Pam Avery's new novel, The Other Side of Tanner, is set for worldwide release on October 1, marking a significant expansion of the fictional North Georgia community of Kings County. The book is a sequel to Avery's critically acclaimed debut, The Tanner Side of Town, and shifts the focus to Tanner Fox, the daughter of Lucy Tanner and Hunter Fox. Now in her early 50s, Tanner is a successful, high-profile attorney and fixer who helps politicians and celebrities navigate crises. However, when her complicated personal life collides with a dangerous investigation, she discovers that solving other people's problems is considerably easier than confronting her own.
The announcement matters because it continues a multigenerational family saga that has resonated with readers, while also exploring contemporary themes of identity, dependency, and the consequences of secrets. Avery said she wanted to explore the family's stories through a different generation and a very different woman. "Tanner Fox is smart, accomplished, tough and very good at managing other people's crises. Yet beneath all that confidence is someone struggling to manage her own life. That contradiction made her a fascinating character for me to explore," Avery said.
At the center of Tanner's personal turmoil is her five-year affair with married U.S. Senator Cary Lancaster. She understands the potentially devastating political consequences of their relationship, yet her professional instincts clash with her emotional attachment to a man whose promises have kept her waiting for years. The novel reaches beyond Washington politics and forbidden romance, however. Back home in Kings County, the past refuses to remain buried. Tanner becomes drawn into an investigation that eventually reaches from Georgia to Chicago and Florida and involves Bill Braxton, a small-time criminal with an outsized mobster ego. As Tanner digs into Braxton's past, she uncovers connections involving the Andrews family that turn the investigation into something deeply personal for the people closest to her.
The implications of this release extend to readers of the first novel, who will encounter familiar characters decades later, including Lucy Tanner, Hunter Fox, and Hank Tanner, now a Georgia district attorney. They are joined by a cast that includes recovering surgeon David Harrington, who operates a farm helping men rebuild their lives after addiction; Joseph Andrews; retired Chicago police officer Leo Flynn; and others whose histories become intertwined with Tanner's search for answers. Underlying the suspense is a larger story about family and the ties that endure across generations. The Tanner family's roots stretch back to the 1800s in the mountains of Georgia, and the original novel centered on Lucy Tanner and the battle to protect "The Ridge," an untouched mountain range of historical significance running through Kings County. The sequel examines what happens when a new generation inherits not only the strength of those who came before them, but also unfinished business from the past.
Avery said the North Georgia setting is almost another character in these books. "The land, the family history and the sense of belonging to a place help shape who the Tanners are. You can leave home, build a career and create an entirely different life for yourself, but sometimes you must come back to where you started to understand where you're going," she said. Through Tanner, Avery also explores a distinctly contemporary contradiction: a woman professionally trained to manage chaos who cannot always control the chaos within herself. Her journey forces her to confront difficult truths about love, dependency, family, identity and what she really wants from the second half of her life. Ultimately, The Other Side of Tanner is as much about finding peace as it is about solving a mystery. "I hope readers are entertained by the mystery and intrigue, but I also hope they see something of themselves in these characters," Avery said. "Life rarely gives us perfect people making perfect decisions. We make mistakes, we carry things from our past, we love people we probably shouldn't, and sometimes we get another chance to decide who we want to be. That's what Tanner's journey is about."
