The Transworld Book Clock
I’m a fan of book themed clocks, so you can imagine my excitement when I spotted this fabulous wall clock whilst at the Transworld Crime Scene event last month.
Isn’t it wonderful.
If you look carefully you’ll spot Lee Child and Dan Brown amongst the book ‘numbers’ …
Today the Jack Reacher Official Facebook page shared the cover image of Lee Child’s next Reacher book.
If you want to check it out, nip across to Facebook and have a look here: http://www.facebook.com/JackReacherOfficial
The novel is called ‘Never Go Back’, and it’s out on the 29th August in the UK.
I can’t wait!
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.
CTG
My ‘to be read’ book stack seems to grow higher each day. In fact, it’s so tall that it’s become two reading stacks!
Right now, I’ve just finished reading A Wanted Man by Lee Child (review to be posted soon).
I’ve started reading The Obsession by T.V. Locicero.
After that, the next book on my pile is Ghostman by Roger Hobbs.
What book are you reading this week?
With the snow around us, one thing that’s keeping me going is planning how I’ll be spending the summer (hopefully warmer) months.
Something I’m really looking forward to is the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Harrogate. This festival of all things crime fiction is my idea of a perfect weekend getaway. So from 18 – 21 July 2013 I’ll be staking out the festival hotel and making optimum use of my weekend rover ticket.
It promises to be a fabulous weekend with special guests including Lee Child, Kate Atkinson, Charlaine Harris, Susan Hill, Ruth Rendell interviewed by Jeanette Winterson and Programming Chair, Val McDermid.
Weekend Break packages can be booked now, and individual event tickets go on sale in the Spring when the full programme is announced.
If you’re a fan of the genre, avid reader and/or budding writer, the festival website is well worth checking out http://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/crime/
I’m really looking forward to it.
Perhaps I’ll see you there?
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.
My favorite books of 2012
At this time of year everyone seems to be making lists of their top ten, twenty, fifty or hundred things of 2012.
So, just to be a little different, I’m not going to make a list.
Instead, I’m going to talk about my five favorite books of 2012 and why I loved them. And I’ll talk about them in the order that I read them in.
Here goes …
Talking to the Dead by Harry Bingham (Orion). This part police procedure, part psychological thriller follows Detective Constable Fiona Griffiths on her first murder case. It’s beautifully written, darkly quirky, and leaves you wanting more. And luckily for us there will be more. I believe the second book in the Fiona Griffiths series will be out in 2013.
The Fall by Claire McGowan (Headline). This crime thriller tells the interwoven stories of three strangers – Charlotte, Keisha, and DC Matthew Hegarty – who are thrown together in the aftermath of a murder in a nightclub. With hugely compelling characters, a super-rapid pace and numerous twists and turns, it’s a real page turner. Claire McGowan’s next book, The Lost, is definitely one to look out for when it comes out in April 2013.
The Affair by Lee Child (Bantam Press). Another great Jack Reacher novel. This one is set six months before the opening of Killing Floor and follows Reacher on a mission in a small town in Mississippi. It’s everything you’d expect – quick-paced action, imaginative problem-solving, a love interest, and the bad guys getting Reacher’s very own brand of justice.
Heart-Shaped Bruise by Tanya Byrne (Headline). This young adult crossover novel is a real rollercoaster read. In diary form, it tells the story of Emily Koll, Archway Young Offenders Institution’s most notorious inmate. It’s sad yet funny, tense yet light-hearted, chilling yet warming, and fragile yet powerful. Through Emily’s story of love, grief, hate and revenge, you discover what drove her to do what she did.
Sleepwalkers by Tom Grieves (Quercus). This gripping psychological thriller follows the stories of adult Ben and teenage Toby – two strangers experiencing vivid and terrifying dreams – as they try to make sense of the jumbled up fragments of forgotten memories that haunt them. A real edge-of-your-seat read, I found this story un-put-downable.
So, there you have it. My favorite books of 2012.
What were your favorites?
Good Reads Choice Awards logo
That’s right, it’s time to vote for your Good Reads Choice Awards 2012: Mystery and Thriller books.
The folks over at Good Reads organise these awards to showcase the top reader voted for books of the year.
Right now it’s the semi-final round (2 of 3 rounds) and there are twenty books to pick from including those by Lee Child, Tana French, Harlan Coben and Gillian Flynn.
So, what are you waiting for? Click along to cast your vote for your favorite mystery and thriller books here: http://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-mystery-thriller-books-2012#74616-Best-Mystery-&-Thriller
To find out more about the Good Reads Choice Awards and the voting process visit
http://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2012
The Panel
On Monday I went along to the Crime Writers’ Association panel event ‘Is Crime the new Literary Fiction?’ With Sophie Hannah, Lee Child, Peter James and Benjamin Black (John Banville) as panellists it made for a lively and entertaining evening.
In the first part of the session, the panellists discussed the question, reflecting that some of the best fiction in the twentieth century is crime fiction, and yet you do encounter snobbery about the genre. What came across really clearly was each of the panellists’ passion for the crime thriller genre and their love of writing it.
As the discussion broadened, each of the panellists talked about how they approach their writing, what interests them about the genre, and the importance of great characters and great stories.
As an aspiring crime thriller writer, the key takeaways from the session for me were:
It was a fabulous evening and I’d like to say a huge thank you to the panellists, and to the Crime Writers’ Association for organising the event.
ps. CTG was delighted to meet Lee Child and Peter James after the panel finished, and had a true fan-girl moment when discussing a shared love of coffee with Lee Child.
Love is Murder book cover
I don’t often read short stories, but this book is a little different.
The dust jacket promises:
“Prepare for heart-racing suspense in this original collection by thirty of the hottest bestselling authors and new voices writing romance suspense today … Bodyguards, vigilantes, stalkers, serial killers, woman (and men!) in jeopardy, cops, thieves, P.I.s, killers – these all-new stories will keep you thrilled and chilled late into the night.”
And it doesn’t disappoint.
But be warned, this is romance with a deadly twist! From Lee Child’s ‘I Heard a Romantic Story’ – an explosive tale of tough choices in the face to duty – to Roxanne St Claire’s ‘Diamond Drop’ – following Donovan Rush on a diamond pick-up with a sexy twist – and Patricia Rosemoor’s ‘Hot Note’ – a glimpse into Detective Shelley Caldwell’s romantic life as well as working a case – there’s something for romantics and crime fiction enthusiasts alike.
What’s especially great about this collection is the bite-sized nature of the stories – you can devour a whole story in your lunch break, a short train ride, in the bath, or whenever you’re able to grab a few stolen moments to read. Although, if you’re going to carry the hardcover book around with you, be warned, it’s pretty big and heavy!
Highly recommended.
Steph Broadribb 