Locally Writ: Jess Walter offers peek at new novel ‘The Cold Millions’ due in October

The New York Times bestselling author Jess Walter revealed the cover of his upcoming novel, “The Cold Millions,” on Twitter this morning. The book, Walter’s seventh novel, is slated for release Oct. 6.

“My first cover reveal! Feels so … revealing,” Walter commented in the tweet.

Set in Spokane around the turn of the century, as the book’s cover subtly suggests, “The Cold Millions” follows brothers Rye and Gig Dolan on an adventurous and dangerous tour through the rocky class politics of the time. A fault begins to develop between Gig’s idealism and Rye’s skepticism, but their brotherhood proves stronger.

“I’ve always thought you should write (about) the most interesting period of your hometown,” Walter said. “And I was always drawn to that period in Spokane when it was doubling in size every six or seven years, when it was almost the same size of Seattle and still had this incredibly vibrant, rough frontier town feel with its own red light district.”

While writing and researching a time period for the book’s setting, Walter stumbled across the free speech riots of 1909 and 1910 and knew he had found the right theme around which to frame the novel.

Walter’s previous work, both as a former The Spokesman-Review reporter and novelist, has earned him many awards, including two Pacific Northwest Booksellers Awards and a finalist position for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for his work on the team that covered the shootout and standoff at Ruby Ridge in Northern Idaho. His last novel, “Beautiful Ruins,” earned a No. 1 spot on the New York Times Bestseller list.