April 2010 Archives

Jack Reacher.  Men want to be him.  Women want to have his children.  What is it about this tall, unassuming, street-smart man, with an atomic clock in his head who wanders the countryside looking for adventure?  Why are we so fascinated with his unique lifestyle?  And what spawned this phenomenon?

The answers are found inside Lee Child's soul.  Reacher isn't just some random concoction, he's the result of a lifetime's worth of experience and influence.  Simply stated, Jack Reacher is more real than any of us will ever know.

Lee Child's legacy is forever secured.  Reacher is a household name in more than 51 countries and 36 languages.  Reacher is timeless.  If he'd lived in the Egyptian era, he would've kicked Marc Antony's butt, seduced Cleopatra, led a slave revolt, and moved on.  In medieval times, he would've been a sword wielding Crusader fighting injustice against peasants.  And in the old west, he would've been a nomadic gunslinger who helps a rancher defend his home against murderous cattle rustlers.

Lee's approach to the Reacher books isn't complicated.  It doesn't have to be.  "For a so-called noir or hard-boiled writer, my books aren't really very gray.  There are good guys and bad guys, and the good guys win--count on it."

An emotionally scarred woman with nothing to lose but her daughter squares off against the shadow of her past and a dark sinister evil. In Never Let You Go, Erin Healy immediately snags your undivided attention and immerses you in a powerful story of love versus hate.

"Heart pounding suspense and unrelenting hope that will steal your breath." New York Times Best-selling author Ted Dekker

This is Erin Healy's first solo novel.  She is an award winning editor who has collaborated on two books with Ted Dekker. Erin's voice is strong, and her characters flawed in an engaging manner. From the first page, the reader immediately understands Lexi is dealing with more than a troubled past.

Losing everything has Lexi clinging to her daughter. Hell is determined to loosen her grip.

"You can taste the dust and smell the blood."  That's what the Daily Express said about Matt Lynn's Fire Force.

Please tell us about this band of elite mercenaries that make up Death Inc and also the difficulties you've encountered creating this amazing cast of characters.

Fire Force is the second in a series of thrillers about a Private Military Corporation called Dudley Emergency Forces (DEF), and known in the trade as 'Death Inc' for taking on jobs that are too dangerous for any other organization. Think of it as The A Team meets Band of Brothers: a diverse group of fighting men thrown into desperate battles.

It includes men from different special forces units around the world, which, as well as allowing you to have a mix of characters and skills, also allows you to describe different military traditions. So there is a guy from the British SAS, a South African from their Recce units, a Ghurkha, an Australian SASR man, a Russian Spetsnaz soldier, and so on. Later in the series, other units will come in. In the third book, for example, there will be a character from the French marine combat specialists, Commando Hubert. In the forth book, one from the Israeli female military units.

William Martin is the New York Times best-selling author of nine novels, an award-winning PBS documentary, and a horror movie that's now considered a cult classic. But he's best known for what he calls his 'treasure hunts though time,' which join the contemporary thriller to the historical novel: Back Bay, Harvard Yard, and The Lost Constitution. Those three star Peter Fallon, Boston rare-book dealer and document hunter.

And now Fallon is back in City of Dreams, which sweeps through two centuries of New York City history as Fallon and his girlfriend Evangeline search for a box of 1780 bonds, face value: $20,000 but worth billions today. There are a lot of people who will kill for that box, for a lot of reasons. So naturally, complications ensue. It's another riveting entry in a well-researched, authoritative, and hugely enjoyable series.

Lest anyone think that a historical thriller writer may be 'stuffy,' I begin by citing one of your first endeavors, which is now a film classic. Early in your writing career, you wrote the screenplay for Humanoids from the Deep, a 1980 horror movie produced by Academy Award winner Roger Corman. Is it fair to say that fun is part of your repertoire, along with the requisite suspense, pacing, and other factors that thriller readers expect in their strong brew?

I have a sign in my office that says, "This is supposed to be fun. Not for you... for them." For the readers. Never lose sight of that. And the requisite suspense and pacing, the sudden plot twists, the nasty surprises, the good guys and bad guys, the smart, sexy women and the tough-talking babes, the big scenes that build to big climaxes... all of it is part of the fun. But it is also part of the craft of storytelling that all the greats from Shakespeare to Dickens to Stephen King have understood and paid homage to. You might have all kinds of higher motivations. You should if you're writing a book. But first, tell a good story.

Oh... and that was a lifetime achievement award they gave Corman. He deserved it for giving so many people a chance at big-time filmmaking. He didn't get it for Humanoids.

Most of you know Peter Steiner's work as the New Yorker cartoonist whose over 400 contributions to the magazine reflected thirty years of American culture in humorous, thought-provoking and, at times, poignant ways. Before cartooning, Steiner was a student of German literature in graduate school and taught it for many years.

"I learned to take novels apart to discover how they worked and to appreciate the particular writerly skills of my favorite authors," said Steiner who listed many German writers from early and mid twentieth century as having influenced his work. It was those writers who Steiner imagined when he began his own writing career.

Steiner began the Louis Morgon series after spending several weeks in France, and wanting to capture and relive the memories. "It started as a sort of journal, but seemed diffuse and unfocused. I decided a plot would give it some direction so I imagined Louis Morgon and plopped a body on his doorstep." From there, he did what many thriller writers do, he followed his character.

"I start a novel without a clue where it's going or even who will be in it. Characters appear almost of their own accord and some become important without my intending they be so," Steiner said.

Whodunit?

There are just so many people who could have done it in Thomas Perry's latest mystery, Strip.

If you're one who likes books about bad guys duping other bad guys and running a maze of mistaken identity with danger around every topiary corner, you'll definitely like this book.  But if you enjoy getting into the heads of the bad guys--seeing what makes them tick, feeling their hearts race and their blood coursing on an adrenalin high--then prepare to sign your name on a Valentine card to Thomas Perry because you'll love this one.

In Strip, Perry has built a house full of the kind of characters your mother warned you about.  Some of them are bad, some of them are really bad, and some of them have turned bad out of the necessity to survive.  And when you stew the bunch together in a cauldron, you get the story of an aging, mostly impotent gangster hanging on to his importance by his splintering fingernails--he's not a Soprano, he's a tenor--arrogant, high pitched, soft in the belly, big voice but in need of supporting cast members to carry his performances in the underworld of peddling flesh in strip clubs, hence the title of the book, Strip.

A gifted fiction writer can make the horrors of real life as riveting as any imaginary tale.  That's what R. Barri Flowers does in his latest book, Street Kids: The Lives of Runaway and Thrownaway Teens.

In this volume Flowers explores a complex, persistent and often overlooked problem in America: street kids, most of whom are runaways or unwanted children forced to leave home.  With a clear and unflinching eye, Flowers examines all the factors that lead to this epidemic of childhood homelessness: neglect, sexual and physical abuse, drug use and much more.

Flowers is eminently qualified to investigate this issue.  He is the award-winning author of several crime novels, including State's Evidence, and Justice Served. He has also written a number of nonfiction books with titles like College Crimes and Murder in the United States.  In fact, he says he was inspired to write Street Kids by all he learned on earlier books about runaways such as Runaway Kids and Teenage Prostitution and The Prostitution of Women and Girls.

"I have long been interested in child abuse and child sexual exploitation and shedding light on these issues," Flowers says.  "Most children who run away or have been thrown away from home have been victims of some combination of child abuse, neglect, child sexual abuse, or gender identity issues.  These are key factors in leaving home."

At the London Book Fair last month there was a panel discussion on writing crime fiction in South Africa scheduled with the my comrades Deon Meyer, Angela Makholwa, Jonny Steinberg and Gillian Slovo.  The foursome to be kept in check by Tom Harper.  In the event a volcano blew up in Iceland and the number of panellists shrunk because Makholwa and Steinberg couldn't fly into London.  The discussion bravely went ahead and Harper reports that it was lively and controversial.  Deon Meyer weighed in with statistics which made us sound as safe (or as dangerous) as Ireland.

As a prelude to the discussion I canvassed some local authors to get their thoughts on the topic and here are the choice bits:

Deon Meyer: South Africa influences me in every possible way, of course. I live and breathe this country, just like everybody else. I listen, I talk, I think, I read (I try to avoid TV news, though), and it permeates me and my stories. There is no way one can escape the history, the fabric, the current political and social situation and events. Especially when you have policemen and women as characters, because their lives are touched by everything in the country every day.

Northern Irish Crime Fiction - The Next Generation

You've heard of Adrian McKinty, Brian McGilloway and Stuart Neville, right? If not, you're missing out. You should do yourself a favour and look for their work immediately. The talented trio are the newest blood in the Northern Irish crime fiction scene and they're doing the likes of Colin Bateman, Paul Charles and Sam Millar proud.

This month you can pick up the paperback release of Adrian McKinty's FIFTY GRAND and get your mitts on a copy of Brian McGilloway's latest Inspector Devlin novel, THE RISING. And as if he needed something to keep up with his contemporaries, Stuart Neville only went and won the 2010 LA Times Book Prize this month. But major award-winning skills aside, you shouldn't forget that the follow up to his award winning debut (THE GHOST OF BELFAST in the US -- AKA THE TWELVE in the UK), COLLUSION, will be released in the summer.

Can't get away for vacation this year? Sit down in your favorite chair with one of Maria Hudgins' novels from her Dotsy Lamb travel mysteries series, and you'll soon be transported to a new place with an exotic setting, intriguing characters, and a murder or two that needs solving. Her latest, Death on the Aegean Queen, finds protagonist Dotsy Lamb on a cruise ship in the Greek Islands searching for the killer of a tourist from Indiana and the ship's photographer. Dotsy's creator, Maria Hudgins, took some time to chat with The Big Thrill.

This is your third Dotsy Lamb mystery. The first two, Death of an Obnoxious Tourist and Death of a Lovable Geek, are set in Italy and Scotland, respectively. Your current novel, Death on the Aegean Queen, takes place on a cruise ship in the Greek Islands. How did you come to write what you call "travel" mysteries, and how did you develop the idea for this third book?

I love to go places. I'll hop on a plane and then ask, "Where are we going?" I don't visit a country with the purpose of writing a mystery about it. Sometimes, nothing strikes me, but when it does, I use the setting as part of the story. I did take a cruise around the Greek Islands a few years ago, but the idea for Death on the Aegean Queen came to me following TV coverage of a newlywed man who disappeared from a cruise ship on his honeymoon. The novel itself bears no further resemblance to that news story.

Nine years. That's how long it took Leanna Renee Hieber to publish The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, the first book in her Strangely Beautiful series. Although editors and agents loved the book, marketing departments did not know how to market a novel that crossed multiple genres. After many rewrites and much time spent searching for the right publishing house, Hieber found a home for her highly-regarded series, a series that combines the Victorian Era with ghosts, suspense, fantasy, and romance. According to Booklist, "Hieber has created a secretive, gothic, paranormal world as well as a character who will resonate with anyone who has found the beauty in being different."

The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker is the second book in the series and Leanna Renee Hieber's newest release. I chatted with Hieber about The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker and Hieber's writing process.

What makes The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker so compelling?

Well... it's more romantic... and far more dangerous. The stakes are higher, there's more passion, intensity, and life-and-death risk as Miss Percy has to stare down the Whisper-world itself, overcoming timidity to undertake a terrifying task all alone. The climax brings an epic, spectral war onto the grounds of Athens Academy. And not everyone makes it out in one piece.

Be afraid, be very afraid . . . .

Robert Liparulo is in the house.

Again.

You know the house. Yeah, that house. The one where the King family lives and the dreams--make that nightmares--dwell. The one where you step through a door and end up somewhere back in time, fighting gladiators or stuck in a medieval torture chamber.

Got the picture now? Good, because this month you can also get the book, the final installment in the already classic series The Dreamhouse Kings. It's called Frenzy, which might best describe the state of Liparulo's waiting fans--and They Are Legion--who'll be flocking to find out whether Mom King--perhaps the most famous mother in a spooky house since Psycho--kidnapped and hidden somewhere in time for five previous books, makes it back home.

Ostensibly most of those fans will be (pre)/teens but don't bet your royalties on it. While Frenzy, like its predecessors, may be shelved in the YA section of bookstores, lots of purchased copies will end up nestled in the laps of adults. And Robert Liparulo thinks he knows why.

The book: Sparrow Rock

The Author: Nate Kenyon

The Buzz: Huge

Mr. Kenyon is the author of three previous novels.  His first, Bloodstone, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist and won the P&E Horror Novel of the year in 2005.  His next book, The Reach, received rave reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Pop Syndicate, Dark Scribe and many others.  Book three, The Bone Factory, was released in July 2009 and called "masterful" by Booklist.  This May, Mr. Kenyon keeps the thrills coming with his fourth sure-to-please tale of terror, Sparrow Rock.

They were just a group of high school kids looking for a place to party.  They didn't know the end of the world was coming.  Now, alone and trapped belowground in a state-of-the-art bomb shelter, they are being stalked - and the creatures that come for them through the dirt and ash are like nothing anyone has ever seen before.  There is a new ruling life-form on earth, and these six humans are the only remaining prey.

Fans of well-written, cleverly plotted amateur detective novels are in for a treat; Meredith Cole, author of Posed For Murder, has written a second novel in her series featuring art photographer Lydia McKenzie. Dead In The Water will be released May 11.

Posed For Murder won the St. Martin's Minotaur/Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition, and was an Agatha Nominee for Best First Novel.  In Cole's first book, her protagonist is holding an exhibition of film noir style pictures which depict a series of cold cases involved murdered women. When one of her models is found murdered and posed in the same style as Mckenzie's photograph, McKenzie - who works as a Girl Friday for a detective agency during the day - becomes embroiled in the murder investigation.

In Dead In The Water, Cole says, "Lydia is now taking portraits of prostitutes on the waterfront, and one of them ends up a floater in the East River."

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child's new release, Fever Dream, is a stunning masterpiece into dark territory.   I think it promises to be their best Pendergast novel yet.

Yesterday, Special Agent Pendergast still mourned the loss of his beloved wife, Helen, who died in a tragic accident in Africa twelve years ago.

Today, he discovers she was murdered.

Tomorrow, he will learn her most guarded secrets, leaving him to wonder: Who was the woman I married?  Why was she murdered?  And, above all . . .  Who murdered her?

Try to imagine the horror and shock of learning the person you loved led a secret life. Increase the tension tenfold when you consider that as an FBI special agent, Pendergast is trained to detect and be aware of such behaviors.  Maybe we're blind to those closest to us.  I think we can count on seeing Pendergast experience the entire spectrum of emotions.

The Publishers Weekly review offers a deeper look:

Preston and Child up the emotional ante considerably in their 10th thriller featuring brilliant and eccentric FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast (after Cemetery Dance), one of the best in the series.  For 12 years, Pendergast has believed that the death of his wife, Helen, in the jaws of a ferocious red-maned lion in Zambia was just a tragedy, but his chance examination of the gun she carried on the fateful day reveals that someone loaded it with blanks.  Pendergast drags his longtime NYPD ally, Lt. Vincent D'Agosta, into a leave of absence that includes travel to Africa as well as the American South.  The motive for Helen's murder appears to be linked to her fascination with John James Audubon and her quest for a mysterious lost Audubon painting.  Once again, the bestselling authors show they have few peers at creating taut scenes of suspense.  Their restraint in the book's early sections make the payoffs all the more compelling.

Simon Tolkien was born in England in 1959, and let's get this out of the way up front: yes, he is related to THAT Tolkien. He is in fact the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien, of whom he has many fond memories.

Tolkien is a former barrister (that's attorney, for us Yanks) who now lives in Santa Barbara, California with his family. His first novel, Final Witness, was published in 2002, and his second novel, The Inheritance, has just been released. The Inheritance starts out with a horrific crime committed by two British soldiers in World War II, and then moves to what is familiar territory for Tolkien: a trial at the Old Bailey. To raise the stakes, he sets the story in a time in Britain when the death penalty was still legal, and a very real possibility for the young man on trial in Tolkien's novel.

Tolkien's second novel has debuted to rave reviews, such as the Booklist review which describe it as "written with great surety and absolutely compelling."

With a famous writer as a relative, you'd think that Tolkien would have been born knowing that he was a natural, but in fact for many years he found that it held him back.

In fact, he says, "I didn't succeed in writing any fiction until I was forty. I think what really stopped me is that I used to be very self-conscious so that the sound of the words in my head got in the way of the creative flow. Now, for some reason, I can still hear what I write but this has become a help, not a hindrance. Perhaps this is a question of confidence, and in hindsight I do think that having the creator of Middle Earth as my grandfather didn't help my self-belief and was a hurdle that I had to overcome in starting out as a novelist. I'm a self-taught writer and have never taken any creative writing classes, although I think I'd have enjoyed them if I had."

On Monday, April 12 at 9:46 AM, the headline on Harry Shannon's Facebook status read: "Still 25% off but only for a bit longer..."

Couldn't agree more. How else do you explain his night nurse doing ... well, what she did. I can't say - it's a spoiler. I personally think 25% off is being charitable. My own estimate is 37%, but I'm not a mental health professional like Harry.

Yes, Harry is a psychologist-cum-author. But before that he was a country singer-cum-songwriter. Then an actor-cum-screenwriter. A VP-at-Carolco-cum-Music Supervisor-for-Basic Instinct. Seems Harry has been cuming and going all his life. (Apologies. Yes, I am that witless. And no, I didn't ask him about Sharon Stone.)

"Shannon is a writer who is not afraid to walk into the shadows and drag the things living there kicking and screaming into the light." - Brian Keene, Author

Harry's new book, A Host of Shadows, is a collection of twenty-three kicking and screaming stories, and he walks right into them, dragging the reader along for the ride.

Award-winning author Ken Kuhlken's latest California Century novel, The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles, reunites readers with Tom Hickey--the private investigator that the San Francisco Chronicle called "one of detective fiction's most original and intriguing creations."

The novel takes place during the first decade of the 20th century. Young Tom Hickey is taken by his unstable mother to a multiracial Pentecostal church. There, Frank Gaines becomes his protector. Some years later, when Frank is found hung only yards from Sister Aimee Semple McPherson's Angelus Temple, and the Los Angeles police and the media attempt to bury the news of the lynching, Tom commences his first criminal investigation.

A gripping mystery with memorable characters, The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles portrays an era and a setting that, perhaps more than any, created the prototype of the modern world.

I chatted with Ken Kuhlken about his latest work and what inspires him.

The Biggest Liar in Los Angeles is the sixth California Century mystery following 2008's The Vagabond Virgins, but the first of the series chronologically. What motivated you to go back to the beginning of the series and write about Tom Hickey's first criminal investigation?

According to NewYork Times bestselling author John LesCroart, The Insider (Berkley Books, May 2010) is a debut novel that puts author Reece Hirsch in a league with the "big boys." Gayle Lynds warns John Grisham to "watch out", and Steve Berry is quoted as saying, "Gripping and gritty, The Insider sizzles with tension and twists that both entertain and magnetize. All the danger, treachery, and action that make a reader clamor for more are there. Well done."  I say, you can't get much better than that.

So, what's The Insider about?  In a nutshell, it stars San Francisco corporate attorney Will Connelly, whose well-ordered life is shattered when he watches a colleague hurtle to his death outside his office window.  Within days, Will is the prime suspect in a murder, the target of an S.E.C. (Securities and Exchange Commission) insider trading investigation, and a pawn in a complex criminal scheme involving the Russian mafia and a ruthless terrorist plot.  This leaves Will no choice but to ensure that a deadly enemy doesn't gain access to the nation's most sensitive and confidential information - and the power to do incalculable, irrevocable harm.

Hirsch is no stranger to the legal scene.  He earned his law degree from the University of Southern California, and currently is a partner in the San Francisco office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP specializing in privacy, security and healthcare law.  A nationally recognized privacy and security law expert, he has been listed in Chambers USA:  America's Leading Lawyers for Business from 2005-2009

Labeling a book a political thriller can be something of a misnomer these days.  The political side of things sometimes seems little more than an afterthought, and when politics rears its head the action often is centered in Washington DC and its environs.  Political intrigue extends beyond the Beltway, however.  Anyone who does not believe that should ask Kentucky lawyer Rick Robinson.  A self-professed political junkie, Robinson is the author of three thrillers featuring Kentucky Congressman Richard Thompson.

The first two books, The Maximum Contribution (which introduced freshman Congressman Thompson) and Sniper Bid (which addressed the steroid scandal in baseball), won numerous awards.  Manifest Destiny, the third entry in the series, is due out in May from Headline Books.

Politics is more than window dressing in Robinson's novels.  The "game," as he calls it, takes on the role of a character all its own.  And like any good character, it has to be believable.  To get the details right, Robinson can draw on his own considerable experience as a political insider.  He worked on Capitol Hill as Legislative Director/Chief Counsel for Sen. Jim Bunning when the Major League star was a Congressman, he has advised other prominent national and state politicians, and he even ran for Congress himself in the late 1990s.  Congress Thompson may work in Washington, but his political roots, and Robinson's, are grounded firmly in Kentucky.

A G-8 summit forces Roman police detective Nic Costa to investigate a potential terrorist attack in David Hewson's latest thriller.  Hewson took the time to talk to ITW.

What sparked the idea for City of Fear?

I want each book to be a little different and choose a focus accordingly. For this one I chose a setting inside of the world of Italian politics, specifically the Quirinale Palace which is the home of the Italian president. Once I'd taken that decision I started to do some research and stumbled upon the real-life conspiracy of Gladio, an offshoot of the Cold War which brought the Mafia directly into Italian politics. Once I had that the story was under way.

Since this is the 8th Nic Costa, how has he grown as a character and has that surprised you?

I think he's grown a lot. He's tougher, less naive, but no less decent and determined. But these are ensemble books really so the characters around him - Teresa Lupo, Gianni Peroni, Leo Falcone - are important too. They've been changed by Costa over the years, and he's been changed by them. In a way the continuing story is of this odd little family they form.

Brett King is a writer, historian and professor with the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He's written two nonfiction books and dozens of articles and essays on subjects ranging from sport psychology to the history of science. His background in academia has been excellent training for his new role as debut novelist of the new thriller, The Radix, from Leisure Books.

The Radix features covert operative John Brynstone, who must battle a centuries-old conspiracy in a race to retrieve a mysterious artifact with otherworldly powers. The book has been lauded by some first-rank thriller writers: James Rollins called it "A thrilling blend of historical mystery and modern intrigue... not to be missed," and Jeffrey Deaver writes, "Part Da Vinci Code, part 24, The Radix is roller-coaster storytelling at its best."

Brett recently took some time at his home in Boulder to answer some questions for The Big Thrill:

Did your background as an academic in any way prepare you to write a thriller?

It's a complementary process.  In my university lectures, I tell stories to bring facts to life.  In my fiction, I use facts to give shape to my stories.  My doctoral degree is in general-experimental psychology with an emphasis on forensic psychology, so from the research aspect, it was a huge help.  I have, however, noticed one way my background as a professor caused a stumbling block.  Early on in my writing, I had to guard against my instinct to share too much information too early.  I've learned to gradually disclose information in my novels, so the reader will keep searching for answers.  Withholding information doesn't play well in the university classroom, but it's a necessity in a thriller.

The greatest archaeological discovery in history could mean the end of mankind.

A relic from Noah's Ark gives a religious fanatic and his followers a weapon that will let them recreate the effects of the biblical flood, and former combat engineer Tyler Locke has seven days to find the Ark and the secret hidden inside before it's used to wipe out civilization again.

Boyd Morrison is new to mass market but The Ark (The Noah's Ark Quest is the name the novel will be released under in the UK) is actually his third novel. He has had an amazing journey so far. He has worked with NASA at the Johnson Space Center, obtained a PhD in Industrial Engineering and somehow landed a job with Microsoft making games fun to play - just how do you manage to get paid to play games?

Having had his novels rejected originally by publishing houses Boyd decided to release them as eBooks. Taking the time to get them right and paying for professional covers Boyd managed to clock up over 7,500 copies in sales and forced the publishing houses to sit up and take notice. And they certainly did. Boyd now has two books coming out this year and two more next year. Boyd is one of those authors who manage to squeeze every experience they have ever had and use them to make his novels more credible and exciting. He has a penchant for huge disasters and believable characters and he managed to take time out while plotting the world's next major disaster to answer some questions and explain why he wants to destroy the world.

The first note is a warning--a bone-chilling reminder that Alabama Police Detective Adeline Cooper can run from her darkest, deadliest memories, but she can never escape a demented killer's wrath.

The second note is a threat...

The first victim disappeared near Adeline's hometown in Mississippi--and she won't be the last. Believing she is the killer's ultimate target, Adeline decides to go back to work side-by-side with a sheriff she once loved...Now she will meet face-to-face the criminals she brought down--and fight the obsessed killer who craves her death...

Few things are more intriguing in a suspense novel than the past coming back to haunt a hero or heroine. Reviewers have called this latest book from Debra Webb "spine-tingling," "fast-paced" and one that "balances suspense, romance, and drama in just the right measure."

I sat down to talk to Debra Webb about just what makes this latest thriller such a page-turner.

In his latest book, Red November: Inside the Secret U.S. - Soviet Submarine War, W. Craig Reed has unleashed a story so powerful that New York Times bestselling Author James Rollins says, "If Tom Clancy had turned The Hunt for Red October into a nonfiction thriller, W. Craig Reed's Red November might be the result.  Here is the full-throttle and riveting story of espionage, secret missions, and the never-before-told tales of submariners on the front lines of a clandestine war.  Not to be missed."

In the tradition of the bestselling Blind Man's Bluff (Public Affairs 1998), which sold over two million copies worldwide, W. Craig Reed, a former navy diver and fast-attack submariner, delivers a riveting non-fiction thriller narrative about the secret underwater struggle between the US and the USSR, and reveals previously undisclosed details about the most dangerous, daring and decorated missions of the Cold War.

Red November is fulled with hair-raising personal stories and "behind the scenes" information that fans of military narratives and techno-thrillers will love.  Reed served aboard two submarines involved in Cold War espionage operations.  His father spearheaded the deployment of a top secret submarine detection system that played a pivotal role in preventing four Soviet submarines from firing nuclear torpedoes on U.S. Ships during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  Today, we know a lot more about the detection of missiles on land in Cuba, but not the underwater drama that almost resulted in the firing of nuclear weapons and the start of World War III in October 1962.

Recently I sat down with debut author Ryan Brown to ask him a few questions about his novel, Play Dead.

Brad Thor called you the "new Stephen King." Can you give us a quick description of Play Dead?

Play Dead is part sports satire and part horror-comedy. Set in Texas, it's about a high school football team that dies in a horrific prank gone wrong and comes back from the dead as zombies. Only a victory over their vicious district rivals (who also happen to be their murderers) can save the their souls. Think Friday Night Lights meets Dawn of the Dead.

You have a fantastic resume; starring roles in The Guiding Light and The Young and The Restless.  How do you manage to juggle your acting career with your writing career?

There is less juggling between acting and writing than there was before I sold Play Dead, and was contracted for a second book. I'm still doing the odd acting job, but most of my focus now is on writing. I usually write between 10am and 4pm (the hours my son is in school) Monday through Friday. I also try to get in two or three hours over the weekend.

What kid wouldn't want to get rid of all his problems? In Dweller, young Toby finds an ally in fighting back against loneliness and bullying when he discovers a fanged, clawed monster living in the woods...a monster that will become his only friend, in a relationship that spans decades.

Author Jeff Strand, know for splashing dark humor in his serious chills, is a two-time Bram Stoker Award finalist and the author of such novels as Pressure, Benjamin's Parasite, and Casket For Sale (Only Used Once). He was kicking around ideas for a fresh spin on old horror concepts when he created Toby and his special friend.

"I thought it would be interesting to take the 'bullied kid feeds his enemies to a monster' premise and have the story cover their entire lives, from childhood to old age," Strand said. "Not in a 'Fifty years ago, he fed some kids to a monster in the woods, and now his crime has come back to haunt him!' way, but actually following their bizarre friendship from year to year. It's not an eight-thousand page book, so there's obviously some fast-forwarding, but I did want to explore the idea of it being a full lifetime relationship."

In Eric Wilson's Valley of Bones, Romanian Jew, Gina Lazarescu, knows a showdown is imminent along the shores of the Dead Sea. She and her family must join forces with other immortals, fighting evil in Ezekiel's prophesied "valley of dry bones."

Vampires, gollums, and history collide in this rousing climax to the Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy.

"A heart-pounding tale with deep symbolism." --Scott Nicholson, author of The Red Church, They Hunger, and The Skull Ring

"Now this is the way to end a trilogy!" --Jake Chism, FictionAddict.com

"Gutsy, masterful storytelling." --Tosca Lee, author of Havah, and Demon

 New York Times bestselling author Eric Wilson has published ten novels and has over a million words in print. Many of his books explore the supernatural and the historical against complex, modern backdrops.

In P.A. Brown's L.A. Bytes, Los Angeles' Ste. Anne's Medical Center has been hacked by a brilliant, malicious cracker. Christopher Bellamere has been hired to find out who is behind the break in. When tampered medical records nearly kill his lover, Homicide Detective David Eric Laine, the stakes go up and Chris goes after the cracker with all his skills.

It quickly becomes clear the cracker's intentions go far beyond just breaking into a hospital's computer network. He has the skill to bring the city of Los Angeles to its knees. Can Chris and David stop him in time? Or will a digital Armageddon descend on the city of Angels?

From readers:

"... someone wants [Chris and David] gone and he wants to destroy them in the process. The end of the story is action-packed drama and excitement. P.A. Brown pens another masterful scenario that is intricate, riveting, and well planned."

"This has to be the best mystery I have read in my small scope of reading this genre... Superb, superb, superb."

Born in Canada, Pat Brown's approach to life was tempered in the forges of Los Angeles and after eight years in the City of Angels she was endowed with a fascination for the darker side of life and the professionals who patrol those mean streets. She considers those eight years a life time's worth of experience that she mines regularly in her novels. She is not afraid to explore the darker sides of her characters and the streets they inhabit, including the ones most people are afraid to walk down alone at night.

In Robert Gregory Browne's newest thriller, Down Among the Dead Men, the newspapers called it Casa de la Muerta, a grisly house of horrors in the Mexican desert where five Catholic nuns were brutally murdered. Freelance journalist Nick Vargas knows it's a terrific subject for a true crime book--and a chance to revitalize his ruined career. But when he arrives at the scene, he learns there may have been a sixth victim: an American woman whose body has disappeared. Now Nick is dead set on finding her...

L.A. prosecutor Beth Crawford thought it would be fun to join her sister on a cruise to Baja Norte. But when she meets a pair of seductive strangers onboard--and her sister mysteriously disappears--Beth follows her suspicions into a sinister world of crime, corruption, and dark superstition. Now, with the help of reporter Nick Vargas, Beth must enter the heart of evil itself, where all shall be revealed...on the Day of the Dead.

"Browne's thrillers are lean, mean, and thoroughly entertaining." -- Allison Brennan

Robert Gregory Browne is a Nicholl Award-winning screenwriter who, after years on the Hollywood roller coaster, fulfilled a lifelong dream by writing his first novel, Kiss Her Goodbye, followed by Whisper in the Dark and Kill Her Again--all available from St. Martins' Paperbacks. Raised in Honolulu, he now lives in California. To learn more, visit him on the Web at www.robertgregorybrowne.com.

In Dave Zeltserman's latest thriller, Killer, Leonard March walks free from jail after fourteen years' hard time served after turning state's witness against his Mafia boss Salvatore Lombard. It's only after Leonard is sentenced that the public learns that he was a Mob hitman with eighteen deaths to answer for.

Leonard is released to public outrage and media furor. He spends his time working as a janitor while looking over his shoulder, fearful of a vigilante attack or revenge hit from his former colleagues. At sixty-two and with plenty of time on his hands, he is at an age when most men grow reflective and attempt to understand their mark on the world. But for Leonard, while the threats to his safety are not imagined, his self-reflection may pose the greatest threat of all.

"Spare prose and assured pacing place this above most other contemporary noirs." - Publisher's Weekly

"With graphic imagery and exciting twists, this novel is impossible to put down and has a surprising ending. A brilliant read" - Aberdeen Press & Journal

"Killer is a major novel of crime." Ed Gorman

"This novel is everything hard-boiled fiction should be - compact, direct and disciplined, and concerned with humans rather than stereotypes. It is also, for all its violent subject matter, a quietly told story, which makes its tension all the more intense" - Mat Coward, Morning Star

Dave lives in the Boston area with his wife, Judy, and his short crime fiction has been published in many venues. His third novel, Small Crimes, was named by NPR as one of the 5 best crime and mystery novels of 2008. His novel, Pariah, was named by the Washington Post as one of the best books of 2009. Killer, the 3rd book in his 'man out of prison' noir trilogy will be published in the US this May. His upcoming novel, Outsourced, is currently in development by Impact Pictures and Constantin Film.

If your writing is to be discussed in the same sentence with the best, the proof must definitely jump off the pages. With Die Twice, thriller author Andrew Grant demonstrates in only his second novel the fast-paced story crafting that gets him mentioned with the likes of Robert Ludlum and Ian Fleming. The comparisons actually started with his heralded 2009 debut Even.

Die Twice brings readers back to the world of gritty hero David Trevellyan. He's the British Naval Intelligence Officer and modern-day James Bond who was introduced to thriller/noir fans in Even.

Obliged to leave New York City in the aftermath of his previous mission, David Trevellyan is summoned to the British Consulate in Chicago - to the same office where just a week before, his new handler was attacked and shot by a Royal Navy Intelligence operative gone bad.  Assigned the job of finding the rogue agent and putting an end to his treacherous scheme, Trevellyan soon finds that once again, his only hopes of saving countless innocent lives lie not within the system, but in his instinctive belief - you're bound to do what's right, whatever the personal cost may be.

Edited by the 2010 Harper Lee Award recipient Carolyn Haines, Delta Blues is an anthology of stories centered around the unique musical form that originated in the cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta and contains a crime or noir element. There are stories by Charlaine Harris, Ace Atkins, John Grisham, James Lee Burke, Dean James, and many more. The stories range from private investigator to supernatural elements and the collection also contains some debut authors such as David Sheffield, Alice Jackson and Daniel Martine.

Recently I sat down with Carolyn to ask her a few questions. 

The Delta Blues anthology you have edited and contributed to includes stories by many gifted, popular authors.  How did this project come together?

I was at a writer's conference and met Ben LeRoy, publisher of Tyrus Books. We hit it off and he proposed the anthology. Chicago Blues had been a popular collection for him, and we both shared a great love of the blues, Mississippi style. A lot of my mysteries are set in the Mississippi Delta region, though I am a gal from the pine barrens.

Musical stage rights to Leanna Renee Hieber's, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker described as a Victorian "Ghostbusters" about an eerie young woman whose skin is white as snow and the cadre of characters who believe she may be the key to an ancient prophecy, sold to Mt. Clair Entertainment to be adapted by the author with music and lyrics by Kenny Seymour, Jim Abbott and Nicholas Roman Lewis.

"The ghostly, Gothic Victorian Fantasy The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is heading for the legit musical stage," adds Mt. Clair Entertainment. "The author Leanna Renee Hieber will write the book of the musical with music and lyrics by Kenny Seymour (Broadway credits include music direction for Memphis and arrangements for The Wiz) and Nicholas Roman Lewis (creative development for The Alchemist and They Call Me La Lupe) with additional orchestrations and arrangements by Jim Abbott (Wicked, Bombay Dreams, Disney's Tarzan)."

While Leanna was pleasantly surprised to have been approached with this option, it really couldn't be more fitting. Before she became an award winning author she spent ten years as a professional actress and playwright with experience in adapting literature for the professional stage. While she's always claimed she writes using theatrical viewpoints, she couldn't have imagined that when she stepped backstage inside a Broadway theatre for the first time, it would be for a preliminary meeting for her story, a musical made from the 'book of her heart'; A ten year labor of love come to this unexpected new possibility. The successful writing workshop she teaches called "Direct Your Book! Theatre Techniques to a Blockbuster Novel" will now pack a whole new layer of punch. And this exciting news couldn't be better timing, as her sequel in the Strangely Beautiful series, The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker, is just about to release on April 27th.

"Kenny and I had been looking for a musical project for at least two years," says producer Nicholas Roman Lewis. "Leanna's book had enthralled me from the moment I first read it as a manuscript so it was literally always on my desk staring at me. I knew this would make a wonderful musical but perhaps slightly daunting, after all, the book is full of ghosts, magic and murder. And then I thought, "the book is full of ghosts, magic and murder...this MUST be a musical." The characters and epic nature of the story lend themselves to song and I knew that Kenny shared my desire to incorporate sweeping cinematic themes with traditional musical theater styles. The icing on the cake is I think every writers dream; a lead character white as snow and strangely beautiful....I think I hear a song."

For more about Leanna Renee Hieber and her Strangely Beautiful series, visit her website www.leannareneehieber.com and join her on Twitter @leannarenee
 

Recently, I sat down with Alan L. Moss to talk about his debut novel, Island of Betrayal.

Alan, you've written a couple of books of nonfiction.  What were the differences in writing your first novel?

First, with fiction, the author has the opportunity to manufacture the story and its characters, create conflict and tension, and lead the reader to an unforgettable climax.  For example, in Island of Betrayal, I was able to combine the exotic South Pacific location of American Samoa with a stem cell conspiracy and government  corruption to create a story that is exciting but far from any historical record.  Second, after spending many years in nonfiction I found it difficult to sacrifice truth for story.  Although freedom to create was what attracted me to fiction, the most difficult task in developing the novel was overcoming my instinct to include story components as they actually occurred rather than revising them to fit the storyline.  And third, in fiction, readers demand to be entertained - they want to see rapid progress toward the story's conclusion.  As the many storylines of my novel were converging and the climax approached, I employed short chapters, eliminated unnecessary words, avoided passive language, and let the reader fill in the blanks.

Michael Bloom, the hero of Island of Betrayal, shows up on American Samoa to conduct public wage hearings for the U.S. Department of Labor.  You yourself conducted just this kind of hearing in 2001.  So how similar is Michael Bloom to Alan Moss?

I'm afraid if I were the protagonist of my novel, few readers would make it beyond the first chapter.  What makes Michael a fascinating character is his limitless devotion to the mission of raising the poverty wages of Samoa's workers and his inability to resist the advances of the beautiful Director of Samoa's Visitor Information Bureau.  Although Michael believes in the bureaucracy and the law, when results don't go his way, he refuses to accept them and threatens to expose injustice outside bureaucratic channels.  Although Michael loves his wife and depends on the sanctity of his marriage, when Stephanie seduces him, he cannot turn her away and they begin an affair driven by sex and Michael's need for an ally.  These two instances of Michael not playing by the rules drive the story forward and place Michael into unknown and deadly circumstances.

James Phelan is a 30-year-old Australian novelist. He holds an MFA in Writing and is a PhD candidate. His acclaimed Lachlan Fox thrillers, which follow the New York-based investigative reporter into different global hot spots, have been huge bestsellers in Australia. Fox novels include Fox Hunt (Hachette 2006), Patriot Act (2007), Blood Oil (2008), Liquid Gold (2009), and Red Ice (2010). James has written for a variety of newspapers and magazines and has contributed to short story anthologies and serialized novels - including ITW's "Watchlist". He is currently working on two more Fox novels, the ALONE series of YA post-apocalyptic thrillers, and a follow-up to his non-fiction book "Literati".

Prolific seems to be a good word to describe James Phelan if his biography is anything to go by. Phelan was 25 when he had his first novel published and he expects to have ten books books in print as he moves from his twenties to his thirties. I take my hat off to anyone who has a plan, sticks to it and achieves it. If Phelan was not a good practitioner of his art, his plan would be in shreds.
Phelan has achieved what many aspiring writers want; a contract to write more than just one novel. Phelan is currently under contract to produce a Fox novel every year for a few years yet, but not satisfied with that, he has moved into the young adult audience market with his first novel of this genre: ALONE:Chasers.

ITW thriller and mystery novelist R. Barri Flowers has signed with Twilight Times as editor of for a second American Crime Writers League mystery anthology, MURDER HERE, MURDER THERE. This follows last fall's ACWL anthology, MURDER PAST, MURDER PRESENT, which includes a story selected for the Best Mysteries of 2010.

The introduction to MURDER HERE, MURDER THERE will be done by fellow ACWL and ITW member and 2010 Thriller Award Finalist for Best Paperback Original, John Lutz.

"I'm excited to take on the editor role of another ACWL anthology," says Flowers. "It can be challenging at times, but also a nice way to bring talented authors together for a common cause. I'm especially glad to have John Lutz do the intro and a story. He's very down to earth and a superb mystery novelist (I felt the same way about Jan Burke, who did the intro for MURDER PAST, MURDER PRESENT)."

MURDER HERE, MURDER THERE will also include tales from other impressive contributors belonging to the ACWL and ITW, such as Ed Gorman, Shirley Kennett, and 2010 Thriller Award Finalist for Best Short Story, Twist Phelan.

In addition to writing crime fiction, R. Barri Flowers is also a bestselling writer of criminology and true crime books, such as MURDER, AT THE END OF THE DAY AND NIGHT and THE SEX SLAVE MURDERS.

Learn more about the author on his website: http://www.rbarriflowers.com

In Jaime Rush's new chiller Touching Darkness, Nicholas Braden, a psychic spy in a covert government program, suspects he's a pawn in a mad man's quest for justice.

Jaime Rush is also Tina Wainscott: what are the advantages and disadvantages of your split writerly personality, and how did it come about?

I wrote 18 books under my real name, Tina Wainscott. I went from writing paranormal romantic suspense, to just romantic suspense, to psychological suspense. Then I realized that the change I needed was a whole new direction, so I moved to a new publisher with a paranormal romantic suspense series. My publisher felt that since I'd moved so far from that genre/subgenre, it might be good to bring me out as a "debut" author with my series, so here I am!

The disadvantages are making sure that my previous readers know about my new identity. I let them know through my mailing list and my website, but readers fall through the cracks. Though it's fun to hear from one who didn't realize I'd written the Jaime book until after they'd read it. The advantages are a fresh image/career and a last name that doesn't stick me down at ankle level!

A few years ago, Vicki Pettersson knew two things: she was never going to be a successful writer of historical fiction; and she was going to write for the rest of her natural life anyway. Since she was going to write, she wanted what she was writing to be fun, representative of the world and women she knew, and something where she couldn't get dinged for anachronisms. The result - The Signs of the Zodiac Series with book five, Cheat the Grave, hits the bookstores this month.

According to Vicki, early in the writing of the first book, The Scent of Shadows, one of the characters "blurted out he was a superhero" and she thought, "Why not?"

Using her hometown of Las Vegas, Vicki created a new world that coexists with our own. Within its confines a battle between Light and Shadow is waged and its agents have learned to hide in plain sight in our world.

In Scent of Shadows, we are introduced to Joanna Archer, a photographer. Brutally assaulted and left to die in the Nevada desert when she was sixteen, her evening hours are spent prowling a secret Sin City in a search for answers and revenge. It is in this other world, Jo discovers not only does she have superpowers but she also has a power to alter the battle between Shadow and Light.

Raffi Yessayan's second novel in the Conrad Darget series, 2 in the Hat, follows 8 in the Box, a fast-paced read that phenom author Robert B. Parker proclaimed "A powerful story gracefully told by one who knows." There are more twists and turns than a plate of rotini pasta. Hold on to your hat for this thriller ride. Yessayan draws on his eleven years as prosecutor for the Suffolk County District Attorney's office in Boston, four of those as chief of the Gang Unit, now a criminal defense attorney. He graciously shared information about his writing and legal careers, as well as 2 in the Hat. The Big Thrill adjudicated his second novel to be a success but sentenced the author/attorney to an interview, for ITW readers.

A thumbnail sketch of the novel is that off-duty Boston cop Angel Alves comes across two students dressed to the nines, in tux and gown, both positioned in death identically to victims of the unsolved Prom Night Killer cold case. Alves and his former sergeant Wayne Mooney collaborate to rule out a copycat killer. Assistant DA Conrad "Connie" Darget backs Alves and Mooney, who set out to stop grim history from repeating itself. But matching wits with a twisted mind is a dangerous game, especially when there are no rules--and your allies may really be your enemies.

Yessayan added: "The novel is ostensibly about catching an old nemesis; ultimately it explores the aberrant mind of a killer and the toll that search takes on the pursuers. However, real-life emotions, fears, experiences shape invented characters."

The last two months have gone in far too fast for me to keep track of.  Why? Well, apart from starting a new day job I've also been concentrating on a new anthology of short fiction that I co-edited with fellow writer Mike Stone. Requiems for the Departed is an anthology of crime fiction stories that are based on Irish mythology. It features top shelf work from Ken Bruen, Maxim Jakubowski, Stuart Neville, Brian McGilloway, Adrian McKinty, Sam Millar, John Grant, Garry Kilworth, and many more. And one of my favourite American crime writers had this to say about it:

"Requiems For The Departed is as Irish as a broken heart, yet universal in appeal. Stuart Neville's "Queen of the Hill" alone is worth the price of admission, but it's only the cream at the top of the pint. With stories from the likes of Bruen, McKinty, Moore, and Grant, you'll want to squeeze every last drop out of this glass." -- Reed Farrel Coleman three-time Shamus Award winner and author of Innocent Monster

The collection is set for release on 1st June 2010. For a full table of contents and a peep at the snazzy cover visit CSNI. Requiems for the Departed will be available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com and some of my favourite bricks and mortar bookstores.

Recently I sat down with Bonnie Hearn Hill to talk about her newest young adult novel, Taurus Eyes.

I noticed that you have a background as a newspaper editor.  What skills did you learn during that period that have helped you as a fiction writer?

I was fortunate because I both wrote and edited. Doing so on a daily basis made me aware of how different the processes are. Many try to write with "editor brain." If you do that, you'll have a few perfect pages but may have difficulty finishing. My years as a newspaper editor gave me great material and exposed me to ideas, topics and people I wouldn't have encountered any other way. Three of my books are newspaper thrillers.

How and when did you first become interested in astrology? And how did you "get it right," as it were?

Hazel Dixon-Cooper, who writes the Rotten Day humorous astrology books as well as for Cosmopolitan magazine, joined my writing workshop 14 years ago. She is my closest friend and a member of my private critique group. You can't be around Hazel without starting to wonder if Mercury is in Retrograde or if the guy with the great hair is a Leo. She critiqued the astrological information in the book, and I learned right along with Logan, my protagonist.

If I had to page back through history and guess who MJ Rose was reincarnated from, I'd pick master storyteller Sheherazade. I don't think I'd be alone in that comparison. The Hypnotist is the third in Rose's breathtaking reincarnationist series to land a Publisher's Weekly starred review, and be named to the coveted Indie Next List. Plus, her thrillers have even launched a TV series.

The Hypnotist is a haunting love story about a clash of cultures and a spiritual quest for the ancient memory tools that hold the secrets to past lives. Set in the world of art, archeology and intrigue, it also raises the controversial question of who really owns art - a museum or its country of origin?

Reincarnation is such a fresh thriller topic, what kind of research did you do for these books?

 I was excited when I came up with the idea and realized that this was new territory in the genre. I've read over fifty books on different aspects of reincarnation, met with reincarnationists and tried to access my own past lives as well as talked to dozens of people who have.

And then there is more legwork for each book since each contains other subjects I need to research. For instance. in The Hypnotist there is an ancient piece of chryselephantine sculpture at the heart of the book that led me to an expert in England who had written his dissertation of these rare works - none of which survived intact to modern day.