Two very different events, tonight. We’ve got Robert Ferrigno, a mystery/thriller author who writes lots of books with words like “sin” and “assassin” and “prayer” and “ninja”* in their titles, reading at Third Place Books up in Lake Forest Park.

Conversely, there’s “Love is the Drug,” at the Hugo House. I’ve not been crazy about Rick Moody’s last two books (I read all of The Black Veil and regretted it, I read a good chunk of The Diviners and couldn’t continue with it) but his short stories, especially in Demonology, can be pretty mind-blowing. I have not read Monica Drake’s last book, Clown Girl, but the talented and charming Cienna Madrid liked it. (“Just as there is something alluring about a plucked rubber chicken with its legs demurely crossed, so Clown Girl, a debut novel by Portland author Monica Drake, has its charms.”) David Wagoner, Hugo House’s current writer-in-residence, is lovely. There’s also a band and a party. It’s a little pricey, but it looks like a full evening’s entertainment.

Full listing is here, and the next week or so of readings is here.

*Well, maybe not “ninja.”