Mike Stotter and I were looking forward to seeing what Bonnier Books Crime and Thriller Imprint ‘Zaffre’ had in store for 2006/7 – as well as catching up with the Shots Magazine Blogger Ayo Onatade, and our fellow London-based book reviewers.
But first, a digression.
I met up with Mike Stotter for lunch at a Pizzeria in Fitzrovia, followed by Coffee and Dates at a nearby Middle Eastern café. As ever, our conversation centred upon our lives within literature; particularly my excessive reading and Mike’s excessive workload at Piccadilly Publishing. I was heartened to hear that Mike’s publishing house had acquired the western novels of the renowned thriller writer Brian Garfield and had also published The Legend of Hereward a historical novel by the prolific Mike Ripley. I had enjoyed Ripley’s latest novel Played to Death, which I reviewed last month, noting especially - its observational humour and affectionate deconstruction of the golden age crime novel - “Rarely have I enjoyed myself as much as I have reading through this piece of narrative metafiction. Though you have to work for your money, because despite its concise size, the novel has significant heft in provoking thought – which it does with a smile. Though the novel is much darker than it appears from the surface, much like life.” Read my full review HERE
After adjourning to The Bricklayer’s Arms we enjoyed small glasses of Stout. I was delighted to learn that my very dear friend had started writing again. I had been urging him to return to penning his own work, after many years of promoting and publishing the work of others. I have been growing concerned at his relentless workload at Piccadilly Publishing, and [perhaps selfishly] missed becoming lost in tales torn from Mike Stotter’s fevered imagination [Click Here for more information]; work that even Elmore Leonard had commented on “I’ve now seen it all, a Limey writing Westerns” Dutch had laughed when he last visited London and talked with Mike [as they coincidentally had both published stories in the same western collection].
Anyway, it was soon time to venture to the private room [above The Black Horse] that would be hosting the Zaffre Crime & Thriller Showcase.
We were welcomed by the Zaffre team, who treated us to an eclectic array of cocktails and food which was generously provided by Bonnier Books. The display of the upcoming publications reinforced what publisher Ben Willis told us in his welcoming speech “Zaffre’s list can only be described as diverse, spanning all the myriad subgenres that make up crime, mystery and thriller fiction”.
I am also intrigued by an upcoming 2027 novel White Smoke by [the pseudonymous] Nick Brucker, as I had enjoyed his Techno-SF thriller Ascension which he penned under his real name Nicolas Binge. White Smoke was the subject of a publishing bidding war that Zaffre Publisher Ben Willis won. It should be noted that A24 has acquired film rights for White Smoke.
We present a few photographs of the party, and of our mingling - as we talked books and catching up on our lives as well the absurdity of the reality we share.
Shots Magazine would like to thank Alice Dovey, Ben Willis and the Zaffre Team at Bonnier Books for generously hosting an excellent evening that wonderfully showcased their 2026 publications as well as providing an opportunity to talk about books.
Many of the books from Zaffre / Bonnier are available to order currently or for pre-order.
https://www.bonnierbooks.co.uk/imprints/zaffre
No comments:
Post a Comment