Author Event! LoCoco, Salloum and Speranza Appear in First Book Signing of 2026

Three local authors – Chip LoCoco, Vicki Salloum and Elisa Speraza – will discuss their new books at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 13, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public.

The Devil's Jazz: The Haunted Chronicles of the Axman of New Orleans, by Vincent B. "Chip" LoCoco

In the haunted heart of New Orleans, as World War I draws to a close, a sinister presence stalks the streets. A brutal serial killer—known only as the Axman—emerges from the shadows, targeting the city’s Sicilian immigrant community with chilling precision. Inspired by true events, The Devil’s Jazz resurrects one of America’s most disturbing unsolved murder cases in a city steeped in music, mystery, and myth.

Retired detective Giancarlo Rabito is pulled back into the darkness when the killings begin. The press fans hysteria. The public panics. And when the Axman sends a blood-chilling letter to the newspapers—promising death unless every home plays jazz on a chosen night—the city answers with a desperate and defiant flood of music.

Chip Lococo is an estate planning attorney in New Orleans, where he lives with his wife and two children. He is a member of the Italian American Writers Association. He has given extensive talks to book clubs, organizations, and has appeared on The Catholic Channel on Sirius Radio.

A Gathering Place by Vicki Salloum

When 81-year-old Blue Hamieh—a devout Lebanese Catholic—hears the voice of the Virgin Mary telling her to create a “gathering place” in New Orleans, she walks away from everything—her Mississippi home, her family’s pleas, and all common sense.  It’s 2009. Katrina’s wreckage still scars the Gulf Coast as well as the city of New Orleans. Blue spends her life savings on a collapsing building in one of the Big Easy’s most desolate neighborhoods, determined to turn it into a café that will unite three fractured communities. But crime, poverty, and underlying racial tensions close in fast.  Thieves lurk in the shadows.  Deep-rooted distrust threatens to divide rather than unite.  And her own family—convinced she’s lost her mind—plots to take her back home by force.

Vicki Salloum novel, Faulkner & Friends, was released in 2014 by Underground Voices of Los Angeles.  Her debut novella, A Prayer to Saint JudeE, was published in 2012 by Main Street Rag of Charlotte.  Her third work, Candyland, was released in January 2016 by Moonshine Cove Publishing of Abbeville, South Carolina. And her fourth novel, Waiting for You at Midnight, was published in 2018 by Moonshine Cove.  Her short fiction has been included in the anthologies When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple; Pass/Fail: 32 Stories About Teaching; Voices From the Couch; and Umpteen Ways of Looking at a Possum: Critical and Creative Responses to Everette Maddox.  She holds an MFA in creative writing from Louisiana State University.

The Italian Prisoner by Elisa Speranza

1943. New Orleans. Rose Marino lives with her Sicilian immigrant parents and helps in the family grocery store. Her older brother and sister both joined the Army, and Rose prays for their safety as World War II rages overseas. Her parents expect Rose to marry a local boy and start a family. But she secretly dreams of being more like her fiercely independent widowed godmother. Behind her parents’ back, Rose lands a job at the shipyard, where she feels free and important for the first time in her life.

When the parish priest organizes a goodwill mission to visit Italian prisoners of war at a nearby military base, Rose and her vivacious best friend, Marie, join the group. There, Rose falls for Sal, a handsome and intelligent POW. Italy has switched sides in the war, so the POWs are allowed out to socialize, giving Rose and Sal a chance to grow closer. When Rose gets a promotion at work, she must make an agonizing choice: follow a traditional path like Marie or keep working after the war and live on her own terms.

Elisa M. Speranza is the granddaughter of Irish and Italian immigrants, raised Catholic, and educated by nuns. She's been a writer and book nerd all her life. Her first paid job was in the children's room of her town's public library, and she was a journalist early in her career before spending thirty-plus years in the water and critical infrastructure business. The Italian Prisoner is her first novel. A native Bostonian and die-hard member of Red Sox Nation, Ms. Speranza moved to New Orleans in 2002. She is committed to celebrating and honoring the city's fragile and fascinating culture, environment, and history. She lives with Jon Kardon in New Orleans and Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts.

Program inquiries should be directed to Chris Smith, Adult Programming, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.