Showing posts with label Steve Hamilton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Hamilton. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 February 2017

Barry Award Nominees


Deadly Pleasures Mystery Magazine announced the nominees for 
the 2017 Barry Awards. Congratulations to all!

Best Novel:
Where It Hurts, by Reed Farrel Coleman (Putnam)
The Wrong Side of Goodbye, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)
The Second Life of Nick Mason, by Steve Hamilton (Putnam)
Wilde Lake, by Laura Lippman (Morrow)
A Great Reckoning, by Louise Penny (Minotaur)
The Second Girl, by David Swinson (Mulholland)


Best First Novel:
Dodgers, by Bill Beverly (Crown)
I’m Traveling Alone, by Samuel Bjork (Viking) 
IQ, by Joe Ide (Mulholland)
The Drifter, by Nicholas Petrie (Putnam)
I’m Thinking of Ending Things, by Iain Reid (Gallery/Scout Press)
Presumed Missing, by Susie Steiner (Random House)

Best Paperback Original:
Under the Harrow, by Flynn Berry (Penguin)
The Heavens May Fall, by Allen Eskens (Seventh Street) The Queen’s Accomplice, by Susan Elia MacNeal (Bantam)
The Darkest Secret, by Alex Marwood (Penguin)
Rain Dogs, by Adrian McKinty (Seventh Street)
The Girl in the Window, by Jake Needham (Half Penny)


Best Thriller:
Overwatch, by Matthew Betley (Atria)
First Strike, by Ben Coes (Minotaur)
Guilty Minds, by Joseph Finder (Dutton) Back Blast, by Mark Greaney (Berkley)
The One Man, by Andrew Gross (Minotaur) Collecting the Dead, by Spencer Kope (Minotaur)


The winners will be announced Thursday, October 12, during Bouchercon, in Toronto.






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Friday, 18 November 2011

Books to look forward to from Orion


All I Did Was Shoot My Man is the fourth instalment in Mosley’s soon-to-be classic Leonid McGill series In the shadow worlds of New York, PI Leonid McGill is still struggling to ‘go from crooked to slightly bent’. When Zelda Grisham, a woman falsely imprisoned by evidence McGill had planted, reappears in his life, the detective hires a hotshot attorney to help clear her name. Little does he know that powerful enemies are still watching Zelda’s every move. All I Did Was Shoot My Man is due to be published in March 2012.

If someone rich wants you dead, nothing can protect you Lauren Cawley disappears days before her second birthday but she is never found, leaving James Lomax, the lead investigator, broken. Twenty years on, Lomax has retired, and his son Tom, a private investigator, receives a mysterious phone call: heiress Sara Eaton’s mother has just passed away, and moments before her death Sara’s mother whispered something to her: Lomax. Tom alone can unlock the terrible secret that Sara’s mother hid.
The new but currently untitled novel by Tim Winship is due to be published in July 2012.

Sean Reilly and Tess Chaykin return in an edge-of-your-seat story that reaches from the present day back to 1800s Mexico. Sean and Tess find themselves in a race against the clock, against drug kingpins, and even against the DEA, to merge two divergent trails; one several hundred years old, the other as current as a heartbeat, which together may lead humanity to the brink of annihilation.
The Devil's Elixir is by Raymond Khoury and is due to be published in January 2012.

The author of Spies of the Balkans returns Paris, 1939. Europe is in the clutches of the Phoney War and behind closed doors, operatives are engaged in a deadly game of cat and mouse. Frederick Stahl, an American matinee idol, arrives in Paris to shoot a film. His celebrity allows him to cross Europe’s closed borders, and as the continent teeters on the verge of destruction, he becomes a man very much in demand…The Spies of Paris is by Alan Furst and is due to be published in June 2012.


Misery Bay: it’s a beautiful place to die Set amidst the lakes and woods of Northern Michigan, Misery Bay is an icily gripping thriller of murder, madness and revenge. An old mystery re-emerges when what seems like a tragic suicide turns out to be the first of a bizarre series of killings. A dark family history is gradually uncovered and the hunt for a very unusual killer begins...Misery Bay is by Steve Hamilton and is due to be published in January 2012.


A top nuclear scientist turns homicidal, taking an innocent family hostage. Gideon Crew is called in to talk the man down. When the authorities discover the scientist’s body is radioactive, and that he had recently embraced Islamic extremism, all hell breaks loose, and Gideon is charged with tracking down a rogue nuclear device...or something even worse. Gideon's Corpse is by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child and is due to be published in January 2012.


Stay Close is by Harlan Coben and is due to be published in April 2012. On an unremarkable suburban street a seemingly ordinary woman quietly despairs of the fantasy she has woven around herself, and wonders why we must choose just one life. Close by, a paparazzo looks through some photographs and sees something he shouldn’t. And a cop investigating the mysterious disappearance of a number of men begins to see a pattern..


It’s the week before Christmas when a lone robber, armed with an AK-47, bursts into a busy Glasgow post office. He is aided by one of the customers who, as if by prior arrangement, he then guns down. Searching for a connection between the two men, Detective Alex Morrow discovers that no corner of the city is safe, and her involvement will go deeper than she could ever have imagined... The new but currently untitled Denise Mina novel is due to be published in June 2012.


Joe Pike is back with a vengeance in the new thriller from the international bestseller When the police tell a wealthy industrialist that her missing son has faked his own kidnapping, she hires Elvis and Joe, who find out the boy and his secret girlfriend have been taken. When Cole goes undercover to try to return them, he himself is taken. Now it is up to Pike to retrace Cole’s steps, through the murderous world of human traffickers… Taken is by Robert Crais and is due to be published in March 2012.

Joe Byrne is an army bomb disposal expert whose addiction to risk almost cost him his life on numerous occasions. Miracuously, he survived his final tour in Afghanistan, but his luck had already run out. The day before he arrived home for good, his wife Kate was killed in a car crash. Left to bring up their daughter Chloe on his own, Joe is determined to be an ordinary father and take no more risks with what is precious to him. Until an ambitious CIA operative he knew in Afghanistan makes him an offer he can't refuse. Intelligence picked up in Afghanistan suggests that the security services' worst nightmare could be a reality: the existence of a white, Anglo-saxon suicide bomber. The most likely suspect seems to be an embittered and unbalanced Army vet, with experiences not dissimilar from Joe's, and he is therefore the perfect choice to enroll in a clinic for soldiers who have suffered psychological damage in Afghanistan in order to discover the bomber - especially since if he doesn't, he could find Chloe has been taken away from him. But as Joe's investigation takes him from London to Milan, to Bagram, and Gaza, it becomes clear that a plan much more shocking and ingenious than even the CIA could have imagined is underway, and Joe - and Chloe - have become an integral part of it. If he wants to save his daughter, Joe is going to have to learn to gamble with people's lives once again. The new but currently untitled Peter Grimsdale novel is due to be published in July 2012.

Flesh and Blood
is the debut novel by Mark Peterson. When ambitious young Detective Sergeant Minter joins Brighton’s elite crime squad, his new boss makes it very clear he’s not welcome. Meanwhile, their biggest case is going bell
y-up, and when an undercover cop is shot dead it soon becomes clear that the problem with the investigation lies close to home. As past and present converge, Minter must fight to uncover the truth, and bring a betrayer to justice. Flesh and Blood is due to be published in March 2012.

Happy Days is the 12th and final Faraday & Winter novel and brings the series to a devastating and exciting close DI Faraday is gone, and Portsmouth’s embattled police force attempts once and for all to nail the one man he was always desperate to bring to justice – violent drug baron Bazza McKenzie. Happy Days is by Graham Hurley and is due to be published in February 2012.


The stunning new historical thriller from Alex Scarrow the author of October Skies. Locked in an eerily quiet room on the sinking Titanic, a dying man tells a young girl his life story as the ship begins to sink. It all starts in
Whitechapel, London in 1888, as the Ripper murders begin… The Candle Man is due to be published in April 2012.

An exciting new voice in crime from one of Germany’s most popular authors. In the t
ranquil northern seaside town of Scarborough, a student is found murdered. For months, the investigators are in the dark, until they are faced with a copy-cat crime. Detective Valerie Almond is on the case, but all is it not as it first appeared and she is led towards a dark secret. Horrified at her discovery, Valerie realises that she may be too late... The Other Child is by Charlotte Link and is due to be published in March 2012

Paul Garrison Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Command is the first book in an exciting new series featuring Paul Janson, the hero of The Janson Directive.
Reformed from his days of assassination and international conspiracy, Paul Janson has a new mission. Working with kickass sharpshooter Jessica Kincaid, he helps rehabilitate disenchanted covert operatives. Janson takes a job to rescue a kidnapped doctor, but when his plans go haywire, Janson realises he may have been fighting for the wrong side... The Janson Command is due to be published in May 2012.

The Followers is by Michael Marshall. An intelligent and page-turning thriller from the international bestseller It should have been the greatest day of David’s life. A trip to New York, wife by his side, to visit his new publisher. But on the way back to Penn Station, a chance encounter changes all of that. He bumps into a stranger who covertly follows him, and then, just before they board their train home, passes by him close enough to whisper: 'Remember me'. The stranger follows them back to where they live, and it isn't long before David realises that this man wants something from him...something very personal, that he may have no choice but to surrender. Meanwhile, back in New York, ex-lawyer John Henderson does his girlfriend Kristina a favour and agrees to talk to Catherine Warren, an acquaintance of hers who believes she's being stalked by en ex-lover. But soon John realizes that Catherine's problem is more complex than anyone realized... There are people out there in the shadows, watching. They are the followers. And they’re about to turn. The Followers is due to be published in June 2012.

How well do you really know your own child? When a teenaged boy is discovered stabbed to death in the woods adjoining the local high school, a wave of shock ripples through the suburban community of Newton. District attorney Andy Barber is used to dealing with murder and its after-effects, but when evidence emerges that ties his son Jacob to the crime, suddenly Andy faces a very different challenge: preventing his son from being convicted of murder. Defending Jacob is by William Landay and is due to be published in February 2012.

Down the Darkest Road is by Tami Hoag and is due to be published in January 2012. Dr Ethan Stark has made his living studying murderers. Is it nature or nurture that makes a monster? It’s a trip that will bring him back into the life of Tony Mendez, a retired cop who can’t give up on cold cases, and Anne Leone, the victim who survived Ethan’s father. As the key players gather, it seems that one way or another, a monster is about to be unleashed...

‘Whatever happens, don’t go to war.’ The message received by MI6 and the CIA is clear. The reasons for it unknown. And so Will Cochrane, the West’s most capable intelligence operative, is despatched to infiltrate a remote Siberian submarine base to uncover the truth. The enemy, though, were warned of his arrival. Will is pitched against the most dangerous adversary he has ever faced, spy vs spy. And he will need all of his unique skills, strength and ruthlessness to prevail. Sentinel is by Matthew Dunn and is due to be published in July 2012.


The star of hit television series Justified and the novels, Riding the Rap, Pronto and the story Fire in the Hole returns. Raylan Givens is back, this time with a federal warrant to serve on a dealer named Angel Arenas. The state troopers are impressed when he struts into the convict’s hotel room without drawing his gun, but Raylan soon finds that Angel’s already been the victim of a bigger crime… Raylan is by Elmore Leonard and is due to be


Gone Girl is by Gillian Flynn and is due to be published in May 2012. On the morning of their third wedding anniversary, Charlie walks downstairs to discover his wife is missing. Charlie considers Amy a missing person and is terrified for her life. But the police see the scene a different way. Charlie must clear his name, but what he doesn’t tell the authorities is that their lives were not as perfect as they seemed.


The Dark Room...It’s the place where fear comes from... DI Andrew Hicks thinks he knows all about murder. For Hicks, however horrific the act is, the reasons for one human being to kill another are ultimately all too explicable. But soon he realises that he is dealing with a type of killer he has never faced before, and he must confront the truth about himself – and the fact that some murders begin in much darker rooms than he ever imagined. Dark Room is by Steve Mosby and is due to be published in May 2012.


Madigan is a good cop – the only problem is he’s heavily in hock to drugs kingpin Sandia. He concocts a plot to repay him – with his own money – but when he is forced to kill his co-conspirators, and a child gets caught in the crossfire, Madigan is in over his head. But the one piece of luck he gets is the person assigned to investigate the whole mess... A Dark and Broken Heart is by RJ Ellory and is due to be published in May 2012.


Talking to the Dead is by Harry Bingham and is the first in a new crime series due to be published in June 2012. For rookie detective constable Fiona Griffiths, her first major investigation promises to be a tough initiation. Fiona, however, has secrets of her own. She is still recovering from a crushing psychological breakdown, and the feelings which haunt her are constantly threatening to undermine her mask of normality. In solving the murders of Janet and April Mancini, can she begin to start solving the riddles of her own past?


The Child Thief by Dan Smith and is due to be published in April 2012. In the snow, death is not the coldest thing out there... December 1930, Western Ukraine. A stranger arrives in Luka’s village, pulling a sled bearing the bodies of two children. In a fervour, the villagers lynch the stranger, but when calm is restored one of the village children has vanished. Luka sets out to find her, but it soon becomes clear the man who took her is a skilful hunter using the kidnapped child as bait in his violent game.


Italic

Gone in Seconds is debut crime thriller written by British forensic psychologist A J Cross. When the skeleton of a young woman is found, evidence suggests that it is that of teenager Molly James, who went missing five years ago. Forensic psychologist Dr Kate Hudson is called in to investigate, and the deeper she digs the dirtier the clues get. When a second set of remains is unearthed Kate suspects they’re looking for a repeater, a killer who will not stop until they are caught…Gone in Seconds is due to be published in July 2012.


Asbury Park is by Rob Scott and is due to be published in January 2012. A twisted supernatural thriller from a master storyteller Homicide Detective Sailor Doyle is recuperating after the events of 15 Miles. Struggling to overcome his drug addiction and rebuild his marriage, Doyle seeks refuge in a century-old hotel. There he begins to investigate a mysterious drowning from years ago...


The Chosen Seed, the final book in The Dog-Faced Gods trilogy by Sarah Pinborough and comes to its thrilling conclusion in February 2012. Former DI Cass Jones is on the run and moving closer to finding the truth about The Bank and the mysterious Mr Bright. But for both sides the net is closing in. Sarah Pinborough’s series combines the streetwise grime of a George Pelecanos mystery with the near-future dystopian setting of Richard Morgan.


When Dragon Island is seized by a brutal terrorist force, the Army of Thieves, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. But there are no crack units close enough to get to Dragon in time. Except for a small equipment-testing team up in the Arctic led by a Marine captain named Schofield, call-sign Scarecrow. The ultimate hero is back, facing the ultimate army of villains. Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves is by Matthew Reilly and is due to be published in February 2012.



Saturday, 8 October 2011

CWA Dagger Awards and the Crime Thriller Awards

The Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2011 in conjunction with the CWA took place on Friday 7 October in the ballroom of the Grosvenor House Hotel along Park Lane. In attendance were a number of crime writers and shortlisted authors. These included authors David Baldacci, Mark Billingham, Lee Child, Peter James and Peter Robinson who were not only inducted into the International Hall of Fame but were also on the shortlist for the ITV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger which is voted on by the public. Once again the host for the evening was Marcus Brigstocke.



(Lee Child and Ayo Onatade ( © Pictures Ayo Onatade))


The first award that was given was the TV Dagger. The shortlist was made up of the following –

Case Histories (Ruby Films, BBC One)

Luther: Series 2 (BBC One)

The Shadow Line Company Pictures, BBC Two)

Vera (ITV Studios, ITV) and

Zen (Left Bank Pictures, BBC One).


The TV Dagger was awarded to Case Histories.



The first of the three CWA Daggers that was due to be given was the CWA John Creasey (New Blood Dagger). The nominated books were –


The Dead Women of Juarez by Sam Hawken (Serpent’s Tail)

Kiss Me Quick by Danny Miller (His blog post about writing the book can be found here) (Constable & Robinson)

Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson (Doubleday)

The Dogs of Rome by Conor FitzGerald (Bloomsbury)


It was not really a surprise that the winner was S J Watson’s Before I go To Sleep. Since it has been published Before I Go To Sleep has been receiving rave reviews from both sides of the Atlantic amongst readers, reviewers and bloggers.

The second Specsavers Award to be given out was the Film Dagger. The shortlisted films were -

Brighton Rock (Optimum Releasing)

Source Code (Optimum Releasing)

True Grit (Paramount Pictures) and

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Momentum Pictures)

The film that in my opinion was the odd one out also ended up being the winner. This was of course True Grit!


The Killing started off what was a good evening for them by winning the Best Supporting Actress Dagger. The nominees were –


Amanda Abbington for Case Histories (Ruby Films, BBC One)

Ann Eleonara Jørgensen for The Killing (Arrow Films BBC4)

Tara Fitzgerald for Waking the Dead (BBC One)

Kelly Macdonald for Boardwalk Empire (HBO/Sky Atlantic)

And Ruth Wilson for Luther (BBC One)


The Best Supporting Actor Dagger nominees were –

Aidan Gillen for Thorne (Company Pictures, BBC Two)

Bjarne Henriksen for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC 4)

Rafe Spall for The Shadow Line (Stagereel / Cité Amérique, Sky One)

John Lithgow for Dexter (Showtime Networks, FX Channel)

Søren Malling for The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC 4)


The winner was Rafe Spall for The Shadow Line.


The second CWA Dagger to be announced was the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. The nominees were -


Cold Rain by Craig Smith (Myrmidon)

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton (Orion)

The Good Son by Michael Gruber (Corvus) His blog post for Shots can be found here, and

Before I go To Sleep by S J Watson (Doubleday)


The International TV Dagger award was also handed out and the nominations were -


The Killing (Arrow Films, BBC4)

Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Castle (Beacon Pictures/Experimental Pictures/ ABC Studios)

Dexter: Season 5 (Showtime Networks, FX Channel)

Spiral: Series 3 (Son Et Lumiere)

The winner was The Killing


The Dagger for the Best Actor went to Idris Elba for Luther (BBC) and the other nominees were –


Steve Buscemi for Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Jason Isaacs for Case Histories (Ruby Films/BBC)

Lars Mikkelsen for The Killing (NRK/SVT/Arrow Films) and

Rufus Sewell for Zen (Left Bank Pictures)


The Best Actress Dagger nominations were as follows –

Brenda Blethyn for Vera (ITV Studios)

Sofie Gråbøl for The Killing (NRK/SVT/Arrow Films)

Sue Johnston for Waking The Dead (BBC)

Maxine Peake for Silk (BBC)

Kelly Reilly for Above Suspicion (La Plante Productions/ITV)

Olivia Williams for Case Sensitive (Hat Trick Productions/ITV)


The winner was Sofie Gråbøl for The Killing. The Killing walked away with 3 Dagger Awards at the ceremony.


The final CWA Dagger Award that was given out was the CWA Gold Dagger and the nominees were –

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Snowdrops by A D Miller

The End of the Wasp Season by Denise Mina and

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton


The Gold Dagger was won by Tom Franklin’s and his novel Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter.



(Mike Stotter and Peter Robinson ( © Pictures Ayo Onatade))

The final award was the ITV3 People’s Bestseller Dagger, which was of course voted upon by the public. The winner was Peter James, which of course did not surprise many of us in the room. So all of those people that voted for Peter James will surely be expecting their promised fish and chips on Brighton Pier which he promised to buy if he won the award.

The Award ceremony will be televised in the UK on Tuesday 11 October at 9pm on ITV3