Media Release -- Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist turned New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins and artist Marco Finnegan (Last Fair Deal Gone Down) team up for CROSSROAD BLUES: A NICK TRAVERS GRAPHIC NOVEL.

This April, get ready to find out why Cully Hamner (Red, The Question, Batman and the Signal) says: "To me, Christmas just ain't Christmas without a full glass—no ice, thanks—and some deep blues. Ace Atkins' CROSSROAD BLUES is about as deep as it gets, and I doubt you'll regret it in the morning."

Adapted from the beloved first novel of the Nick Travers series, CROSSROAD BLUES is a thrilling tale of crime and mystery that brings the history of the blues and the Mississippi Delta to life on every page in moody, atmospheric black-and-white art.

After a New Orleans college professor goes missing while searching for the rumored lost recordings of bluesman Robert Johnson—who, as legend has it, sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads—Nick Travers is sent to find him. Clues point to everyone from an eccentric albino named Cracker to a hitman who believes he is the second coming of Elvis Presley.

"Crossroad Blues is where it all started for me," said Atkins. "And to see it come alive through Marco's art, exactly twenty years later, is a real thrill. The Southern iconography of New Orleans, the Delta, blues music, and Elvis Presley work so well for a graphic novel. Can't wait to expose new readers to this pop culture mash-up of music, crime writing, and art."

"This book is a dream come true," said Finnegan. "Ace is one of my favorite novelists of all time, and I'm thrilled to bring his work to comics!"

CROSSROAD BLUES: A NICK TRAVERS GRAPHIC NOVEL (Diamond code: FEB180513, ISBN: 978-1-5343-0648-6) hits comic book shops Wednesday, April 25th. The final order cutoff deadline for comics retailers is Monday, March 12th.

It will arrive in bookstores Tuesday, May 1st and is available for preorder via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, Indigo, and Books-A-Million.