This weekend, Rare Book Cafe goes to prison.

“Henry James once said he was a reader moved to emulation. I can relate. I love crime fiction - especially series, so when I started writing, that's what came out.

“I really wanted to bring two worlds, two genres together - that of the clerical sleuth and that of the hard-boiled detective. I thought prison chaplaincy was the perfect intersection.

“I also wanted to take readers where they rarely get to go - North Florida and deep inside a state prison.”

-Michael Lister

That’s how Michael Lister- author of 27 books (last check, more may have been published this week), former youngest chaplain in the Florida Department of Corrections, newspaper editor, college instructor, Ford Mustang enthusiast and Big Brother- brought the world John Jordan, his ministerial detective in a series of New York Times bestseller-listed murder mysteries.

Think Father Brown in San Quentin.

As if writing about murders inside a giant lockup-turned grad school for crime isn’t enough of an imagination workout, Lister also runs a series involving a classic 40s-style noir PI Jimmy “Soldier” Riley and the sizzling streets of Panama City.

On the side, Lister works out some unresolved issues about the apocalypse in a line involving life after everything falls apart. Oh, and there’s the Remington James books about the North Florida guy who inherits his dad’s gun & pawn shop, putting aside a much calmer career as a nature photographer.

Then there’s the spiritual meditations....

How does he do it all?

Something seems to hinge on the "where"- as you can see from this video:



Rare Books Cafe is sponsored by the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. It’s broadcast every Saturday from 2.30 to 3.30 pm EST and features interviews, panel discussion and stuff you can learn about book collecting whether you are a regular at Sotheby’s or just someone who likes books.

The program airs live on Rare Book Cafe’s and the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair’s Facebook page; the Book Fair Blog, and the Book Fairs YouTube channel. Shows are archived on YouTube and can also be viewed on the Facebook pages and the blog after their first run.

Hosted by Miami book dealer, appraiser and WDBFRadio.com’s Bucks on the Bookshelf radio show creator Steven Eisenstein, the program features a revolving set of cohosts and regular guests including Thompson; Thorne Donnelley of Liberty Book Store in West Palm Beach, Florida; miniature books expert Edie Eisenstein; and program creator/producer T. Allan Smith; and Lindsay Thompson, owner of Henry Bemis Books in Charlotte.

This week's program will also feature guest cohost Cynthia Gibson, owner of the BookFair.com website and an avid reader of Listeriana!