In the Midmonth BookNotes you’ll read about the latest in romance and women’s fiction, selected by our own in-house expert, John Charles. The June issue features new releases by Eva Gates, Annabel Monaghan, Lauren Ho and much more.
Adrian McKinty & The Island
The Poisoned Pen recently hosted Adrian McKinty on publication day for The Island. The book is based on McKinty’s sojourn in Australia. You can still buy a signed copy of The Island through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3sdgvND
Here’s the description of The Island.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
A “brilliant and relentless” new thriller from the author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Chain (Don Winslow).
“Extraordinary.” —T. J. Newman, New York Times bestselling author of Falling
“You’ll never go on vacation the same way again.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of City On Fire
IT WAS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A FAMILY VACATION.
A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT CHANGED EVERYTHING.
YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE CAPABLE OF UNTIL THEY COME FOR YOUR FAMILY.
After moving from a small country town to Seattle, Heather Baxter marries Tom, a widowed doctor with a young son and teenage daughter. A working vacation overseas seems like the perfect way to bring the new family together, but once they’re deep in the Australian outback, the jet-lagged and exhausted kids are so over their new mom.
When they discover remote Dutch Island, off-limits to outside visitors, the family talks their way onto the ferry, taking a chance on an adventure far from the reach of iPhones and Instagram.
But as soon as they set foot on the island, which is run by a tightly knit clan of locals, everything feels wrong. Then a shocking accident propels the Baxters from an unsettling situation into an absolute nightmare.
When Heather and the kids are separated from Tom, they are forced to escape alone, seconds ahead of their pursuers.
Now it’s up to Heather to save herself and the kids, even though they don’t trust her, the harsh bushland is filled with danger, and the locals want her dead.
Heather has been underestimated her entire life, but she knows that only she can bring her family home again and become the mother the children desperately need, even if it means doing the unthinkable to keep them all alive.
SOON TO BE A HULU ORIGINAL SERIES
“Gripping and unpredictable. No one does high-stakes tension like McKinty . . . Prepare to be hooked.” —Sarah Pearse
“A haunting masterpiece.” —Steve Cavanagh
“McKinty has written another irresistible and pulse-pounding thriller about the surprising places evil hides and just how far we’ll go for those we love.” —Karin Slaughter
Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He studied philosophy at Oxford University before moving to Australia and to New York. He is the author of more than a dozen crime novels, including the Dagger and Edgar-award nominated debut Dead I Well May Be, the critically acclaimed Sean Duffy series, and the award-winning standalone thriller The Chain, which was a New York Times and #1 international bestseller. McKinty’s books have been translated into over 30 languages and he has won the Edgar Award, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Ned Kelly Award (3 times), the Anthony Award, the Barry Award, the Macavity Award, and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.
McKinty is so funny, despite the topic of a thriller. You’ll want to watch the event.
Martin Edwards & Back to the Lake District
Martin Edwards takes readers back to the Lake District after a break of seven years. He recently spoke with Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, about his latest book, The Girl They All Forgot. You can order it through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3QhBLvG
Here’s the summary of The Girl They All Forgot.
CWA Dagger and Edgar award-winning author Martin Edwards takes readers back to The Lake District after seven years with a cunningly layered mystery that Publishers Weekly calls a “skillful combination of procedural and whodunnit.”
“Life is certainly nasty, brutish, and short?at least for most of the characters in Edwards’s much-awaited new installment, set on the edge of England’s Lake District.”? First Clue
What happened to Ramona Smith?
History always repeats itself. After a father and son commit suicide on the same day, twenty years apart, DCI Hannah Scarlet, and her Cold Cases Division reopen the investigation of Ramona Smith, a woman who disappeared twenty-one years ago. Desperate to finally find answers, Hannah and her team chase leads as meandering as the shoreline. As the body count rises, the Cold Cases Division must unravel the loves of those on The Crooked Shore before another murder plot unfolds.
Martin Edwards is the recipient of the CWA 2020 Diamond Dagger Award for sustained excellence in his crime writing career and his significant contribution to the genre. His most recent novel, set in 1930, is Gallows Court. His seventh and most recent Lake District Mystery is The Dungeon House. Martin is also a well-known crime fiction critic, and series consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics. His ground-breaking study of the genre between the wars, The Golden Age of Murder, was warmly reviewed around the world, and won the Edgar, Agatha, H.R.F. Keating and Macavity awards. His The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books has been nominated for five awards. A well-known commentator on crime fiction, he has edited 37 anthologies and published diverse non-fiction books, including a study of homicide investigation, Urge to Kill. An expert on crime fiction history, he is archivist of both the Crime Writers’ Association and the Detection Club. He was elected eighth President of the Detection Club in 2015, is current Chair of the CWA, and posts regularly to his blog, ‘Do You Write Under Your Own Name?’
If you’ve missed this series, you’ll want to catch up with Martin Edwards.
Don Bentley & MP Woodward in Conversation
Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, recently welcomed Don Bentley & MP Woodward for a virtual event to The Poisoned Pen. Bentley is the author of Tom Clancy Zero Hour. MP Woodward’s The Handler is a debut. Both men have interesting personal backgrounds. You’ll enjoy learning about them. But, first, check out the books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Here’s the summary of Tom Clancy Zero Hour.
Jack Ryan, Jr. is the one man who can prevent a second Korean War in the latest thrilling entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.
When the leader of North Korea is catastrophically injured, his incapacitation inadvertently triggers a “dead-man’s switch,” activating an army of sleeper agents in South Korea and precipitating a struggle for succession.
Jack Ryan, Jr. is in Seoul to interview a potential addition to the Campus. But his benign trip takes a deadly turn when a wave of violence perpetrated by North Korean operatives grips South Korea’s capital. A mysterious voice from North Korea offers Jack a way to stop the peninsula’s rush to war, but her price may be more than he can afford to pay.
Tom Clancy was the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than eighteen books. He died in October 2013.
Don Bentley spent a decade as an Army Apache helicopter pilot, and while deployed in Afghanistan was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal with “V” device for valor. Following his time in the military, Bentley worked as an FBI special agent focusing on foreign intelligence and counterintelligence and was a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team member.
Here’s MP Woodward’s The Handler.
A disgraced former CIA operative must go back in the field with only his ex-wife as his handler in this electrifying thriller from a former intelligence officer.
Meredith Morris-Dale is a CIA case officer and a damn good one…even if this last mission did go terribly wrong. Now she has been summoned back to Langley where she expects to be fired. Instead, she is met by the Deputy Director with stunning news.
A single well-placed CIA mole in Iran’s uranium enrichment program has kept the terrorist nation from building a bomb by sabotaging the performance of their covert centrifuge arrays. But after losing his daughter in an airliner shootdown, the mole wants out—leaving the world on the brink. His one demand: a reunion with the only handler he ever trusted, John Dale—Meredith’s disgraced, fired, wayward ex-husband. As Meredith and John struggle through their fraught relationship, a craven CIA political hierarchy, Russian interference, and the rogue spy’s manipulation, they must reach deep within their shared connection to maintain, recover, or kill the asset.
M. P. Woodward is a veteran of both US intelligence ops and the entertainment industry. As a naval intelligence officer with the US Pacific Command, he scripted scenario moves and countermoves for US war game exercises in the Middle East. In multiple deployments to the Persian Gulf and Far East, he worked alongside US Special Forces, CIA, and NSA. Today, Woodward runs international distribution marketing for Amazon Prime Video, having launched Amazon’s original video content in more than forty countries through more than one hundred cable, wireless, and broadband partnerships. He collaborates closely with content creators and distributors in driving viewer awareness and engagement. He is currently developing the international distribution strategy for the upcoming serial adaptation of The Lord of The Rings.
Enjoy this conversation about military thrillers.
Another Full Slate of Authors
It never hurts to remind you of the authors about to appear at The Poisoned Pen. There’s a full slate just in the next week. Don’t forget to check the Web Store for books by these authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
Check out this schedule.
Peter Spiegelman’s A Secret About a Secret
Barbara Peters and Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen tag teamed to talk with Peter Spiegelman about his background and his new book, A Secret About a Secret. There are signed copies of the book through the Web Store. https://tinyurl.com/6px6dvjz
Here’s the description of A Secret About a Secret.
A hypnotic literary mystery thriller about a murder at a secluded research facility and the secrets that it exposes. “¢ “Cyber thievery, lust, corporate espionage, and a host of deleterious secrets comprise the chords of this sweeping, riveting symphony. A bold and original thriller by a masterful storyteller.” —Elizabeth Brundage, author of The Vanishing Point
Looming high above the cliffside along a remote coastline, Ondstrand House is the headquarters of the shadowy biotech firm Ondstrand Biologic. When the body of the organization’s most gifted young scientist, Allegra Stans, is discovered in a walk-in refrigerator—her neck has been broken—Agent Myles is called in to investigate. Myles works for Standard Division, the most feared element of a vast state security apparatus, and he’s been dispatched to the brooding manor, a massive stone campus that once housed a notorious boarding school, to do what Standard Division agents do best—complete the task at hand.
As his investigation proceeds, Myles discovers that “gifted scientist” is only one thread in the complicated fabric of Allegra’s life. There are darker strands as well—of ambition, manipulation, and bitter grievance—all woven into a pattern of secrets, each presenting a reasonable motive for murder. It appears everyone has something to hide, including Allegra’s colleagues, lovers, and former lovers—even the very halls of Ondstrand House itself.
Questions continue to pile up: What interest does Standard Division, an organization best known for intelligence gathering and clandestine international operations, have in this seemingly straightforward case? Could the killing have anything to do with the sprawling estate’s sordid past? And what, exactly, is this research facility researching? Before long, another murder is discovered, and Myles finds himself an increasingly unwelcome presence in an ever more hostile landscape with few allies and fewer answers.
PETER SPIEGELMAN is the author of Black Maps, Death’s Little Helpers, Red Cat, Thick as Thieves, and Dr. Knox. Prior to his career as a writer, Spiegelman spent nearly twenty years in the financial services and software industries. He lives in New York City.
Enjoy the conversation.
Steve Berry’s The Omega Factor
Steve Berry’s latest thriller is a standalone, The Omega Factor. Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen welcomed him to the bookstore for a recent in-person event, and Diana Gabaldon was guest host. You’ll be able to watch the event below. You can also order a copy of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/39bS0K6
Here’s the description of The Omega Factor.
“Dan Brown fans will want to check this one out” (Publishers Weekly): The Ghent Altarpiece is the most violated work of art in the world. Thirteen times it has been vandalized, dismantled, or stolen. Why? What secrets does it hold?
Enter UNESCO investigator, Nicholas Lee, who works for the United Nations’ Cultural Liaison and Investigative Office (CLIO). Nick’s job is to protect the world’s cultural artifacts—anything and everything from countless lesser-known objects to national treasures.
When Nick travels to Belgium for a visit with a woman from his past, he unwittingly stumbles on the trail of a legendary panel from the Ghent Altarpiece, stolen in 1934 under cover of night and never seen since. Soon Nick is plunged into a bitter conflict, one that has been simmering for nearly two thousand years. On one side is the Maidens of Saint-Michael, les Vautours—the Vultures—a secret order of nuns and the guardians of a great truth. Pitted against them is the Vatican, which has wanted for centuries to both find and possess what the nuns guard. Because of Nick the maidens have finally been exposed, their secret placed in dire jeopardy—a vulnerability that the Vatican swiftly moves to exploit utilizing an ambitious cardinal and a corrupt archbishop, both with agendas of their own.
From the tranquil canals of Ghent, to the towering bastions of Carcassonne, and finally into an ancient abbey high in the French Pyrenees, Nick Lee must confront a modern-day religious crusade intent on eliminating a shocking truth from humanity’s past. Success or failure—life and death—all turn on the Omega Factor.
Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of sixteen Cotton Malone novels, five stand-alone thrillers, and several works of short fiction. He has 25 million books in print, translated into over 40 languages. With his wife, Elizabeth, he is the founder of History Matters, an organization dedicated to historical preservation. He serves as an emeritus member of the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board and was a founding member of International Thriller Writers, formerly serving as its co”‘president.
Berry’s background about the Ghent Altarpiece is fascinating. Enjoy the event.
Sulari Gentill, Writing, & The Woman in the Library
Australian author Sulari Gentill may have a hit on her hands with The Woman in the Library, if reviews are any indication. In a recent virtual event, she talked with Barbara Peters, her editor and the owner of The Poisoned Pen about writing and her book. You might want to listen to the beginning of that conversation before you decide which copy of The Woman in the Library you want to order from the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3Q6L3u9 Peters discusses the two formats at the beginning of the conversation.
Here’s the summary of The Woman in the Library.
In every person’s story, there is something to hide…
The ornate reading room at the Boston Public Library is quiet, until the tranquility is shattered by a woman’s terrified scream. Security guards take charge immediately, instructing everyone inside to stay put until the threat is identified and contained. While they wait for the all-clear, four strangers, who’d happened to sit at the same table, pass the time in conversation and friendships are struck. Each has his or her own reasons for being in the reading room that morning—it just happens that one is a murderer.
Award-winning author Sulari Gentill delivers a sharply thrilling read with THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY, an unexpectedly twisty literary adventure that examines the complicated nature of friendship and shows us that words can be the most treacherous weapons of all.
After setting out to study astrophysics, graduating in law and then abandoning her legal career to write books, SULARI GENTILL now grows French black truffles on her farm in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains of Australia.
Gentill’s Rowland Sinclair mysteries have won and/or been shortlisted for the Davitt Award and the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and her stand-alone metafiction thriller, After She Wrote Him won the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel in 2018. Her tenth Sinclair novel, A Testament of Character, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Best Crime Novel in 2021.
Enjoy the thoughtful conversation about writing.
Steve Berry discusses The Omega Factor with special guest host, Diana Gabaldon.
Barbara Peters, founder of The Poisoned Pen, hosted a riveting session between bestselling authors Steve Berry and Diana Gabaldon in which they discussed the writing process, historical fiction, and inspiration behind Steve’s book, The Omega Factor.
During the session, Berry revealed the inspiration behind his book’s cover: “I adapted the image of a monastery from a friend’s house near Venice. The old and new pictures were perfect for the story.”
Diana Gabaldon, legendary author of the Outlander series, praised Berry’s ability to immerse readers in history. She remarked, “Steve does very well to concentrate everything into the viewpoint of his main character, making you feel like you’re living along with them.“
In the session, the authors delved into mysteries and thrillers, the importance of specificity in historical fiction, and their own experiences as authors. Steve mentioned his inspiration behing The Omega Factor and the historical significance of the Ghent Altarpiece, prominently featured in his novel, while Diana discussed her writing process and the interplay between different genres.
They also touched on the idea of expanding their series and writing books set in different locations. The conversation offered insights into their creative process and the joys and challenges of writing novels. They talked about the process of writing thrillers and the difference between a mystery and a thriller, with Berry explaining that while a mystery is about what happened, a thriller is about what’s going to happen.
Diana, with her vast experience writing historical fiction highlighted the importance of being specific in descriptions, mentioning author Sharon K. Penman as an example.
The event offered a fascinating glimpse into the minds of two acclaimed authors and their approach to storytelling and showcases the passion and dedication they bring to their craft. If you enjoyed the conversation between Steve Berry and Diana Gabaldon about The Omega Factor, share your thoughts on social media to spread the book-love. And if you want to stay updated on the latest book news and events, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter.
ITW Thriller Awards for 2022
The International Thriller Writers (ITW) announced the recipients of their 2022 awards recently at Thrillerfest. Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees. And, for those of us who are readers, there’s another list of books to look for in The Poisoned Pen’s Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/
*** denotes winner
BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL
Megan Abbott ““ THE TURNOUT (Penguin/Putnam)
***S. A. Cosby ““ RAZORBLADE TEARS (Flatiron Books)
Alice Feeney ““ ROCK PAPER SCISSORS (Flatiron Books)
Rachel Howzell Hall ““ THESE TOXIC THINGS (Thomas & Mercer)
Alma Katsu ““ RED WIDOW (Penguin/Putnam)
Eric Rickstad ““ I AM NOT WHO YOU THINK I AM (Blackstone Publishing)
BEST AUDIOBOOK
***S. A. Cosby ““ RAZORBLADE TEARS (Macmillan)
Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White
Samantha Downing ““ SLEEPING DOGS LIE (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Melanie Nicholls-King and Lindsey Dorcus
Rachel Howzell Hall ““ HOW IT ENDS (Audible Originals)
Narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt
Gregg Hurwitz ““ PRODIGAL SON (Macmillan)
Narrated by Scott Brick
Nadine Matheson ““ THE JIGSAW MAN (HarperCollins)
Narrated by Davine Henry
BEST FIRST NOVEL
Abigail Dean ““ GIRL A (HarperCollins)
EloÃsa DÃaz ““ REPENTANCE (Agora Books)
***Amanda Jayatissa ““ MY SWEET GIRL (Berkley)
David McCloskey ““ DAMASCUS STATION (W.W. Norton & Company)
Eric Redman ““ BONES OF HILO (Crooked Lane Books)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Joy Castro ““ FLIGHT RISK (Lake Union)
Aaron Philip Clark ““ UNDER COLOR OF LAW (Thomas & Mercer)
C. J. Cooke ““ THE LIGHTHOUSE WITCHES (Berkley)
***Jess Lourey ““ BLOODLINE (Thomas & Mercer)
Terry Roberts ““ MY MISTRESS’ EYES ARE RAVEN BLACK (Turner Publishing Company)
BEST SHORT STORY
S.A. Cosby ““ “Not My Cross to Bear” (Trouble No More, edited by Mark Westmoreland, Down & Out Books)
William Burton McCormick ““ “Demon in the Depths” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
***Scott Loring Sanders ““ “The Lemonade Stand” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
Jeff Soloway ““ “The Interpreter and the Killer” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
John Wimer ““ “Bad Chemistry” (Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine)
BEST YOUNG ADULT NOVEL
Maureen Johnson ““ THE BOX IN THE WOODS (HarperCollins)
Nova McBee ““ CALCULATED (Wolfpack Publishing LLC)
Ginny Myers Sain ““ DARK AND SHALLOW LIES (Penguin Young Readers)
***Courtney Summers ““ THE PROJECT (Wednesday Books)
Krystal Sutherland ““ HOUSE OF HOLLOW (Penguin Young Readers)
BEST E-BOOK ORIGINAL NOVEL
Greig Beck ““ THE DARK SIDE: ALEX HUNTER 9 (Pan Macmillan)
John Connell ““ WHERE THE WICKED TREAD (John Connell)
Wendy Dranfield ““ LITTLE GIRL TAKEN (Bookouture)
***E.J. Findorff ““ BLOOD PARISH (E.J. Findorff)
S. E. Green ““ MOTHER MAY I (S. E. Green)
Andrew Kaplan ““ BLUE MADAGASCAR (Andrew Kaplan)
Karin Nordin ““ LAST ONE ALIVE (HarperCollins)
2022 ThrillerMasters: Frederick Forsyth Diana Gabaldon