Tag: crime thriller

CTG’s Sneaky Peep: Meet DI Gus McGuire from #UnquietSouls by Liz Mistry

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Liz Mistry Unquiet Souls

Today I’m delighted to be hosting a stop on the Unquiet Souls blog tour.

For the stop today I’ve got a fabulous extract from the book that introduces the hero – DI Gus McGuire …

 

Friday, 10am, Shipley, Bradford, 2015

Detective Inspector Angus McGuire, can of Irn Bru in one hand, looked around the waiting room. He hated it, from its cloying vanilla-scented candles to the china clutter on the mantelpiece and the seaside paintings on the chimney breast. The only thing remotely bearable was the oversized aquarium that stood dead centre, providing 360 degree footage of tank life. He didn’t particularly like fish, but, in this tank, he’d found one he could relate to. He’d named him Nemo out of sheer bloody mindedness because his Nemo was neither a clown fish, nor orange and white. His Nemo was, by aquarium standards, a monster lurking in solitude near the bottom of the tank. Its lazy eye blinked only once every century or so. Cold and dead, it reminded him of Becky’s eye. The one without the knife protruding from it. The one that blinked reproachfully at him in his nightmares. Nemo was Gus.

He tapped the glass and Nemo moved, the frondy things springing from the back of its head floated in the water. They reminded him of his own short dreads which he kept at the regulatory ‘above-the-collar’ length to avoid hassle from DCI Hussain. Gus’ finger trailed across the tank. He’d happily spend the whole hour painting abstract patterns for Nemo to follow. However, such reckless indulgence with a friend who was, nonetheless a ‘bottom feeder’, was not to be.

The door opened and Dr Sabrina Mahmood beckoned him into her lair. Gus, flicked his empty can into the bin and stood. Walking past her, quads clenching painfully, he forced himself not to limp. Ever conscious of her role in his future and resentful of it, he’d trained himself to exhibit no weakness. For Gus, these bi-weekly sessions were the equivalent of a siege. She was the negotiator, trying to worm her way under his defences and he would not comply. Not when so much depended on her assessment of his mental stability.

Despite his pain, he strode towards his usual chair, opposite her desk. In here, vanilla was replaced by occasional wafts of Chanel No 5. No amount of careful lighting and magnolia paint could disguise the age of the building but, Gus had to admit, she’d tried really hard. Little touches, like the fluffy turquoise rug thrown over a threadbare blue carpet, and the coffee table with fresh flowers in the corner were an obvious attempt to humanise the process. Dr Mahmood took her place behind the desk and waited for him to sit. Gus stretched his legs, feeling the pull of scar tissue in his upper thigh. Immediately, he found the damp spot on the wall, above her right shoulder. With a practised half smile, he focussed on the spot and waited for the usual ducking and diving to begin. These sessions were like a strategic ballroom dance and Gus wasn’t a great dancer. All he wanted was to immerse himself in his sole salvation – work. Dr Mahmood, he felt, was hell bent on making him dance to her tune. A dance Gus was determined not to share.

 

A massive thank you to Liz Mistry for making the CTG blog a stop on her tour and letting me post this exclusive extract.

Unquiet Souls is out on July 30th. Here’s the blurb: “When the body of a prostitute is discovered DI Gus McGuire is handed the case. But what first appears to be a simple murder soon turns into an international manhunt for the members of a twisted child trafficking ring. McGuire who is suffering with problems of his own, he must pick his way through the web of deceit and uncover the truth in time before the body count rises. Can McGuire identify The Matchmaker before it’s too late? And can he trust those he is working with?”

From 30th July you can buy Unquiet Souls from Amazon here

To find out more about Liz Mistry hop over to her blog at https://lizmistrycrimewriter.wordpress.com/ and follow her on Twitter @LizCrimeWarp

And be sure to check out all the stops on the Unquiet Souls Blog Tour …

Final Blog Tour

CTG’s TOP TEN “MUST PACK” #CrimeFiction SUMMER READS

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If you’ve been stressed out and counting the hours (minutes, seconds …) till your holiday the last thing you want is more stress from picking the right books to take with you!

But there are so many red hot sizzlers of reads out there, how do you pick the books to pack into your luggage? It’s a tough call, so to help you out I thought I’d do a top ten selection of my favourite reads from the past few months to give you a bit of a head start.

And so, after A LOT of deliberation, these are my top ten “must pack” reads.

**drum roll**

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If you love super smart and sparkly fun non-fiction … then REACHER SAID NOTHING by ANDY MARTIN is the perfect companion to lie back on your beach towel with.

Through Andy’s eyes, you’ll get a backseat view of Lee Child as he writes his most recent bestseller – MAKE ME. It’s a captivating snapshot of the life of Lee Child during the writing process – illuminating how his life and his writing feed into each other – and a lesson in thriller writing distilled through the expert observations and analysis of Andy Martin. REACHER SAID NOTHING is an honest, access-all-areas study of a writer at the top of their game, and a damn entertaining read – an absolute must for Reacher fans and aspiring writers too. If you’re a fan of crime thrillers this is a book you just have to read!

Read my review of REACHER SAID NOTHING here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Andy on Twitter @andymartinink

 

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If you love your crime to come with a heavyweight emotional sucker-punch … you’ll need IN HER WAKE by AMANDA JENNINGS in your rucksack when you head off to the British seaside.

It’s a remarkable book – part psychological thriller, part coming-of-age story, it entices you in with a gloriously rich web of secrets and mystery, and holds you spell bound right through to the final heart-wrenching revelation. Beautifully written, IN HER WAKE is a story of toxic relationships, family betrayals and self-discovery. It’s both gritty and tragic, and achingly emotive and heart-warming. A stunning read.

Read my review of IN HER WAKE here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Amanda on Twitter @MandaJJennings

 

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If you love a classy whodunit with a psychological twist … be sure to take DIE OF SHAME by MARK BILLINGHAM with you when you load the truck to drive Route 66 on your road trip.

Told across two timelines, the story follows the police investigation, led by no-nonsense DI Nicola Tanner, into the murder of a member of a North West London addiction therapy group in the ‘NOW’. While in the ‘THEN’ it shows the group, and its members’ lives, as they were in the weeks leading up to the murder of one of their own. It’s a book that explores the lasting effects of addiction, the guilt of having to live with the consequences of actions you may have little recall of taking, and of each person’s battle to find and keep (or get back) their place within the world. It also shows the lengths that some people will go to in order to hide their secrets and take their revenge. For police procedural fans, the investigation narrative is as rich with detail and as tensely pacey as you’d expect from a crime-writing master of the genre. Gritty, thought provoking and utterly addictive!

Read my review of DIE OF SHAME here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Mark on Twitter @MarkBillingham

 

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If you love a modern luxury twist on the classic locked room mystery … take THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by RUTH WARE along for the ride when you journey on the Orient Express.

It tells the story of Lo Blackwood who has been given the career opportunity of a lifetime – attending the press launch of a new boutique cruise ship and writing about her experience on its maiden voyage. But in the days leading up to the cruise her flat is burgled while she’s sleeping, and her relationship with her boyfriend, Judah, hits the rocks. Unsettled and exhausted, Lo makes her way to the ship, convinced some rest and recuperation will help her feel better. But things don’t work out like that. Against the backdrop of ultimate luxury – white velvet, raw-silk, chandeliers with over two thousand Swarovski crystals – and the breath-taking natural beauty of the Norwegian fjords, Lo finds herself facing the possibility she’s trapped on a boat, cut off from the outside world, and one of the other passengers is a murderer. THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 brings the classic locked room mystery bang up to date, with creepiness and ever increasing dread oozing from the pages. It’s packed with suspense and twisty with tension to the final page.

Read my review of THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 over on the @deadgoodbooks website here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Ruth on Twitter @RuthWareWriter

 

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If you love gritty American noir … a copy of BLACK NIGHT FALLING by ROD REYNOLDS is essential reading while you’re waiting for your date to arrive in that back street whiskey bar.

The second book in the Charlie Yates series is another noir-drenched belter of a thriller. “Having left Texarkana for the safety of the West Coast, reporter Charlie Yates finds himself drawn back to the South, to Hot Springs, Arkansas, as an old acquaintance asks for his help. This time it’s less of a story Charlie’s chasing, more of a desperate attempt to do the right thing before it’s too late.” I think that if Raymond Chandler and John D. MacDonald had co-written a book it might have been rather like BLACK NIGHT FALLING. Darkly gritty, authentically compelling, this is a flawless treat of a thriller.

You’ll be able to read my review of BLACK NIGHT FALLING when in comes out in August. In the meantime, click here to pre-order it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Rod on Twitter @Rod_WR

 

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If you love seeing beneath the cash and the glitter thrillers … then EXPOSURE by AVA MARSH will keep your eyes wide open as you lounge by the rooftop pool.

At the start of the book, porn star Kitty Sweet is in prison for double murder, but she’s never told the secret of what really happened. When a long lost friend visits, bringing some upsetting news, Kitty’s offered some sessions with a therapist. She figures why not, she’ll turn up and play along. It’s hard to squeeze EXPOSURE into a single sub-genre – it’s a thriller for sure; a tale of deceit, and exploitation, and murder. It’s also a tale of friendship, of love and of heartbreak with a real emotional core. And the twist at the end, well, let’s just say it’s not many books that can make me cry – and this one did!

Read my review of EXPOSURE here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Ava on Twitter @MsAvaMarsh

 

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If you love high adrenaline action thrillers … then you’ll want to take THE TIME TO KILL by MASON CROSS with you when you jet-ski back to your yacht.

This is the third book in the Carter Blake series, and it’s one hell of a read! The story starts with Blake accepting a new job – finding an employee of an internet tech company who’s gone AWOL with a piece of ground-breaking software. But as he starts tracking his target, Blake isn’t aware that he himself is firmly in the sights of his old employers – Winterlong – and that they’ll stop at nothing to neutralize the threat they now believe him to be. THE TIME TO KILL is an adrenaline rush from the first page to the last. Packed with stunning set-piece action sequences, and an emotional punch as you discover more of the rather mysterious Blake’s backstory, this cinematic action thriller is like reading Reacher crossed with Bourne plus added fabulousness.

Read my review of THE TIME TO KILL here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Mason on Twitter @MasonCrossBooks

 

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If you love your police procedurals packed with ghostly wonder … you’re going to need JONATHAN DARK OR THE EVDIENCE OF GHOSTS by AK BENEDICT to accompany you on that London city getaway you’re planning (maybe you’ll even be tempted to try some mud larking).

Every once in a while you read a book that enthralls you, wrapping you up tight inside its world and holding you spellbound throughout the entirety of the story. For me, this is that book. “Maria King knows a secret London. Born blind, she knows the city by sound and touch and smell. But surgery has restored her sight – only for her to find she doesn’t want it. Jonathan Dark sees the shadowy side of the city. A DI with the Metropolitan Police, he is haunted by his failure to save a woman from the hands of a stalker. Now it seems the killer has set his sights on Maria, and is leaving her messages in the most gruesome of ways. Tracing the source of these messages leads Maria and Jonathan to a London they never know. To find the truth they’ll have to listen to the whispers on the streets.” Quirkily original, with deeply drawn unique characters and a brutally magical London setting, this story has you traversing all the emotions from darkness to delight with a gut wrenching honesty – rather as if you’ve been kissed and sucker punched all at the same time, but in a good way.

Read my review of JONATHAN DARK OR THE EVIDENCE OF GHOSTS here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Alexandra on Twitter @ak_benedict

 

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If you love twisty-turny legal thrillers … take THE PLEA by STEVE CAVANAGH on your New York city break – you could even visit some of the locations in the book while you’re there.

The second book in the Eddie Flynn series, THE PLEA, sees con-man-turned-criminal-defence-lawyer Eddie Flynn facing another terrifying situation: persuade social media genius David Child to become his client and get him to plead guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, or the FBI will make sure Eddie’s wife goes to prison for involvement in an illegal scheme operated by her law firm that she had no direct knowledge of. But Eddie suspects that David Child is innocent, and he won’t send an innocent man to jail. Eddie sets out to prove David’s innocence, and to protect his own family. Problem is, there is more than one bunch of bad guys after David, and some are closer to home than even Eddie might think. With an urgent, time pressured feel from the get-go, electric courtroom scenes, stunning action sequences and the witty and unique character of Eddie Flynn, THE PLEA a tremendous read.

Read my review of THE PLEA here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Steve on Twitter @SSCav

 

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If you love heart-racing creepiness in your thrillers … WILLOW WALK by SJI HOLLIDAY is the book to pack for that walking holiday in the Scottish Highlands.

This is the second book in the Banktoun trilogy. Set in a small town community in Scotland where everyone knows each other’s business and secrets are deeply held, Sergeant David Gray is investigating a series of deaths linked to legal highs, while also trying to work out what is going wrong in his relationship with girlfriend, Marie.

This twisty, turning police procedural has a strong psychological twist, and tackles some controversial issues. It’s a gritty tale of obsession, revenge and escape. Chillingly nuanced, and pulse-poundingly suspenseful, it’s totally unputdownable.

Read my review of WILLOW WALK here. Click here to buy it from Amazon. And be sure to follow Susi on Twitter @SJIHolliday

 

So don’t forget to pack your books in your suitcase (or pack them virtually onto your Kindle) and have a fab summer hols!

 

CTG in conversation with Alex Caan: author of CUT TO THE BONE

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Cut to the Bone

Today I’m super excited to be hosting a stop on the CUT TO THE BONE Blog Tour. The lovely Alex Caan has joined me on the CTG blog to chat about all things writing, reading and to tell me what it’s really like being a debut author.

Welcome, Alex!

I always read about writers knowing from a young age they wanted write. What do you think? And when did you decide to do it professionally?

For me I think it was about 8 I remember starting to write stories and wanting to be a writer. I think I saw Roald Dahl in his shed on Blue Peter (I know the glamour of my youth!) sharpening his pencils and writing his stories, and that made me realise it could actually be a career. Like so many though I didn’t have the confidence to pursue it, until I hit thirty and decided if I wanted to pursue my dreams it was now or never. So I joined writing groups, did short courses and eventually an MA. But from trying to make this my profession to the publication of ‘Cut to the Bone’ I think it’s taken me a decade of hard graft.

CTG pauses a moment, adds up years: thirty plus a decade … then says [in shock] there is no way you’re fourty!!!!

But, seriously, I’ve talked to quite a lot of authors who’ve said it’s taken them about ten years of ‘apprenticeship’ before getting published. So, you did an MA (like me). How did you find it?

Ha, thank you I think! Mine was a general MA and I spent most of it trying to write the next great Booker winner style novel. Only towards the end, when I had to submit a novel for my dissertation did I have the confidence to write something I really wanted to. I think I learnt a lot about how to cope with criticism, and constructive criticism. And I knew nothing about the business of publishing, how to approach agents and how the process works. The MA helped greatly with that.

Yes, that’s a really great point – I found it gave me a much better understanding of the world of publishing too. And the ‘writing what you want’ thing you mention is key, I think, it’s easier to find your own voice that way perhaps.

America. Why?

My reality especially as a teenager was dire. I think it’s why I connected with the character of Ruby so much, that sense of alienation and being an outsider, which I think both Kate Riley and Zain Harris also share. And when you’re growing up in a deprived inner-city area, and having a tough time, the American Dream is just so big and brash and seductive. The TV, films and especially the novels. Everything just seemed so exciting, even the grittiest thrillers had a touch of glamour. Plus the country was always so different depending where you were, so New York was different from LA, and both different from Texas and Boston. However, I’ve never been and I thought my novel would read as a poor pastiche if I tried to fake it. Instead-I transported Kate Riley from her New England/Washington past to London. That will give me I hope the vehicle to tell stories about America as her past comes back more strongly in future novels. And once I’ve been!

Oh yes, you absolutely must go! I can’t wait to discover more about Kate Riley’s past. And I get what you mean about the gritty but glamorous US-set films and TV shows. I’ve spent a lot of time in the States, and have family out there, so I’m more confident writing about the locations and such, although I do spend a lot of time checking my facts are correct – and getting my Step Mom to say things ‘in Amercian’ for me to ensure I’m getting the phrasing right!

What’s the weirdest research you did?

I ended up wandering around the South Downs late at night while on a work trip to Winchester once. And I think I spent about four days watching YouTube vlogs non-stop. I was by the end of it an honorary teenager, and my world-view was all over the place. But none of this is as exciting as your stint as a bounty hunter!!

An ‘honorary teenager’ – brilliant! But from what you’ve said, you wanted to experience some of what your characters do in order to write about it, and I guess that’s the same with me and the bounty hunting!

Who would you use your taser on?

So far everyone’s been lovely…so far…but I might borrow it if I start meeting writers who act like erm not very nice people (am determined not to swear).

Ha ha! Yes, you’re very welcome to borrow it, so long as you promise to give it back! In return, what advice can you give me as someone approaching publication as a debut?

So advice for you as a debut. I think you’re already leagues ahead of so many writers, the most difficult part for me was breaking into the crime world. Everyone seems to know everyone, and I was terrified. Thank you for your advice by the way, it really helped. So I think you’ve done all of that, and people have so much respect for you already, and I really feel like your novel has a buzz around it. It will really hit the ground running. What I would say, and what I’m failing to do fully, is enjoy it. The nerves make it difficult, the idea that people you have no control over will review it, how much it sells, Tv deals etc etc. Try and ignore all that if you can. And practice your ‘I didn’t win the oscar face’ if you get a questionable review. I have to remember how subjective reading is, and not to take it personally. If someone’s bought the novel and spent the time to read it, they are entitled to feel any way they want to about it.

*blushes* *goes off to practice I didn’t win the oscar face* *returns* – thank you, that’s great advice. I do hope you get to enjoy the experience. Your debut, CUT TO THE BONE, is a fantastic novel.

Speaking of which, can you summarise your novel for readers in a paragraph?

Cut to the Bone is about Ruby Day, a vlogger with millions of fans who goes missing. An elite new unit of the Met are called in under questionable circumstances to investigate, led by Kate Riley, Zain Harris and the rest if her team. What starts of as a misisng person’s case soon escalates into a creepy hunt for a kidnapper, as videos are anonymously uploaded of Ruby pleading for her life. And the kinapper has issued a threat that she won’t be the only one.

It’s a great read, folks. Be sure to watch out for my review next week.

And finally, I don’t believe I swear more than you. Are you sure you counted all bad words? Anyway, my next novel I am determined to swear less. What’s your resolution?

Ha! I think you swear more on the page and less in real life perhaps. I’m the other way around – I edit my sweariness on the page, but in real life I am a pottymouth. Perhaps my resolution should be to even the two out a little more!

And, sadly, that’s all we have time for.

A huge thank you to the wonderfully talented Alex Caan. To keep up with all his news, follow him on Twitter @alexcaanwriter

A bigger thank you to you though for letting me part of the iconic CTG blog, and I can’t wait to read Deep Down Dead (not that this is a MASSIVE hint to get me a proof copy or anything…)

CUT TO THE BONE is out now. You can buy it from Amazon here

And be sure to check out the rest of the fabulous CUT TO THE BONE Blog Tour stops …

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Hot New Crime Blogger @SmDee13 talks about why she chose @citywriting for her creative writing MA

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Today I’m handing over the reins at CTG HQ to a fabulous new crime blogger and crime writer – Sam Dennis. I met Sam earlier this year when she was in her second term on the City University London Creative Writing MA, and about to start her own crime fiction blog.

Today Sam’s talking about why she picked City University for her MA …

I’ve always known I wanted to write books one day but I wasn’t very good at it. I have plenty of half-finished stories, characters begging to tell their stories and book ideas in various notepads, diaries, scrap pieces of paper, etc. but I kept on getting stuck. One day I decided to search for a course that could help me. I came across City University London’s course and immediately felt intimidated by the prestige and the amount of work I’d have to do – to write a full-length novel sounded terrifying but I knew it was something I had wanted from a young and so I applied.

Fast-forward to today and I’m a few weeks away from finishing my first year. It’s been very intense but extremely rewarding Creative Writing MA. (They haven’t paid me to say that.) It’s not your average course and although I had done my research about how much writing we’d have to do in the first year, it was a bit of a culture shock to have to write between 1,000 – 2,000 words a week. Before this course I had starting writing many stories but had never really planned a story from beginning to end – I didn’t think you needed to, I thought it ‘just came to you in a dream’. That’s where the course came in and turned my scribbles into fully fledged idea that could one day (I hope) be published.

What I love about City’s course is that we focus solely on crime fiction, our teachers are published crime novelists so they’re more than qualified to give advice and teach us how to write, but more than that, we have regular visits by some of the best crime writers also. In our bi-weekly workshops we don’t spend time searching for ‘meaning’ – although we do have some hilarious conversations about what was going through the authors head when they wrote a particular scene – instead we think about the immediate questions the author poses, how they create tension, whether we need to like the main character or not (we do), the twists and turns, and then we think about how we can do the same for our novels and actually do it. In the beginning I was so scared and nervous to share my work and had immediately dismissed it but then everyone’s feedback encouraged me and let me know we’re all a bunch of dark people who enjoy writing about and discussing gruesome things.

As we’re almost at the final hurdle of the first academic year I’m now at the stage where I’m writing my first novel – I never thought I’d get to this point. We had to spend a lot of time planning and plotting, working on the characters and throwing plenty of curveballs at them, and it’s been a great help. I’m very much a plotter so I absolutely loved that part of the course. But this is the bit that really counts and where everything I’ve learnt from September 2015 to today will see me through writing my novel from start to finish so that it’s completed by September 2017. It’s amazing to me that I will have written over 100,000 words.

I’m completely sold to crime thriller books and spend a lot of my time reading, reviewing, discussing, recommending them alongside studying and writing one of my own. It’s very surreal. What I’d say to anyone who’s toying with the idea of writing a crime thriller novel and would like a little guidance on how to do so, invest in yourself and do this course – you won’t be disappointed at all. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made so far and I’m excited to see where my book takes me one day.

A massive thank you to Sam Dennis for taking the helm of the CTG HQ today. 

You can catch Sam blogging about all things crime fiction over on her fabulous site www.thiscrimebook.com and be sure to follow her on Twitter @SmDee13

For more information about the brilliant Creative Writing MA offered by City University London (Twitter – @citywriting), hop over to their website here

 

CTG Reviews (over @DeadGoodBooks): THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware

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Shush, *don’t tell anyone*, but today I’m moonlighting over at the awesome http://www.deadgoodbooks.co.uk and talking about Ruth Ware’s new psychological thriller THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 – it’s a pacey page turner, packed with suspense and twisty with tension; a fabulously contemporary locked room mystery.

To find out more hop over to Dead Good Books and check out my review here

*tell everyone*

 

 

CTG Reviews: THE TIME TO KILL by Mason Cross

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What the blurb says: “It’s been five years since Carter Blake parted ways with Winterlong, a top-secret government operation with a shady past. At the time, they agreed a deal; he’d keep quiet about what they were doing, and in return they’d leave him alone.

But now something has changed, and Winterlong is coming from him.

Blake may be the best there is at tracking down people who don’t want to be found, but Winterlong taught him everything he knows. If there’s anyone who can find him – and kill him – it’s them.

THE TIME TO KILL is the third book in the Carter Blake series, and it’s one hell of a read!

The story starts with Blake accepting a new job – finding an employee of an internet tech company who’s gone AWOL with a piece of ground-breaking software. But as he starts tracking his target, Blake isn’t aware that he himself is firmly in the sights of his old employers – Winterlong – and that they’ll stop at nothing to neutralise the threat they now believe him to be.

Before long, Blake’s simple ‘find and return’ job becomes a whole lot more complicated, and he finds himself on the run. As the body-count starts to rise, Blake realises the only way to end things is to get to what Winterlong want back from him before they do. Question is, can he make it across the country to where he stashed it before them?

This is a game of cat and mouse, played between a group of deadly, armed cats and one seriously kick-ass mouse! As Blake races against time across the country, a severe snowstorm descends, and the situation becomes even more dire.

THE TIME TO KILL is an adrenaline rush from the first page to the last. Blake is a terrific action hero – he’s smart, agile, and although prefers not to kill people (even the bad guys) he’ll fight as hard as it takes to make sure the good guys win.

Packed with stunning set-piece action sequences, and an emotional punch as you discover more of the rather mysterious Blake’s backstory, this cinematic action thriller is like reading Reacher crossed with Bourne plus added fabulousness.

It’s a total must read. In fact, stop what you’re doing right now and start reading it – you won’t regret it!

You can buy THE TIME TO KILL here from Waterstones, or from Amazon here 

And be sure to check out www.MasonCross.net and follow him on Twitter @MasonCrossBooks

[note, THE TIME TO KILL had a title change after the first proofs went out, so if you see chatter about a book called WINTERLONG, they are the same!]

CTG Interviews: Ava Marsh about her new thriller EXPOSURE

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Today I’m delighted to have the fabulous Ava Marsh – writer of the brilliant page-turning thrillers, UNTOUCHABLE and EXPOSURE – join me for a bit of a Q&A about her latest book EXPOSURE.

Welcome to the CTG blog, Ava.

So, your second book EXPOSURE is out this month, can you tell us a bit about it?

EXPOSURE follows the story of Leanne Jenkins, otherwise known as Kitty Sweet, a notorious young porn star who pleaded guilty to double murder nearly ten years ago. Up to this point, Leanne has always refused to tell anyone why she did it, but a visit from an old friend sparks an incident that convinces her to finally come clean to the prison psychologist.

EXPOSURE is set in the porn industry, and told through the eyes of Kitty Sweet (aka Leanne Jenkins). What sparked your interest in writing a thriller set in the porn world?

Having written about high class escorts in UNTOUCHABLE, it seemed a natural next step to centre a book in the other bastion of the sex trade, pornography. Again, I felt it was an industry which marginalised the women who worked in it, and I wanted to explore what that world would feel like to someone immersed in it. And it came to me very quickly that my main character would be a porn star in prison for double murder. From that premise, I had to work out why.

Kitty/Leanne is a bold yet very humanly flawed young woman, and despite her being in prison for double murder I found her instantly likeable and very easy to empathise with. What’s your process for creating such realistic characters?

Wow, now you’re really making me think! I guess writing in first person helps a great deal. It puts you inside someone’s head, experiencing the world through their eyes, reading their thoughts. But I also worked hard to provide clues within that opening chapter – the part where she rescues the little silverfish was there specifically to show that Leanne/Kitty had a softer side to the one she was portraying, along with her reactions to the news of her mother’s illness.

Occasionally I draw on things I’ve found out during research or just real life. Victor, for instance, was loosely based on a real character I read about in my research – a very nasty man indeed, who remains anonymous to this day. Generally though I have no particular formula, though I do go through a list of various character prompts and questions to develop a fuller picture of the people who appear in the book.

You include a lot of detail about the workings and goings on in the porn industry and the prison environment. How did you go about researching for this?

I’d like to say I did exciting things like go to a porn shoot or visit a prison, but the boring truth was I researched all of it online and from books. I have a kindle full of porn memoirs – if I ever lose it, people are going to think I’m either a pervert or some sort of obsessive fan.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process – did you plot the story in advance or start writing and see what happened?

I’m a half-and-half sort of girl. I need the bones of the story – roughly what happens to whom and why – before I can start writing. I’m amazed by those authors who sit down to a blank document and begin typing, with no idea where they’re going. I’ll usually flesh out an outline and some character studies, so I have a basis from which to dive in. But I’m very flexible – when things occur to me as I go along, I’ll go back and make changes there or then, or put them on a snagging list for the second draft. Things always change, at least a little bit, as you get to know your characters and plot more intimately.

And, finally, what does the rest of 2016 have in store for you?

Hopefully plenty of tea, cake and sunshine! On the writing front, I’m halfway through one first draft, while brainstorming another new idea, despite having promised myself lots of time off after a very demanding schedule for the last 18 months. Somehow it seems easier to carry on working than sit around feeling guilty for not doing any writing. Perhaps this was because I was severely blocked for many years before I embarked on fiction, and now I’m always haunted by the sense that I need to make up for lost time.

A big thank you to the wonderful Ava Marsh for letting me grill her about her latest thriller – EXPOSURE – and here’s to a summer filled with tea, cake and sunshine!

In case you’ve not seen it, here’s the blurb on EXPOSURE: “In a world without boundaries it’s hard to know where to stop … Kitty Sweet isn’t like anyone you’ve ever met before. She’s an infamous porn star, imprisoned for double murder. As damaged as she is charismatic, as dangerous as she is charming. But once no different from you or I. Kitty’s past is full of heartbreak and desperation, of adulation and glamour. Of ruin. She’s descended to an underworld most people can only imagine, and lived to tell the tale … This is her story.” You can read my review here

EXPOSURE is out now. Buy it here from Waterstones or from Amazon here

And be sure to follow Ava Marsh on Twitter @MsAvaMarsh

 

 

The #WhereRosesNeverDie Blog Tour: Gunnar Staalesen guest post – The Game is Afoot

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Today I’m handing over the reins of the CTG blog to Gunnar Staalesen for the latest stop on his WHERE ROSES NEVER DIE Blog Tour. Gunnar Staalesen is the author of over 20 titles, which have been published in 24 countries and sold over five million copies. His guest post is on “The Game is Afoot” …

There is a certain European Championship going on at the moment, as most European citizens will know. As I write, we don’t know who will win. Will it be England? Spain? Italy or France? What if Iceland won! Or Wales! The only thing I know for sure is that it will not be Norway. Our team did not even qualify!

From time to time, I visit schools in Norway to meet some pupils and talk about my books, and there is inevitably lots of time for questions. One question I am often asked by the boys is: What is Varg Veum’s favourite English football team?

There is a tradition in Norway, not only to support our own local team, but also of the English teams. This tradition stems from the late 1960s, when they started to show games from the Premier League on Norwegian TV (NRK was the only channel at that time), and all of the men (and some women) who had a TV at that time watched the football with their friends or their children. Those who did not have a TV went to their neighbors to watch it there. Premier League football was essential viewing! The very first game to be shown was Wolverhampton versus Sunderland, on 29 November 1969. Wolverhampton won 1–0. At that time the games were free to watch, but now we have to pay for the pleasure!

We did not have a TV and nor did most of our neighbours, so I was in my twenties when I watched my first English football game on TV. This was the period when George Best was playing, and as I always have loved the more artistic players, I liked to watch him, even if I never became a real Manchester United supporter. When I was a teenager, we heard a lot about Tottenham, so I made the decision to support them. I also have a son who is an ardent supporter of Liverpool, so I dare not say anything against them…

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My team – in Norway – will always be Brann from Bergen; Brann is the Norwegian word for Fire! The most famous player from Brann was a local ‘George Best’, Roald Jensen. ‘Mr Jensen’ played for Hearts in Edinburgh in the 1960s and early 1970s, and was one of the best players ever to come from Norway.

So what is Varg Veum’s favourite English team? I thought a lot about it, and I found the answer. When he is asked that question, he always answers: ‘Nottingham Forest, because of Robin Hood.’

Have an excellent European Championship – and may the best team win!

Big thanks to Gunnar for dropping by the CTG blog today.

WHERE ROSES NEVER DIE is out in paperback this month.

Here’s the blurb: “September 1977. Mette Misaer, a three-year-old girl, disappears without trace from the sandpit outside her home. Her tiny, close, middle-class community in the tranquil suburb of Nordas is devastated, but their enquiries and the police produce nothing. Curtains twitch, suspicions are raised, but Mette is never found. Almost 25 years later, as the expiry date for the statute of limitations draws near, Mette’s mother approaches PI Varg Veum, in a last, desperate attempt to find out what happened to her daughter. As Veum starts to dig, he uncovers an intricate web of secrets, lies and shocking events that have been methodically concealed. When another brutal incident takes place, a pattern begins to emerge …”

You can buy WHERE ROSES NEVER DIE from Waterstones or Amazon

And be sure to check out all the other great stops on the Where Roses Never Die Blog Tour …

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**COVER REVEAL** DOUBLE TROUBLE EXCLUSIVE** #TwoOClockBoy by MARK HILL

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OMG I am so incredibly excited to be a part of this cover reveal – playing number two in the one-two “double trouble” exclusive reveal along with the Queen of Bloggers LizLovesBooks – and revealing the fabulous cover for my good friend MARK HILL’s debut crime thriller – THE TWO O’CLOCK BOY. 

This is one hell of a read – I can say that because I’ve been allowed a super early preview of this gritty London-set crime thriller – and folks, it’s something really very special.

Here’s the gorgeously fabulous cover – a thing of glass-breakingly, ice-shatteringly loveliness …

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And here’s the blurb:

TWO CHILDHOOD FRIENDS… ONE BECAME A DETECTIVE… ONE BECAME A KILLER…

One night changed their lives
Thirty years ago, the Longacre Children’s Home stood on a London street where once-grand Victorian homes lay derelict. There its children lived in terror of Gordon Tallis, the home’s manager.

Cries in the fire and smoke
Then Connor Laird arrived: a frighteningly intense boy who quickly became Tallis’ favourite criminal helper. Soon after, destruction befell the Longacre, and the facts of that night have lain buried . . . until today.

A truth both must hide
Now, a mysterious figure, the Two O’Clock Boy, is killing all who grew up there, one by one. DI Ray Drake will do whatever it take to stop the murders – but he will go even further to cover up the truth.

THE TWO O’CLOCK BOY is the first in the DI Ray Drake series and, if you like your crime thrillers twisty-turny, high on drama and grit, and packed with gasp out loud moments, this is going to be just your thing.

Trust me, you will not want to miss THE TWO O’CLOCK BOY when it’s published on 17th November 2016!

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The #EpiphanyJones Blog Tour: Michael Grothaus talks about The Importance of Dissatisfaction In Writing Well

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Today I’m delighted to be hosting a stop on The Epiphany Jones Blog Tour, and am handing over the hot seat here at CTG HQ to  Michael Grothaus to talk about why dissatisfaction is important in writing well.

Michael is a novelist and journalist who spent years researching sex trafficking, research which is put to use in his debut novel EPIPHANY JONES. Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, he has a degree in filmmaking, and as a journalist writes about creativity, tech, subcultures, sex and pornography, and the effects of mass media on our psyches.

Over to Michael …

The Importance of Dissatisfaction In Writing Well

In my novel EPIPHANY JONES there are two main characters. There’s Epiphany, for whom the book is named after, and then there’s Jerry Dresden. As you’ll soon discover when you start to read the book, Jerry isn’t in a good place when the story begins. He suffers from a horrible psychological affliction where he sees people who don’t really exist and he can interact with them—having conversations, even being able to “feel” them when he “touches” them—as easily as you or I can interact with each other.

But perhaps what’s worse is Jerry is also an addict, but instead of the usual addictions novelists write about—booze, drugs—Jerry has a porn addiction. But as with most addictions, Jerry’s addiction to porn comes from trying to dull the pain of past tragedy. Because of his psychological afflictions and addiction Jerry can be a pretty cynical, dissatisfied, angry guy.

When people finish reading the book, I’m not really surprised to hear them say “I started off not wanting to hang out with Jerry, but by the end of the book I loved him.” What does surprise me is more than a handful of people have added “You seem like such a nice, happy guy, Michael; I had no idea you had that much anger in you.” And some even then add “So, were you addicted to porn?”

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Now for the record: no, I’ve never had a porn addiction. But, hey, you write a first person story about a guy who has a porn addiction and some readers are just going to think it’s autobiographical. I get that. I do.

But what those same readers are right about is the anger. That dissatisfaction Jerry feels? That comes from me—at least part of it. And that dissatisfaction, I believe, is essential to being a good writer. Why? Because I’ve never met anyone who was completely satisfied, content, and happy who could write well.

I know people who want to “be writers” (whatever that means) who are wealthy, or privileged and never wanted for anything, or have never had a health problem, or never experienced significant loss—and none of them can write well. I know people who don’t care about politics, or the environment, or poverty, of the suffering that goes on around the world—and none of them can write well.

These people are not bad or stupid or foolish—indeed, they are all very fortunate (or lucky). Yet because of this rare good fortune they lack dissatisfaction, which is the single most important resource that writers have—if they use it wisely. Dissatisfaction spurs anger and anger can be used productively. Productively, it’s what gets you in front of your keyboard to write a story holding a mirror up to society so it can see itself as it really is. It’s what spurs you to write characters that challenge readers’ assumptions about why people are the way they are. It’s what allows you to create worlds as which you wish ours would be (or warn against what ours may become).

We would not have the masterpiece 1984 if George Orwell was not dissatisfied with the imperialism of his own government and the totalitarianism of other governments. We would not have THE GLASS BEAD GAME had Hermann Hesse not been dissatisfied with the lack of individualism among intellectual elites. And we would not have THE GREAT GATSBY had Scott Fitzgerald not been dissatisfied with the failure of the American dream.

As for me, I’m dissatisfied with things in life: our obsession with celebrities when there are real issues to pay attention to; the prevalence of sex trafficking that goes mostly unnoticed; the hypocrisy of those who condemn people with addictions but have their own vices securely locked away from prying eyes.

And yes, I’m happy too. But I’m also happy to be dissatisfied where dissatisfaction is justified. Dissatisfaction is a powerful tool for creativity and you can’t write well without it.

 

Big thanks to Michael for chatting to us on the CTG blog today.

Michael’s debut novel EPIPHANY JONES is out this month. Here’s what the blurb says: “A man with a consuming addiction. A woman who talks to God. And the secret connection that could destroy them both … Jerry has a traumatic past that leaves him subject to psychotic hallucinations and depressive episodes. When he stands accused of stealing a priceless Van Gogh painting, he goes underground, where he develops an unwilling relationship with a woman who believes that the voices she hears are from God. Involuntarily entangled in the illicit world of sex-trafficking amongst the Hollywood elite, and on a mission to find redemption for a haunting series of events from the past, Jerry is thrust into a genuinely shocking and outrageously funny quest to uncover the truth and atone for historical sins. 

A complex, page-turning psychological thriller, riddled with twists and turns, Epiphany Jones is also a superb dark comedy with a powerful emotional core. You’ll laugh when you know you shouldn’t, be moved when you least expect it and, most importantly, never look at Hollywood, celebrity or sex in the same way again.”

To find out more about Michael Grothaus visit his website here and follow him on Twitter @michaelgrothaus

You can buy EPIPHANY JONES by clicking the link here to go to Waterstones or click here to go to Amazon

And be sure to check out all the other great stops on the blog tour:

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