Tag: Fiction

Events Alert: Get Writing 2013

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Get Writing 2013 logo

Get Writing 2013 logo

The 20th April 2013 is the date of the Verulam Writers’ Circle annual writing conference ‘Get Writing’.

Held at the University of Hertfordshire campus in Hatfield, England, this friendly and variety-packed conference is a one-day event and a must-attend for all writers aspiring to publication.

This year there’s a wide variety of sessions to pick from including workshops and panel discussions on childrens’ fiction, crime writing, historical fiction, writing drama, and some fabulous ‘how to’ sessions on editing, creating tension and a whole bunch of other essential writerly skills. For the conference fee of £55 you also get the opportunity to pitch your novel to an agent of your choice and, for those looking for more detailed feedback, you can pay a little extra and book a longer ‘Face Time’ slot.

I’m especially excited about this years’ event as I’ve been asked to chair the Crime Panel. I’ll be talking with the wonderful crime authors Claire McGowan, Adrian Magson, Ann Cleeves, and Lesley Horton. I’m sure it’s going to be a lot of fun, and I’m really looking forward to picking their brains on how they get their ideas, their writing process, the essentials of crime thriller writing, and any tips and advice they have for those aspiring to publication.

Also, for those with a novel, or the opening of a novel, ready to go there’s the ‘First Three Pages’ competition. It’s open to all attendees and requires you to submit the first three pages of a novel of any genre. So, Get Writing!

Booking is open now at http://vwc.org.uk/getwriting2013.php

Perhaps I’ll see you there?

 

Review: GHOSTMAN by Roger Hobbs

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GHOSTMAN cover image

GHOSTMAN cover image

A rapid paced, nail-bitingly tense action thriller

When a casino robbery in Atlantic City goes horribly wrong, the man who orchestrated it is forced to call in a favour from someone occasionally called Jack. Only a few people know this man exists, some believe he’s dead and none know his true identity. Those are the closely guarded secrets of an exceptionally trained, experienced and talented criminal.

But as he struggles to clean up the mess left from the bungled heist, Jack finds himself increasingly more visible. With the FBI and other interested, and deadly, people on his tail, he’s forced to use every ounce of his skill, ingenuity and instincts to survive.

From the opening page this story hurtles along at a breathless pace. Jack is a mysterious character. Able to change his appearance, his voice and his persona in a moment, he is a true master of disguise.

He’s attractive, smart and although more than capable of defending himself, he only uses violence when he deems it necessary (which in the course of the book is quite often). He also translates classics into English as a hobby when he’s not on a job. Although you know he’s a criminal, he never seems entirely bad, and has his own moral code by which he operates.

At the start of the novel Jack reluctantly agrees to sort out the aftermath of a bungled casino heist as repayment of an old favour to the criminal mastermind Marcus. His brief is simple – find Marcus’ missing man and find the stolen cash.

But as he investigates the operation, discovering what actually happened outside the casino that morning, and who else is after the money, Jack realises there’s a whole lot more to the situation than he first realised. Add into the mix the bright and dynamic FBI agent Rebecca Blacker, and the mysterious and deadly criminal kingpin ‘The Wolf’ and soon Jack is fighting just to stay alive.

This rapid paced, nail bitingly tense action thriller has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. This is a distinctive debut by 24-year-old novelist Roger Hobbs.

Highly recommended.

 

GHOSTMAN by Roger Hobbs is published in hardback by Bantam Press on 14th February 2013.

 

Single or Multiple: what kind of a reader are you?

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books

books

What kind of reader are you?

I must confess I struggle to read one book at a time. I usually have two or three on the go at once: a hardback or paperback fiction, a non-fiction, and then a kindle or ePub fiction.

I read them at different times of the day, in different locations.

For example, a paper book is best to read in the bath for me, because I’m very likely to dip it in the water by accident.

But a kindle or ePub book is easier to grab for a quick ten minutes during my lunch break at work.

On the train it’s got to be a paperback or kindle/ePub – a hardback is just too heavy! Although, if it’s an excellent story by one of my favorite writers I’ll often make an exception.

And in bed any format works.

So, I guess that makes me a multiple kind of girl.

What about you?

Indie Spotlight: Kiss and Tell by T J Cooke

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book cover: Kiss and Tell

book cover: Kiss and Tell

A legal thriller with a heart

Now, I must admit, legal thrillers aren’t usually my thing. However what I especially liked about this story, and which makes this book stand out, is the main character, and heroine of the story, Jill Shadow.

Jill’s single parent who started in the company as a secretary and worked her way up the career ladder – juggling work, childcare and study – to become a qualified lawyer. Determined and courageous (aside from when dealing with spiders) she tackles the challenges that come her way in a direct and bold fashion, even if she might be trembling inside.

But Jill’s got a secret. When the unthinkable happens, and her life, and that of her child, are put in danger Jill sets out to determine the truth behind the case of drugs-mule Bella Kiss who claims to be an informant to local detectives, and the seemingly unlinked release from prison of Jimmy – her ex-boyfriend and father to her daughter Hannah. She discovers corruption and criminal activities that stretch far further than she had ever imagined.

The story is told in chapters which alternate between real-time (Jill in a police safe-house, desperate to find her missing daughter) and the past (her relationship with her ex – Jimmy – and the Bella Kiss case) that has led to her current predicament. It’s an interesting structure, and one that keeps you trying to piece together the clues and solve the puzzle along with Jill. It starts at a steady pace which rises significantly in the second half.

Kiss and Tell is an innovative, quirky take on the legal thriller sub-genre.

 

Author and screenwriter, Tim Cooke, a former legal executive, was kind enough to answer a couple of questions for me.

Where did you get your inspiration for Kiss and Tell?

Kiss and Tell is an amalgam of two story strands, the journey of Jill Shadow, from a naive teenage secretary to an industrious and committed criminal lawyer… and her involvement in the case of Bella Kiss, which exposes a fresh and disturbing angle to the current ‘drug debate’.

Both character and story are based on research over recent years. I wanted a character who broke the traditional lawyer stereotype… she’s someone who always wants to get to the heart of the matter and has no other agenda than to find out the truth. I always find a character, particularly a professional, more intriguing when they’ve had to struggle to beat the odds.

As for the narrative, I have seen at first hand how our drug laws have failed society, and how they might be exacerbating rather than controlling the problem. Research then threw up the possibility that some of those who argue for the status quo in the current drug debate [ie against decriminalisation] might be doing so not to ‘protect our children’s future’ as they claim, but to further their own continued profit, via a labyrinthine network of laundered money.

 

So now that Kiss and Tell is published, what are your plans for Jill Shadow? I’m hoping there’ll be a follow-up book, am I in luck?

My second novel ‘Defending Elton is out soon. This will introduce us to Jim Harwood, a lawyer who doesn’t share Jill’s strong ethical code, and whose dysfunctional past is exposed after a fateful lapse of judgment… which results in one of the most extraordinary murder trials in the Old Bailey’s history.

This will be followed by a return to Jill Shadow, who gets embroiled in a complex and dangerous ‘cold case’ murder. A case where the victim seems to be providing clues ‘from the grave’.

 

Kiss and Tell is available now on Amazon Kindle.

 

Just finished reading: A Wanted Man by Lee Child

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cover of A Wanted Man

cover of A Wanted Man

What the cover says: “When you’re as big and rough as Jack Reacher – and you have a badly set, freshly busted nose, patched with silver duct tape – it isn’t easy to hitch a ride. But Reacher has some unfinished business in Virginia, so he doesn’t quit. And at last he’s picked up by three strangers – two men and a woman.

But within minutes it becomes clear they’re all lying about everything – and then they run into a police roadblock on the highway. There has been an incident, and the cops are looking for the bad guys …

Will they get through because the three are innocent? Or because the three are now four? Is Reacher just a decoy?”

 

Firstly, I have to confess, that I bought the hardback of this book as a little treat for myself back in the Autumn, and got it signed by Lee Child at the CWA panel event in November.

Since then, it’s sat on my bookcase waiting for me to read it. I promised myself it would be my Christmas treat although, as it turns out, it’s been more of a New Year treat.

But it was totally worth the wait.

It’s a classic Reacher story. Told in Lee Child’s signature style: slick, fast and as gripping as ever.

When Reacher finds himself a pawn in a criminal getaway, and ends up a suspect in a murder, he has to decide what to do – run, or find out who did it.

In true Reacher fashion, he sets out to work out who did it and why. Half suspect, half unofficial partner to Special Agent Julia Sorenson, they work the case. It’s a real ‘why dunnit’ with plenty of twists and turns thrown in to keep the reader on their toes.

I can’t wait for the next one.

 

Writing Prompts: The Frozen Lake

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frozen river

frozen river

A few days ago, just after the first snow fell, I took a walk through a park near my work office. Despite being in a city, just a minute or so after straying off the usual path I found a stilted walkway leading through a reed bed.

I followed the walkway out to a river that I never knew existed. It was entirely frozen.

Beautiful. Silent. Remote.

And with all that snow and the ice it reminded me that winter, and colder climates, can make for fabulous settings in crime thrillers.

Do you prefer your crime fiction set in cold or warm settings?

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Book Review: Sleepwalkers by Tom Grieves

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book cover: Sleepwalkers

book cover: Sleepwalkers

 

A disturbing, gripping psychological thriller that keeps you guessing to the end

What the blurb says: “Blink. Keep your eyes open. Blink. That’s it. Don’t go back to sleep, not yet. If it weren’t for the nightmares, Ben would say he had a good life. He’s happy with his steady job, and loves his wife and kids to death. But it’s hard to ignore the dark, violent images that are so vivid that he often worries that the dreams are real and everything else around him is a lie.

Toby also suffers from nightmares. And the scars on his fifteen-year-old body are a ghostly reminder of actions he doesn’t remember or understand. Two people, two separate, unremarkable lives.

When their dreams and doubts collide and become too powerful to ignore, one fact will become clearer than any other – that the truth they are running towards is the very thing from which they should be fleeing.”

 

Rather like The Matrix, Sleepwalkers has the characters, and therefore the reader, questioning ‘what is the true reality?’ Three strangers – Ben, Toby and Anna – want to find out. Family-man Ben wonders if he’s just ungrateful for his seemingly pleasant albeit average family life, and is haunted by violent nightmares. Teenage Toby puzzles over how he came to have the scars that line his body, and if they are linked to the strange dreams he’s been having. And teacher Anna wonders whether this really is all there is in life. As their paths join, and they set out to discover what the truth really is, they discover that their lives are more connected than any of them could have guessed.

As Ben and Toby try to work out why their dreams seem more real and more vivid than their waking hours they discover a truth more shocking than they could have ever imagined. I found that I quickly cared about these characters and wanted them to succeed in their quest, even though I feared it could end badly for them. As the danger drew closer (I won’t tell you what – no spoilers here) I found myself holding the book tighter and reading faster and faster.

Tom Grieves’ writing is stunning: pacy, bold and completely absorbing.

In this action filled, disorientating and gripping story, nothing is exactly as it first seems. Sleepwalkers had me reading well into the night, unable to put the book down, and trying to puzzle out the truth (and what the characters will do when they find it) right to the end.

Highly recommended.

Guest Review on the Mean Streets Crime blog: Dark Eyes by William Richter

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Dark Eyes book cover

Dark Eyes book cover

Today I’m guest blogging over on the fabulous Mean Streets Crime Fiction blog, and reviewing the debut thriller of Hollywood screenwriter and Emmy Award Nominee William Richter. Here’s a taster …

A gritty, action paced YA thriller

What the blurb says: “Danger is both her past and her destiny. Born in Russia but adopted by a wealthy American family, Wallis Stoneman has lived a life of glamorous luxury. But, aged sixteen, she rejects the world that doesn’t feel like her own to live on the streets of New York.

Now life is tougher than Wallis imagined – and it’s about to take a deadly twist. When Wallis discovers her real father’s identity, a fight to stay alive begins. Because Wallis’s real father is a terrifying Russian gangster on the hunt for her mother.

And he’ll stop at nothing and no one – even his own blood – to find her.”

Wallis Simpson, Wally, is determined to find her Russian birth mother. After leaving the home she shared with her adoptive mother, Wally has built a life, and band of loyal friends, on the streets. When a chance meeting leads her to discover a clue to her true identity, she throws herself into her search with renewed vigour. But, as she uncovers more clues, danger mounts and those around her begin to die. The race for Wally to be reunited with her mother and discover the truth about her Russian history is on. The challenge is for them both to stay alive long enough.

To read the rest of my post hop over to the Mean Streets Crime Fiction site here: http://www.writersworkshop.co.uk/crimefiction/2013/01/dark-eyes-by-william-richter/

Book to Film: the same, but different?

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English: Tom Cruise on MTV Live in December 2008

English: Tom Cruise on MTV Live in December 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

I’ve always found book to screen adaptations rather hit and miss. There are some that I’ve loved – The Shawshank Redemption and I am Legend, for example. And those I’ve regretted seeing, like The Runaway Jury.

So, as a fan of Lee Child’s fabulous character Jack Reacher, I had mixed feelings about watching the new JACK REACHER film.

Would it live up to the book (one of my favorite of the series)?

Could Tom Cruise really play the ‘larger-than-life’ character of Reacher?

But I was curious to see the film, and so last night I ventured off to the cinema to view it.

And I liked it.

It was true enough to the book and the character for me to recognise them, the action was slick, and the pace kept moving (and me interested). And it didn’t matter that Tom Cruise’s Reacher didn’t look exactly as I’d pictured Reacher in my mind as I read the books. The character was there, just a bit different. For me it worked.

I wonder if they’ll make another one?

I hope they do.

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Events Alert: The Thriller Roundtable

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If you’re interested in reading (and writing) crime thrillers then The Thriller Roundtable discussions over on The Big Thrill website are well worth checking out.

Each week features a new question, answered by a range of fabulous authors.

This month they’ll be covering:

January 7 – 13: “Which authors have inspired you?” with Jennie Bentley, Derek J. Goodman, Robin Burcell, Toby Tate, Ashok Banker, Tace Baker, Rick Reed, William McCormick, Chris Allen, Judith Cutler, Sharon Alice Grace, and Amy Lignor.

January 14 – 20: “Why do stories matter?” with C.E. Lawrence, Amy Lignor, Derek J. Goodman, J.G. Faherty, James Grippando, Mike Befeler, Merry Jones, William McCormick, Chris Allen, and Catherine Stovall.

January 21 – 27: “What’s you favourite thriller sub genre? Why?” with Ashok Banker, Vincent Zandri, Diane Kelly, Chris Allen, and Amy Lignor.

January 28 – February 3: “How do you determine when a story is ready?” with Toby Tate, Vincent Zandri, Merry Jones, Chris Allen, Catherine Stovall, Judith Cutler, Melinda Leigh, Sharon Alice Geyer, and Amy Lignor.

To find out more visit:  http://www.thebigthrill.org/category/thriller-roundtable/