SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL: September 2012

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Trust in Linwood Barclay's “Eyes”

Well today is when Linwood Barclay’s tremendous thriller TRUST YOUR EYES is released from Orion Publishing, and we have other big news about this rip-roaring novel.

When I read an exceptional crime / thriller, I am known for my excitability, and when I put this book down, it felt like I had been mainlining espresso into my aorta. I have followed Linwood Barclay’s work since his breakout novel NO TIME FOR GOODBYE, and as much as I found last years THE ACCIDENT captivating, little prepared me for the intensity and elegance of TRUST YOUR EYES. During the reading experience, I found myself laughing, touched, puzzled, horrified and even as a reader who sees well beyond ‘technical miss-direction’ in a narrative, this book got me every time.

We have published a feature review at Shots today to celebrate the launch of Trust Your Eyes and it is one of my lengthier peices, though there are no plot spoilers, it does contain considerable detail, and analysis, so you have been warned - it is located here. This feature has been edited down by our Editor Mike Stotter, and an even more lengthy review and analysis with an interview with Linwood is featured later this week at Jeff Peirce’s The Rap Sheet.

After reading the last word, I sat in total silence - then I re-read the prologue, and then understood the significance of what I considered Barclay’s theme in Trust Your Eyes. The windows that we open in our lives to show people who we are, may have less significance than what we don’t show people; because most of the time we place curtains over these windows in order to protect ourselves from what fate, circumstance and the decisions we’ve made have shaped who we are. Many times these glimpses can be very ugly, that’s why the view from the window should be guarded. Revealing one’s inner self sometimes allows us to understand how we became who we are.

Added to the UK release of TRUST YOUR EYES comes this news from Hollywood’s Variety –

Warner Bros. is entrusting Canadian author Linwood Barclay's novel "Trust Your Eyes" to an unlikely on-the-lot favorite son -- "Hangover" helmer Todd Phillips, who's agreed to direct his first thriller for the studio.

Phillips' production banner Green Hat Films has a first-look deal at WB, which won the book in a bidding war. Studio has been supportive of Phillips' decision to branch out into other genres after a string of hit comedies, including "Due Date" and the "Hangover" trilogy.

Phillips will produce and Jon Silk will co-produce. Barclay will exec produce with Scott Budnick and Mark O'Connor of Green Hat. WB exec Niija Kuykendall will oversee for the studio.-

Described as a cross between Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" and Barry Levinson's "Rain Man," story follows a schizophrenic, map-obsessed savant who witnesses a murder online on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He insists that his older brother investigate, and the siblings cross paths with a politically connected ex-cop and his ice pick-wielding henchwoman.

APA's Steven Fisher negotiated the film deal, while Helen Heller repped the book deal.

Mons Kallentoft's Travelling Road Show

Today's guest blog is by Mons Kallentoft. His debut novel Pesetas was awarded the Swedish Writers Union’s Award for Best Debut Novel, the Katapult Prize. He is most widely known for his crime series about Police Inspector Malin Fors, which takes place in the Swedish town of Linköping, Kallentoft's place of birth. The series consists of six books and the first one, “Midwinter Sacrifice”, has been translated into more than fifteen languages.

He has also won several prizes, such as the Gourmand World Cookbook Award (2005), the Hagdahl Prize (2008) and Primo Espana (2009).

The last few years I have been on the road a lot, travelling from country to country, from festival to festival, talking about my books and my heroine Malin Fors.

I love these trips.

I love meeting readers, fellow writers and the nice intelligent people in the book business. I like to give interviews to interested journalists, not yet completely tired of us Scandinavian crime writers.

What I don’t like are all the flights, the loneliness of hotel rooms, and the sadness when I hear my children’s voices on the telephone: ’When are you coming home, Daddy?’

Tomorrow.

Or the day after that.

I usually hit a bar after those phone calls. A cold beer or something much stronger. If I am in France, I reward myself with a too-expensive Burgundy. I did that recently in Edinburgh as well, in the rather dull fine dining restaurant at The Balmoral Hotel. I drank a homesick bottle of burgundy on my own and thought; what am I doing here?

Apart from that, I had a nice time in Edinburgh.

Many of my British colleagues are manic jokers; they can´t open their mouths without cracking a joke, it seems. I am not much of a comedian and while I certainly love my colleagues’ company and the entertainment of it all, it makes me feel like a stiff polar bear with a frozen sense of the world. Don´t take it so bloody seriously, man, I say to myself. Relax. Tell a Viking joke.

One fixture on the travelling writer’s scene is R J Ellory. A serious fellow like me, and regarded as a bit pompous by many. I always found him nice, but when I met him outside Paris after Midwinter Sacrifice had been successful in the UK, I had the sense that he saw me as just another competitor, best ignored.

Or worse.

It was with sadness and some amusement that I read about his sock-puppeting.

Why do it?

It is not just a thing you do.

His books have not received much attention here in Sweden. But his sock-puppeting made quite a stir.

This is another sad thing. Good books don´t always travel well. Mistakes always do.

I read A Quiet Belief in Angels and thought it was a good novel, daring within the genre, risk-taking as few crime novels are.

I am writing this in bed in Stockholm, thinking about the time I was on Polish morning television. The guest before me was R2D2 of Star Wars fame. I was tired, hungover, and a bit high on pain medication for my bad back and simply not in the mood for a translated conversation with a robot in Polish. My handler was not happy after the show: ’You didn’t smile’, was the verdict.

But I am smiling now. At the memory of the aggressive little robot.

A big wide killer of a smile.

Tomorrow the travelling road show that is me goes to Gothenburg, to the annual book fair. It is the big party of the Swedish book industry, and can best be described as one long hangover for everybody. It is great fun, and in Sweden, I am considered something of a man about town, so I am a fish in the right water there.

After that, I am scheduled to go to Rome, then to Canada, then to . . .

I don’t know where yet. But there will be more of those nice, funny people to meet. And more of those dreaded phone calls.

I realise I am a lucky man. I get to live in many worlds. Both a stranger and not.

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Gary Phillips in BIG WATER

At Shots, we’re big followers of award-winning crime writer and graphic novel writer Gary Phillips, as we first met Gary when he visited London’s Crimescene Event as a guest of honour with actor Richard Widmark in 2002

We’re excited about his new venture BIG WATER, which he’s working with Gilda Haas, via Kickstarter. We also support worthy enterprises that use Crime / Thriller Fiction as a springboard to influence our world for the better.

This Video Explains the concept of BIG WATER –

The Team is halfway there to get this graphic novel out, and apart from a great story from LA’s coolest dude Gary Phillips it also address an important issue, often neglected by the media, and something that will become important to all of us in the future – the control of water.

If the video does not play on your PC, you may need to upgrade your browser or click Here

BACKGROUND

Water –– who owns it, who controls it –– that's the world's biggest environmental struggle. Water, an essential life force that makes up 60% of our bodies and 70% of the planet, is being commodified, corporatized, and stolen from the people.

In BIG WATER we’re using the medium of the graphic novel to tell an entertaining and informative tale about the fight to keep the water flowing, written by mystery writer Gary Phillips [The Rinse, The Warlord of Willow Ridge].

OUR STORY

BIG WATER takes place in the fictional Southeast L.A. town of Bell Park, where local activists, led by home town organizer Melinda Cruz, are fighting to keep their water out of private hands. Meanwhile across town, the Double Six designer water label, where Melinda’s kid brother Jaime is a sales rep, is backing the privatization play so as to take over Bell Park’s historic aquifer.

WHO WE ARE

BIG WATER is brought to you by Dr. Pop, your friendly neighborhood website that breaks down complicated issues about the economy, democracy, and the city in simple and intriguing ways.

WHERE YOU COME IN

Gary's script has been written, and we are now raising money to:

1. Hire the talented Mani Magalhães (Bicycle Cop Dave, Brand & Reese, Vincent Price Presents) to produce the sequential illustrations.

2. Publish the book.

3. Get BIG WATER into the hands of the eager masses.

More information Here

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FROM GARY PHILLIPS AND GILDA HAAS

For information about the work of Gary Phillips Click Here [from last month’s Publishers Weekly Special Feature] and Click here for information about his work from PM Press.

We do hope you get involved in BIG WATER and support this venture.

Monday, 24 September 2012

Sakey’s Scar Tissue

The Shots team would like you to support the efforts of bestselling writer Marcus Sakey as he supports a charity close to his heart, one that battles childhood cancer. Marcus Sakey is releasing an eBook entitled Scar Tissue to raise funds for the Team Julian Foundation. Marcus spoke candidly about this venture with Joe Konrath here

The Team Julian Foundation, a not-for-profit that raises research funds for childhood cancer, is teaming up with an acclaimed thriller novelist to raise money through e-book sales. The foundation was started by The Boivin family in memory of their son Julian who was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor at the age of 4. Marcus Sakey, television host and author living in Chicago, is a personal friend of Brad and Nettie Boivin, and together, they are using the growing popularity of e-books to raise money for a worthy cause.

Marcus Sakey published his first book in 2007, but his friendship with the Boivin’s and their son Julian started long before his writing success. Seeing first-hand how the popularity of e-books and independent publishing is changing the publishing industry, decided to use his readership to raise money for the cause. He collected seven short stories and published the e-anthology, Scar Tissue. During the month of September, Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, 100% of the proceeds will go directly to the Team Julian Foundation. After that, he will contribute 50% of the proceeds.

Sakey knew Julian since he was born and he was a sweet, happy-go-lucky kid. But Julian’s life changed dramatically one terrible morning in 2010 when he woke up feeling disoriented. His parents rushed him to the hospital, where Julian was diagnosed with an atypical brain stem glioma.

“One of the most terrifying nightmares a parent could ever face is learning that their child has cancer,” Nettie Boivin recalls. “What’s worse is when they’re told that a cure does not exist.”

The Boivins lost their son just 7 months later and created Team Julian shortly thereafter. Since its inception, the foundation has raised over $100K for pediatric cancer research. It is completely volunteer- based which means funds go directly to supporting research that ultimately leads to breakthroughs in cures for brain tumors and childhood cancer.

The e-book revolution has already changed the way we read, but now, it’s changing our ability to raise funds. Unlike gala dinners or organized walks, Scar Tissue will provide funds to the Team Julian foundation for years to come.

Boivin states, “Knowing Julian’s friendship with Marcus and their affinity for playing out stories of good and evil, Jules would be so proud to know his pal has joined forces to beat the ultimate bad guy - pediatric cancer.”

Buy Scar Tissue from : Amazon – B&N

More information available from –

www.TheTeamJulianFoundation.com

www.MarcusSakey.com

Shots would like to thank Dana Kaye of Kaye Publicity for alerting us about this venture

Friday, 21 September 2012

The Relentless American

I’ve enjoyed Simon Kernick’s crime and thrillers for over a decade now, being energized by his early police procedurals featuring corrupt cop [turned hit-man] Dennis Milne. Simon debuted with ‘The Business of Dying’ in 1991, and followed up his furious London-based police action with The Murder Exchange, A Good Day to Die and The Crime Trade. I always wonder where the time went, as I recall vividly going to my first Bouchercon in 2003 with Simon in Las Vegas. We also went, with Sarah Weinman to the very first Harrogate crime writing festival in the same year. We found time to record a lengthy interview with Paul Johnston at the last Dead-on-Deansgate Crime Convention, meet up and interviewed Lawrence Block when he was presented with the Diamond Dagger Award by the British Crime Writers Association. We even went to a waste oil recycling plant in the East End of London. Our visit to this industrial plant was integral to the plot of one of his novels. During the visit, the hard-man of crime fiction felt somewhat queasy due to the pervading stench produced in the chemical process.

Simon changed writing direction radically in 2007 turning his hand away from the police procedural into thriller territory, with Relentless, a novel printed on solidified adrenaline. It was greeted to great acclaim winning the Richard and Judy Award in 2007, other winners in the crime and thriller category have been R J Ellory [A Quiet Belief in Angels], Linwood Barclay [No Time for Goodbye], Gregg Hurwitz [You’re Next] among others. The Richard and Judy Award in the UK is akin to the Oprah Winfrey Book Club awards.

So while at Harrogate earlier this year I got talking to Simon asking when would his thrillers finally surface in US; as several of my American colleagues were asking when they could access these titles, so I asked Simon to let us know -

Relentless, which is released on ebook in the US on September 18th at a special introductory price of $2.99, is my fifth novel, and my first one published in the States for seven years. I’ve recently signed a four book deal with Simon & Schuster, which will see Relentless and The Last Ten Seconds out in ebook this year, before my latest, Siege, is released in paperback next spring.

And I’ve got to say, after all this time it’s good to be back. I’ve still got a lot of readers and friends in the US from the time when my early books were published, and I’m looking forward to renewing acquaintances. I’ve also had a huge amount of encouragement from American writers like Harlan Coben and Lee Child, who’ve said some really nice things about my work, so I’m hoping to reach a lot more people with the books this time round.

Relentless is a good great one to be starting with too, as it was my breakout book. To date it’s sold over 400,000 copies in the UK, and 300,000 more copies overseas. It’s a high-octane, twisting and turning, thriller about an ordinary suburban man, Tom Meron, who suddenly finds himself on the run from a group of ruthless killers. With his wife missing, and wanted for murder, Tom only has hours to find out why he’s being targeted before his luck runs out.

Take a look at it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Following Relentless, he continued his thriller theme with Severed which was based upon a nightmare Kernick suffered, which he detailed here. Long known for his late nights and drinking, one night when Mike Stotter, Micheal Marshall, Simon Kernick and I were drinking late at the opening party on Thursday at Crimefest 2008; at 4am Friday Morning, the Shots Editor-in–Chief Mike Stotter asked if [when Simon had the nightmare that lead to the plot of Relentless] he had wet his bed? We all roared laughing, especially Simon, as he has very good sense of humour, something he deploys to bring relief to the unbearable tension he ratchets up in this thriller novels.

Though full of life and fun, Simon Kernick takes his writing very seriously, and is on the board at The Crime Writers Association and always working hard promoting literacy.

I urge you to explore the threatening world of Simon Kernick’s thrillers now that they are available in the US in eBook editions.

More information is available here

Bottom Photo of Simon Kernick being interviewed by ITV3 at Theakston's Old Peculiar Crime Writing Festival 2011

Thursday, 20 September 2012

A Dark Place to Die with Ed Chatterton

Today's guest blog is an interview of author Ed Chatterton by Nick Quantrill.

Ed Chatterton has worked at various points as an illustrator, written for children and set up his own design company. Nick Quantrill talks to Ed about his first adult novel, “A Dark Place To Die”, a slice of ‘Brit Grit’ set in Liverpool and Australia.

NQ – Congratulation on a great crime debut, Ed. In your own words, what’s “A Dark Place To Die” all about?

EC – Thanks for the compliment, Nick. ‘A Dark Place To Die’ focuses on Menno Koopman, an ex-Liverpool cop with Dutch ancestry and freshly-retired to Australia, who is sucked back into his old world when a burnt body is discovered amongst Antony Gormley’s iron men sculptures on a Liverpool beach. The victim turns out to be connected on a personal level with Koopman and he returns to his home city to conduct his own investigation. The killing on the beach is the start of a story about a large scale drug deal gone wrong between Liverpool and an organised gang operating out of Australia’s Gold Coast. The violence escalates in unexpected and savage ways as Koopman, and his protege, DI Frank Keane, dig deeper into the case.

NQ – Although it’s your first crime novel, it’s certainly not your first appearance in print, is it?

EC – No, I have been writing children’s fiction for almost twenty years. Mostly that’s been for upper primary levels with a few YA novels in there too. ‘A Dark Place To Die’ is actually my 32nd book as a writer. There have been a couple of forays into crime fiction before within the world of children’s books. Two other YA novels: ‘The Brain Finds A Leg’ (Little Hare) and ‘Michigan Moorcroft RIP’ (Scholastic), although surreally comedic, were essentially crime books. I started out as an illustrator - which is something I still do - and I have probably illustrated around 140 books in total.

NQ – Why did you want to write a crime novel? Have you always been a big reader of the genre?

EC - I found that I was becoming slightly frustrated operating within the boundaries of children’s fiction. Don’t get me wrong: I’ll continue to write for children if there’s a demand, but I wanted to write about subjects that interested me (primarily violence, sex and death!) without being constrained by the age of the reader. There was also the aspect of the sophistication of the language. Although I’ve always written ‘up’ in my children’s fiction, there are concepts and language that you can only use when writing for adults. I was prodded into action by meeting another children’s writer, Phillip Gwynne, at an event. His first crime novel (‘The Build Up’) had just been published and I was incredibly envious; an underrated emotion I always think. Prompted by envy, I set about writing what turned out to be ‘A Dark Place To Die’ which I had been kicking around since 2002 when I was living in the US.

I have always been a big crime reader; from Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie as a child through to my current tastes which lean towards Elmore Leonard, George Pelecanos and Patricia Highsmith. I believe that the very best writers are working in crime fiction. Almost every feted writer I read appears flabby and self-indulgent when placed next to Leonard or Pelecanos. That doesn’t mean there aren’t terrible crime writers: there are, far too many, but if there’s a better book by a living writer than ‘Get Shorty’ then I’d like to see it. I think also that the way Pelecanos weaves his home town of Washington DC into his work, without it ever becoming claustrophobic or cloying, is masterful.

NQ – Turning back to “A Dark Place To Die”, the split location between Liverpool and Australia is very intriguing and one of the novel’s major strengths. Did the character of Menno Koopman, a Liverpudlian now settled in Australia draw heavily on your own background?

EC – Yes, probably it did although there are a number of key differences. I was at the Brisbane Writers Festival a few weeks ago appearing with the Swedish crime writer, Asa Larsson, and she made the comment that it is often in the first novel that a writer uses the most personal stuff. I agree to an extent but I think because this is not my first fiction (by a long shot) there is perhaps less than with most ‘new’ writers. I picked the name Menno Koopman from a Dutch guy I play football with as I wanted him to have a less than typical Liverpool background. I didn’t want the book(s) to be too ‘scouse’ in flavour as I think that being too much in love with your setting can be a problem if you want readers from elsewhere. The reason for the settings is the old adage of ‘write what you know’. That sentiment isn’t something I completely agree with but it helped me in this case. The contrast between the apparent paradise of Australia and the grit of Liverpool was appealing although I won’t be revisiting the Australian setting in the sequel.

NQ – And in relation to Liverpool as a setting, it seems to be one of the great British cities which is very much underrepresented in crime writing. What do you think makes it a place worth exploring?

EC - I’m an emigrant which I feel gives me a more objective view of the place and one of the things I wanted to do was not to be too ‘local’. Liverpool is a big city with a massive global history. I don’t think it thinks of itself as English and I have tried where possible to reflect that. Its history as a port - a spectacularly bloody one when you think about the emergence of the place through the slave trade - makes it a great starting point for stories which begin ‘small’ and expand. I find that the city seems to have more in common with places like New York, Boston, Dublin, Hamburg and Glasgow than other English cities, largely because of its one time importance as a port, but also because of a long-standing multi-cultural mix.

The crime rates in Liverpool are no worse than elsewhere but there is a streak of almost piratical entrepreneurship at work in the criminal psyche which makes it interesting as a writer. There’s a small reference I make in the book about the Liver Bird being an appropriate symbol for Liverpool due to it being based on a poorly-copied drawing of an eagle. The result was a new creature. There’s something very Liverpool about that.

NQ – One of the most striking things to me is that although “A Dark Place To Die” is billed as a police procedural, we don’t learn an awful lot about DI Keane and DS Harris away from their work. It’s maybe a little unusual. Was that a deliberate decision?

EC – Yes, it was. As a fan of George Pelecanos I wanted to have a series that while utilising characters who re-occur in book to book, the size of the roles they play in each book are not predetermined. So, for example, while ‘A Dark Place To Die’ has at its centre the character of Menno Koopman, the sequel shifts emphasis to Frank Keane and, to a lesser extent, Emily Harris. The third book will probably move Emily Harris to the forefront. I like this approach in the books I read so I’m hoping it will appeal to my readers. The ‘police procedural’ is a little bit of a misnomer. I deliberately didn’t get the manuscript read by anyone connected to the police force although I do have several good contacts. This was because I don’t want to get bogged down in the endless detail of bureaucracy. From a narrative point of view the ‘correct’ procedure is often the dullest. I tried to be as accurate as I could - just so long as it didn’t impede the narrative or make the characters less believable. Keane and Harris’s lack of background came from knowing a number of coppers who like to keep things very close to the chest. Koopman, being retired and having a very unusual home life, is fair game. The character of Keane will emerge more slowly; just like any relationship with a real-life copper. They don’t give too much personal information away.

NQ – On the other hand, many of the peripheral characters are so vivid and rich, maybe they have the potential to reappear in future work. I’m thinking about Gittings, the washed-up alcoholic former Merseyside police officer and Warren Eckhardt who handles the Australian side of the investigation. Again, was that deliberate or just an example of those happy accidents which occur when you’re writing?

EC – I love peripheral characters and Eckhardt is one of my favourites. It’s easy to write these kind of characters but I didn’t want to have anyone like that at the forefront. The reason is one of believability; I’m a bit sick of reading cop novels in which the main character is peppered with flaws and psychological ticks. I think you can get away with that in the more minor characters. Warren Eckhardt reappears in book two in the series but I’m afraid Gittings is no more.

NQ – The novel has been out for a while now in Australia. What kind of reception has it had?

EC – It’s had a really good reception. It was Random House Book of the Month in August and the feedback from reviewers and readers has been uniformly positive. It has also been optioned by a movie company which is pretty exciting. One of the unexpected things has been that over here I am now seen as representing the really dark, gritty, grungy end of the crime spectrum. I appeared on a recent festival panel called ‘I Like It Confronting’ in which I was there as the representative of hard-nosed, edgy fiction. I’m in a schizophrenic place right now with the book coming out in the UK. My feeling is that when books two and three come out I will be seen as a British crime writer, not an Australian (at festivals many people assume I’m visiting Australia).

NQ – And what can we expect next? Will the next novel be set solely in Liverpool?

EC - I have just completed the first draft of the second book. I wish I could give you the title but I’m still arm-wrestling with Random House about what it will be called. My suggestions: ‘In The Belly Of The Beast’ and ‘From The Cradle To The Grave’ had a lukewarm reception . . . but we’ll come to a gentlemanly agreement soon. What I can tell you is that the setting is Liverpool and Los Angeles and centres around the movie business (Liverpool is, after London, the most used film location in the UK). Australia doesn’t get a look in although Koopman and Eckhardt do figure. This story begins with a murder-suicide in a leafy middle-class suburb (it’s actually set in my old next-door neighbour’s house). Keane and Harris soon discover that the apparently simple case has wider implications. Without giving too much away I can say that the Liverpool end of things focuses on a movie being made in the city which has as its subject the Joseph Williamson Tunnels. These tunnels (which are real) were built by an eccentric Victorian for no apparent reason. They run for hundreds of metres under the city and range in size from narrow crawl spaces to huge arched caverns. The labyrinthine setting echoes the theme of the novel which is (cue drum roll) based on the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur. As with ‘A Dark Place To Die’, there is blood, there is sex and there is realism as the narrative unfolds in an unexpected but believable way. From dead dentists to global conspiracies in 500 pages.

A Dark Place to Die by Ed Chatterton is published 27th September (Arrow)

More information about Ed and his writing can be found on his website.

Tuesday, 18 September 2012

Marshall’s Killer Move

It’s been over a decade since Michael Marshall Smith, truncated his name and entered the world of crime / thriller fiction with the worldwide bestseller THE STRAW MEN. This novel of his The Straw Men established Michael Marshall as writer of crime thrillers that saw the world slightly off kilter, almost from a parallaxed view, unsettling, disturbing and most of all - different.

He followed up this startling novel with two further novels that explored this terrifying theme, THE LONELY DEAD, and BLOOD OF ANGELS. He wrote an essay for Shots on why he had made The Straw Men into a trilogy and what compelled him to write such disturbing work.

He followed up this trilogy with two equally unsettling thrillers, THE INTRUDERS and BAD THINGS. Since then we’ve had a gap in his novels as Michael has been occupied writing for the screen, and splitting his time between California and London. He recently joined the crime fiction cabal at Orion Publishing with his novel KILLER MOVE, which has just been released in Paperback in the UK and by William Morrow in the US, and again prepare to be unsettled –

Bill Moore already has a lot, but he wants more... much more.

He's got a lucrative job selling condos in the Florida Keys, a successful wife, a good marriage, a beautiful house. He also has a five-year plan for supersuccess, but that plan has begun to drag into its sixth year without reaping its intended rewards. So now Bill's starting to mix it up—just a little—to accelerate his way into the future that he knows he deserves.

Then one morning Bill arrives at work to find a card waiting for him, with no indication who it's from or why it was sent. Its message is just one word: modified.

From that moment on, Bill's life begins to change.

At first, nothing seems very different. But when things begin to unwind rapidly, and one after another, people around Bill start to die, it becomes increasingly clear that someone somewhere has a very different plan for Bill's future.

Confused and angry, Bill begins to fight against this unseen force until he comes to a terrifying, inescapable realization: Once modified, there's no going back.

Michael came to London to launch the Paperback of Killer Move, with Mike Stotter and Ali Karim from Shots invited to join some of the London Critics for lunch and drinks. As a long term reader of Michael’s work, I am excited to see that he has a new and highly anticipated novel due in March 2013 from Orion Publishing entitled THE FORGOTTEN.

Shots Ezine thanks Angela McMahon of Orion Publishing in having organized a special competition to celebrate the return of Michael Marshall in print with a prize of a signed paperback copy of KILLER MOVE.

All you have to do is answer this simple question –

Name the title of Michael Marshall Smith’s debut novel released in 1994.

Hint - it was the winner of the August Derleth Award [1995] and Philip K. Dick Award [2000]

[a] Only Backward

[b] Only Sideways

[d] Only Forward

[e] The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch

Send your answer in an email to shotscomp@yahoo.co.uk marking the subject line “KILLER MOVE” and please include a postal address.

The Closing date for entries is 1 / November / 2012 12:00:00 AM

Terms and Conditions for the competition are below –

Good Luck, and if you've not read Michael Marshall or Michael Marshall Smith or even M.M. Smith - you have some wonderful books and short stories ahead of you Click this link to learn more > http://www.michaelmarshallsmith.com

Terms and conditions for the Michael Marshall "Killer Move" Competition

Closing date for entries is 1 / November / 2012 12:00:00 AM
All correct entries will be entered into a prize draw and the first correct answer picked at random on 2nd / November / 2012 will be declared the winner of the book.
The winner will be notified by email within 14 days of the promotion closing date and is required to accept their prize by email or phone call within 14 days of notification.
In the event of non-acceptance within the specified period, the promoter reserves the right to reallocate the prize to the next randomly drawn correct and valid entry.
The winner will be notified within 28 days of the closing date. No responsibility can be accepted for lost or misplaced entries
The prize is non-transferable and there is no cash alternative
Only one entry per person
Incorrect or illegible answers or entries received after the entry date will not be entered into the prize draw
The judges decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into
No geographical restrictions

Friday, 14 September 2012

Current List of authors and titles available from The Murder Room

Boucher, Anthony Nine Times Nine

Boucher, Anthony Rocket to the Morgue

Boucher, Anthony The Case of the Seven of Calvary

Boucher, Anthony The Case of the Crumpled Knave

Cain, James M. Double Indemnity

Cain, James M. Mildred Pierce

Cain, James M. Serenade

Cain, James M. The Postman Always Rings Twice

Chase, James Hadley Come Easy - Go Easy

Chase, James Hadley Eve

Chase, James Hadley Just Another Sucker

Chase, James Hadley Mission to Sienna

Chase, James Hadley Mission to Venice

Chase, James Hadley More Deadly Than the Male

Chase, James Hadley No Orchids for Miss Blandish

Chase, James Hadley Not Safe to Be Free

Chase, James Hadley Shock Treatment

Chase, James Hadley What's Better Than Money

Cheyney, Peter The Man is Dangerous

Cheyney, Peter Poison Ivy

Cheyney, Peter Dames Don't Care

Cheyney, Peter Can Ladies Kill?

Cheyney, Peter Don’t Get Me Wrong

Cheyney, Peter You'd Be Surprised

Cheyney, Peter Your Deal, My Lovely

Cheyney, Peter Never a Dull Moment

Cheyney, Peter You Can Always Duck

Cheyney, Peter I'll Say She Does

Ellin, Stanley The Stronghold

Ellin, Stanley The Luxembourg Run

Ellin, Stanley Very Old Money

Ellin, Stanley The Speciality of the House

Ellin, Stanley The Eighth Circle

Fleming, Joan Two Lovers Too Many

Fleming, Joan The Man Who Looked Back

Fleming, Joan A Daisy-Chain for Satan

Fleming, Joan The Deeds of Dr Deadcert

Fleming, Joan The Gallows in my Garden

Fleming, Joan The Good and the Bad

Fleming, Joan He Ought to be Shot

Fleming, Joan Maiden's Prayer

Fleming, Joan Polly Put the Kettle On

Fleming, Joan You Can't Believe your Eyes

Gores, Joe Hammett

Gores, Joe Interface

Gores, Joe Spade and Archer

Higgins, George V. The Friends of Eddie Coyle

Higgins, George V. Cogan's Trade

Household, Geoffrey The Courtesy of Death

Household, Geoffrey Doom's Caravan

Household, Geoffrey Face to the Sun

Household, Geoffrey The Last Two Weeks of Georges Rivac

Household, Geoffrey Red Anger

Household, Geoffrey Summon the Bright Water

Hubbard, P. M. The Causeway

Hubbard, P. M. Cold Waters

Hubbard, P. M. The Custom of the Country

Hubbard, P. M. The Dancing Man

Hubbard, P. M. Flush as May

Hubbard, P. M. The Graveyard

James, Bill You'd Better Believe It

James, Bill The Lolita Man

James, Bill Halo Parade

James, Bill Protection

James, Bill Come Clean

James, Bill Take

Kaye, M. M. Death in Kashmir

Kaye, M. M. Death in Berlin

Kaye, M. M. Death in Cyprus

Kaye, M. M. Death in Kenya

Kaye, M. M. Death in Zanzibar

Kaye, M. M. Death in the Andamans

Knox, Ronald The Body in the Silo

Knox, Ronald Double Cross Purposes

Knox, Ronald The Footsteps at the Lock

Knox, Ronald Still Dead

Knox, Ronald The Three Taps

Knox, Ronald The Viaduct Murder

MacDonald, Ross Black Money

Margaret Millar Beast in View

Meynell, Laurence Danger Round the Corner

Meynell, Laurence The Frightened Man

Meynell, Laurence Too Clever By Half

Meynell, Laurence Death By Arrangement

Meynell, Laurence The Thirteen Trumpeters

Meynell, Laurence The Fairly Innocent Little Man

Price, Anthony The Labyrinth Makers

Price, Anthony The Alamut Ambush

Price, Anthony Colonel Butler's Wolf

Price, Anthony October Men

Price, Anthony Other Paths to Glory

Price, Anthony Our Man in Camelot

Price, Anthony War Game

Price, Anthony The '44 Vintage

Price, Anthony Tomorrow's Ghost

Price, Anthony The Hour of the Donkey

Price, Anthony Soldier No More

Price, Anthony The Old Vengeful

Price, Anthony Gunner Kelly

Price, Anthony Sion Crossing

Price, Anthony Here Be Monsters

Price, Anthony For the Good of the State

Price, Anthony A New Kind of War

Price, Anthony A Prospect of Vengeance

Price, Anthony The Memory Trap

Thompson, Jim The Getaway

Thompson, Jim The Killer Inside Me

Thompson, Jim After Dark, My Sweet

Thompson, Jim Pop 1280

Thompson, Jim The Grifters

Thompson, Jim A Hell of a Woman

Thompson, Jim A Swell-Looking Babe

Thompson, Jim Nothing More Than Murder

Thompson, Jim Savage Night

Household, Geoffrey Watcher in the Shadows

Household, Geoffrey A Time to Kill

Chase, James Hadley A Can of Worms

Chase, James Hadley A Coffin From Hong Kong

Chase, James Hadley An Ace Up My Sleeve

Chase, James Hadley An Ear to the Ground

Chase, James Hadley Believe This . . . You'll Believe Anything

Chase, James Hadley Believed Violent

Chase, James Hadley Consider Yourself Dead

Chase, James Hadley Do Me a Favour, Drop Dead

Chase, James Hadley Goldfish Have No Hiding Place

Chase, James Hadley Have a Nice Night

Chase, James Hadley Hand Me a Fig Leaf

Chase, James Hadley Have a Change of Scene

Chase, James Hadley Have This One on Me

Chase, James Hadley Hit Them Where it Hurts

Chase, James Hadley I Hold the Four Aces

Chase, James Hadley I Would Rather Stay Poor

Chase, James Hadley Just a Matter of Time

Chase, James Hadley Knock, Knock! Who's There?

Chase, James Hadley Like a Hole in the Head

Chase, James Hadley My Laugh Comes Last

Chase, James Hadley Not My Thing

Chase, James Hadley One Bright Summer Morning

Chase, James Hadley So What Happens to Me?

Chase, James Hadley Tell it to the Birds

Chase, James Hadley The Joker in the Pack

Chase, James Hadley The Soft Centre

Chase, James Hadley The Vulture is a Patient Bird

Chase, James Hadley The Whiff of Money

Chase, James Hadley Try This One For Size

Chase, James Hadley Want to Stay Alive?

Chase, James Hadley We'll Share a Double Funeral

Chase, James Hadley Well Now, My Pretty

Chase, James Hadley You Can Say That Again

Chase, James Hadley You Have Yourself a Deal

Chase, James Hadley You Must be Kidding

Chase, James Hadley You're Dead Without Money

Cheyney, Peter Urgent Hangman

Cheyney, Peter Dangerous Curves

Cheyney, Peter You Can't Keep the Change

Cheyney, Peter It Couldn't Matter Less

Cheyney, Peter Sorry You've Been Troubled

Cheyney, Peter They Never Say When

Cheyney, Peter Uneasy Terms

Cheyney, Peter Dark Duet

Cheyney, Peter The Stars Are Dark

Cheyney, Peter The Dark Street

Cheyney, Peter Sinister Errand

Cheyney, Peter Dark Hero

Cheyney, Peter Dark Interlude

Cheyney, Peter Dark Wanton

Cheyney, Peter Dark Bahama

Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Sherlock Holmes's Greatest Cases

Connington, J. J. Almighty Gold

Connington, J. J. The Boathouse Riddle

Connington, J. J. The Case with Nine Solutions

Connington, J. J. The Castleford Conundrum

Connington, J. J. Commonsense Is All You Need

Connington, J. J. The Counsellor

Connington, J. J. The Dangerfield Talisman

Connington, J. J. Death at Swaythling Court

Connington, J. J. The Eye in the Museum

Connington, J. J. For Murder Will Speak (AKA Murder Will Speak)

Connington, J. J. The Four Defences

Connington, J. J. The Ha-Ha Case (AKA The Brandon Case)

Connington, J. J. In Whose Dim Shadow (AKA The Tau Cross Mystery)

Connington, J. J. Jack-In-The-Box

Connington, J. J. A Minor Operation

Connington, J. J. Murder in the Maze

Connington, J. J. Mystery at Lynden Sands

Connington, J. J. Nemesis at Raynham Parva (AKA Grim Vengeance)

Connington, J. J. No Past is Dead

Connington, J. J. Nordenholt's Million

Connington, J. J. The Sweepstake Murders

Connington, J. J. Tom Tiddler's Island (AKA Gold Brick Island)

Connington, J. J. Tragedy at Ravensthorpe

Connington, J. J. Truth Comes Limping

Connington, J. J. The Twenty-One Clues

Connington, J. J. The Two Tickets Puzzle (AKA The Two Ticket Puzzle)

Fleming, Joan Alas, Poor Father

Fleming, Joan The Chill and the Kill

Fleming, Joan Death of a Sardine

Fleming, Joan Dirty Butter for Servants

Fleming, Joan Every Inch a Lady

Fleming, Joan Grim Death and the Barrow Boys

Fleming, Joan Hell's Belle

Fleming, Joan How to Live Dangerously

Fleming, Joan In the Red

Fleming, Joan Kill or Cure

Fleming, Joan Malice Matrimonial

Fleming, Joan The Man From Nowhere

Fleming, Joan Midnight Hag

Fleming, Joan Miss Bones

Fleming, Joan No Bones About It

Fleming, Joan Nothing is the Number When you Die

Fleming, Joan Screams From a Penny Dreadful

Fleming, Joan To Make an Underworld

Fleming, Joan Too Late! Too Late! The Maiden Cried

Fleming, Joan You Won't Let me Finish

Gores, Joe Hammett

Gores, Joe Interface

Gores, Joe Space and Archer

Higgins, George V. At End of Day

Higgins, George V. The Digger's Game

Higgins, George V. Outlaws

Higgins, George V. The Patriot Game

Higgins, George V. The Rat on Fire

Hubbard, P. M. High Tide

Hubbard, P. M. A Hive of Glass

Hubbard, P. M. Kill Claudio

Hubbard, P. M. Picture of Millie

Hubbard, P. M. The Quiet River

Hubbard, P. M. A Rooted Sorrow

Hubbard, P. M. A Thirsty Evil

Hubbard, P. M. The Tower

Hubbard, P. M. The Whisper in the Glen

James, Bill Club

James, Bill Astride a Grave

James, Bill Gospel

James, Bill Roses, Roses

James, Bill In Good Hands

James, Bill The Detective is Dead

James, Bill Top Banana

James, Bill Panicking Ralph

James, Bill Lovely Mover

James, Bill Eton Crop

James, Bill Kill Me

James, Bill Pay Days

James, Bill Naked at the Window

James, Bill The Girl With the Long Back

James, Bill Easy Streets

James, Bill Wolves of Memory

James, Bill Girls

James, Bill Pix

James, Bill In the Absence of Iles

James, Bill Hotbed

James, Bill I am Gold

McCloy, Helen Dance of Death

McCloy, Helen The Man in the Moonlight

McCloy, Helen The Deadly Truth

McCloy, Helen Who's Calling

McCloy, Helen Cue for Murder

McCloy, Helen The Goblin Market

McCloy, Helen The One That Got Away

McCloy, Helen Through a Glass, Darkly

McCloy, Helen Alias Basil Willing

McCloy, Helen The Long Body

McCloy, Helen Two-Thirds of a Ghost

McCloy, Helen Mr Splitfoot

McCloy, Helen Burn This

McCloy, Helen The Pleasant Assasin and Other Cases of Dr Basil Willing

McCloy, Helen Panic

McCloy, Helen Before I Die

McCloy, Helen The Imposter

McCloy, Helen The Singing Diamonds and Other Stories

Meynell, Laurence Don't Stop for Hooky Heffernan

Meynell, Laurence Hooky and the Crock of Gold

Meynell, Laurence Lost Half Hour

Meynell, Laurence Hooky Gets the Wooden Spoon

Meynell, Laurence Papersnake

Meynell, Laurence Hooky and the Villainous Chauffeur

Meynell, Laurence Hooky and the Prancing Horse

Meynell, Laurence Hooky Goes to Blazes

Meynell, Laurence Silver Guilt

Meynell, Laurence The Open Door

Meynell, Laurence The Affair at Barwold

Meynell, Laurence Hooky Catches a Tartar

Meynell, Laurence Hooky on Loan

Meynell, Laurence Hooky Hooked

Meynell, Laurence Third Time Unlucky

Meynell, Laurence The Creaking Chair

Meynell, Laurence The Breaking Point

Meynell, Laurence The House in Marsh Road

Meynell, Laurence One Step From Murder

Procter, Maurice Rich is the Treasure

Procter, Maurice The Pub Crawler

Procter, Maurice Three at the Angel

Procter, Maurice The Spearhead Death

Procter, Maurice Devil in the Moonlight

Procter, Maurice The Dog Man

Procter, Maurice I Will Speak Daggers

Procter, Maurice Hell is a City

Procter, Maurice The Midnight Plumber

Procter, Maurice Man in Ambush

Procter, Maurice Killer at Large

Procter, Maurice Devil's Due

Procter, Maurice The Devil was Handsome

Procter, Maurice A Body to Spare

Procter, Maurice Moonlight Flitting

Procter, Maurice Two Men in Twenty

Procter, Maurice Death Has a Shadow (AKA Homicide Blonde)

Procter, Maurice His Weight in Gold

Procter, Maurice Rogue Running

Procter, Maurice Exercise Hoodwink

Procter, Maurice Hideaway

Thomas, Donald Belladonna: A Lewis Carroll Nightmare

Thomas, Donald The Ripper's Apprentice

Thomas, Donald Jekyll, Alias Hyde

Thomas, Donald The Arrest of Scotland Yard

Thomas, Donald Dancing in the Dark

Thomas, Donald Red Flowers for a Lady Blue

Thomas, Donald The Secret Cases of Sherlock Holmes

Thomas, Donald Sherlock Holmes and Running Noose

Thomas, Donald Sherlock Holmes and the Voice From the Crypt

Thomas, Donald Flight of the Eagle

Thomas, Donald Dead Giveaway

Thomas, Donald (as Francis Selwyn) Crackman on Velvet

Thomas, Donald (as Francis Selwyn) The Hangman's Child

Thomas, Donald (as Francis Selwyn) Sergeant Verity Presents his Compliments

Thomas, Donald (as Francis Selwyn) Sergeant Verity and the Blood Royal

Thomas, Donald (as Francis Selwyn) Sergeant Verity and the Imperial Diamond

Underwood, Michael Murder on Trial (1954)

Underwood, Michael Murder Made Absolute (1955)

Underwood, Michael Death on Remand (1956)

Underwood, Michael False Witness (1957)

Underwood, Michael Lawful Pursuit (1958)

Underwood, Michael Arm of the Law (1959)

Underwood, Michael Cause of Death (1960)

Underwood, Michael Death by Misadventure (1960)

Underwood, Michael Adam's Case (1961)

Underwood, Michael The Case Against Philip Quest (1962)

Underwood, Michael Girl Found Dead (1963)

Underwood, Michael The Crime of Colin Wise (1964)

Underwood, Michael The Anxious Conspirator (1965)

Underwood, Michael The Man Who Died on Friday (1967)

Underwood, Michael The Man Who Killed Too Soon (1968)

Underwood, Michael The Shadow Game (1970)

Underwood, Michael Trout in the Milk (1971)

Underwood, Michael Reward for a Defector (1973)

Underwood, Michael The Unprofessional Spy (1975)

Underwood, Michael A Pinch of Snuff (1974)

Underwood, Michael Crime upon Crime (1980)

Underwood, Michael Double Jeopardy (1981)

Underwood, Michael Goddess of Death (1982)

Underwood, Michael A Party to Murder (1983)

Underwood, Michael Death in Camera (1984)

Underwood, Michael The Hidden Man (1985)

Underwood, Michael Death at Deepwood Grange (1986)

Underwood, Michael The Injudicious Judge (1987)

Underwood, Michael The Uninvited Corpse (1987)

Underwood, Michael Dual Enigma (1988)

Underwood, Michael A Compelling Case (1989)

Underwood, Michael A Dangerous Business (1990)

Underwood, Michael Rosa's Dilemma (1990)

Underwood, Michael The Seeds of Murder (1991)

Underwood, Michael Guilty Conscience (1992)

Underwood, Michael The Juror (1975)

Underwood, Michael Menaces, Menaces (1976)

Underwood, Michael The Fatal Trip (1977)

Underwood, Michael Murder with Malice (1977)

Underwood, Michael Crooked Wood (1978)

Underwood, Michael A Crime Apart (1966)

Underwood, Michael Shem's Demise (1970)

Underwood, Michael The Silent Liars (1970)

Underwood, Michael Anything But the Truth (1978)

Underwood, Michael Smooth Justice (1979)

Underwood, Michael Victim of Circumstance (1979)

Underwood, Michael A Clear Case of Suicide (1980)

Underwood, Michael The Hand of Fate (1981)