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James King, author of Bill Warrington's Last Chance, has won the second annual contest in search of next popular novel and will receive a publishing contract worth $25,000 from Penguin Group (USA)

James King, an Ohio native and current resident of Wilton, Conn., has been a corporate communications specialist for the past 20 years, but dreamt of becoming a fiction writer since the age of six. In 2006, with the support and encouragement of his wife and two children, King decided to pursue his dream.  He entered the Master of Arts program in creative writing at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., and when he completed his degree in May 2008, he had written most of what would become the novel Bill Warrington's Last Chance.

In Bill Warrington's Last Chance, the title character tries to reestablish ties with his estranged children after he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. After several attempts at a reunion fail, he decides to kidnap his 15-year-old granddaughter, April, so that his children will be forced to talk to each other - and to him-as they attempt to "rescue" April.

Penguin author Sue Monk Kidd, a member of the contest's expert panel said: "one of the best things you can say about a novel is that the story lingers after you finish it. I have gone on thinking about this one without trying." 

The 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, which began Feb. 2, 2009, drew several thousand entrants, representing all 50 U.S. states and 21 countries around the world.

To view the winning excerpt and reviews, please visit www.amazon.com/abna.

James King, Bill Warrington's Last Chance, Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Penguin Books