Irish novelist and playwright Glenn Meade, author of eight internationally best-selling novels, including "The Second Messiah" (Howard Books,  2011) and  "Resurrection Day" (Coronet, 2003), will speak at the Feb. 2 meeting of the Knoxville Writers Guild.

The event, which will be open to the public, will be at 7 p.m. at the Laurel Theater, at the corner of Laurel Avenue and 16th Streets (in Fort Sanders). A $2 donation is requested at the door. The building is handicapped accessible.

Mead will talk about his life as a writer and his book "The Second Messiah."

The novel centers on the discovery and theft of an ancient Jewish scroll which contains a potentially world-changing message. Protagonist Jack Crane, an American archaeologist, seeks the truth about the scroll, while Israeli and Catholic authorities work to stop him. "Publisher's Weekly" said Meade "teeters on the edge of genius and sacrilege" with the novel.

Mead's books are all international thrillers woven among both heart-stopping current events and recent  history. His novel, "Resurrection Day" (Hodder Hb, 2002),  seemed to predict the horrors of 9/11. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton recommended "Snow Wolf" (St. Martins, 1996)  to the then-prime minister of Japan, who became a fan. It is a novel about a covert international plot to execute Joseph Stalin .

Born in Dublin in 1957,  Meade and his wife, Kim, a  Speedwell native,  live part of each year in Knoxville. Meade met Kim, a doctor of pharmacy, 12 years ago while on a book tour in Washington. They became friends and began corresponding. They married two years ago and now spend a few months a year at a home off Northshore Drive.