Showing posts with label Tom Rob Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Rob Smith. Show all posts

Sunday, 8 January 2023

Forthcoming Crime Books from Simon & Schuster

 January 2023

In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds. Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye. DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat's instincts come up against Lock's logic. But when the two missing person's cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic? In The Blink of an Eye is by Jo Callaghan.

Cold People is by Tom Rob Smith. What if the only hope for survival becomes the greatest threat? The world has fallen. Without warning, a mysterious and omnipotent force has claimed the planet for their own. There are no negotiations, no demands, no reasons given for their actions. All they have is a message: humanity has thirty days to reach the one place on Earth where they will be allowed to exist... Antarctica. Cold People follows the journeys of a handful of those who endure the frantic exodus to the most extreme environment on the planet. But their goal is not merely to survive the present. Because as they cling to life on the ice, the remnants of their past swept away, they must also confront the urgent challenge: can they change and evolve rapidly enough to ensure humanity's future? Can they build a new society in the sub-zero cold?

A riveting, decades-in-the-writing memoir from the determined young prosecutor who, in two of America's most celebrated trials, managed to convict famed mob boss John Gotti-and subsequently took down the Mafia altogether. John Gotti was without a doubt the flashiest and most feared Mafioso in American history. He became the boss of the Gambino Crime Family in spectacular fashion-with the brazen and very public murder of Paul Castellano in front of Sparks Steakhouse in midtown Manhattan in 1985. Not one to stay below law enforcement's radar, Gotti instead became the first celebrity crime boss. His penchant for eye-catching apparel earned him the nickname "The Dapper Don;" his ability to beat criminal charges led to another: "The Teflon Don." This is the captivating story of Gotti's meteoric rise to power and his equally dramatic downfall. Every step of the way, Gotti's legal adversary-John Gleeson, an Assistant US Attorney in Brooklyn-was watching. When Gotti finally faced two federal racketeering prosecutions, Gleeson prosecuted both. As the junior lawyer in the first case-a bitter seven-month battle that ended in Gotti's acquittal-Gleeson found himself in Gotti's crosshairs, falsely accused of serious crimes by a defense witness Gotti intimidated into committing perjury. Five years later, Gleeson was in charge of the second racketeering investigation and trial. Armed with the FBI's secret recordings of Gotti's conversations with his underboss and consigliere in the apartment above Gotti's Little Italy hangout, Gleeson indicted all three. He "flipped" underboss Sammy the Bull Gravano, killer of nineteen men, who became history's highest-ranking mob turncoat-resulting in Gotti's murder conviction. Gleeson ended not just Gotti's reign, but eventually that of the entire mob. An epic, page-turning courtroom drama, The Gotti Wars is by John Gleeson is a brilliantly told crime story that illuminates a time in our nation's history when lawyers and mobsters dominated the news, but it's also the story of a tenacious young man, in the glare of the media spotlight, who mastered the art of becoming a great attorney.

February 2023

The Only Suspect is by Louise Candlish. There's the obvious story. And then there's the truth. Alex lives a comfortable life with his wife Beth in the leafy suburb of Silver Vale. Fine, so he's not the most outgoing guy on the street, he prefers to keep himself to himself, but he's a good husband and an easy-going neighbour. That's until Beth announces the creation of a nature trail on a local site that's been disused for decades and suddenly Alex is a changed man. Now he's always watching. Questioning. Struggling to hide his dread... As the landscapers get to work, a secret threatens to surface from years ago, back in Alex's twenties when he got entangled with a seductive young woman called Marina, who threw both their lives into turmoil. And who sparked a police hunt for a murder suspect that was never quite what it seemed. And it still isn't.

March 2023

The Favour is by Nicci French. A good deed can turn deadly... When Liam unexpectedly turns up in Jude's life after ten years of no contact, asking her for a favour, she just can't say no. He was her first love, and even though she is now a successful doctor and about to get married, he will always be someone special to her. But after she does the favour, she is contacted by the police, informing her that Liam has been found dead, and suddenly she is caught up in a murder investigation. And she realises this one decision could cost her everything - even her life...

April 2023

1978, Rhode Island: A freshman senator is gunned down, sending shockwaves through Washington that are still reverberating over four decades later. Now: In a world on the brink of war facing rampant inflation, political division, and shocking assassinations, a secret cabal of global elites are ready to assume control. And with the world's most dangerous man locked in solitary confinement, the conspirators believe the final obstacle to complete domination has been eliminated. They're wrong. From the firms of Wall Street to the corridors of power in Washington, DC and Moscow, secrets from the past have the uncanny ability to rise to the surface and with the odds stacked against him, James Reece is on a deadly mission that is generations in the making. But for a man on the warpath, odds are not important. Only The Dead is by Jack Carr.

May 2023

Conviction is by Jack Jordan. He trusts his lawyer with his life... He shouldn't. Wade Darling stands accused of killing his wife and teenage children as they slept and burning their house to the ground. When the case lands on barrister Neve Harper's desk, she knows it could make her career. A matter of days before the case, as Neve is travelling home for the night, she is approached by a man. He tells her she must throw the case or the secret about her husband's disappearance will be revealed. Failing that, he will kill everyone she cares about, until she does as she is told. Neve must make a choice - go against every principle she has ever had, or the people she loves will die.

Independence Square is by Martin Cruz Smith. Arkady Renko is back . . . Renko has been confined to a desk job by his superiors to keep him out of the way. Although he's more disillusioned with policing and the general state of Russia than ever, he feels an odd sense of hope. A rebellion is bubbling in the country, with new values butting heads against old-school regimes. People want change and politician Leonid Lebedev could be the man to do it. When Karina, a staunch supporter of Lebedev and member of the Forum, goes missing, Renko is asked by her father to find her. Soon after his investigation begins, Alex, a close friend of Arkady's son, is found dead. He was also a member of the Forum. The night before his murder, Alex sent Arkady a cryptic message, simply containing three pictures of Russian writers. The link between the pictures is there, if only Renko could see it. But Arkady has just been diagnosed with Parkinson's and the physical and psychological effects of the disease are taking their toll. This time, he must fight more than the impenetrable Russian regime to get answers - he will need to fight himself.

The Devil You Know is by Chris Hauty. A Supreme Court justice is murdered and a conspiracy with potentially cataclysmic effects is uncovered in the latest of the nationally bestselling 'edge-of-your-seat' (Book Riot) Hayley Chill series. When a justice of the Supreme Court is killed by the police officer assigned to protect him, the country is shocked. Hayley Chill's superiors suspect the assassination is part of a major conspiracy. In Maui, where one member of the Supreme Court owns a vacation home, a busload of children is taken hostage with the justice's death as ransom. Together with a deputy US marshal, Hayley embarks on the monumental task of rescuing the children while also protecting the justice. But with danger around every corner and no one to trust, has Hayley finally bitten off more than she can chew?

June 2023

'I wasn't always crazy, but I was never sane.' How do you solve your own murder before it happens? That's the question that haunts three women. Convinced that a mysterious urban myth called the rule of three is real, they must find a way to break the curse or be doomed to die like those who came before them. But when you're not sure if what you think is happening is even the truth, how do you know if you are actually in danger?
And if you don't know, how will you be able to protect yourself? Amy. Ila. Zoe. Death comes in threes. Who will survive and who will solve the rule of three? The Rule of Three is by Sam Ripley.



Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Books to Look Forward to From Simon & Schuster

If you refuse to believe me, I will no longer consider you my son...Daniel believed that his parents were enjoying a peaceful retirement on a remote farm in Sweden, the country of his mother's birth. But with a single phone call, everything changes. Your mother...she's not well, his father tells him. She's been imagining things - terrible, terrible things. In fact, she has been committed to a mental hospital. Before Daniel can board a plane to Sweden, his mother calls: Everything that man has told you is a lie. I'm not mad...I need the police...Meet me at Heathrow. Daniel is immediately caught between his parents - whom to believe, whom to trust? He becomes his mother's unwilling judge and jury. Presented with a horrific crime, a conspiracy that implicates his own father, Daniel must examine the evidence and decide for himself: who is telling the truth? And he has secrets of his own that for too long he has kept hidden... The Farm is by Tom Rob Smith and is due to be published in February 2014.

The Confessor is by Mark Allen Smith and is due to be published in June 2014.  Months have passed since Geiger found himself sitting in his own chair, facing his own torturer - a man called Dalton. The session didn't end well for Dalton. Geiger turned the tables on him and he has never been the same since. That was then. Now, Dalton is back, and he has just one thing in mind – vengeance.

Kick Lannigan, 21, is a survivor. Abducted at age six in broad daylight, the police, the public, perhaps even her family assumed the worst had occurred. And then Kathleen Lannigan was found, alive, six years later. In the early months following her freedom, as Kick struggled with PTSD, her parents put her through a litany of therapies, but nothing helped until the detective who rescued her suggested Kick learn to fight. Before she was thirteen, Kick learned marksmanship, martial arts, boxing, archery, and knife throwing. She excelled at every one, vowing she would never be victimized again. But when two children in the Portland area go missing in the same month, Kick goes into a tailspin. Then an enigmatic man Bishop approaches her with a proposition: he is convinced Kick's experiences and expertise can be used to help rescue the abductees. Little does Kick know the case will lead directly into her terrifying past… The currently untitled Chelsea Cain is due to be published in August 2014.
  
The Dead Can Wait is by Robert Ryan and is due to be published in January 2014.
Dr John Watson is fresh from his time in the trenches of Flanders Fields and back home for some much needed R & R. But deep in England's green and pleasant land something evil lurks. For enemy spies have infiltrated the home front, in search of vital information to take back to Germany. And when seven dead men are discovered, their bodies laid side by side, there is only one man who can solve this curious crime: Dr John Watson.

In September a currently untitled Chris Carter is due to be published. In rural Wyoming, a man arrested in conjunction with a murder case turns out to have a trail of kidnappings, torture and brutal killings reaching all over the United States linking to him. The Sheriff quickly hands the case over to the FBI, but the man refuses to co-operate. In fact, the only words he will utter are 'I will only speak to Robert Hunter'. Detective Robert Hunter of the Los Angeles Robbery Homicide Division is just about to take his first holiday in over ten years. But before boarding the plane, he is summoned to Captain Barbara Blake's office, where an FBI Director has flown in from Washington DC just to speak to him. The case intrigues Hunter, but he has no idea why the man has asked for him by name, until he sees a photograph of the man in custody - a criminal behaviour psychology graduate and his old university roommate - Lucien Folter. Someone Hunter knew well, or at least he thought he did. Could his old friend really have become a deranged serial killer? Surely there has been some mistake. For Hunter, there is only one way to find out. But it will stretch his abilities - and his grip on reality - further than they have ever been stretched before.

Julia has always been the friend that Livy turns to when life is difficult. United fifteen years ago by grief at the brutal murder of Livy's sister, Kara, they've always told each other everything. Or so Livy thought. So when Julia is found dead in her home, Livy cannot come to terms with the news that she chose to end her own life. The Julia that Livy knew was vibrant and vivacious, a far cry from the selfish neurotic that her family seem determined to paint her as. Troubled by doubt but alone in her suspicions, Livy sets out to prove that Julia was in fact murdered. But little does she realise that digging into her best friend's private life will cause her to question everything she thought she knew about Julia. And the truth that Livy discovers will tear the very fabric of her own life apart.  Trust in Me is by Sophie McKenzie and is due to be published in May 2014.
 
In The Blood is by Lisa Unger and is due to be published in February 2014.  About to graduate from university in upstate New York, Lana Granger takes a job in town looking after eleven year old Luke. Expelled from schools all over the country, manipulative Luke is accustomed to controlling the people in his life. He likes to play games. But in Lana he may have met his match. Or has Lana met hers? Because Lana is a liar. She has told so many lies about where she comes from and who she is, that even she can't remember the truth. Then Lana's closest friend Beck mysteriously goes missing, and Lana's alibi for the night of the disappearance doesn't match with eyewitness accounts. Now, Lana finds herself lying again - to friends, to the police, to herself. Lana is willing to do almost anything to keep the truth - about her last night with Beck, about everything - from coming out. Even so, it might not be enough to keep her shocking secrets dead and buried. But somebody knows all about Lana's lies. And they are dying to tell.

The currently untitled Penny Hancock is due to be published in August 2014.  Driving down to the cottage in Southwold she's newly inherited from her Aunty May, Ellie senses she is on the edge of something new. The life she's always dreamed of living as a successful artist seems as though it is about to begin. So excited is she that she barely notices when the car bumps against something on the road. That evening Ellie hears a news flash on the radio. A man was seriously injured in a hit and run on the very road she was driving down that evening. Then Ellie remembers the thump she heard. Could she have been responsible for putting a man in hospital? Unable to hold the doubts at bay, she decides to visit the victim to lay her mind to rest, little knowing that the consequences of this decision will change her life forever.

I’ve Got You Under My Skin is by Mary Higgins Clark and is due to be published in May 2014. Julia has always been the friend that Livy turns to when life is difficult. United fifteen years ago by grief at the brutal murder of Livy's sister, Kara, they've always told each other everything. Or so Livy thought. So when Julia is found dead in her home, Livy cannot come to terms with the news that she chose to end her own life. The Julia that Livy knew was vibrant and vivacious, a far cry from the selfish neurotic that her family seem determined to paint her as. Troubled by doubt but alone in her suspicions, Livy sets out to prove that Julia was in fact murdered. But little does she realise that digging into her best friend's private life will cause her to question everything she thought she knew about Julia. And the truth that Livy discovers will tear the very fabric of her own life apart.

The Silversmith’s Wife is by Sophia Tobin and is due to be published in January 2014.The year is 1792 and it's winter in Berkeley Square. As the city sleeps, the night-watchman keeps a cautious eye over the streets and another eye in the back doors of the great and the good. Then one fateful night he comes across the body of Pierre Renard, the eponymous silversmith, lying dead, his throat cut and his valuables missing. It could be common theft, committed by one of the many villains who stalk the square, but as news of the murder spreads, it soon becomes clear that Renard had more than a few enemies, all with their own secrets to hide. At the centre of this web is Mary, the silversmith's wife. Ostensibly theirs was an excellent pairing, but behind closed doors their relationship was a dark and at times sadistic one and when we meet her, Mary is withdrawn and weak, haunted by her past and near-mad with guilt. Will she attain the redemption she seeks and what, exactly, does she need redemption for…

In June a currently untitled Lynda La Plante is due to be published.  Amy Fulford, excellent pupil and gifted athlete at a girls' public school in Ascot vanishes one Saturday afternoon. DSI Marshe runs the local missing persons unit. He is responsible for overseeing the disappearance of Amy Fulford. But, as a late joiner and with only ten years of service, and a bullish DCS on his back, he tends to be unsure of himself. While the spiral of media interest in the missing daughter of a well-connected couple heats up, the spotlight turns on the parents who are embroiled in a bitter divorce. Amy's journal surfaces with disturbing entries about her mother's abilities - and also her father's sordid sexual activities. Marshe's DCS is convinced Marcus Fulford is responsible for his daughter's death. But Marshe himself is not so sure. He discovers some startling and disturbing discoveries about Amy's teachers and peers. Did Amy Fulford have a need to escape ...or was she driven by abuse and despair to disappear into another world?


Saturday, 7 May 2011

Forthcoming books to look forward to from Simon & Schuster

Meet Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. He's a murder detective. A near-genius. He's brilliant; he's intense; he's instinctive. He's obsessional. He's dangerous. DCI John Luther has an extraordinary clearance rate. He commands outstanding loyalty from friends and colleagues. Nobody who ever stood at his side has a bad word to say about him. And yet there are rumours that DCI Luther is bad - not corrupt, not on the take, but tormented. Luther seethes with a hidden fury that at times he can barely control. Sometimes it sends him to the brink of madness, making him do things he shouldn't; things way beyond the limits of the law. Luther: The Calling, the first in a new series of novels featuring DCI John Luther, takes us into Luther's past and into his mind. It is the story of the case that tore his personal and professional relationships apart and propelled him over the precipice. Beyond fury, beyond vengeance. All the way to murder... Luther: The Calling is by Neil Cross and is due to be published in August 2011.

Thieves Get Rich is by Jodi Compton and is due to be published in December 2011. Having defied a powerful mobster to protect a pregnant teenager, army dropout Hailey Cain has found herself on the wrong side of the law and is now in LA, second-in-command to her high school best friend turned rising gangster Serena 'Warchild' Delgadillo. Hailey is just beginning to settle into her unconventional new way of life when it is suddenly and violently overturned. A murder has been committed, and all fingers are pointing at her. Only Hailey herself, and the all-girl gang to which she belongs, know that this is a case of stolen identity with ruthless and dangerous motives. But how can they prove this, given that she'll be arrested as soon as she steps forward? Hailey must go on the run once more, risking her life to reclaim her name and chase down the murderer who has taken it...

Agent 6 is by the award wining author Tom Robb Smith and is due to be published in July 2011. Former Soviet Secret Service agent Leo Demidov has built himself a new life as a civilian with his wife Raisa, and their two teenage daughters, Elena and Zoya. The Soviet Union is a country trying to reassert itself after the murderous excesses of Stalin and the chaos of the following years, and as the Cold War continues powers inside Russia seek to topple their great enemy, the United States of America. Communist allies within the United States will prove vital players in this game of intrigue and revolution. Raisa and their two daughters travel to the United States on a diplomatic mission, but a horrifying tragedy destroys everything Leo and Raisa have built. Leo must get to the States somehow and find out what happened. Exiled from the Soviet Union and separated from his family, Leo's quest takes him through the stark wilderness of Afghanistan, reawakening all his old instincts and forcing him to confront his demons. But whatever it costs, wherever he must go, he will find Agent 6.

In the middle of a rainy Swedish summer, a little girl is abducted from a crowded train. Despite hundreds of potential witnesses, no one noticed when the girl was taken. Her mother had been left behind at the previous station in what seemed to be a coincidence. The train crew were alerted and kept a watchful eye on the sleeping child. But as the train pulled into Stockholm Central Station, the girl was nowhere to be seen. Inspector Alex Recht and his special team of federal investigators, assisted by the investigative analyst Frederika Bergman, are assigned to what at first appears to be a classic custody row. But when the child is found dead in the far north of Sweden with the word 'Unwanted' scribbled on her forehead, the case soon turns into the investigation team's worst nightmare - the pursuit of a brilliant and ruthless killer. Unwanted is by Kristina Ohlsson and is due to be published in November 2011.

Forensic investigator Reilly Steel, Quantico-trained and California-born and bred, imagined Dublin to be a far cry from bustling San Francisco, a sleepy backwater where she can lay past ghosts to rest and start anew. She's arrived in Ireland to drag the Irish crime lab into the 21st century, plus keep tabs on her Irish-born father who's increasingly seeking solace in the bottle after a past family tragedy. But a brutal serial killer soon puts paid to that. When a young man and woman are found dead in an apartment, the gunshot wounds on their naked bodies suggest a suicide pact. But Reilly's instincts are screaming that something's seriously amiss, and as more bodies are discovered, the team soon realises that a twisted murderer is at work, one who seeks to upset society's norms in the most sickening way imaginable... Taboo is by Casey Hill and is due to be published in July 2011.

When Detective Robert Hunter, of the Los Angeles Homicide Special Section, has to take over the investigation of an especially gruesome murder, he starts to suspect that the killer might be keeping several women hostage, not least because his inquiry collides with a missing persons’ case being investigated by the razor sharp Whitney Meyers. Soon Robert finds himself on the hunt for a predator with a terrible secret, who won’t stop until each of his victims has brought forth the awful truth that lies hidden deep inside them too. The Night Watcher is by Chris Carter and is due to be published in July 2011.

The Covenant is by Dean Crawford and is due to be published in November 2011. When archaeologist Lucy Morgan uncovers a 7000-year old tomb on a dig in a remote part of Israel, she realises she has stumbled across something that will re-write history. That’s before she’s knocked unconscious. Pastor Kelvin Patterson, head of one of America’s biggest fundamentalist churches, has known of such discoveries for some time but in his eyes these skeletons are not aliens but angels. In Washington DC, two detectives come across three bodies, rotting in a sweltering apartment. So why is it that they appear to have died of hypothermia. With so much at stake only one man can be called upon to help. Troubled Ethan Warner, war correspondent and former marine, had hoped to put his action days behind him. But when he is asked by Lucy’s mother to find her, he knows he cannot let her down.

Ali Reynolds' six week course at the Arizona Police Academy is abruptly interrupted when Brenda Riley, a colleague from Ali's old news broadcasting days in California, shows up in town with an alcohol problem and an unlikely story about a missing fiance. Ali is cynical, but reluctantly agrees to help out an old friend. It soon comes to light that the man posing as Brenda's fiance is Richard Lowensdale, a cyber-sociopath who has left a trail of broken hearts in his virtual wake. Now he has been viciously murdered, the women he once victimized are considered suspects. The police soon focus their investigation on Brenda, who is already known to have broken into Richard's home and computer before vanishing without a trace. Attempting to clear her friend's name, Ali is quickly drawn into a web of online intrigue that may lead to a real-world fatal error. Fatal Error is by J.A Jance and is due to be published in September 2011.

Face of the Devil is by N.J.Cooper and is due to be published in July 2011. Suzie Gray is only fifteen when she is stabbed to death within metres of her uncle's yacht on the Isle of Wight. Her body is found in the blood-smeared arms of Olly Matken, a family friend who grew up with her. Schizophrenic and vulnerable, he presents a serious challenge to the police. 'I didn't hurt her!' Olly protests. 'All I did was keep her from the devil.' DCI Charlie Trench turns to forensic psychologist Karen Taylor. She knows she should ignore his call, but she cannot. Curiosity and, although she would never admit it to her partner, Will, a dangerous attraction to the brooding detective, push her into a deeply troubling case. Is Olly capable of murder? His own psychologist doesn't think so, but his father does. The only way to find the truth is to identify Olly's devil. And Karen has demons of her own.

Jake Reese is an ordinary guy with an ordinary job, trying to block out the memory of his far from ordinary past by planning for a life with his new wife, Diane. When two men attack Jake in a car park and cut off his ring finger, he tries to dismiss it as a random incident: an unlucky case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But when events take a sinister turn and Diane goes missing, Jake finds he can dismiss his suspicions no longer. As he embarks on a mission to find her, Jake finds that his dark past refuses to stay buried, and his future begins to unfold in ways he could never have imagined….. Already Gone is by John Rector and is due to be published in December 2011.

Gideon Davis, whose behind-the-scenes negotiating skills have earned him the role of peacemaker in conflicts around the globe, knows more about hush-hush discussions in Capitol corridors than he does about hand-to-hand combat. But his more practical, tactical skills become vital when he's called upon by family friend and government big-wig Earl Parker to bring in a rogue agent - Gideon's own brother Tillman. Gideon is transported from a DC awards dinner to the jungles of the oil-rich nation of Mohan, where Tillman has promised to give himself up. But on his arrival the plan goes immediately awry. Gideon must evade hostile locals to make his way to The Obelisk - a multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art oil rig that has been seized by terrorists. Both Tillman, who doesn't seem to have surrender in mind, and Earl Parker are aboard the ill-fated rig - Tillman working undercover and Parker as a hostage. As tensions rise, Gideon launches a hazardous one-man rescue. The Obelisk is the debut novel by Howard Gordon and is due to be published in September 2011.

When Christopher Thomas, a curator at San Francisco's Museum of Fine Arts, is murdered and his decaying body is found in an iron maiden in Berlin, his wife Rosemary Thomas is the prime suspect. Long suffering under Christopher's unfaithful ways, Rosemary is tried, convicted and executed. Ten years later, Jon Nunn, the detective who cracked the case, becomes convinced that the wrong person was put to death. Along with financier Tony Olsen, he plans to gather everyone who was there the night Christopher died and finally uncover the truth about what happened that fateful evening. Could it have been the ne'er do well brother Peter Hausen, interested in his sister's trust fund having got through his own; the curatorial assistant Justine Olengard, used and betrayed by Christopher; the artist Belle who turned down his advances only to see her career suffer a setback; or someone else all together? No Rest for the Dead is a thrilling, page-turning accomplishment that features contributions from such authors as Jeffery Deaver, Kathy Reichs, Tess Gerristen, Jeff Lindsay, Alexander McCall Smith and Peter James with an introduction by David Baldacci. It is due to be published in November 2011.

When a whole block is torn down in central Minneapolis to make way for a new housing development, an unpleasant surprise is unearthed. The bodies of two girls, wrapped in plastic, are discovered underneath an old house. It looks like they've been down there a long time. Lucas Davenport knows exactly how long. In 1985, Davenport was a young cop just about to be promoted out of uniform, despite a reputation for playing fast and loose with the rules. A superb undercover guy, he was part of the massive police effort that followed the kidnapping of two girls who were never found again, dead or alive. The searches turned up nothing, so when the suspected kidnapper was killed in a shoot-out, the case was closed. But not for Davenport. He'd gotten deep into the case, and while he was convinced the suspect knew something, he didn't think he was the perpetrator - something just felt off. He argued hard about it to his bosses, but nobody wanted to hear. Until now. With the bodies discovered, the case is dusted off, just to tie a bow around it - but there's something wrong with the evidence. There are indications of tampering. Police tampering. And as Davenport investigates, it becomes clear: It wasn't just the bodies that were buried, but the truth - and there are a lot of people with a very strong stake in that truth never being uncovered. Buried Prey is by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Sandford and is due to be published in July 2011.

The Good Jihadist is by Bob Shepherd and is due to be published in August 2011. Disillusioned SAS veteran Matt Logan is struggling on civvy street. The life he dreams of can be his - if he takes a private security job with the American commander who ended his military career. But when a seemingly random act of terror destroys everything Matt holds dear, the only way to settle the score is to sell his soul. Matt returns to the murky world of Black Ops. But this time, he's not part of an elite crew. To find and kill an elusive insurgent leader, he must single-handedly unravel a jihadist network more complex than he realizes and closer than he knows. Stalked by fundamentalists and Pakistani intelligence, Matt ends up a pawn in a conspiracy to redraw the boundaries of global power; a secret war that is ripping a nation apart. But not the one he thinks ...

The Survivor is by Sean Slater and is due to be published in August 2011. It's every cop's worst nightmare. Especially when his daughter's in the line of fire. In his first hour back from a six-month leave of absence, Detective Jacob Striker's day quickly turns into a nightmare. He is barely on scene five minutes at his daughter's high school when he encounters an Active Shooter situation. Three men wearing hockey masks - Black, White, and Red - have stormed the school with firearms and are killing indiscriminately. Striker takes immediate action. Within minutes two of the gunmen are dead, and Striker is close to ending the violence. But then the last gunman, Red Mask, does something unexpected. He runs up to his fallen comrade, racks the shotgun, and unloads five rounds, obliterating the man's face and hands. And before Striker can react, Red Mask escapes. Against the clock, Striker investigates the killings for which there is no known motive and no known suspect. Soon his investigation takes him to darker places, and he realizes that not everything at Saint Patrick's High is as it seems. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his world becomes. Until Striker himself is in the line of fire. And the violence follows him home ....

When the village of Priors Bramley was closed off for chemical-weapons testing during the Cold War, a long history of dark secrets was also shut away. Now, more than fifty years later, the ghost village has been declared safe again, but there are those living nearby who would much rather that the past remains buried. Ella Haywood, who used to play in the village as a child, is haunted by the discovery of two bodies. All those years ago, something happened in the village, something so terrible that and she and her two oldest friends have vowed to this day never to tell a soul. But the past has a habit of forcing the truth to the surface. With the identity of the bodies and the mystery surrounding the now derelict Cadence Manor drawing increasing local interest, Ella fears that she will have to resort to ever more drastic measures if she is to make sure that no one discovers what really happened all those years ago. What Lies Beneath is by Sarah Rayne and is due to be published in August 2011.

The Beloved of Isis is by Christian Jacq and is due to be published in October 2011. Vienna 1789. A season of darkness has spread throughout Europe as the French Revolution stirs up civil unrest and provokes fear among the authorities. Struggling to makes ends meet, and plagued by a never-ending assault from his enemies, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is determined to fulfil his destiny, as foretold in the ancient secrets of the Pharaohs. Supported by his friend Thamos, Count of Thebes, and encouraged by the Masonic Lodge, Mozart finds the energy to accomplish his greatest work - The Magic Flute, which will reveal the Mysteries of Isis and Osiris to the world and pave the way to enlightenment. But the ultimate test approaches...

Cerdic, a young boy who has the ability to see into the future, has a mysterious treasure in his possession. A blind old woman once gave him a miniature knife with an ivory bear hilt - the symbol of King Arthur - and told him that when the time comes he will know what he has to do with it. But when he and his brother, Baradoc, are enlisted into King Arthur's army, he finds that trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes. When Baradoc dies fighting with King Arthur in an ambush of the Saxons on Solsbury Hill, Cerdic buries the dagger in the side of the hill as a personal tribute to his brother. Throughout history, Solsbury Hill continues to be the scene of murder, theft and the search for buried treasure. Religion, politics and the spirit of King Arthur reign over the region, wreaking havoc and leaving a trail of corpses and treasure buried in the hill as an indication of its turbulent past. Hill of Bones is by The Medieval Murderers and is due to be published in July 2011.

The Night Strangers is by Chris Bohjalian and is due to be published in November 2011. It begins with a door in a dusky corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire. A door that someone has sealed it shut with thirty-nine enormous carriage bolts. The home's new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin daughters. Chip was an an airline pilot until he was forced to crash land on a remote lake the jet he was flying after double engine failure. Thirty-nine people aboard Flight 1611 died that day - a coincidence not lost on Chip when he discovers the number of bolts in that basement door ...Meanwhile, his wife is increasingly troubled about the women in this sparsely populated village, self-proclaimed 'herbalists'. Why do they seem excessively interested in her young daughters. Emily is terrified, too, that her husband's grip on sanity seems to have become increasingly tenuous, in the wake of the devastating plane accident.

Saturday, 25 September 2010

Newsy stuff

Series 3 of Inspector Gently (based on the Alan Hunter books) and staring Martin Shaw is due to be shown on Sunday on BBC1 at 8:30pm. The title of the first episode in the series is “Gently Evil” and sees Gently and his colleague DS John Bacchus investigating a brutal murder of a young woman that has taken place in a coastal village in Northumberland in 1966. More information can be found on the BBC One page

Congratulations to Gregg Hurwitz whose speculative script Expulsion has been picked up by Warner Brothers according to Deadline.com.

The Swedish Book Review 2010:1 issue have done a crime fiction special. The full article can be found here. It is the first crime fiction special that has been done since 2001 and they have rounded up a really intriguing top quality list of authors who are still largely unknown. Of course they would be remiss if they did not mention Stieg Larsson and they have. However, what is so good about this article is the fact that they have also included previews of the various works of the authors that have been mentioned.

We blogged earlier about apps being created for Mark Billingham’s Inspector Thorne series which is due to be shown shortly on Sky One. Another author who is also being given the same treatment is Headline’s Martina Cole. Orion have also produced an app for Ian Rankin's Edinburgh and according to his publishers so far it has surpassed 6000 downloads in 4 weeks. All three can be found in the Itunes store.

Congratulations also go to Peter Robinson who was recently been awarded the $10,000 Harbourfront Festival Prize, on Wednesday 22nd October. The full article can be found in the National Post.

According to Publishers Weekly David Baldacci is set to join a group of authors in the second series in the 39 Clues Series. The original series has been a great success with over 1.2 million registered users on the official website The 39 Clues.Com

With the Frankfurt Book Fair due to take place next month a number of books are being taken to the Fair and these include Tom Rob Smith’s new novel via Curtis Brown Literary Agency The Last Adversary which is due to be published in February 2011 by Simon and Schuster.

Newcastle based new crime series by author Mari Hannah which was agreed in a three book deal between Wayne Brookes over at Pan Macmillan and Blake Friedmann. The first book in the series The Murder Wall is due for publication in 2012. Mari Hannah was one of the winners of the 2010 Northern Writers Award.

Geraint Anderson’s two novel deal which has been concluded between Headline and Lizzy Kremer. Anderson better known as “CityBoy” (his memoir sold 180,000 copies in the UK) first novel has been described as a fugitive style caper thriller set in the financial world. The title of the debut is Just Business

Agents Rodger, Coleridge and White are taking Doll Princess by Tom Benn which is due to be published by Cape in the UK. Set in gangland Manchester in the wake of the IRA bombing. it is said to be the first of a planned series. Also being taken to Frankfurt buy them is a Havana based crime novel (also said to be a proposed series) entitled The Beggar’s Opera by Peggy Blair. The Beggar's Opera was shortlisted for the CWA Debut Dagger. It is still on submission in the UK. Rights to Denise Mina’s book The End of the Wasp Season due to be published by Orion in May 2011 will also be at Frankfurt via the Agents. United Agents will be taking with them to Frankfurt a new London based thriller The Burning by Jane Casey. The novel is due to be published in November by Ebury Publishing.


John O’Connell has done a round up in today’s Guardian (25/09) of recent Thrillers These include Jed Rubenfeld’s The Death Instinct, Savages by Don Winslow and Three Seconds, by Roslund & Hellström.