The Booksmith will welcome Elisabeth Eaves and Colin Winnette to the shop in celebration of the release of The Outlier on August 15th at 7pm. Please RSVP below and join us!

About the book

An audaciously twisty psychological thriller in which finding the killer is only one of two mysteries its anti-heroine, Cate Winter, tries to unravel. The other: when pushed to extremes, what is she herself capable of?

Cate Winter, at 34, is a wildly successful neuroscientist and entrepreneur who has invented a cure for Alzheimer’s that will improve the lives of millions. On the verge of selling her biotech company for an obscene sum, she is also about to become very rich.

But Cate has a secret that keeps her deeply uneasy about everything she is and does: she grew up at the Cleckley Institute, a treatment facility for the rehabilitation of psychopathic children. And, as far as she knows, she is the institute’s only success: all of her peers have become thwarted, maladjusted or even criminal adults.

Then Cate discovers the existence of another ex-patient and outlier who might prove that her success isn’t a fluke. He has not only stayed out of jail, but he’s made a mark in business and science. Though his identity is confidential, she breaks the rules and drops everything to track him down. And when she finds him, living under an assumed name in Baja California, she is immediately obsessed. Like her, he is driven and brilliant, an innovator willing to do what it takes to perfect a new energy technology that will stop global warming. Here, at last, is her mirror, her ultimate collaborator, the possible answer to the enigma of her nature.

But in the wake of a mysterious death, Cate can’t avoid suspecting him. If he is involved, do his ends justify his means? Ruthless herself, she’s about to find out whether there are any moral lines she won’t cross.

About the author

Elisabeth Eaves is a debut novelist and an award-winning travel writer and journalist who has cov­ered nuclear weapons, biological threats, and climate change for numerous publications including The New Yorker, Forbes, and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. She is the author of two critically acclaimed nonfiction books: Wanderlust: A Love Affair with Five Continents, which the New York Times Book Review called “a heady, head­long chronicle of a decade and a half spent adrift” and de­clared a Notable Book; and Bare: The Naked Truth About Stripping, which The Washington Post called “a first-rate, first-person work of social anthropology.” Born and raised in Vancouver, Elisabeth lives with her husband in Seattle.

Colin Winnette is the author of several books, including The Job of the Wasp (long-listed for the Believer Book Award) and the indie best-seller Coyote. His most recent novel Users was a Finalist for the 2024 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction, a New York Times Editor’s Choice Pick, a New Yorker Best Book of the Week, and was called the “first great novel about virtual reality” by The Nation. Originally from Denton, TX, Winnette now lives in San Francisco and can be found online at colinwinnette.com.

About the bookstore

The Booksmith is an independent bookstore located in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco since 1976.

Please note:

• Masks are not required, but can be provided upon request.
• Check-in begins at 6:45. Unclaimed seats are given up beginning at 7:10.
• Please be aware of the ticket tier you are selecting. The free general admission tier *does not guarantee a seat* and may be standing room if our seated tiers sell out first.
• There will be a 30 minute post-show signing as time allows. Books will be for sale on the night of the event, but you can also purchase additional copies straight from our website.
• Questions? Accessibility requests? Write to us at [email protected].