Charlie Hardie the All-Star

Duane Swierczynski's character Charlie "Unkillable Chuck" Hardie's first outing FUN & GAMES is nominated for a Barry, Shamus, and now, an Anthony award.  I guess Duane had better go to Cleveland for Bouchercon, after all... J

Subject: 2012 Anthony Award Nominations

 

BEST NOVEL
The End of Everything - Megan Abbott
Hurt Machine - Reed Coleman
The Drop - Michael Connelly
A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny
One Was a Soldier - Julia Spencer-Fleming

BEST FIRST NOVEL
Learning to Swim - Sara J. Henry
Nazareth Child - Darrell James
All Cry Chaos - Leonard Rosen
Who Do, Voodoo? - Rochelle Staab
The Informationist - Taylor Stevens
Purgatory Chasm - Steve Ulfelder
Before I Go to Sleep - S.J. Watson

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
The Company Man - Robert Bennett
Choke Hold - Christa Faust
Buffalo West Wing - Julie Hyzy
Death of the Mantis - Michael Stanley
Fun & Games - Duane Swierczynski
Vienna Twilight - Frank Tallis

BEST SHORT STORY
"Disarming" - Dana Cameron, EQMM June
"The Case of Death and Honey" - Neil Gaiman, A Study In Sherlock
"Palace by the Lake" - Daryl Wood Gerber, Fish Tales
"Truth and Consequences" - Barb Goffman, Mystery Times Ten
"The Itinerary" - Roberta Isleib, The Rich and The Dead
"Happine$$" - Twist Phelan, The Rich and The Dead

BEST CRITICAL NONFICTION WORK
Books, Crooks and Counselors - Leslie Budewitz
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making - John Curran
On Conan Doyle - Michael Dirda
Detecting Women - Philippa Gates
The Sookie Stackhouse Companion - Charlaine Harris

Congratulations to all the nominees!

A more detailed nominee listing can be found at:
http://www.bouchercon.info/nominees.html#2012
or
http://www.bouchercon2012.com/awards.php

A Spotlight on Black Light from Don Coscarelli

A Spotlight on <em>Black Light</em> from Don Coscarelli

A rave review of BLACK LIGHT from the legendary horror film director!    

Starry Nights and Fun & Games for Mr. Swierczy

Fun and Games 

Duane Swierczynski. Little, Brown/Mulholland, $14.99 trade paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-316-13328-9

Swierczynski (Severance Package) steps on the gas early in this pulse-pounding contemporary thriller, the first of a trilogy, and doesn't let up. After second-tier movie actress Lane Madden survives multiple attempts by aggressive fellow drivers to run her off some treacherous Los Angeles roads, she has the good fortune to meet Charlie Hardie, a peripatetic house-sitter with a violent past, at the house in the Hollywood Hills where she takes refuge. Hardie, a former police consultant who's haunted by the deaths of several innocents, is skeptical of the actress's claim that she's being pursued by the Accident People, a shadowy group of killers who stage their homicides to appear as accidents. An escalating series of violent encounters builds to an unforgettable climax. Fans of the Die Hard movies will find this a literary equivalent, and the author deserves credit for making what could be an over-the-top setup oddly plausible. The sequel's appearance won't be too soon for many readers. (June)  -- Publishers Weekly

Koryta's So Cold The River Continues "Best of 2010" Run

Marilyn Stasio names her Notable Crime Books of 2010 in The New York Times and Michael's novel is on the list!

Here's her look back at some of the best mysteries of this year.

Mulholland Books Releases Exclusive Excerpt of New Swierczynski novel

Check out this high octane blast of "playful mayhem."

NPR Includes Gischler's Go-Go Girls in "Apocalypse Trio"

A special end-of-days thanks to our new pal Ron Currie, Jr., for his awesome story here yesterday with his picks for...

Three Books To Help You Enjoy The Apocalypse!

INNOCENT MONSTER launches on Oct. 7!

More love for Moe

Bookgasm is thrilled that "Reed Farrel Coleman’s Moe Prager is back, folks...INNOCENT MONSTER is another masterfully written descent into Prager’s world of regret and anguish...like most of the Prager series, it is utterly compelling and nearly impossible to put aside. So INNOCENT MONSTER is highly recommended for those willing to take a stroll down the darker side of human nature, with Coleman and Prager as your guide."

Innocent Monster scores a starred review

"Sashi Bluntstone, the 11-year-old Next New Thing on the New York art scene, has been abducted, and Moe Prager—former NYPD cop and former PI—is asked by his estranged daughter, Sarah, to join the search. He expects only tragedy; Sashi has already been missing for three weeks, and he hasn’t been a PI for seven years.

Now a well-to-do wine merchant, Moe agrees, primarily to attempt to restore his relationship with Sarah. He quickly learns that nothing increases the value of paintings faster than the death of the painter. Suspects abound: wealthy, self-important collectors; greedy gallery owners; odious rival artists; even the victim's parents. But Moe abides. This sixth Moe Prager novel is pretty much note perfect.

[Reed Farrel] Coleman's take on the art world as a den of iniquity is priceless, as is Moe himself—intelligent, street smart, and tough, especially for a sixtysomething. He’s also sophisticated, despite seeing himself as a “poor schmuck from Brooklyn.” He’s a mensch, and his bone-deep world weariness and mordant sense of humor should enthrall lovers of old-school, tough-talking, loner private eyes (think Loren D. Estleman's Amos Walker)."

- Booklist, Starred review

2010 Shamus Award Nominees

The Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) sure know how to pick 'em!

Michael Koryta's THE SILENT HOUR is nominated for Best Hardcover PI Novel.

Gary Phillips' "Blazin' on Broadway" in PHOENIX NOIR is nominated for Best PI Short Story.

Amazon.com chooses SO COLD THE RIVER as one of the Best Books of 2010! Way to go, Michael!

Congratulations to Tom Piccirilli!

Tom scores a big win at 2010 Thrillerfest: Best Paperback Original for THE COLDEST MILE!

A quick rave for SO COLD THE RIVER

"Michael Koryta's novel is being compared to the writings of Stephen King and Peter Straub. He lives up to the comparison in this dark novel." - USA Today

Rucka scores a Barry nom

Outstanding news to kick off the weekend:

WALKING DEAD, the newest Atticus Kodiak thriller, is nominated for Best Thriller!

Way to go, Greg!

Pick up the perfect summer book today

Available online and in stores today, SO COLD THE RIVER is the literary vacation you're looking for!

In her NY Times Sunday Book Review, Marilyn Stasio agrees wholeheartedly.

"If all good mysteries make ideal summer reading, what does a mystery fan turn to for true escape? How about a super­natural mystery that intensifies the suspense by thickening the atmosphere.

SO COLD THE RIVER (Little, Brown, $24.99), by Michael Koryta, is a superior specimen, with its eerie tale of a lovely valley in Indiana where at one time an elixir known as Pluto Water bubbled up from the underground springs. The restoration of the valley’s two old spa hotels attracts the interest of a cinematographer from Chicago who drinks the water and starts having visions...Koryta sets a beautiful scene, resplendent with dreamy images."

And the nominees for the Macavity Award are...

Reed Farrel Coleman, Ken Bruen and Stefanie Pintoff continue to shine!

Just last Friday, we found out that they're nominated for the 2010 Anthony Award, and now they have also been shortlisted for the Macavity Award:

TOWER is in the running for Best Mystery Novel.

IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM is nominated for Best Historical.

Congratulations all around!

Koryta is a "Born storyteller"

Bestselling thriller writer Jason Pinter says "So Cold the River is a breathtaking departure from Koryta's crime novels, upping the plotting and characterization skills that Koryta has displayed through five books...The result is a gripping, terrifying, and sometimes astonishing read."

Pinter's BEA interview with Koryta is up at The Huffington Post.

The Globe and Mail commends Stefanie Pintoff

"Stefanie Pintoff's debut, In the Shadow of Gotham, won two major first novel awards. This sequel is even better.

It's the early 20th century. Former New York police partners Simon Ziele and Declan Mulvaney have taken very different paths. Ziele relocated to rural Dobson, where he can solve crime without facing the violence of the city. Mulvaney, in Gotham, glories in the most violent crimes. But when a showgirl dies onstage, he's stumped and calls on his old partner for help.

Pintoff seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of early criminal investigation, and fits it all into an excellent plot. "

Anthony Award nominations

TOWER has been nominated for Best Paperback Original,

AND

IN THE SHADOW OF GOTHAM is up for Best First Novel

Much deserved congratulations to Reed Farrel Coleman, Ken Bruen, and Stefanie Pintoff!

So Cold the River is a Best Book of June!

Amazon.com's editors pick Michael Koryta's newest thriller as a must-read!

“[SO COLD THE RIVER is] spellbinding and check-your-doors-and-windows scary, and it all begins with a check and a bottle of water. At its deliciously creepy core, So Cold the River is about two men facing down their demons, and what happens when those demons fight back.

Recommended for fans of Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill and Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane”


Check out Michael Koryta's chat with Deb Smouse at Everything Girl, and Koryta's blog for more lovin' from the Australia's Men's Fitness magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The St. Petersburg Times and Cape Cod Times.