THE PERFECT GIFT: With a smaller trim size and beautiful packaging as a jacketed hardcover, this will make the perfect gift for any father, son, brother, or golf enthusiast.

HEARTWARMING STORY FOR THE HOLIDAYS: With a page-turning story of redemption and family, and an uplifting message about following your dreams and keeping faith, this is the kind of fiction readers crave around the holidays. Lovers of It’s a Wonderful Life will be delighted by Robert Bailey’s fresh take on this timeless classic.

BESTSELLING OPPORTUNITIES: As classics like The Legend of Bagger Vance and Miracle on the 17th Green demonstrate, golf gift books (and especially golf holiday books) sell—and we’re overdue for their contemporary successor! We have a real opportunity with this unique and fun title on Putnam’s list.

NEW DIRECTION FOR BELOVED AUTHOR: Bailey writes award-winning legal thrillers for Thomas & Mercer. He has a strong fan base we can market to, but this book is a very different and new direction for Bailey, giving us the chance to launch him with Putnam’s debut treatment.

Robert Bailey is the bestselling author of the critically acclaimed McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers series, which includes The Professor, Between Black and White, The Last Trial, and The Final Reckoning. An experienced trial lawyer for more than twenty years and an avid golfer who made All City as a senior in high school at Huntsville High and played three years of golf for Davidson College, he now lives in his hometown of Huntsville, Alabama, with his wife and three children.

Author Residence: Huntsville, Alabama

Author Hometown: Huntsville, Alabama

Advanced Praise for The Golfer’s Carol

“Inspiring…Sharp in its dialogue, real with its relationships, and fascinating in details of the game, The Golfer’s Carol is that rarest of books—one you will read and keep for yourself, while purchasing multiple copies for friends.”  —Andy Andrews, New York Times bestselling author of The Noticer and The Traveler’s Gift

“A celebration of faith, family, and the human spirit, The Golfer’s Carol is a page-turning story of love and second chances that is sure to become a classic. The four inspiring lessons will stay with readers long after the last page is turned.” —Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump

“The greatest golf courses are those that can be enjoyed by duffers and aces alike. The same can be said for The Golfer’s Carol, a story you don’t have to be a golfer to love, though it doesn’t hurt. Bailey grabs your imagination from the first swing, and walks you through a course of miracles that golf dreamers will cherish. Packed with heart and with hope, golf needed a Christmas classic, and now it has one.” —Tom Coyne, New York Times bestselling author of A Course Called Ireland and A Course Called Scotland 

“Bailey wrings genuine emotion from Randy’s tragedies. This life-affirming sports odyssey will appeal to fans of uncomplicated inspirational yarns.” —Publishers Weekly

“Enjoyable…charming and engaging.” —Bookreporter.com

“Sophisticated…The emotional currents are broad ones, family ones.” —Shawangunk Journal

“Easy reading that brings to life several great golfers and specific holes on some very famous golf courses.” —Bowling Green Daily News

 “At some point in our lives, most golfers like to imagine playing a round of golf with our sporting heroes, a heavenly foursome comprised of the greats of the game and maybe a missing loved one. In his wee gem of a book, The Golfer’s Carol, Robert Bailey creates both a hymn to the heroes of golf and a moving fable about what is most important—and enduring—to learn from the game. The moral rings clear: It’s never too late to have a Wonderful Life. George Bailey couldn’t have told the story any better!” —James Dodson, author of Ben Hogan: An American Life

“A fun, fast read, this novel kind of sneaks its wisdom up on you. I thought it splendid.” —Homer Hickam, author Rocket Boys and Carrying Albert Home