Robert Scott

Akron is the setting for “Revival,” the stories of a handful of people during a five-day period in 1984. The common denominator is the Akron Baptist Temple, which stood for almost 90 years in Kenmore, where author Robert Scott Ross grew up.

Life is not gentle to any of the characters. First is Robbie, whose experience of church is limited to Sunday school, where his classmates make paper airplanes out of church bulletins. Robbie is intrigued when he learns that a tent revival is meeting in the church’s parking lot. “Acts of healing,” the flyer says, and he wants to see them. It is through Robbie that the book’s other characters are introduced.

The revival is led by grifter evangelist Elliot Prescott Chipps and his troupe of performers. Lucas Marshall was a preteen when his father trained him in the art of pool hustling. Together they made thousands playing in billiard halls until Marshall’s father got into deep trouble. Marshall’s fortunes declined until he was sleeping in his car, where he keeps an emergency bottle of liquor. Now his job is appearing at the revival meetings, pretending to be possessed so Chipps can “heal” him.

Mrs. Venable is an unhappy wife in Akron whose unrealized dream has been to have children. One night two church members bring her husband Jack home, passed out and sick. While waiting for him to recover, she looks for some tea bags in the garage and instead discovers a trove of more than 25 years’ worth of letters from a man she barely knows. Mrs. Venable learns that she is not the most important person in Jack’s life, and she is so inconsequential that she barely has a first name.

Maurice is a piano player whose previous life was as a student at a prestigious music conservatory. He was spending his evenings playing for tips when he met and became obsessed with a bar singer. He spends time in psychiatric care until he joins Chipps, who recruits his team like a spider with a web. Abby, raised in a home for orphaned girls, has a magnificent voice. That’s enough for Chipps to make her a fly in his web.

“Revival” checks in when “the revival market is contracting.” It’s more difficult and expensive for Chipps to put on his traveling evangelist shows, with longer dates and more theater, as much circus as worship. He’s started persuading local churches to let him set up shop in their parking lots and preach for one Sunday service, for a cut of the take.

The Akron setting is solid.

“Revival” (408 pages, softcover) costs $25 from Redhawk Publications. Robert Scott Ross grew up in Kenmore and is dean of Libraries at Ohio University.

Events

Ashland Public Library (224 Claremont Ave.): Ashland author Sarah M. Wells signs “To Say One Million Times, WOW: Essays on Faith, Family, and Awe from America's Great Outdoors (and Some Hotel Rooms),” noon April 26. Register at ashland.lib.oh.us.

Fireside Books (29 N. Franklin St., Chagrin Falls): Susan Elizabeth Bagby signs her romance “Forever Kind of Love,” 1 to 3 p.m. April 26.

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights): Lee-Ann Spacek joins the Local Voices series to talk about “The Roadmap for Seniors--Making a Plan, Making Decisions, and Moving On,” 1 to 2:30 p.m. April 26.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library (3512 Darrow Road, Stow): Irv Korman talks about his encounters with celebrities such as Tony Bennett and Jerry Lewis and his books including “I Was Jackie Mason’s Chauffeur for Five Minutes,” 6 to 7 p.m. April 27. Register at smfpl.org.

Akron-Summit County Main Library (60 S. High St.): Tia Williams joins the Main Event Many Voices series to talk to Ideastream host Stephanie Haney about writing young adult and romance books, and to sign “Audre and Bash Are Just Friends” and “A Love Song for Ricki Wilde,” 6:30 to 8 p.m. April 27.

Akron Woman’s City Club (632 W. Exchange St.): Roger Pickenpaugh talks about “McKinley, Murder and the Pan-American Exposition,” 2 p.m. April 28. The $10 admission includes refreshments. Call 330-762-6261 for reservations.

Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center (1855 Ansel Road, Cleveland): Patrick Radden Keefe joins the Writers Center Stage series to talk about “London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth,” about the 1919 death of a young man whose parents investigate his apparent suicide, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. April 28. In-person admission starts at $28; livestream tickets are $23. Go to case.edu/maltzcenter.

Cleveland Public Library (325 Superior Ave.): Poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil, author of “Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees,” presents a guided tasting with writing prompts, 6 to 7 p.m. April 29. Register at cpl.org.

Bierce Library (315 Buchtel Commons): “Elsewhere & Here,” an evening of poetry, features Kristen Tetzmann, Caryl Pagel and Ryan Teitman, 6 to 7:30 p.m. April 29.

Hudson Library & Historical Society (96 Library St.): Waiting list to hear historian Michael Beschloss talk about “Presidents of War: The Epic Story from 1807 to Modern Times,” 6:30 p.m. April 29. Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Dave Eifert signs his debut mystery “Cleveland Curse,” which proposes that the Browns’ misfortune is the result of an actual curse, 7 p.m. April 29. Register at lakewoodpubliclibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Beachwood branch, 25501 Shaker Boulevard): Michelle Park Lazette talks about her debut novel “The Descended” 7 to 8 p.m. April 29. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Strongsville branch, 18700 Westwood Drive): Amity Gaige discusses “Heartwood,” about a hiker lost in the Maine wilderness, the state game warden charged with finding her and a birdwatcher trying to help from her retirement community, 7 to 8 p.m. April 29. The $20 admission includes a copy of the book. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

City Club of Cleveland (1317 Euclid Ave.): Aimee Nezhukumatathil talks about “The Power of Food, Memory, and the Joy of Being Present” at a luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 30. Tickets for nonmembers are $45; go to cityclub.org.

Cuyahoga Falls Library: Jason Reynolds joins the Virtual Author Chat Series to talk about “Powerful Portrayals of Resilience” and “Coach,” fifth and final book in the young adult “Track” series, 2 to 3 p.m. April 30. Register at fallslibrary.org.

Elyria Public Library (West River branch, 1194 West River North): Matthew Weisman talks about "The Six Lost Lorain Ships in the "Great Storm of 1913"," 6 to 7 p.m. April 30. Register at elyrialibrary.org.

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Steve Smith signs his novel “The Boys of Rubber City,” set in 1970s Akron, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 2.

Announcements

The 2026 Independent Bookstore Hop includes 28 Northeast Ohio stores that will offer a passport to be stamped at each visit. Participants who collect at least 14 stamps by June 30 will be entered in a drawing. Shops include Learned Owl, Books a Go Go, Trust Books and Black Cat Books & Oddities. See the list and rules at bookshophop.com.

Email information about books of local interest and event notices at least two weeks in advance to [email protected]. I tweet at @BarbaraMcI.