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ALLIANCE - Robin Yocum is no stranger to the Ohio Valley or Rodman Public Library. A native of Brilliant in Jefferson County, the Ohio Valley is a place that he knows and loves and it has long provided the backdrop for all of Yocum's fiction.
Meanwhile, Rodman Public Library must feel like another home to him. His novel, The Essay, was Alliance's One Book One Community selection in 2014, the year the Fogle Author Series was established in honor of former RPL trustee Esmond Fogle through the Greater Alliance Foundation. Yocum's appearance on Monday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. will mark his third time as a featured writer in that series, having visited as a Fogle Author in 2017 and again in 2022.
Registration is required to attend Yocum's visit at rodmanlibrary.com. Yocum, whose work includes two books of nonfiction as well as seven novels, will focus his remarks on his latest publications, The Last Hitman.
The Last Hitman takes readers deep into a world of organized crime, old loyalties and unfinished business. Set in the Upper Ohio Valley, the novel introduces Angelo Cipriani, a 69-year-old former hitman who spent nearly four decades as a loyal member of a powerful crime family. Now largely pushed aside by a new generation, Angelo spends his days drinking coffee at a local diner, reminiscing with an old friend and quietly nursing a crush on a waitress. Then the FBI arrives, forcing him to confront a past he thought was safely behind him.
With its blend of suspense, dark humor, betrayal and regional color, The Last Hitman is very much a Robin Yocum novel.
Yocum's former hired killer Cipriani, despite his past and all his flaws, has a certain likeable charm. As in all of Yocum's stories, the Ohio Valley is more than a backdrop - it is part of the story itself.
The Last Hitman, published in December 2025 by Crooked Lane Books, has been praised for its brisk pacing, memorable characters and twists, with Publishers Weekly calling it an "electrifying" mafia tale.
Yocum's knowledge of crime and investigative reporting comes from a career that preceded his work as a novelist. He earned a journalism degree from Bowling Green State University and spent 11 years with The Columbus Dispatch, including four years covering the crime beat and six years as a senior investigative reporter. During his newspaper career, he received more than 30 local, state and national awards. He has gone on to write both fiction and nonfiction, earning an Edgar nomination and seeing his novel The Sacrifice of Lester Yates named a finalist for the Dashiell Hammett Award for outstanding crime writing.