Left Bank Books welcomes former St. Louisan Scott Alexander Hess, who will sign and discuss his new novel, “River Runs Red.”

This event is free and open to the public, but proof of purchase of “River Runs Red” from Left Bank Books will be required to enter the signing line.

The christening of the world’s first skyscraper on the shores of the Mississippi River is the backdrop for “River Runs Red,” Lambda Literary Award finalist Scott Alexander Hess’ new novel set in St. Louis circa 1891. Clement Cartwright returns to his St. Louis hometown as the heralded architect of the Landsworth Building. He soon becomes embroiled in both a business feud, and an illicit affair with a young card shark. The city’s wealthiest citizen mounts a vicious crusade to ruin Cartwright — a plan that includes blackmail and culminates in a sensational court trial. Amidst it all, the Mississippi river surges higher and higher, threatening to flood as the scandalous trial speeds to a shocking and violent conclusion.