychological depth with supernatural horror,” raves Kirk Montgomery of NewsNet. “It’s a must-read for fans of Stephen King and anyone who appreciates a story that lingers in the mind long after the final page is turned.”

While the characters and many plot points in The Paper are fictional, the details behind the creation of the real-life newspaper itself are accurately depicted in loving detail.

“The Paper is a remarkably personal and autobiographical book,” reveals Addis. “After years of telling fully fictional, fantastical tales, I wanted to create a more grounded supernatural story in which everything was both discernibly true, in fact or in feeling, and wholly made up.”

“Author John K. Addis has an easy, confident narrative style in this nostalgic and atmospheric journey back to the '80s filled with youth's innocence and intrigue,” writes K.C. Finn from Readers’ Favorite in a five-star review. “I loved how the scene-setting and attitudinal touches perfectly captured the essence of small-town life, weaving a tale of friendship, courage, and the allure of the unknown into a credible, realistic setting. The Paper is a captivating and thought-provoking read that transports readers back in time, and I’d certainly recommend it to fans of exciting thrillers.”

The real New Haven Herald, Jr. ran from February 1988 through March 1989. Armed with a Commodore home computer and a couple of Huffy bicycles, New Haven kids from the ages of 8-11 interviewed local leaders, hustled ads, printed and distributed a publication all on their own. Later this month, Addis is releasing a printed compendium of the full archives of the short-lived newspaper, with plans to donate the collection to Macomb County libraries, including the Jean Waterloo Lenox Township Library where the Herald was originally sold to the public.

“For better or worse, the six issues of The New Haven Herald Jr. were the only public newspaper printed in New Haven over a span of several decades,” explains Addis. “There are articles and advertisements in these issues that quite literally exist nowhere else. Amidst all the video game reviews and fake horoscopes and word searches you’ll find a handful of legitimate, contemporary accounts of historical events. They deserve to be preserved as part of the public record, kid-generated or not.”

John K. Addis is a writer and designer from Lansing, Michigan. When not advertising the products and causes of his clients, Addis enjoys crafting suspenseful tales set in Michigan locations. His award-winning first novel, The Eaton, was an Amazon and Audible bestseller.

The Paper is currently available through Amazon.com in paperback, hardcover and eBook, with additional national distribution via Ingram.

John K. Addis
Addis Enterprises
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