ROXBOROUGH (KYW Newsradio) — Ken Jaworowski is a man of many talents. He is a Senior Editor at The New York Times; a former Bloomberg reporter, and an accomplished playwright. And now, his second novel, “What About the Bodies,” is getting rave reviews.
A former light heavyweight boxer, who trained at the Harrowgate Boxing Club in Kensington, Jaworowski is the son of a Roxborough beer distributor. His hardworking parents ran the family business called Javie’s for decades. The company was sold several years ago, but the distributor was so popular, the new owners kept the name. “Javie” is also what classmates at Roxborough’s W.B. Saul High School called Ken Jaworowski.
Jaworowski attended Shippensburg University to get a taste of what life “in the country was like” and remembers being startled awake in his dorm room by a sound he’d never heard before, the “clip-clop” of a horse-drawn Amish buggy. Jaworowski was a star on the school’s boxing team. He also learned that he had a talent for writing.
Like his acclaimed debut novel, “Small Town Sins,” optioned by Sony Television and a finalist for the Edgar Award, voted on by the country’s mystery writers, “What About the Bodies” is set in a fictitious Pennsylvania community that has seen better days. The location, inspired by the towns Jaworowski passed through driving to Shippensburg, is where the book’s three main characters are forced to go to extreme lengths for what they love. One is a mother who goes to extreme lengths in her love for her son. Another is a son trying to keep a deathbed promise to his late mother. The final protagonist is a budding musician caught in a life-altering, but dangerous situation that could make or break her dream of making it in the music industry. All three of their narratives collide with twists and turns throughout.
The so-called “Master of Suspense,” Pennsylvania native Dean Koontz, a fellow Shippensburg grad, called “What About the Bodies” a “twisty, chilling, even touching tale.” Best-selling author, Lisa Scottoline of Lower Merion, called the book “moving as well as unputdownable,” adding, “if you haven’t read Jaworowski yet, you should start right now.”
Since receiving his Master’s Degree at the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote his first play, Jaworowski has penned a half dozen others, produced in New York and on stages overseas, but said he plans to focus on novels, for now.
His next book will be set in Philadelphia. Its main character will be a former boxer, an homage that takes Jaworowski back to his roots. When talking about “What About the Bodies,” he remembered sneaking into a nightclub to meet his childhood idol, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, in his words, “the best athlete Philadelphia ever produced.” He wasn’t old enough to be in a nightclub, and says he ”acted like a babbling fool” when he met the champ, but Frazier smiled and shook his hand, an experience he’ll never forget.
Jaworowski now lives in New Jersey with his wife and two kids.
The author was back in his old neighborhood recently, at the Roxborough Public Library. He read excerpts from “What About the Bodies,” and signed copies of the book for friends and fans.
The new release is available at bookstores and most libraries. Digital and audiobook versions are also available.