Latest Books: December 2009 Archives

Imagine a literary jam session with 22 of your favorite masters of pulse-pounding fiction and you have WATCHLIST: Two Serial Thrillers in One Killer Book. Jeffery Deaver conceived of the characters and put the plot into motion and Jim Fusilli leant a sharp editorial eye, finely orchestrating this chorus of suspense that includes such top writers as Lee Child, Joseph Finder, Lisa Scottoline, Gayle Lynds, P.J. Parrish and many others. Dramatic tension ties the novellas together as each thriller titan leads the reader down dark alleys and around blind corners, saving the fireworks for the climactic endings, also crafted by Jeffery Deaver.

The Chopin Manuscript, the original unique collaboration by 15 of the world's greatest thriller writers launched the project. It introduces former war crimes investigator Harold Middleton, who is unaware that a forgotten work by Chopin in his possession contains a dark secret within its handwritten notes. His race to uncover the secret is obstructed by federal agents, assassins and a mysterious figure from the past known only as Faust.

Following closely on the gumshoe heals of The Chopin Manuscript, Harold Middleton returns in the explosive sequel, The Copper Bracelet.  Suspense builds layer by layer as each deft teller of tales shifts the action by adding unexpected twists.  Beginning with a day at the beach where all is not what it seems, an international terror plot sends Middleton careening from Nice to Moscow to Kashmir as he seeks to prevent nuclear war between India and Pakistan and the start of World War III.

This two-fisted tome has the chills, breakneck pacing, and diabolical switchbacks that thriller lovers have come to expect. Reading into the wee, small hours is practically guaranteed.

In David Kessler's Mercy, San Francisco lawyer Alex Sedaka is surprised when California governor Chuck Dusenbury offers eleventh-hour clemency to Sedaka's client Clayton Burrow - currently on Death Row - on the condition that Burrow reveals where he buried the body of the victim.

But he is even more surprised when Burrow turns down the offer, insisting that he was framed by the missing girl herself. Until then, Sedaka - who only recently took over the case - thought that Burrow was guilty. But now he is not so sure.

Thus begins a race against time to unravel the mystery, with the unlikely cooperation of the mother of the missing girl, who persuaded the governor to make the clemency offer in the first place.

" A cracking thriller." -- James O'Brian, LBC Radio

"This will keep you on the edge of your seat right until the end." -- Closer magazine

After dropping out of school at the age of 15, David Kessler struggled for 25 years to get published before finally making his breakthrough with A Fool for a Client, a legal thriller set in New York. This was followed by The Other Victim, Tarnished Heroes and Reckless Justice. He courted controversy by co-writing Who Really Killed Rachel (about an infamous 1992 London murder) with Colin Stagg, the man falsely accused of the murder who was then widely believed to be guilty. The book - now out of print - named the man who was eventually convicted of the crime.

Four Lives--Two Great Loves--Every Expectation Shattered. In Joan Johnston's new novel, nine years ago Kate Grayhawk Pendleton walked into alleged killer Wyatt Shaw's life-and out of it again the next morning. Now Wyatt's back--and has the power to shatter Kate's future with the man she loves.

"Johnston's characters struggle against seriously deranged foes and fac seeming insourmountable obstacles to true love." BOOKLIST

"Johnston rivets the reader." Bookreporter.com

Joan Johnston is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of forty-nine novels and novellas with more than ten million copies of her books in print. Joan has been a director of theatre, drama critic, newspaper editor, college professor and attorney on her way to becoming a full-time writer. She has also raised two fairly normal children. Joan lives in Florida and Colorado

In Gregory Funaro's The Sculptor, Dr. Catherine Hildebrant, professor of art history at Brown University, is trying to get her life back on track. Known in academic circles as one of the world's foremost scholars on Michelangelo, she is also the author of a controversial book on his sculptures.

Living alone, counting the days until her divorce is final, Cathy is awakened one morning by FBI agent Sam Markham. It seems someone has murdered missing Boston Rebels wide receiver Tommy Campbell, preserved his body, and painted and posed him in the figure of one of Michelangelo's statues.

When Cathy is summoned to the garden of a wealthy businessman to help analyze Campbell's remains, she discovers the unimaginable: the killer has not only drawn on her book for inspiration, but has also dedicated his sculpture to her! Determined to clear her name, desperate to catch the killer before he kills again, Cathy joins forces with Special Agent Markham in a frantic race against time to stop the man the media has dubbed "The Michelangelo Killer."

"It reminded me of why I loved The Silence of the Lambs so much."--Gregg Olsen, New York Times bestselling author.

"Fast-paced, exciting and wildly surreal, Funaro's debut thriller delivers gasp-out-loud terror and relentless suspense. A genuine page-turner!"--Kevin O'Brien, New York Times bestselling author.

"A stone-cold thrill ride! Unique and unexpected twists make this one a keeper!"--Lisa Jackson, New York Times bestselling author.

"Funaro provides clever plotting and plenty of suspense. This one's a thinking reader's thriller that engages the mind yet punches hard to the gut. Michelangelo would be proud."--John Lutz, New York Times bestselling author.

Gregory Funaro has worked professionally as an actor and is currently an associate professor in the School of Theatre & Dance at East Carolina University, where he teaches, acts and directs. In addition to being a voracious reader, Gregory is an amateur artist, bassist, and history buff. He holds a black belt in karate, and is considered by many to be one of the world's worst poker players. Gregory lives with his family outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. The Sculptor (Pinnacle) is his first novel.

        In a plot twist worthy of the finest thriller, The Chopin Manuscript was masterminded by the board of the International Thriller Writers to promote and elevate the art of the thriller by presenting it in a unique form - weekly audio installments on Audible.com. Named one of four best audio books of 2008 by Publishers Weekly and awarded the Audio Book of the Year, The Chopin Manuscript was hailed by USA Today as "action at full boil" and The Sunday Times of London said it was "fabulous fun."  

It is now available in print along with a stunning new sequel - The Copper Bracelet - in WATCHLIST: TWO SERIAL THRILLERS IN ONE KILLER BOOK (Vanguard Press; January 2010).

The audio serial that launched this unique project originated from an idea by best-selling author M.J. Rose and Steve Feldberg at Audible.com. "When I joined the ITW founding board of directors in 2004," said Rose, "my job was to come up with some unique marketing concepts to help further the genre's visibility. This idea seemed like it was going to be the toughest to pull off - to get all these amazing writers to agree to contribute so much time and talent." To her amazement, Rose's contemporaries greeted her idea with a resounding, "Yes!"

This collaboration brings together some of the world's greatest thriller writers including Lee Child, Joseph Finder, Lisa Scottoline, and Jeffery Deaver who conceived the characters and set the plots in motion.  Movie and stage actor Alfred Molina narrated The Chopin Manuscript, and also The Copper Bracelet. His deft characterizations of a variety of ages, genders and nationalities helped the recording win an Audio Award for Best Original Work from the Audio Publisher's Association. The novella beat out such august competition as a multi-cast recording of the Old Testament featuring Denzel Washington, Steven Colbert's I Am America, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. The news floored Jeffery Deaver: "Beating God and Harry Potter is one thing - but Colbert? It's a humbling experience."

Now The Copper Bracelet joins the original novella, a second stunning installment guaranteed to keep readers up nights turning pages. It's a collaboration that can truly be called thrilling - in every sense of the word.

In Denise Robbins' latest, Connect the Dots, CIA Human Intelligence Operator, Charley Duston gets the shock of her life when she opens her freezer to find the picture of her murdered ex-lover. Worse is the implied message: She is next. Not one to give into intimidation tactics, Charley is determined to uncover the truth behind her ex's death and bring the culprits to justice.

Not knowing whom she can trust, she moves to an undisclosed location where she can covertly investigate the death threats. Here she meets her new neighbor Jake Frisbie at gunpoint when she mistakes him for a carjacker. Attracted to the handsome, easy-going hunk, Charley knows her relationship with Jake would only put him in danger. She tries to fight off her feelings but finally gives in just before her world crashes and she is kidnapped.

When Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile in 1821, he took to the grave a powerful secret. As general and Emperor, he had stolen uncountable riches from palaces, national treasuries, even the Knights of Malta and the Vatican. In his final days, his British captors hoped to learn where the loot lay hidden. But he told them nothing and in his will he made no mention of his treasure.

Or did he?

In NYTimes bestselling author Steve Berry's newest, The Paris Vendetta, former-Justice Department operative Cotton Malone is about to find out after trouble comes knocking at his Copenhagen bookshop. Actually, it breaks and enters in the form of an American Secret Service agent with a pair of assassins on his heels. Malone has his doubts about the anxious young man, but narrowly surviving a ferocious firefight convinces him to follow his unexpected new ally.

Their first stop is the secluded estate of Malone's good friend, Henrik Thorvaldsen. The wily Danish tycoon has uncovered the insidious plans of the Paris Club, a cabal of multi-millionaires bent on manipulating the global economy. Only by matching wits with a terrorist-for-hire, foiling a catastrophic attack, and plunging into a desperate hunt for Napoleon's legendary lost treasure can Malone hope to avert international financial anarchy.

But Thorvaldsen's real objective is much more personal: a vendetta to avenge the murder of his son by the larcenous aristocrat at the heart of the conspiracy. Which places Malone in an impossible quandary-one that forces him to choose between friend and country, past and present. Starting in Denmark, moving to England, and ending up in the storied streets and cathedrals of Paris, Malone plays a breathless game of duplicity and death, all to claim a prize of untold value.

But at what cost?

"All the Berry hallmarks are here: scale, scope, sweep, history - plus breathless second-by-second suspense. I love this guy." -- Lee Child

"With the September release of Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol, savvy readers looking for more along those lines cannot go wrong with Cotton Malone. This will be Berry's biggest seller yet." -- Library Journal

Steve Berry is the New York Times bestselling author of The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room. His books have been translated into 37 languages and sold in 50 countries. He lives on the Georgia coast and is currently at work on his next novel. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have founded History Matters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving our heritage.