Books to look forward to from Quercus and MacLehose Press

Baptism is by Max Kinnings and is due to be published in June 2012.  07:45 Am.  A monk lies dead in Snowdonia, a knife protruding from his throat.  A young family is being held at gunpoint in a house in Wimbledon.  The mission has begun.  08:56 Am.  A London Underground train is stationary in a tunnel, four hundred passengers trapped inside.  All efforts to communicate with it have been met with silence.  09:15Am. DCI Ed Mallory has just started his day.  The Met's top hostage negotiator - despite having been blinded thirteen years earlier - Mallory is about to discover that, today, an underground train is not the only thing on the line.

  

Springtime in St Denis.  It's two weeks before Easter, and Satanism has reared its ugly head.  A female body has been found on a boat, bearing the ghastly signs of a black magic ritual.  The victim is unknown and nobody is coming forward.  This is the last thing Bruno needs.  The Chief of Police-come-culinary connoisseur has too much on his plate as it is, mediating both a domestic abuse case and a local development proposal that seems just too good to be true.  Moreover, he has no one to share these stresses with.  His dog, Gigi, is gone, as are his usual roster of ladies.  He's never felt so alone.  But Bruno soon finds himself back at his best; which is just as well if he's to solve the mystery that's threatening to scar his town's reputation. The Devil’s Cave is by Martin Walker and is due to be published in August 2012.

When Sam's last adventure in France ended, he thought it'd be a while before he went back, especially with the charms of Elena Morales to keep him in Los Angeles. But when the immensely wealthy Francis Reboul asks him to take a job in Marseille, it's impossible for Sam and Elena to resist the possibility of further excitement . . . to say nothing of the pleasures of the region. Soon the two are enjoying the coastal sunshine and the delectable wine and bouillabaisse for which Marseille is known. Quelle joie! Yet as a competition over Marseille's valuable waterfront grows more hotly disputed, Sam, representing Reboul, finds himself in the middle of an increasingly intrigue-ridden and dangerous real estate grab. Will Sam survive this caper unscathed? Will he be able to enjoy another bowl of bouillabaisse? The Marseille Caper is by Peter Mayle and is due to be published in November 2012.

Dark Heart is by Tony Park and is due to be published in September 2012. Richard, Carmel and Liesl are an unlikely trio with a complex shared past. They met while working in Rwanda during the genocide. Now the three are back together, united both by a photograph and attempts on their lives. After receiving a summons from the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda, someone has tried to kill both Carmel and Richard. Could this be connected to the photograph they saw in Rwanda, or to the summons? Embarking on a mission to find the answers, they are drawn into the violent and harrowing world of animal smuggling, a world more frightening then they ever could have predicted. It is not just animals that are being smuggled, but human organs from living donors. Soon, their lives are all on the line and only one person can help them.

2012: London is hosting the Olympics and the East End is at the centre of the world.  Yet surrounding the glamorous Olympic Park are some of the most deprived areas of the city.  PI Lee Arnold and his assistant, Mumtaz Hakim, work in these streets, in a community fraught with tensions.  When Arnold is hired by a controversial stand- up comedian, he already knows that her routine could make her a target.  Arnold and Hakim's new client is being followed.  Are her fears justified?  As they delve deeper, they discover that this investigation is more complex and sinister than a simple, straightforward case of stalking. A Private Business is the first in a new series featuring former policeman and soldier turned PI and his Muslim assistant by Barbara Nadel.  A Private Business is due to be published in July 2012.

The head of Francisco Goya was stolen from his tomb in the wake of his death. No one has ever known what happened to it. Until now. Leon Golding has always been ignored by the art world he loves, but he's finally going to make his name as the man who found the skull of Goya. But he's asked the wrong people to help him prove he's right. Now everyone wants to own the most prized piece of art history ever to come to light ...And they're ready to kill for it. Memory of Bones is by Alex Connor and is due to be published in August 2012.

Let the Old Dreams Die is a collection of short stories by John Ajvide Lindqvist and contains the sequel to Let the Right One In. Whatever happened to Oskar and Eli? And what became of the beleaguered families in Handling the Undead? Find out in Let the Old Dreams Die. In other tales from this collection, a woman finds a dead body and decides to keep it for herself, a customs officer has a mysterious gift, which enables him to see what others hide, and a man believes he knows how to deceive death. These are the stories of John Ajvide Lindqvist's rich imagination. They are about love and death and what we do when the two collide and the monsters emerge. Let the Old Dreams Die is due to be published in September 2012.

A frustrated publisher receives a mysterious angst-ridden manuscript: “a friend” must send it in instalments; its contents would put the author in danger. As he pieces together the story, he learns that the author is the wife of one of the two Martelli brothers – gangsters who dominate a small town in the Brazilian interior.  Surely, her dark outpourings are a cry for help?  One by one, he dispatches his motley collection of friends to Frondosa – a town totally obsessed with five-a-side football – to investigate and bring her to safety.  The Spies is by Luis Fernando Verissimo and is due to be published in November 2012.

Sleepwalkers is the debut novel by Tom Grieves and is due to be published in August 2012.  Ben is your average married man: wife, two kids, and steady job.  Toby is your average schoolboy: fifteen years old, sweet natured and shy.  Two people, two separate, unremarkable lives.  Except for their dreams.  Dreams of violence.  Dreams of rage.  Dreams of torture.  Dreams that are always followed - the next morning - by scratches, scars, pain.  When their dreams and doubts become too powerful to ignore, one fact will become clearer than any other: that the truth they are running towards is the very thing that they should be running away from.

Saed Gadaffi has escaped from Libya with a fistful of dangerous secrets. The British Government want ex-Special Forces operative Steve Range, the go-to man for any Black-Ops missions, to lead an ultra-covert mercenary group to seize him from his near-impregnable desert stronghold. Saed is defended by Tuareg warriors armed to the teeth with stolen NATO hardware. If Range's team can somehow overcome them, then they will earn themselves gold bullion worth $500 million. But as the bullets begin to fly and the body count rises, Range realises that he's been double-crossed. Unwilling to lose the gold, he begins to contemplate cutting a deal with the devil.  Desert Fire is the debut novel by Phil Campion and is due to be published in September 2012.

Harry and Michel live in the basement of a luxury apartment block, guarding the inhabitants. No-one goes outside. The world might be at war - it might even have been plunged into nuclear winter. No-one knows. All Harry and Michel know is that if they are vigilant, 'the Organization' will reward them: promotion to an elite cadre of security officers remains their shining goal. But what if there were no-one left to guard? And if the promised relief shift arrives, how will they fit in to Michel and Harry's studied routine of boredom and paranoia? After months of crippling paranoia, they begin a terrifying ascent to the floors above.  The Guard is by Peter Terrin and is due to be published in September 2012.

Yukio's two best friends are dead. Tormented and blackmailed by the Yakuza - the Japanese mafia - they have taken their own lives. Yukio is a kendo champion and he knows all the stories of the samurai. Heartbroken and furious, he is determined to avenge the deaths of his beloved Hiroshi and Miko. And so begins a deadly struggle between Yukio and the Yakuza, and between Yukio's capacity for love, and his thirst for revenge.  Summertime of the Dead is by Gregory Hughes and is due to be published in August 2012.

Latest Crime News Round-Up

All things Ian Fleming -

With the recent publication of the new James Bond book Carte Blanche Steven Poole does not appear to be too enamoured with it. His review in the Guardian can be found here. The Guardian ponders the question as to who should write the next Bond book since they are no longer the work of Ian Fleming, but products from "©Ian Fleming Publications Limited". A further review by Stephanie Merritt can be found in the Observer.

Below one can also see Jeffrey Deaver talking to Mariella Frostrup about the new James Bond novel at the 2011 Hay Festival.

Saturday 28 May 2011 was Ian Fleming’s birthday and he would have been 103 years old!

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Laura Wilson rounds-up a number of crime fiction books in the Guardian amongst them Denise Mina’s latest book The End of the Wasp Season and the Hypnotist by Lars Kepler who are actually authors Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril & Alexander Ahndoril.

With the publication of her first novel Without Guilt Marcia Clark talks to Kira Cochrane of the Guardian about life after the fabled OJ Simpson trial.

Very interesting article in the Daily Telegraph from the Hay Festival where Sir John Scarlett, the former chief of the Secret Intelligence Service talks about an unnamed author who nearly derailed an MI6 operation when his plot line.

Thrillerfest VI is due to take place between 6 and 9 July in New York City. The shortlist for the awards can be found here and include authors such as Carla Buckley, Michael Connelly, Mo Hayder, J T Ellison and Jon Trace.

Fans of Agatha Christie will welcome the news that John Curran’s new book about Agatha Christie - Agatha Christie's Murder in the Making: Stories and Secrets from Her Archive will include an unseen Miss Marple story. The book is due out in September 2011.

Fans of Luther will welcome the fact that it is due to return to our screens on 14 June 2011. An interview with the creator Neil Cross can be found below.

Excellent article by Tim Kevan in the Guardian as he makes the case for the courtroom drama. He comments on the fact that many authors have used the courtroom in creating their stories. From Shakespeare to Erle Stanley Garden and Henry Cecil’s Brother-in-Law to John Mortimer’s Rumpole series and of course not forgetting the most famous of all Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Tim Kervan also notes that of recent there has been a move towards putting the courtroom further into the background and concentrating on the lives of the lawyers themselves.

According to the Bookseller Headline have bought three books from author Lisa Gardner on her move from Orion to Headline. The first book Catch Me will feature her series character D D Warren and will be published in 2012.

For those of you (including me) that did not get a chance to see the unofficial trailer of the US version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before it was taken down by Sony, here is the official version!

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo will be released in the UK on 26 December 2011.

NPR have served up an interesting list of crime fiction books to read for the summer. The list includes Jo Nesbø, Morag Joss and Lawrence Block who returns with a new Matt Scudder book A Drop of the Hard Stuff. An interview with Lawrence Block can be found here.

Fans of William Gibson will be pleased to know that a film of the cyber thriller Neuromancer is in the offing. According to Marketwire.com the announcement was made recently at the Cannes Film Festival. The full press notice can be found here.

A lot of us are looking forward to seeing the six-part series featuring Jason Isaac in Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories which is due to be shown on the BBC1 starting on Sunday 5^th June 2011. The trailer can be seen below. An interview with Jason Isaac can be found here

Congratulations go to Santiago Roncagliolo whose novel Red April has won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. Red April is the story of a hapless prosecutor on the trail of a violent serial killer in the Peruvian town of Ayacucho. It takes place during Holy Week in 2000, in the aftermath of the Shining Path insurgency. The full article can be found in the Guardian.

Congratulations also go to Crimespree Magazine who have signed a deal with Down & Out Books for e-versions of their excellent magazine.

Fans of James Patterson’s Maximum Ride series will be sad to learn that he is due to end the series (according to GalleyCat) with Nevermore.

SFX.co.uk have an interesting interview with author John Ajvide Lindqvist. Lindqvist is the author of the novel Let The Right One In.

Anthony Horowitz five part drama series for ITV Injustice is due to be shown from Monday 6 June 2011. In it actor James Purefoy plays a criminal barrister who decides not to take on any more murder cases after he suffers a nervous breakdown that is until he is approached by an old friend.

According to the Bookseller, Will Atkins at Pan Macmillan has acquired the world rights for two books from author David Jackson. The first of the two books is The Helper which features NYPD detective Callum Doyle whom readers first met in Jackson’s debut novel The Pariah

Noir Nation is looking for submissions of short stories, graphic novels, true crime and essays on the place of noir.

The King of Vampires

Well it seems the critics are all enthused about the US remake / reworking of John Ajvide Lindqvist’s wonderfully chilling Swedish Vampire novel [and Swedish film] ‘Let The Right One In’, truncated to ‘Let Me In’ for the American Audience.

I was fortunate to view the film in London with author John Ajvide Lindqvist in September, and totally captivated by this version, as was Lindqvist.

It opens this weekend in the UK and I would urge you to get a ticket because this film has real bite, and even loved by Stephen King – ‘nuff said.

The Swedish Vampire comes to America

I was captivated by John Ajvide Lindqvist’s wonderfully chilling 2007 novel “Let The Right One In”, and the subsequent Swedish film adaptation [with English subtitles] which shared the same title. They say the main difference in Britain and America are our different usages of the English Language, because Lindqvist’s title was truncated for US audiences to ‘Let Me In’ in both novel and the upcoming US cinema adaptation.

I was delighted to attend a private screening in London [thanks to Lucy Ramsey of Quercus Publishing], of the US film version which was attended by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Now normally most of us would not be too excited by US remakes, as many disappoint. The most depressing example [for me] was the terrible mess that was the US-remade version of ‘The Vanishing’ [1993] featuring the usually reliable Jeff Bridges and Kiefer Sutherland. The original 1988 French / Dutch Co-Production of ‘The Vanishing’ remains burned into my retinas as one of the bleakest looks at the banality of evil. I had high hopes for the US version as George Sluizer the director of the original was also holding the helm of the US remake. I was very disappointed as the US version was completely forgettable, and ended with a ‘Hollywood’ style action-ending. The original novel and film ‘Spoorloos’ written by Tim Krabbe and Todd Graff [respectively] remains chillingly embedded in my memory, especially the shocking climax. Filmreference.com sums it up well –

Spoorloos represents one of the most extraordinary realisations of the psychological thriller captured on film. The heartbreaking, yet horrific ending of the film leaves the spectator in no doubt of their own vulnerability in the battle of human nature against a society in which random acts of madness occur.

On many levels comparisons can be drawn by the obsessive nature of both protagonists. The obsessive curiosity of the boyfriend, Rex (Gene Bervoets), to reveal what has happened to his girlfriend, Saskia (Johanna Ter Steege), who was abducted from a service station on route to a holiday destination, is mirrored by the abductor's, Raymond Lemorne (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), own curiosity of human nature's darker side, and its ability to manifest itself through evil deeds. The abductor's approach and rationale are entirely scientific, thus allowing him to distance himself emotionally from the actual deed. This approach allows him the luxury of maintaining a seemingly happy marriage and family life, unlike the boyfriend, whose very ability to have insight and uncalculated emotions causes his ultimate demise.

Read more

If you’ve not read ‘Spoorloos’ or seen the 1998 film version, then I would urge you to seek them out. But as ever I digress.

So my verdict of the US version ‘Let Me In’?

Well I would give both the Novel and original Swedish film ‘Let The Right One In’ a 4-star rating, and the US version I would state for the record may well be even better than the source material – It’s that good. But I will warn you that the novel like the two films are not for your Grandmother, unless she likes horror stretched across the bleakest of canvases.

Though the US version is ‘reworked’ but this tinkering is carried out expertly, ensuring the bleakness and atmosphere retained. I was initially fearful that the US version would try and remove the bleakness and go for the romantic angle, epitomized by the recent surge of interest in the teenage vampire craze from True Blood, Twilight, or the SF angle of Daybreakers, I am Legend. Instead Matt Reeves, steers the move along the same thematic path of the originals. Though the pedophile angle is reduced, almost eliminated but this is done with great skill, building instead upon the theme of love / friendship between the vampire and her ‘helper’ and what it means to grow old. The film made me jump from my seat several times, as there are real shocks, and the sequences of the vampire in fast-motion staggering. This not a film for the squeamish, and if you are looking for a romantic night out, you’ll be disappointed. The tale is transported from a run-down housing estate in Sweden to a small housing estate in Los Alamos, an equally unsettling backdrop for this tale of teenage alienation. The photography is breathtaking, with the snowy backdrop perfect for seeing the crimson flow when blood is shed, and there is a lot of bloodshed. The ending closes the film in a wonderful loop and makes you think about the vagaries of friendship, and the consequences of those ties.

When I spoke to John Ajvide Lindqvist after the movie he was genuinely delighted with this version. Though he noted, and we discussed the differences from his original novel and the Swedish film [which he loved]. He told me he was delighted with what Matt Reeves and his US team had achieved. He kindly signed a copy of his latest novel Harbour and we chatted about how much we had enjoyed The World Horror Convention in Brighton earlier in the year. This delighted Stephen Jones [who was also present at the screening] - the mastermind behind the event with his organizing team.

Considering the success of Quercus Publishing with Stieg Larsson, I joked with their Chairman, David Potter saying it seems that Quercus seem to specialists in Swedish Literature. He laughed and said “….well you know we have Roslund and Hellstrom joining our stable shortly….but seriously we have plenty of non-Swedish work in the stable”.

I would recommend you explore the dark novels and films of John Ajvide Lindqvist, because his work really challenges your thinking and view of the world – The trailers for both films are below -

Let The Right One In [2009] – Trailer


Let Me In Trailer [2010]

Special Thanks to Lucy Ramsey – Publicity Director at Quercus Publishing for organising the screening and for generously hosting the John Ajvide Lindqvist reception party at WHC2010 in Brighton.