Here's what was featured in the September edition of The Big Thrill. 

Hot Off The Press
click on a book title to read the feature story 

• LETHAL JOURNEY by John T. Cullen
• RECLAIM MY LIFE by Cheryl Norman
• ANCIENT LAWS by Jim Michael Hansen
• BLOODROOT by Bill Loehfelm
• VENGEANCE ROAD by Rick Mofina
• TEARS OF PEARL by Tasha Alexander
• AIR TIME by Hank Phillippi Ryan
• LOSERS LIVE LONGER by Russell Atwood
• THE YARD DOG by Sheldon Russell
• IN THEIR BLOOD by Sharon Potts
• WOLF'S GAMBIT by W.D. Gagliani
• WALKING NIGHTMARE by Kylie Brant
• MURDER PAST, MURDER PRESENT by R. Barri Flowers
• THE PERFECT LIAR by Brenda Novak
• THERE BE DRAGONS by Heather Graham
• OFFWORLD by Robin Parrish
• HEAVEN'S KEEP by William Kent Krueger
• SECRETS TO DIE FOR by L.J. Sellers
• EVIDENCE OF MURDER by Lisa Black
• COLLISION OF EVIL by John J. Le Beau
• THE PRICE OF SANCTUARY by Gaylon Greer
• A DARK LOVE by Margaret Carroll
• CAPITAL OFFENSE by William Bernhardt
• SPARTAN GOLD by Clive Cussler & Grant Blackwood
• VINTAGE SOUL by David Niall Wilson
• DEMONS IN THE CRAWLSPACE by Gino Brogdon
• STAGING DEATH by Judith Cutler
• VANILLA RIDE by Joe R. Lansdale
• GROUND ZERO by F. Paul Wilson
• TOP PRODUCER by Norb Vonnegut
• I'D RATHER BE IN PARIS by Misty Evans
• 206 BONES by Kathy Reichs
• THE ARMS MAKER OF BERLIN by Dan Fesperman
• WORKING STIFF by Annelise Ryan
• RUSH HOUR RULES by Huw Powell
• HOSTILE INTENT by Michael Walsh
• BLACK AT HEART by Leslie Parrish
• A Between The Lines interview with Laura Caldwell
• Plus International News from Mike Nicol

William Bernhardt's latest page-turner, CAPITOL OFFENSE, brings his character, Senator Ben Kincaid, back to Tulsa to handle a seemingly hopeless murder case.  When it comes to stories set in the courtroom, Bernhardt is a master who gets better with each outing.

CAPITOL OFFENSE is your 17th Ben Kincaid.  Did you see him being such a popular and ongoing series character?

No, I had no idea there would be one sequel, much less seventeen.  If I had, I would've done much differently--and probably would've messed it all up.  Just as well I didn't know.

What sparked the idea for CAPITOL OFFENSE?  

I read about a true case of a woman who died slowly in her car after it went off the road.  When she went missing, her husband begged the police to investigate, but they refused because it didn't meet their criteria for a missing persons case.  They assumed she had just left her husband--and she died as a result.  After a week, they actually started investigating, and they found her in fewer than three hours.  After I did a little research, I learned that this outrage has actually occurred many times. That's what inspired me to write the book.

The Yard Dog: A Mystery, by Sheldon Russell opens in the final days of World War II, when the remote corners of the Great Plains hosted camps of German POWs captured in Europe. Near one such camp in Oklahoma, a one-armed railroad bull--a yard dog--named Hook Runyon keeps an eye out for hobos illegally riding the rails and thieves robbing travelers. One morning, a new problem confronts Hook--a body of a local coal-picker has been mutilated under a train car. But Hook soon discovers that the victim may have been dead before the train ran over him, and that a work detail from the German POW camp may have seen something.

Is the death connected with black market shipments coming out of the camp? With the help of a moonshiner friend, and a brilliant, beautiful professor who has arrived from New York to reeducate the Germans, Hook pries into the killing and uncovers much more than he ever imagined.

Sheldon Russell is a busy man. The award-winning author of four novels set in the American West, Sheldon Russell saw his last novel win the 2006 Langum Prize for Excellence in American Historical Fiction. Dreams to Dust: A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush also went on to win the 2007 Oklahoma Book Award.

He published his first novel, Empire, in 1993. He followed that suspense novel with two historic frontier titles--The Savage Trail and Requiem at Dawn. Requiem was a finalist for Best Original Paperback in the 2001 Western Writers of America, Inc., Spur Awards competition.

Contributing editor Keith Raffel recenly chatted with William Bernhardt about his latest thriller Nemesis.

I hear you've identified the infamous 1930's serial killer, the Cleveland Torso Murderer, in your new book.  But Nemesis is not true crime, it's a novel.  What's going on?

Nemesis is called a novel because I have created dialogue and interior monologue for the three main characters.  Nonetheless, the majority of the book tracks the historical record closely, and at the end, I propose a solution based upon my research.  It's a novel based upon true events. 

How did you come up with the idea behind Nemesis?

I've been interested in Eliot Ness all my life, probably since I first saw an episode of The Untouchables, but only a few years ago learned that he was involved not only with putting away Al Capone but in the pursuit of Cleveland's infamous Torso Murderer.  That struck me as an even better story--a legendary crimefighter up against America's first serial killer.  The problem, of course, was that the story had no ending because the mystery was never officially solved.  So I began my research.  
 
Nemesis features the gang-busting true-life hero Eliot Ness.  Were looking for a break from your Ben Kincaid series of legal thrillers?  Was Nemesis easier or harder to write than a Ben Kincaid?  Is Eliot Ness going to show up again in your writing?

I love writing the Ben Kincaid novels, but I also prefer to do something else between them, so I'm always looking for good ideas outside the Kincaid universe.  Nemesis was much harder to write.  All my books have required research, but Nemesis far more than most because of my desire for historical accuracy and because, of course, I wanted to solve the mystery.  I don't have any plans to write another book with Eliot Ness, but you know the great axiom of the creative life: never say never again.

Here's what was featured in the January Edition of the Big Thrill

Hot Off The Press
Click on a book title to read the feature story

• SIX SECONDS by Rick Mofina
• BREAKNECK by Erica Spindler
• JUDAS KISS by J.T. Ellison
• BURIED STRANGERS by Leighton Gage
• THE LAST DAY by John Ramsey Miller
• NEMESIS: FINAL CASE OF ELIOT NESS by William Bernhardt
• SKIN AND BONES by Tom Bale
• WHAT TIME DEVOURS by A.J. Hartley
• KRONOS by Jeremy Robinson
• THE PRESIDENT'S HENCHMAN by Joseph Flynn
• CAT SITTER ON A HOT TIN ROOF by Blaize Clement
• GREASING THE PIÑATA by Tim Maleeny
• CALLING MR. LONELY HEARTS by Laura Benedict
• VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE by Derek Gunn
• FIND ME by Debra Webb
• PERFECT COVER by E.J. Rand
• DEAD AND KICKING by Geoff McGeachin
• SWITCH by Grant McKenzie
• MOUNTING FEARS by Stuart Woods
• RUNNER by Thomas Perry
• BETTER THAN BULLETPROOF by Kay Thomas
• THE ILLUMINATION by Jill Gregory & Karen Tintori
• There's News from international contributing editors Russel McLean in the UK and Mike Nicol in South Africa
• Plus Between The Lines interviews with bestselling thriller author Joseph Finder and literary publicist Tom Robinson

This past spring, ITW author Patry Francis came out with her debut: The Liar’s Diary. It was the culmination of years of love and labor: writing without pay, working for decades as a waitress on Cape Cod, and raising four children.

Three months later she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, which you can read about on her blog: Simply Wait.  With two surgeries behind her and a third upcoming, Patry is home recuperating. That’s when thriller writer Laura Benedict came up with an inspiring idea. Why not round up fellow writers to help Patry promote the paperback release of The Liar’s Diary on January 29^th  ?  I joined thriller writer Karen Dionne, novelist Susan Henderson at Litpark and novelist Tish Cohen to lend our support. Within days, more than forty thriller writers and 300 bloggers signed up to rally and blog for Patry and Liar’s Diary.

Here's what was featured in the January BIG THRILL:

THE ACCIDENT MAN by TOM CAIN is "a great thriller read"
LOUISE URE delivers "masterful storytelling" in THE FAULT TREE
AT THE CITY'S EDGE is a "stellar debut" from MARCUS SAKEY
It's all about murder in CAPITAL CONSPIRACY by WILLIAM BERNHARDT
JULIE HYZY "packs an unusual wallop" in STATE OF THE ONION
JAMES GRIPPANDO show off his "nail-biting style" with LAST CALL
THE TIMER GAME from SUSAN ARNOUT SMITH is as "riveting as a ticking bomb"
LEIGHTON GAGE proves he's a "master storyteller" with BLOOD OF THE WICKED

In-depth Features from LINDA RICHARDS, STEVE ALTEN, DAVID ROBBINS, and DOUGLAS PRESTON

A special Between The Lines feature with DAVID MORRELL

And so much more from the best thriller authors on the planet!

Newly appointed Senator Ben Kincaidis thrust in the middle of a controversial battle to rewrite the Bill of Rights in the aftermath of a devastating terrorist assault and assassination attempt on the President and First Lady. Beneath the legislative turmoil, someone is determined to change the face of America as we know it by any means possible--including murder.

William Bernhardt is the author of 27 books,including the acclaimed Ben Kincaid series. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Bestselling author William Bernhardt has published his twenty-third novel CAPITAL THREAT. In it, his long-running series character, defense attorney Ben Kincaid, has a new job-he's a senator, embroiled in politics very much not-as-usual. The Republican President has nominated Thaddeus Roush to the Supreme Court. Roush seems appropriately conservative and he's passed his apparently lame background checks. During a White House rose garden press conference presenting his nomination, Roush announces he's gay on live TV. Suddenly the President isn't very interested in Roush as a judge. Although he can't very well back out now, he can try to kill the nomination via his party. The Democrats, on the other hand, find themselves in the unusual situation of wanting to sponsor and support a Republican Supreme Court nominee. The case, already rather sticky, gets even stickier--or weirder--when during a press conference a dead body shows up in Roush's backyard.

In steps Senator Ben Kincaid from Oklahoma, appointed by the Governor of Oklahoma after the death of the sitting senator. Since he has the least to lose out of all of the Democratic senators, he is chosen by the Democratic leadership to be Roush's consultant/lawyer/representative during the Senate hearings. The book then alternates between the hearings and Kincaid's investigator’s search for the identity of the dead woman.

William Bernhardt, who lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma, talks to ITW contributing editor, Mark Terry, about his latest books and writing.

Terry: You used to be a practicing attorney, right?

Bernhardt: I practiced for not quite ten years as a trial lawyer in the litigation department of a big firm. Somewhere in the middle of that, about 1991, my first novel, PRIMARY JUSTICE was published, and did a lot better than expected—better than I expected, I can tell you that. But who knew what would happen? I didn’t want to move precipitously, I had children to support. It kept working out quite well and then in about January ’96 I resigned from the firm and started writing fulltime.

Terry: You moved Ben from Oklahoma to Washington, DC. Why?

Bernhardt: Well, I moved him to DC in the previous book, CAPITOL MURDER. I do try to keep it fresh. The problem with series that go on for a while is that sometimes they start to look all the same, the plots start to look interchangeable, only the themes change. So I do try to make each new Ben Kincaid installment change--fundamentally and structurally different--and try to tell different stories. And one way to do that is to move him out of town now and then, which sounds like a superficial sort of change, but it really isn’t. It fundamentally changes the whole equation, like when Ben goes to Chicago or to Washington, DC.{mospagebreak}

Terry: But CAPITOL THREAT isn’t even that much of a murder mystery. I would call it a political thriller.

Bernhardt: CAPITOL THREAT is not even a courtroom drama, although there are hearings-- instead of courtroom machinations there are political machinations. I think the people who like the other will like this, but it keeps me fresh and engaged, too.

I didn’t expect the “Capitol” thing to run for two or three books, but CAPITOL MURDER sold really well, we got a nice step up in sales and I’d already turned in the next book. A month or two after CAPITOL MURDER was released I got a call from my editor—you know, they never want to tell you anything about sales numbers or how your book’s coming—but when the editor called and said, “You know the end of this book where Ben comes home from Washington? You might want to rethink that.” Hmmm, something good must be happening. I’m glad it worked.

I’ve done 23 books now and I’ve tried different things and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. And as you know, in CAPITOL THREAT the murder mystery aspect is almost a subplot. It’s got to be there, people expect it, but it’s almost a subplot, it’s not really the main event. And even less so in the next book, which is probably going to be titled CAPITOL CONSPIRACY, which is pretty much a straight-ahead political thriller. And I think the best of the three.

Terry: Are you a visit-the-place researcher or an Internet-National Geographic-Fodor’s kind of researcher?

Bernhardt: I like to visit the place, but the truth is, you can spend an hour on the Internet and get about as much as you could get in a week on in-place research. The one thing you can’t get, and I don’t mean this to sound too mystical, but you can’t get a feel for the place, if you know what I mean. You can’t see the people and how they talk to each other and what they wear.

Terry: You’ve got a new standalone novel coming out in August, right?

Bernhardt: Yes, it’s quite classy, going to be called STRIP SEARCH, which is a sequel to a book I did a few years ago called DARK EYE, which is outside the series. I thought DARK EYE was a standalone, but now it’s got a sequel. It’s set in Vegas, which is why it’s titled STRIP SEARCH because it’s set on the Vegas strip and they’re “searching” for the bad guy. I don’t know what you were thinking when I said STRIP SEARCH, but it might work in the airport for the guy who has 20 seconds to pick a book--that title might help. It’s a much more psychological and complex characterization than what I’ve been doing with the Kincaid books, and I think it’s the best book I’ve ever done.

Mark Terry is an ITW contributing editor and the author of the Derek Stillwater thriller series. His newest thriller, The Serpent’s Kiss, is available in stores and online.