Launch day for any author, regardless of how many books they have written, is a big day. The excitement is beyond words and the follow up fun. A book I’ve been eagerly waiting for is A King in a Court of Fools, by Larry Enright. Finally, launch day has arrived!

As a reader, I’m excited because it gives me a new look into the life of one of his most well known characters, Tom Ryan. In this book, Tom is a 10 year old kid full of life and adventure.

You can find great information about Tom Ryan, this all over the info sphere today. I did a quick search for the title and author and attached a list of websites at the bottom to show you how much so.

Prior to releasing the book, Larry took the time to create a novel length series of stories about Tom Ryan’s childhood. This came in audio and written format and were posted weekly to his FB fan page and other sources. The story isn’t free anymore, but trust me at .99 cents it’s more than worth the pocket change. To be honest, if he priced it at 15 dollars, I’d still be seeking out this book.

Larry Enright has authored 3 other books, including Four Years from Home, which is currently the most popular appearance of Tom Ryan. A King in a Court of Fools is the fun story of this character’s childhood in the 1950s. He’s a boy full of life, spirit and the willingness to ‘pound you’ if you read ‘The Book of Tom’.

Below is the promotional package for the book – Yes, it gives you the spirit of the story easily.

WANTED

On Dead Tree Paperback or Alive in EBook!

For Having Way too Much Fun

Vital Info: 

Name: Tom Ryan

Age: 10

Physical Description: Too big for his britches, too tough for his own good

Distinguishing features: a scar in the shape of your nose on his right hand

Aliases: “The King,” “Tom Terrific,” “Hey Ryan,” and “Big Trouble”

Known to frequent: The Cherry Tree Hideout, Isaly’s, The Harris Theater, South Park Drive-In

To report a sighting, to read a sample, or purchase please contact A King in a Court of Fools

REWARD

Hours of enjoyment reading stories from the Book of Tom

 Below is a partial statement from Tom’s brother, Harry. He chronicles Tom Ryan’s exploits:

Harry:  

It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but that’s how I remember the chicken scratch from the cover of Tom’s journal. Tom Ryan — he’s my big brother. He was in sixth grade at the time he started keeping it. He was ten and I was five. Sister Jeanne Lorette made him do it, he said. Tom thought it was punishment for constantly misbehaving in her class. He would say that. That’s how he was. I think she was just trying to help him express himself in ways more productive than his usual tough guy act.

Speaking of tough guy acts, I’ve always imagined that if Tom had the room on that composition book cover, he would have added:

You’re still reading, aren’t you? I warned you, but you couldn’t stop, could you, you nosey-baloney? Well, it’s too late now. And don’t bother wiping your prints off the book. I have my ways. And don’t try to hide either. I’ll find you.

Go ahead, keep reading, but once you know the secrets, it will be the last thing you ever read.

Tom was big on threats. That was his modus operandi. He was under the impression that it was the only way to get anyone to do what he wanted. So he picked on us a lot, but we all knew he was a softy deep down — all talk, no action. You know the type. I honestly don’t remember him doing anything really nasty to anyone, except kids who were picking on us. And I’m sure he felt totally justified in those cases because he was doing it for a good cause.

Of course, I can’t speak to his behavior once he moved on to high school. I saw less and less of him and the gang had, by then, disbanded. But before that, we were all part of his gang and under his protection, whether we wanted to be or not.

Tom’s journal is long gone. It’s unfortunate in a way. It would be much better hearing his story in his own words rather than from my memory of the events that took place that year. It seems like so many years ago. But I imagine like all the other evidence he wanted “lost,” he covered it with Testors cement and burned it when he moved on to the seventh grade. Or maybe he buried it in the side yard. We’ll probably never know. I’m sure he’ll never tell, and I doubt Mom and Dad will be digging up the yard any time soon to find it.

That leaves you with me to piece this together. You have to keep in mind that I was only in first grade at the time, so my reading skills were limited. Simple chapter books were easy, but not sixth grade Tom-ese. He used words I’d never heard of, words I found out later I was better off not knowing.

How did we get our hands on Tom’s secret journal? My other brother, Sam and I found it. We used to sneak into Tom’s bedroom despite the threat of the “Keep Out or Die” sign on his headquarters door. Or maybe it was because of that sign and the inherent danger involved in tempting fate. In any case, we’d play with the toys he never let us touch, we’d look out his window at the Ioli’s house across the street just like he did when he was preparing for a mission, and we’d rifle through his drawers looking for his secret stuff. That’s how we found it. He kept it hidden under a pile of shoes in his closet. It smelled like old shoes, too. That was cool, but the coolest thing? The journal was about us.

Tom was chronicling the adventures of his gang for Sister Jeanne Lorette. Every chance we got, we would sneak in, and Sam would read it to me or I would try reading to him. We had a blast with it. The way Tom described his adventure we couldn’t believe it was about us at first, but there was no doubt after several pages that this story was our adventure as seen through his imagination. And did he ever have an imagination.

So, if you’re willing to accept it on that basis and for what’s it worth, I invite you to enjoy the story of A King in a Court of Fools.

H. Ryan

~oOo~

As you can see, Tom Ryan is quite the character! It’s time for you to find out just how much so. Check him out in A King in a Court of Fools.

To find the following additional locations that are talking about A King in a Court of Fools I did a search on Bing the following is what came up that weren’t the author’s own sites! Talk about a buzz today!

http://www.iwassociation.com/

http://kinginacourt.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/KingInACourt

http://www.jacodypress.blogspot.com/

http://www.sarahbarnard.co.uk/blog/2011/09/09/a-king-in-a-court-of-fools/

http://bettyandfriends-wip.blogspot.com/

http://vmaarten.blogspot.com/2011/09/will-real-larry-please-stand-up.html

http://bettyandfriends-wip.blogspot.com/

http://ReadersRetreat.com

http://www.liafairchild.com/?p=414

http://traceyalley.weebly.com/my-blog.html

http://www.sibelhodge.com/my-blog/introducing-a-king-in-the-court-of-fools

http://noveltakenomore.blogspot.com/2011/09/larry-enright-king-in-court-of-fools.html

http://notasadvertised.blogspot.com/

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/a-king-in-a-court-of-fools-book-launch-discovered-script/