Exclusive Bosch competition

EXCLUSIVE to SHOTS! We have ONE signed copy of the Amazon Prime promotion brochure signed by both Michael Connelly and Titus Welliver. The competition is over on the Shots website competition page.. One simple question to answer: Name the three books that Series One of BOSCH is based on. Include your name and address within the answer. Good luck!

Black Noise Competition

Finnish author Pekka Hiltunen sets his thrillers in London. Black Noise is the second instalment in the Studio series which is an intelligent crime thriller pitting unlikely heroines against London's dark crime underworld ultra-violent videos of murder and torture are being uploaded to the internet. When bodies start showing up on the streets of London, it begins to seem that the videos may be real and that a gruesome, exhibitionist killer is on the loose. The news catches the attention of Mari and Lia.

Mari and Lia are two Finnish women living in London. Despite bonding over their shared expat identity, they have rather different backgrounds. While Lia is a graphic designer, Mari runs the mysterious "Studio," a private crime fighting organization that considers itself above the law. Taking matters into their own hands, they take on cases where the police have failed or are indifferent. Lia has slowly found her place in among this mysterious, morally motivated group of people who are not above employing underhand tactics to make sure that justice is served. Backed by high-tech gadgets and their team of fiercely loyal experts, the two women set about trying to stem the recent surge of violence and track down the murderer. But the stakes are high and Mari will have to risk much, even the lives of her companions, if she is to bring the perpetrator to justice.

Interested in reading Black Noise?  There are two copies of Black Noise and Cold Courage (the first book in the series) up for grabs!  To get your hands on a copy please send your name, email address and postal address to shotscomp@yahoo.co.uk. Don’t forget to put Black Noise Competition in the subject line!  Closing date is 30 October 2014.

 Best of luck!

Black Noise by Pekka Hiltunen is out on 17 October, £12.99 (Hesperus Nova)

More information about Pekka Hiltunen and his books can be found on his Facebook page.

Peter James Festive Competition

Sunday Times No 1 bestselling crime writer Peter James and his British publisher Pan Macmillan will be celebrating the tenth anniversary of James’ internationally bestselling Roy Grace series next year.  Seven of Peter’s Roy Grace novels have been Sunday Times No.1 bestsellers and the series is now translated into 36 languages.  His novels have sold over 14 million copies worldwide to date. 

Shots eZine were delighted to hear that Peter James has made a good recovery following his serious car crash as reported in The Independent –

James was racing his 1965 BMW, which he bought in January for £100,000, when he was clipped from behind by a Lotus Cortina as he took a fast downhill bend at 85mph.

“If you were a baddie and you wanted to spin a car round, you’d hit the back section just there by the rear wheel,” he told The Independent yesterday. “I always wondered what it would feel like. I saw grass, gravel, tarmac… Apparently I rolled four times.”

Read More Here

To celebrate a decade of Roy Grace in 2014 and his survival from the car crash - Peter James invited a number of critics, booksellers and journalists to his Christmas Luncheon in London. During lunch, Mike Stotter and Ali Karim organised 3 signed copies of his latest Roy Grace thriller – the No 1 Paperback Dead Man's Time for a Shots Competition.

Peter James commented ‘When I sat down in 1983 to write the first Roy Grace novel, Dead Simple, which was the first of a two book contract with Pan Macmillan, I thought that's all there would ever be.  I decided to set up the mystery of Roy's missing wife Sandy in the first and provide the answer in the second.  I find it hard to believe I've just finished the 10th in the series, and am about to start the 11th, and I have to pinch myself to really believe the enthusiasm from my fans around the world.  2014 promises to be the most exciting year of my career and my life, with so much happening in this 10th Anniversary year of Roy Grace.’

The first novel in the series, Dead Simple was published in 2005 and the tenth Roy Grace thriller will be published in June 2014. Among many literary awards, including the publicly voted ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards People’s Bestseller Dagger in 2011 and he was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize for Perfect People in 2012.  As popular internationally as in the UK, he won the US Barry Award [from Deadly Pleasures’ Magazine], for Best British Crime Novel for Dead Man’s Grip in the Autumn of 2012.

The theatrical premiere of the stage adaptation of his bestselling novella, The Perfect Murder embarks on a UK-wide tour of the country's leading theatres from January. Featuring the much-loved West End (Spamalot) and Celebrity Masterchef star Les Dennis alongside Waking the Dead and Casualty actress Claire Goose as the warring couple with murder on their minds, the all star cast also features Coronation Street's award winning Gary O'Brien, and Casualty's Steven Miller. In a twist for ardent fans of Peter's writing the stage adaptation also features a young Roy Grace working his very first case. 

So to celebrate a Grace-full decade, his publishers commented –

Wayne Brooks, Peter’s Editor at Pan Macmillan, says: ‘Peter James is at the peak of his writing career and Want You Dead, to be published in June 2014 is his most shocking and thrilling book to date. I couldn’t think of a better novel to celebrate ten years of Roy Grace with. We’re all gearing up for a very exciting 2014!’

Geoff Duffield, Pan Macmillan’s Creative Director, adds: “In the course of ten gripping and twisting crime-ridden years, Detective Superintendent Roy Grace has become one of the English-speaking world’s most loved fictional characters. In 2014 we are going to make Grace’s 10th anniversary a year of celebration and surprises for everyone who has read and enjoyed Peter James’ great detective. Happy Birthday, Roy Grace!”

Here’s Peter James talking about his latest –

All you have to do to win one of 3 signed copies - is to name the title of Peter James’ first novel featuring Roy Grace released in 2005 -

[a] Dead Calm

[b] Dead Simple

[d] The Walking Dead

[e] Dead Good

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

Closing date for entries is Sunday 26^th January 2014

Terms and conditions for the Peter James Festive Competition

• Closing date for entries is Sunday 26^th January 2014 12:00:00 AM
• All correct entries will be entered into a prize draw and the first correct answer picked at random on 26 / 1 / 2014 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 apply

Don’t worry if you don’t win one of the three signed copies of Peter’s latest as Shots Magazine’s online book store is offering DEAD MAN’S TIME on a special offer here with over 50% off the RRP.

Peter’s Roy Grace novels are making waves in America following his Barry Award win last year and the critical acclaim for his techno thriller PERFECT PEOPLE, so if you’ve not explored the dark side of Brighton, perhaps it’s time you did. 

The Roy Grace Series

Dead Simple [2005]

Looking Good Dead [2006]

Not Dead Enough [2007]

Dead Man's Footsteps [2008]

Dead Tomorrow [2009]

Dead Like You [2010]

Dead Man's Grip [2011]

Not Dead Yet [2012]

Dead Man's Time [2013]

And next year’s thriller will be the 10^th in the series tentatively titled “Want You Dead” [2014]

More information available from www.peterjames.com

 Photographs from the 2013 Peter James Christmas Luncheon at The Ivy, London 

(c) 2013 Ali Karim

Win Tickets to the New Blood Panel at Harrogate Crime Festival!

Anya Lipska, has been selected by Val McDermid to appear on her New Blood Panel at this year's Theakstons Crime Festival in Harrogate and to celebrate the occasion, The Friday Project is offering the chance to win a pair of tickets to the event.

To enter the competition, answer the following question:  

What is the name of the fictional Polish private investigator in Anya Lipska's debut novel Where the Devil Can't Go?  

The pair of tickets can be sent anywhere in the UK.  They will allow entry for two people to the New Blood Panel, taking place at The Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate, at 12 noon on Saturday 20 July 2013 - for full details of the panel and other festival events click here http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/events/

The prize does not include travel, accommodation or other expenses that the winners incur in attending the festival.  Answers to the competition should be sent to shotscomp@yahoo.co.uk.

Please remember to include your full contact details.

The closing date for the competition is Thursday 8 July 2013.

Copies of Stuart Neville’s Collusion up for grabs!

An LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and sequel to Stuart Neville's award winning debut, The Twelve /The Ghosts Of Belfast is up for grabs on the Shots Ezine.

Collusion

Former paramilitary killer Gerry Fegan wanders New York City, hiding from a past he escaped at terrible cost. But he made a fatal mistake: he spared the life of Bull O'Kane, a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to get his revenge. Too many witnesses survived a bloody battle at his border farm, and now he wants them silenced, whether man, woman or child. O'Kane calls the Traveller, an assassin without pity or remorse, a killer of the purest kind.

Back in Belfast, Detective Inspector Jack Lennon, father of one the witnesses, is caught up in a web of official secrets and lies as he tries to uncover the whereabouts of his daughter. The closer he gets to the truth about the events on O'Kane's border farm, the more his superiors instruct him to back off.

When Fegan realises he can't shake off the trail of violence that has followed him across the world, he has no choice but to return to Belfast and confront his past. The Traveller awaits Fegan's return, ready for the fight of his life.

So if you want to get your hands on one of the 5 copies of this excellent book I would suggest that you hurry over to the Shots Ezine competition page.

Guest Blog: C J Box - Letter From Wyoming

Letter From Wyoming

By C.J. Box

Blood Feud

C J Box addresses the issue of blood feuds in the Joe Pickett book In Plain Sight which is due to be published on 1 July 2011.

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Wyoming isn’t known for family feuds – no more than any other place. I credit this with a combination of transients, transplants, and a healthy live-and-let live attitude that makes judgments on men depending on what they do and how they act rather than where they come from.

But there are exceptions. And as a young newspaper reporter in a small remote ranching town, I had a front row seat to a family squabble that went nuclear. I didn’t want to get involved or take sides – no one did. But there was no choice.

The Curse of the Third Generation Ranch is what lawyers and accountants call it. The first generation are those who bought or homesteaded the land, fought the elements and the bad guys, and eked out an existence in the hardscrabble Rocky Mountains. They passed on their property and legacy to the second generation, whose blood still ran hot with the legacy. Then the third generation came along. They never knew any of the hardships, but were born to wealth and privilege. And when it came time to running, selling, or dividing the land -- things sometimes went badly.

The feud I witnessed involved two sixty-something brothers who had lived their lives under the crushing thumb of their mother, who ran the ranch with brutal efficiency and pitted them against each other for her affection. When she died, hell broke loose.

The town became divided in loyalty to one brother or the other. They insisted on it. Meanwhile, each recruited thugs as ranch hands or, in effect, private armies. Incidents began: an employee for one brother beaten by a shovel by employees of the other; pickups and equipment set on fire during the night; two ranch hands who were sent to gather cattle and simply never came back. The battle raged for two years.

All because mom refused to choose.

COMPETITION TIME

Out of Range is the fifth in the Joe Pickett series, published by Corvus. The next Joe Pickett adventure In Plain Sight, is due to published on the 1st July 2011.

There are two copies of Out Of Range up for grabs. To win simply tell us the name of the falconer in the Joe Pickett series. Send your answer to the Shots editor . Don’t forget to add your name and address in case you are the lucky winner. Good Luck.

CRIME BOOKS - COMPETITION

It’s competition time over in the SHOTS Ezine. I’ve posted a photograph of British crime writers taken around 1989 or 1990 at a Waterstone’s promotion of new talent.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to identify the suspects pictured.
List the authors as they appear in the photograph and you could be in with the chance of winning a box load of goodies. From proofs, hardbacks, paperbacks and all stops in between. They could be yours.
Or have a look just for the craic.
Closing date is midnight March 5th 2007
Click here to the link