Newsy Stuff

Waterstone’s found themselves in an awkward position recently when they suggested that Sawbones a thriller by Stuart MacBride would be suitable for children with reading difficulties. As explained in The Times article they had made a terrible mistake.

Simon Beckett may not be on the radar of casual crime fiction readers, (those in the know have been reading his work for ages) and he is certainly not as well known as he should be in the UK but on the other hand he is certainly better known in Europe and as indicated in a recent article he is constantly mobbed elsewhere in Europe.

The long-awaited film of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief is due to be released on February 12. The film is (hopefully) the first of many is based on a series of books involving Greek mythology written by crime writer Rick Riordan for his son Haley. In an interview in the Guardian Rick Riordan explains how it all started. Riordan is the author of the P. I. Tres Navarre series. The first book in the series is The Big Red Tequila.

So which crime books do you think would be on your list of crime books of the decade? Crime fiction experts Barry Forshaw and Laura Wilson have drawn up their list of books and they can be found here and here and finally here Would any of them make your list?

According to Booktrade Pauline Rowson’s 2nd novel in her marine mystery series Deadly Waters featuring Inspector Andy Horton has been selected as one of ten titles to be featured in a special promotion in the UK throughout February aimed at promoting new and burgeoning talent.


The International Association of Crime Writers have announced the 2010 Hammett Prize nominees. They are:-
Megan Abbott, Bury Me Deep (Simon & Schuster)
Ace Atkins, Devil's Garden (Putnam)
Jedediah Berry, The Manual Of Detection (The Penguin Press)
Walter Mosley, The Long Fall (Riverhead)
George Pelecanos, The Way Home (Little, Brown)
The Hammett Prize is given for literary excellence in crime writing and will be awarded at the Bloody Words Conference (which this year is celebrating its tenth anniversary) which is due to be held in Toronto from 28 to 30 May 2010. This is an extremely strong and varied list and congratulations to all the nominees.

Rather late than never but still worth reporting. According to the Daily Mirror former Drop the Dead Donkey and Ballykissangel star Stephen Tompkinson is due to star as Chief Inspector Banks in the televison adaptation of Peter Robinson’s Aftermath.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

Texan author Rick Riordan is the author of the widely popular Percy Jackson & The Olympians series. Set in the contemporary United States, the series is based prominently on Greek Mythology. This well recieved series has won a number of awards and has also graced a number of the bestseller lists. The books are now set to move to the big screen. The first book in the series The Lightning Thief will be the first to be adapted and chronicles the adventures of Percy Jackson the son of a mortal woman and a Greek god, and his friends on a quest to stop a dangerous apocalyptic war between the gods and titans. The story contains a multitude of encounters with characters from Greek Mythology still alive in modern times

In June 2004, 20th Century Fox acquired feature film rights to the book. In April 2007, director Chris Columbus was hired to helm the project. The following November, screenwriter Joe Stillman was hired to adapt a screenplay based on the book. The official title for the film is "Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief", and a release date is currently February 12, 2010. It is also confirmed that Logan Lerman has been cast as Percy Jackson and Brandon T. Jackson as Grover Underwood. Alexandra Daddario will be playing Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson adaption.

Rick Riordan is also the author of the Texas based Tres Navarre series. The first book in the series Big Red Tequila won the Anthony Award for best original paperback and the Shamus Award for best First P.I. novel in 1997.