One of Canada's best-known newspaper columnists before he turned novelist, Linwood Barclay is renowned as one of the funniest voices around, in fiction and as a daily read. But with his new book STONE RAIN he's starting to find life is getting darker...  

When I first introduced Zack to readers in 2004 in BAD MOVE, he was a fairly comic character, a compendium of anxieties, anal-retentive, a know-it-all, slightly paranoid, and it pains me to tell you who this character’s largely based on. Zack is essentially me, unchecked.

I’m the kind of person who worries about the knives going into the dishwasher points up. You don’t want people slitting their wrists unloading the cutlery rack. I’m the one who frets about the front door being left unlocked, how old those batteries are in the smoke detector, or the purse sitting unwatched in the kiddie seat of the grocery store shopping cart.

But I just worry about these things. Zack acts on these worries, and in BAD MOVE, he does so in ways that backfire rather spectacularly. The law of unintended consequence was surely written with Zack Walker in mind. Everything he does with the intention of making his family more secure has the effect of putting them at greater risk. 

For example, if you’re going to teach your wife a lesson about leaving that purse unguarded in a shopping cart by stealing it, it might be a good idea to make sure first you’ve got the right purse.

Zack’s struggles to deal with these anxieties were still a source of humor for me in the follow-up to BAD MOVE, BAD GUYS. And he was certainly ill-equipped to help his father deal with some crazy home-grown terrorist types in the third Zack Walker novel, LONE WOLF. Working as a newspaper feature writer, and cranking out the odd science fiction novel on the side, is not what you’d call adequate training for dealing with a bunch of folks who want to set off a bomb during a parade.

Zack remains a very reluctant hero. He’s no James Bond, no Jack Reacher. And his fearfulness keeps him, I think, a funny, endearing, and believable character. But the situations he encounters, and the things that happen to those around him, get a little nastier with each book.

That progression continues in STONE RAIN, the fourth Zack novel. This book is primarily about Trixie Snelling, whom we met back in BAD MOVE. She was Zack’s neighbor, two doors down, the one Zack thought was an accountant. But numbers are not Trixie’s area of expertise. Tying men down and spanking them is what she knows best. She’s a dominatrix, and how she came to ply her trade in a conservative suburban enclave is what drives STONE RAIN.

It’s not a pretty story. It’s a tale of abuse, sexual assault, gang warfare and murder. And Zack finds himself drawn, against his will and better judgment, into Trixie’s troubles, particularly after she becomes the prime suspect in the death of a small-time reporter whose body is found in her basement dungeon.

Trixie’s on the run, and Zack believes he must find her not only to help clear her name, but rescue his own troubled marriage and get his job back at the Metropolitan newspaper. (Although, since his last demotion, he’s been working in the homes section writing a feature on the history of linoleum, so it’s not the job it used to be.) The last, not insignificant challenge will be to accomplish all this and come out of it alive.

The trick, I suppose, is finding a way to tell a more bleak story like this, and still make it, at times, amusing. For me, the key to that is character.

It’s been my hope that Zack, the members of his fictional family and others close to him, have not been reduced to caricatures. It’s easy, in a comic mystery, to get your characters from Central Casting, but I wanted them to be real people, particularly his wife and two teenage children. (Some readers have expressed concern that the teenagers I write about not only use four-letter words, but use them in front of their parents without fear of reprisal. What can I tell you? This is life as I know it.)

Once your characters feel real, their reactions to what happens around them feels honest. And while there’s a lot of tragedy in honesty, there’s a lot of humor there, too.

I’m enjoying moving Zack into darker territory. It allows me to tell more compelling stories, and it raises the stakes for my protagonist, who is not the least bit comfortable, or suited, to situations involving jeopardy.

This journey, of getting a bit darker with each book, will continue later this year, when my first standalone thriller, NO TIME FOR GOODBYE, is published in the fall. It’s hard to find a lot of laughs in the plight of a 14-year-old girl who wakes up one morning to learn that her mother, father and brother have vanished.

Zack certainly wouldn’t see anything funny in that.

Linwood Barclay, author of four Zack Walker novels and the upcoming NO TIME FOR GOODBYE, is a staff columnist with the Toronto Star and lives with his family near Toronto. STONE RAIN is published May 1 by Bantam Books.

From the book jacket: An instant bestseller in Spain, with rights sold in twenty-eight countries and counting, God’s Spy is a spectacular contemporary thriller set in the Vatican, where, in the aftermath of Pope John Paul II’s death, the hunt for a serial killer reveals a chilling conspiracy.

In the days following the Pope’s death, a cardinal is found brutally murdered in a chapel in Rome, his eyes gouged and his hands cut off. Called in for the grisly case, police inspector Paola Dicanti learns that another cardinal was recently found dead; he had also been tortured. Desperate to find the killer before another victim dies, Paola’s investigation is soon joined by Father Anthony Fowler—an American priest and former Army intelligence officer examining sexual abuse in the Church, who knows far more about the killer than Paola could possibly imagine.

A dazzling, impossible-to-put-down thriller, Juan Gómez-Jurado’s God’s Spy marks the arrival of a major new talent to the contemporary suspense fiction scene. Click here to see a video.

“…Riveting debut…He [Gómez-Jurado] deftly weaves together the perspectives of perpetrator and pursuers alike… a first-rate thriller. Thomas Harris meets Dan Brown.” -- Booklist

“This phenomenal book starts out like that proverbial onion with its layers upon layers, revealing bits and pieces with each layer...chapter by chapter. Gómez-Jurado takes you through such a literary labyrinth with all of its twists and turns that by the time you reach the final pages, you're absolutely drained. The thought-provoking pace and suspense just keeps on all the way to the terrific ending.” -- Mysteries and More

" A grisly story in the tradition of Thomas Harris, Gómez-Jurado's richly detailed thriller will appeal more to fans of TV's Criminal Minds ..." -- Library Journal

Juan Gómez-Jurado is an award-winning journalist who has worked in radio and television. God’s Spy is his first novel. Following the international success of God's Spy (published in 39 countries), Juan had fulfilled his long-life dream: being a full time writer.

USA Today bestseller, international bestseller, Barnes & Noble Top 10 Thrillers of 2004...the one that started it all. 

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In the lyrical prologue to SEVEN MINUTES TO NOON, a little girl on her way to school sees a woman floating in the murky water of a Brooklyn canal.  In the weeks that follow, the lives of three families are upended as a beloved friend is found not just dead but brutally murdered.

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In the chilling prologue to ONE COLD NIGHT, a predator watches his next victim, fourteen-year-old Lisa Bailey, on her way to school.  Over the next thirty-six hours, Lisa's family is challenged as they never imagined, and long-held secrets are revealed.  

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West Nile Fatality

Dr. Mark Sloan, chief of internal Medicine at a Los Angeles hospital, is at the center of a deadly conspiracy. A West Nile Virus, gang wars, a vicious mayoral race and his old foe, Carter Sweeney, a man who tried to blow up the hospital a few before, converge in a way that will forever change Sloan's life.

Though he didn't create the popular television series, Diagnosis Murder, featuring Dr. Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke), Lee Goldberg wrote more than 100 television episodes for the show and was the principal writer for almost four years when a publisher approached him to write three books based on the series.

"I balked at first," says Goldberg.

But he quickly changed his mind and seized the opportunity to explore the characters in a different way. "In TV. You have to show and not tell," says Goldberg. "It's all action and dialogue played out. In novels you can use so many tools. You can get inside the character's mind."

Eight books later, in Diagnosis Murder #8: The Last Word, Goldberg says this last book in the series is loosely tied to books #5 and #7 (Past Tense and The Double Life) in that it explores what makes his protagonist tick.

"In a book, you can make anything happen," says Goldberg. "I could go back and show why Sloan became a detective in the first place—who he is and why. I was freed by not having the limitation of a TV show and its set of restrictions."

Does Goldberg have a favorite aspect of Dr. Sloan's character?

"His ability to be serious and funny," says Goldberg. "To walk a fine line between both."

Lee Goldberg is a novelist and television producer. His two careers merged when he began writing the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery. His TV work has earned him two Edgar Award nominations. Readers can post questions about the series and join a discussion with Goldberg by visiting his forum.

A blind retired dentist has been run down by a logging truck on the street in Vientiane and his body is duly delivered to the morgue of Dr. Siri Paiboun, the official and only coroner of Laos. He identifies the corpse and with the help of his old friend, Civilai, now a senior member of the Laos politburo; Nurse Dtui ("Fatty"); Phosy, a police officer; and Aunt Bpoo, a transvestite fortune-teller, Dr. Siri solves the mystery of the note and discovers a plot to overthrow the government of Laos.

While Civilai and Siri head to the source of the note in the south, Dtui and Phosy allow themselves to be transported to a refugee camp in Thailand. None of them know who's to be trusted so the country's future rests firmly in their hands.

"A hero unlike any other." -- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Magically sublime." -- Entertainment Weekly

Visit Colin Cotterill's website at http://www.colincotterill.com/

Someone is killing street kids in Minneapolis and Detective Maria Sanchez is determined to stop the evil menace responsible for pushing the drugs.  As the investigation deepens, an undercover cop is executed and evidence points to a diabolical L.A. crime boss, who has picked up where his uncle left off.

Sanchez and her partner have their work cut out for them when they team up with the FBI and a beautiful Russian born agent masquerading as a troubled teen to end the nightmare.  When the agent and a young accomplice find themselves too close to the "family" in more ways than one, time quickly expires.  Out of options, Maria and her partner make a trip to California, one that could well prove fatal.

“Hyytinen has “the touch”… stupefying and terror-laden… spine-tingling… a page-turner that can’t be put down, even to attend lifes little duties.  Hyytinen should have an excellent go as an author…first rate” -- Midwest Book Review

C. Hyytinen grew up in La Crosse, Wisconsin. She currently lives in rural Minnesota where she has recently completed the sequel to PATTERN OF VIOLENCE, PATTERN OF VENGEANCE.

Guilty Ones

When a prostitute is shot, stabbed, dumped on Georgia's Shelter Island and finally identified as Shannon Randall, a woman murdered more than twenty-four years before, FBI agent, Dorsey Collins, is horrified. The person accused of killing Shannon so many years ago was convicted and executed. Fact is: for nineteen-year-old Eric Louis Beale, there's no justice. It's too late.

Worse still, Collins' father was the agent assigned to the case. What happened so long ago? Dorsey Collins, a highly respected special FBI agent, is compelled to find out what role her father played in this botched case. But she can't take on the investigation due to conflict of interest. When the case is given to FBI special agent Andrew Shields, Collins is permitted to shadow Shields.

In her newest thriller, Last Look, bestselling author Mariah Stewart says, "There's so much in the news about people getting exonerated with DNA testing, I wanted to explore what happens to someone for whom this testing comes too late."

The plot appealed to her because it was complex, says Stewart, and deals with two murders, one in the past and one that just happened. She also wanted to look at how family ties and mysteries complicate matters. "How could a member of your family, someone you know so well, someone you grew up with-how could that person be a monster, a murderer, and how could you not know?"

Hoping to redeem her father's reputation, Collins and Shields untangle a web of mysteries that shatters one family and upends an entire town.

Mariah Stewart has written more than 20 novels and is New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. At home in Pennsylannia, Stewart says she doesn't run marathons, knit, or cultivate other hobbies. She found her calling writing about murder and mayhem couldn't be happier. Last Look is the first of three novels in this new series.

Anne Frasier reads Bill Cameron's Lost Dog

On a gray Portland morning, unemployed Peter McKrall searches the park for his niece’s lost stuffed animal, but instead comes upon a dead body.  The trauma of the event is an uncomfortable reminder of his own dark history, and soon Peter, a man trying to break a kleptomania habit, finds himself trapped in the middle of an investigation he wants nothing to do with.

Cops make him uncomfortable.  Dead people make him uncomfortable.  Having his name and face on the evening news makes him uncomfortable.



He’s alone with no one to trust or confide in until he meets Ruby Jane.  When a second murder takes place, Peter’s painful past comes back to haunt him and Ruby Jane’s life is put in danger.



LOST DOG by Bill Cameron is a beautifully written and masterful work of character-driven crime fiction.   One of the most fascinating and compelling main characters I’ve read in a long time.   A bad guy real enough to smell.   A plot that fits together like a puzzle.



I was starving for a personal story. Give me real people.  Give me a story with truth.    As soon as I started LOST DOG my heart began to beat faster.  This was the book I’d been craving.



Bill Cameron manages to deftly strip away the distance.  Not only does he give us a knockout plot, he gives us real people in real settings.  He gives us characters we care about, characters we know and want to know.   And like real life, the darkest moments often contain humor.  I laughed out loud several times.



LOST DOG is a heart-stopping, tightly woven debut by a remarkable new crime-fiction writer.



Anne Frasier, author of PALE IMMORTAL and HUSH

Crossing the Line

How does one commit the ultimate crime and get away with it? Is there such a thing as a perfect crime? These are questions that have pushed John Rain, the protagonist and professional killer in Barry Eisler's thriller series, to mental and emotional extremes.

In Requiem for an Assassin, Rain, who is half-Japanese and half-American, finds himself at his outmost limits.

Living in Paris, Rain has taken on a new identity, trying to leave the world of killing behind. But the world of killing will not let Rain go. When rogue CIA operative Jim Hilger tells Rain this his friend Dox's life is on the line and that Rain is the only one who can change Dox's fate, that is, if Rain completes the assignmenta series of three hits-Rain's sanity is tested.

For an assassin like John Rain, a killer with a conscience, the moral divider between getting away with murder versus completing an assignment is slim, very slim.

Eisler, who worked for the CIA for three years after college says he's interested in "forbidden knowledge and the moral ethics of killing. When you're a soldier," says Eisler, you're licensed to kill and rewarded for it."

In Requiem for an Assassin, how does Rain know that Hilger won't kill Dox regardless of what Rain does? Or that the assignment is ultimately a set-up for Rain? A ploy in Hilger's lethal game of extortion?

"I always try to put Rain in more stressful situations to bring out deeper parts of his character," says Eisler. "In this book, he's under so much pressure, the line between professional and personal is especially difficult to see."

Barry Eisler's John Rain books have been translated into nearly 20 languages and included in numerous " best of" lists by national publications such as Publisher's Weekly and the San Francisco Chronicle. While working for the CIA as a Directorate of Operations, he was placed in a Japanese language program. He is a lifelong student of martial arts and moved to Tokyo after leaving the government to study Judo. Today, Eisler lives and works in the San Francisco Bay area and continues to travel to Japan and other parts of Asia. Read an excerpt here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In ANATOMY OF FEAR, forensic artist Nate Rodriguez helps the NYPD hunt for a vicious serial killer who makes portraits of his victims before he kills them. Illustrated throughout by the author.

"This has to be one of the most exciting new books to come out in a long time...  I didn't want it to end." -- Stacy Alesi, AKA The BookBitch



"You'll never look at crime and storytelling the same way again. Jonathan Santlofer has created an amazing character whose creative skills and investigative experience take the genre in entirely new directions. ANATOMY OF FEAR is a compelling thriller that grips the reader's mind--and eye--and doesn't let go."-- Linda Fairstein

Jonathan Santlofer is the author of THE DEATH ARTIST, COLOR BLIND, and THE KILLING ART. He has been a Visiting Artist at The American Academy In Rome, the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts grants, and serves on the board of Yaddo, the oldest arts community in the United States. His novels have been translated into 22 languages.

New York City author Erinn Winters is haunted by her past, and by terrifying visions of death and danger that come to her without warning.  When her desperate search to save her estranged younger sister Devon leads her to the small western town of Wolf River -- and the run-down shack where Devon lives with a dangerous man -- her visions grow even darker -- and more frequent.  Erinn finds an ally in rancher Jase Fortune, who has been trying to track down the person killing his cattle and menacing those near to him, but soon he and Erinn are both enmeshed by secrets, danger -- and enemies.  And in the peaceful town of Wolf River, death comes stalking....

"For tales of romance and adventure that keep you reading into the night, look no further than Jill Gregory."  -- Nora Roberts

Comic Thrills

In Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day, debut author Toni McGee Causey says her protagonist, Bobbie Faye, "came to her whole."

Whole as in "kick-ass, pissed off Cajun beauty queen" desperately seeking to save her miscreant (good-for-nothing) younger brother from kidnappers.

Says Causey, "I wanted to write about an ordinary person from Louisiana who rises to extraordinary heights to solve a problem."

But it turns out that nothing in Bobbie Faye's life is ordinary, unless you consider a dead-broke Cajun, living in a dilapidated trailer, able to fend off bears, snakes, and organized crime as ordinary.

Bobbie Faye does have one standout accomplishment. She's reigning queen of the upcoming Contraband Days Festival, a pirate-themed fair celebrating the loot and legend of Jean Lefitte; and she's looking forward to wearing her tiara proudly. It's a crown her great, great, great, great grandfather made out of iron. More importantly, it's the only thing she inherited from her mama.

So when thieves steal her tiara, and her brother's kidnappers demand the crown as ransom, this Contraband queen launches into a crazed chase that turns Louisiana bayou country into an arena of mayhem and destruction.

Toni McGee Causey grew up in a Cajun-speaking household in Louisiana. She has placed in top tier screenwriting contests and is a member of Killer Year. In addition to writing, she and her husband own and run a civil construction company. Bobbie Faye's Very (very, very, very) Bad Day is the first in a series of three novels. Her debut has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Library Journal.

Read an excerpt from Bobbie Faye's Very (Very, Very, Very) Bad Day by Toni McGee Causey. Copyright (c) 2007 by Toni McGee Causey and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Griffin.

What part does character play in the modern thriller? How does Lee Child make his character Jack Reacher so compelling? ITW member Scott Mariani explores the subject in this extract from his new book, HOW TO WRITE A THRILLER, published by How To Books.



In real life, people mature as they gain experience. They make  mistakes, and sometimes have to pay the penalty for them emotionally and in other ways. But through that suffering they’re often able to learn important life lessons, and hopefully become better people as a result. Perhaps our quest for self-betterment is the only thing that really gives meaning to our lives.



For a fictitious character to come across as real, their life should have something of the same learning curve or ‘journey’. From the point where we first meet them to the point where we leave them, they should have changed in some way. Maybe they’ve learned something about themselves, overcome their weaknesses, stood up and triumphed over adversity, found it in themselves to love. Whatever their development arc, the person we find on page 1 shouldn’t be the same person we wave goodbye to at the end of the book.  



Any time you come across a book or film character who lacks depth or seems wooden, you’ll find it’s at least partly because the writer didn’t take them on that journey. They stay the same throughout the story, learn nothing, and fail to engage us emotionally.



Thriller characters can come in all shapes and sizes, but all the main characters in successful thrillers have one thing in common: their ability to make the reader relate to them in some way.

The loser who transcends himself

The ‘loser’ is the character whose life hasn’t gone according to plan. Often without any prospects or money, they may have been abandoned by their spouse and / or be facing eviction from their apartment, had their car repossessed, etc. That doesn’t mean they’re completely useless as people – they might often be well educated and well qualified for something, such as Martin Radford the out-of-work historian in Robert Goddard’s Past Caring, or the struggling artist Danny Cray in John Case’s The Eighth Day. It’s just that they’ve never got their act together or made much of themselves. Until, that is, they become embroiled in the intrigue of the thriller! Through whatever unexpected challenges that come their way, these characters discover or rediscover qualities in themselves that have lain dormant; they come alive again, transcend themselves and win the day against the odds. The story ends with them looking at a brighter new future, even though they may have suffered to get there.



Why do readers identify with this character? Well, don’t we see part of that character in ourselves? We all feel that we could better ourselves, seize the day a bit more, take a chance to prove to ourselves and others that we can win. Yes, dammit! The loser who throws off his self-imposed shackles is a powerful archetype.

The hero who is talented but must overcome his demons to succeed

The flawed hero, like the loser, has negative inner qualities that drag him down. Where he differs from the loser is that he’s excellent at what he does. He may be a very driven person, but what drives him to be great may also be what haunts him and weakens him. This character often has a bad past, perhaps a traumatic incident that happened long ago, perhaps a source of terrible guilt, some secret that is to be revealed in the course of the story. One such character is Ben Hope in The Fulcanelli Manuscript: in his professional life he’s the best, but as a human being he’s a lost soul and a borderline alcoholic. This character, and his story arc, is the age-old tale of redemption.



Why will the reader empathise? Many of us feel guilty about things in the past, or have other demons and weaknesses that we would like to cleanse out. When we see these in our hero, we’ll understand him deeply on a human level, and as he strives to transcend his problems, we are with him all the way and feeling inspired by his example.



The hero who’s a little out of his depth

I can’t think of a better recent example than Robert Langdon from The Da Vinci Code. Langdon has many trappings of success: he’s a professor, an intellectual, a hit with his female students. There’s a touch of Indiana Jones about him in this respect: but while Indy is a superman outside the classroom, Langdon is slightly out of his element when being chased around by dark forces. He’s the innocent victim, the fugitive, who stumbles around a little and has an eccentric tendency to stop and admire the architecture when the police are right on his heels!



Why do readers find him appealing? Although talented and gifted in many ways that the reader may not share, he is the Everyman who has been thrown in at the deep end. We look up at him for his erudition and brilliant mind, but when he’s the innocent fugitive we feel equal to him, and we empathise.



The strong, silent type who is more than meets the eye

This is the character who sits smiling to himself in the corner of the bar-room while some big bully is strutting around intimidating people and showing everyone what a tough guy he is. The guy in the corner doesn’t do or say anything – he’s far too confident to need to prove himself – but we just know that if the bully should mess with him it’ll be the last time he does. These heroes don’t start fights… they just finish them. From Clint Eastwood to Steven Seagal, we’ve all seen this type of hero in a million movies. In the modern thriller, one of the best examples of him is Lee Child’s creation Jack Reacher: former war hero-turned drifter.



In lesser hands, Jack Reacher might have become a cardboard cut-out, an unbelievable, anachronistic and inaccessible ‘Mr Perfect’. But Lee Child cleverly avoids this by making Jack a very modest kind of guy. He has none of the smugness that has tended to affect James Bond, and he’s never condescending in the way that Steven Seagal movie characters can be. He’s a man of the people, happy to take modest jobs, never bragging too much about his abilities or his medals; a cool character who doesn’t go looking for trouble… but when trouble finds him, as it invariably does, he knows how to deal with it. We feel in safe hands with Reacher – we never doubt his ability to win, but because he’s a real person his adventures never become predictable.



Why do readers go for Reacher? According to the Daily Mail, ‘Reacher is the sort of hero that no woman could help falling for’. Well, there you have it. Women apparently love him, and it therefore follows that men want to be him.

Scott Mariani is a UK-based thriller writer. He was born and raised in Scotland, studied languages and literature at Oxford and went on to be a professional musician, translator and shooting instructor before becoming an author. His novel The Fulcanelli Manuscript was published in March 2007.



Scott has his own monthly Thriller page in Writing Magazine, Britain’s best-selling writers’ monthly. His book How To Write a Thriller is an upbeat and informative guide for aspiring authors in this exciting genre. It has been described as ‘the first step for any budding thriller writer’ and also features an interview with Lee Child. For more information on Scott’s writing, visit him at www.scottmariani.com.

Global Upheaval

"I'm interested in the future of air force and space travel and believe the air force will evolve into a space force in the next five to ten years. That was the catalyst for the book," says bestselling author and former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown.

In Brown's nineteenth thriller, Strike Force, U.S. Air force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan is embroiled in political battles with global consequences and a new way of battling in space.

The problem?

A growing insurgency in Iran threatens to erupt into a worldwide jihad.

A disgraced former Iranian military chief of staff turns to his American nemesis—-McLanahan—-for help, but the President is unwilling to commit American forces to an Iranian civil war.

Time is running out.

Finally, the U.S. President authorizes protagonist McLanahan to utilize the newest fleet of globe-crossing space planes, the XR-A9 Black Stallions.

But the reactivation of America's first military space station, Silver Tower, reignites fears of a space arms race. Bitter, secret battles at the White House ensue.

Is world freedom at stake?

"All the technology that I describe in the book," says Brown, "may be on the drawing board or ready to come out or a combination of several different technologies that other countries are working on; but it exists in one form or another."

From that, other benefits will percolate down, he says. "Air taxi services, small six-seater jets that will take you anywhere." Brown, who logs in at least ten hours a month to maintain his license, says private flying is the way to travel. "None of that waiting at airports. I love flying. It's the best way to go."

Dale Brown has written eleven consecutive NY Times best-selling novels. Born in Buffalo, New York, he received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier and the recipient of several military decorations including the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Combat Crew Award and the Marksmanship ribbon. Dale and his wife and son live in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. His novels have been translated into eleven languages and distributed to over 70 countries.

He watches them from afar. He knows who they are and where they are. He is waiting in the dark...

A stranger stalks the streets of Houghton le Spring and he is getting too close for comfort for Detective Inspector Lorraine Hunt.

Selina, the daughter of Lorraine's partners, DS Luke Daniels, is a beautiful and wilful sixteen year-old with a dark past. Just as it seems she's finally getting back on her feet, she is attacked. Is there an even more sinister motive for the assault?

Before long, Lorraine and Luke's worst fears are realised, and a body is found. A young woman, brutally murdered, her heart cut out, and in its place - a single white rose.

Soon the White Rose Killer steps up his campaign. Is DI Hunt imagining it, or does he have a message specially for her? As he circles ever closer, nobody escapes suspicion and Lorraine faces her toughest case yet.

"A convincing portrayal of a violent underworld" -- The Independent

"A real page-turner" -- Woman Magazine

"Fast-paced" -- Daily Telegraph

"A rattling good plot . . . it doesn't stop running until the final page by which time you will be breathless" -- Newcastle Upon Tyne Journal

Sheila Quigley started work at fifteen as a presser in a tailoring factory, but always had big dreams. She would love to have climbed mountains and write books.  Her dream of being a writer came true four years ago when, after years and years of trying, RUN FOR HOME was published. Sheila have four grown children, three girls and one boy.

HOW TO WRITE A THRILLER is a how-to book aimed at aspiring thriller authors, to help them write thrilling and exciting stories that will draw the eye of publishers and readers alike. The book offers insights on how to craft exciting storylines, create interesting characters, generate pace and tension and approach the right publisher or literary agent.

HOW TO WRITE A THRILLER also features an exclusive interview with top author Lee Child. 

"I just wish this book had been around when I was starting out. It's highly engaging, and full of useful insights... just like a great thriller itself, I couldn't put it down!" -- Seth Garner, ITW member and author of The Blood Partnership and Broken Surface

Scott Mariani grew up in St Andrews, Scotland. He studied Modern Languages at Oxford University and went on to work as a translator, a professional musician, a pistol shooting instructor and a freelance journalist before becoming a full-time writer. After spending several years in Italy and France, Scott discovered his secluded writer’s haven in the wilds of west Wales, an 1830s country house complete with rambling woodland and a secret passage! When he isn’t writing, Scott enjoys jazz, movies, classic motorcycles and astronomy.

Scott is currently at work on the next Benedict Hope novel, continuing the adventures of the troubled hero of his acclaimed first thriller THE FULCANELLI MANUSCRIPT .

In 1965 Los Angeles, a young man could do worse than to be working for Ogle, a magazine "Devoted to the Masculine Pleasure Principle." But copywriter Harry Trauble starts to worry when Ogle's circulation director is crushed by the men's magazine's stone mascot (a frog), and a new free-spirited girlfriend involves him in that murder and a series of others. CROAKED! is a joyful comedy-thriller from the Nero Wolfe Award-winning Lochte (author of SLEEPING DOG and LAUGHING DOG).

"... A splashy, sexy, swingin' adventure ... Readers who enjoy mysteries set in the publishing world -- for example, Donald Westlake's TRUST ME ON THIS to which CROAKED!  compares favorably -- will get a big kick out of this one." -- Booklist



"A giddy romp that's ... never dull." -- Kirkus 

Dick Lochte is a Los Angeles Times bestselling author whose novels have been nominated for nearly every mystery book award and have been translated into more than a dozen languages. His SLEEPING DOG was selected as one of the 100 Favorite Mysteries of the 20th Century by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.

When Elizabeth Grayson, the beautiful half-Chinese daughter of a U.S. senator, discovers that she has unwittingly contributed to a terrible new weapons system while doing medical research in China , she’s thrown into a notorious forced labor camp to keep her quiet. Enter Matt Connor, a disgraced ex-submarine officer operating a tramp ocean-salvage ship out of Taiwan , who is hired by her wealthy father to get her out.

But after Matt rescues the headstrong pacifist from her island prison and learns the secret the Chinese don't want the U.S. to know, the thrown-together pair are on the run and faced with a new dilemma. With time running out and the PLA Navy in hot pursuit, can they stop a rogue Red Prince, Elizabeth’s brilliant but corrupt first cousin, from launching a catastrophic new weapon that will bring America to its knees?

 

In CHINA STAR, Maurice Medland has written a classic adventure story in the bestselling tradition of Clive Cussler—and an international thriller on a par with the best works of Dan Brown and Nelson DeMille. At the heart of this electrifying novel are a strong-willed senator's daughter and her reluctant rescuer, two people from very different worlds who become bound together in a desperate game of survival, pitted against deadly forces that must be stopped at any cost—even their own lives.

“One of the best adventure writers today...A master storyteller.” -- Clive Cussler

Maurice Medland is the bestselling author of Point of Honor. A graduate of Truman State University, he served in the U.S. Navy before entering a career in business. A former vice-president of a Fortune 500 company, he holds an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and The Authors Guild, and has taught creative writing at The University of California, Irvine. Maurice lives with his wife, Karen, in Southern California.

In 1945, with the war winding down, Professor Mikhal Lammeck becomes involved in uncovering a plot to assassinate FDR. The assassin, a beautiful foreign killer, comes to Washington armed with the skills of murder from 12th Century Persia.

"Robbins has an uncanny ability to provide just the right amount of historical detail without overwhelming the plot. This talent, coupled with superior characterization and a masterful, direct writing style will provide thriller lovers with one of their best reads of the year. The powerful climax deserves the term "heart-stopping." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"...a superb and compelling speculative history that asks, What if FDR had been assassinated instead of dying of natural causes? This thriller evokes pleasant memories of Frederick Forsyth's classic Day of the Jackal and also hints of a Middle East crisis to come. Assassins is a fine premise written exceedingly well. Highly recommended." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"Robbins again concocts an ingenious suspense thriller around the momentous events of World War II....a novel unafraid to tackle some big ideas. A solid, satisfying treat for the armchair historian." -- Kirkus Reviews

"...as tense and suspenseful as anything Robbins has written, and it leaves most best-sellers behind." -- Richmond Times Dispatch

"Intriguing...Judith (is) as cold and credible a killer as has stalked the pages of recent crime fiction." -- Chicago Tribune

David L. Robbins has authored seven best-selling novels; his eighth, The Betrayal Game, will be published by Bantam early in 2008. He lives in Richmond, Virginia and divides his time between his home and his sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay. This coming year, he will be artist-in-residence at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

ARMADA brings Captain George Hardy RN and Lieutenant Jordan Cole together again, for the greatest invasion in history. Allied planning has included every enemy contingency except a powerful new enemy weapon. German E-boats mounting recoilless rifles and traveling across the English Channel at twice their normal speed, are already taking their toll against Allied shipping. It's  apparent to Cole and Hardy that D-Day might become a disaster if these fast, lethal vessels attack the vast invasion armada. 

"Wilson will keep you on the edge of your seat." -- David E. Meadows

Steve Wilson is assistant director and curator of the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum. He writes a monthly column on military history for www.military.com. His fourth book, scheduled for publication in May 2008, is a Civil War novel.

Modern-day Iraq: During a raging sandstorm in a war zone, army chaplain Jaime Richards is shocked to be reunited with her old friend Adara Dunbar—and devastated when, in the midst of an ambush, a black-robed man murders Adara in cold blood. But not before she delivers a final message to Jaime—one important enough to die for...and obviously to kill for. Why Adara? And how did her assassin know Jaime’s name?

Jaime’s quest for answers will lead her into danger beyond anything she’s experienced on the battlefield. At an ancient site, she meets a stranger who reveals astounding truths about Adara’s mission—and the war itself—that are impossible to ignore. The roots of this war reach back to a time and place fixed in history of civilization itself. Many have searched for The Garden of Eden before, because to find it is to unlock a power beyond human comprehension. Now, for Jaime, the chase is on—and the fate of the world hangs in the balance...

“An absolute page-turner. This book has ‘you are there’ insider details that make you question everything you read in today’s headlines. A thrill-a-minute read!” -- Christina Dodd, New York Times bestselling author

“Intelligent, exciting, well-paced, with a tremendously strong feeling of authenticity and a heroine whom one really cares about. I will certainly read it again!” -- Bill Napier

“Unique, provocative, and engrossing…hours of gripping reading.” -- Cherry Adair, New York Times bestselling author of Edge of Darkness

Years of writing award-winning biographies, and other inspirational stuff such as Chicken Soup from the Soul of Hawai’i, finally caused something inside Sharon Linnéa to snap, and the bodies have been quickly piling up. She joined forces with B.K. Sherer, her best friend since sixth grade, now an Army chaplain in Iraq. They figured out that the war was actually started by powerful people racing to find the site of the Garden of Eden. But why? The answer is revealed in the first of three thrillers, CHASING EDEN , (St. Martin’s, June 2007). Its first sequel, BEYOND EDEN , debuts this October.

The  Anthony Award winning Jersey Shore/John Ceepak series that started with TILT A WHIRL and MAD MOUSE continues with WHACK A MOLE. An innocent discovery on the beach in Sea Haven leads to a string of gruesome clues and one chilling conclusion: a long dormant serial killer is poised to strike again. 

In another fast-paced thrill ride, Danny and Ceepak, the cop with a strict moral code, race against the clock to undercover a hidden mole with a twisted code all his own. If they don't catch the killer in time, someone they love may become the next victim.

"A fun series." -- New York Times

In HADES, Justin Westwood, chief of police of East End Harbor, NY may finally have found true love.  Only one problem: she's married.  Well, two problems: her husband is also murdered and Justin is a prime suspect.  As he begins his search for the real murderer, Justin enters the world of Wall Street greed, the New England mob, crooked politics, and an international financial scheme that involves billions of dollars.

"Those who like their crime novels dark, mysterious, and labyrinthine will have a great time. " -- Booklist

"[An] intelligent page turner...The twisty plot provides the appealing Westwood with plenty of challenges." -- Publishers Weekly

Under his real name, Peter Gethers has written two novels, THE DANDY and GETTING BLUE, and three bestselling non-fiction books about his extraordinary cat, Norton: THE CAT WHO WENT TO PARIS, A CAT ABROAD, and THE CAT WHO'LL LIVE FOREER.  Under his pseudonym, Russell Andrews, he has written 5 internationally bestselling thrillers: GIDEON, ICARUS, APHRODITE, MIDUS, and HADES.  In his spare time, he is also an editor and publisher, a screenwriter and television writer/producer and the president of Random House Films.

CHASERS is a sequel to APACHES, a NY Times bestseller that was published in 1997 and continues the adventures of the surviving members of a disabled unit of NYPD detectives. The three original members still standing from that first novel are joined in CHASERS by three new ones (including a very cool and disabled K-9) as they seek to avenge the murder of a young woman in a restaurant shooting spree.

The first novel was set in 1982 when crack first hit the streets. This one is set in 1985 when AIDS started to rip its way through cities big and small and when the Russian Mob and the South American drug bands decided to make the city of New York a prime-target beach head.

THE GOLD OF THRACE is a tale of danger and deceit in the antiquities trade.

When the first member of the staff of her Turkish excavation is murdered and a mosaic floor disappears overnight from her site, archaeologist Tamar Saticoy plunges into the shady world of the antiquities trade in the quest to discover who is responsible for the theft of artifacts from archaeological sites.

Tamar traces the mosaic floor to Switzerland , where the captivating prince of antiquities dealers, Gilberto Dela Barcolo, and his enigmatic friend, Enzio Egidio, charm her. Soon she finds herself enmeshed in a tangle of deceit, theft, and forgery. Battling smoke and mirrors, she discovers that no one is who they seem to be. Two more members of her excavation staff are killed, the venal Chatham who has discovered a hoard of Thracian gold in Bulgaria , and Orman who, like Tamar, is following the trail of the stolen mosaic and Tamar herself becomes the next target for murder.

Aileen Baron has a Ph.D. in archaeology. Her career includes twenty years teaching archaeology at California State University, Fullerton and numerous seasons of archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East.

Her mysteries in the Lily Sampson series, A FLY HAS A HUNDRED EYES, and THE TORCH OF TANGIER, feature an American archaeologist working in the Middle East during World War II.

Her latest mystery, THE GOLD OF THRACE due in July, 2007, a stand-alone, published by Poisoned Pen Press, is a tale of danger and deceit in the antiquities trade.