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)
Eloísa Díaz ““ 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

Richard O’Rawe’s latest novel, Goering’s Gold, has received excellent reviews from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen says he loved the latest book, and he enjoyed his last conversation with O’Rawe. O’Rawe was back for a recent virtual event. You can order Goering’s Gold through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/38NzE1S

Here’s the description of Goering’s Gold.

“I clamor for the next installment of Richard O’Rawe’s rollicking series of heist novels featuring James ‘Ructions’ O’Hare.” — Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review

“Mr. O’Rawe … has written the most riotous caper novel since his own ‘Northern Heist,’ and with luck, there will be more adventures ahead. “—Tom Nolan, The Wall Street Journal

Ructions O’Hare returns in a thriller — based on one of history’s greatest unsolved heists — pitting him against the IRA, Interpol, and neo-Nazis . . .

When WWII ended, the allies discovered that a huge amount of gold bullion plundered by Nazi Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering had gone missing. Some believed the gold had been hidden in a train box car in Poland. Others that it was secreted in Lake Toplitz in the Austrian Alps. And a few thought it was buried in the Republic of Ireland, which was neutral during the war.

When ex-IRA soldier Ructions O’Hare stumbles on a piece of Nazi memorabilia once owned by Goering, he begins to think that those who suspect the gold was in Ireland just might be on to something.

But for Ructions to return to Ireland is easier said than done. For a start, the IRA is after him for not paying them a cut from a huge bank robbery he carried out in Belfast. And then there’s the Neo-Nazis, who believe that Goering’s gold rightfully belongs to them, and who are happy to kill anyone who gets in their way.

And as Ructions gathers clues to the gold’s location and, as his many adversaries realize he’s getting closer, it’s as if a noose is tightening around his neck…

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Richard O’Rawe is a former IRA operative who was imprisoned for bank robbery in the Long Kesh penitentiary during the 1981 hunger strike by prisoners, which resulted in the death of ten prisoners. O’Rawe was the IRA’s press officer for the prisoners. He would later go on to write a bestselling book about the experience, Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-Block Hunger Strike, as well as several other books inspired by his experiences in the IRA, including Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer that Changed Irish History, and In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story. Most recently, he is the author of the IRA-themed thriller, Northern Heist. He lives in Belfast.

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Enjoy the conversation between Richard O’Rawe and Patrick Millikin.

Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, welcomed Mike Lawson to the bookstore for a virtual event. Lawson signed copies of his latest book, Redemption, and there are a few signed copies still available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3zkvSaS

Here’s the description of Redemption, a standalone thriller.

Convicted of insider trading, Jamison Maddox reluctantly accepts a mysterious job that soon takes an ominous twist, sending him on the run from powerful and deadly forces in the latest thriller from Barry Award and Edgar Award finalist Mike Lawson.

With his reputation permanently marred by an insider trading conviction, Jamison Maddox, a young Wall Street broker, reluctantly takes a job doing research for a small company in the sleepy town of Redemption, Illinois. He’s never heard of the company, or of the town, but he’s out of money and options. Though Jamison notices right away that everyone in Redemption is in some way related to one another, the big city boy chalks it up to small town ways. And as for the company’s seemingly extreme security practices, Jamison was planning on minding his own business anyway.

But when he falls in love with a beautiful and enigmatic colleague, Gillian, Jamison begins to realize that he may be doing illegal work for the company. So when she asks him to run away with her, he agrees wholeheartedly. The two set off across the country, hoping to secure some money and go into hiding. The company is soon on their tails, pursuing them with the single-minded goal of silencing them forever.

If Jamison hadn’t realized how dangerous these people really are, he now realizes they will stop at nothing to protect the company. And he has no idea that his lover, a stunning woman shrouded in mystery, is as dangerous as the people he’s running from. 

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Mike Lawson is a former senior civilian executive for the U.S. Navy. He is the author of fifteen novels starring Joe DeMarco and three novels with his protagonist Kay Hamilton.

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Enjoy the conversation between Mike Lawson and Barbara Peters.

James Lee Burke’s Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is the current Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. There are still some signed copies available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3Nkmzfp

Patrick Millikin from the bookstore admits it’s an honor to host Burke for a virtual event. Burke says he’s published forty novels and two collections, and he’s never changed. He’s still using material from the Bible. Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a personal story, and Millikin and Burke talk about that in the event.

Here’s the summary of Every Cloak Rolled in Blood.

In his most autobiographical novel to date, James Lee Burke continues the epic Holland family saga with a writer grieving the death of his daughter while battling earthly and supernatural outlaws.

Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is shattered when his daughter Fannie Mae dies suddenly. As he tries to honor her memory by saving two young men from a life of crime amid their opioid-ravaged community, he is drawn into a network of villainy that includes a violent former Klansman, a far-from-holy minister, a biker club posing as evangelicals, and a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight.

Aaron’s only ally is state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse, a no-nonsense woman who harbors some powerful secrets in her cellar. Despite the air of mystery surrounding her, Ruby is the only one Aaron can trust. That is, until the ghost of Fannie Mae shows up, guiding her father through a tangled web of the present and past and helping him vanquish his foes from both this world and the next.

Drawn from James Lee Burke’s own life experiences, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a devastating exploration of the nature of good and evil and a deeply moving story about the power of love and family.

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James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

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Enjoy the conversation with one of our great authors, James Lee Burke.

The Private Eye Writers of America recently announced the nominees for the 2022 Shamus Awards, for private eye novels and short stories first published in the U.S. in 2021. The winners will be announced in August. In the meantime, check the Web Store for the authors and books. You have time to read or pick up a few before that announcement. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Congratulations to all of the nominees. (And, thank you to Todd Mason for the list of nominees.)

BEST PI HARDCOVER

RUNNER by Tracy Clark (Kensington)

LAST REDEMPTION by Matt Coyle (Oceanview)

PAY OR PLAY by Howard Michael Gould (Severn House)

FAMILY BUSINESS by S. J. Rozan (Pegasus)

HEAD CASE by Michael Wiley (Severn House)

BEST ORIGINAL PI PAPERBACK

EVERY CITY IS EVERY OTHER CITY by John McFetridge (ECW Press)

THE BURDEN OF INNOCENCE by John Nardizzi (Weathertop Media Co.)

ANGELS IN THE WIND by Manuel Ramos (Arte Pὐblico Press)

FROG IN A BUCKET by Clive Rosengren (Coffeetown Press)

AN EMPTY GRAVE by Andrew Welsh-Huggins (Swallow Press)

BEST FIRST PI NOVEL

PORNO VALLEY by Phillip Elliot (Into The Void) 

DEAD MAN’S EYES by Lori Duffy Foster (Level Best Books) 

SUBURBAN DICKS by Fabian Nieza (Putnam) 

THE ARRANGEMENT by M. Ravenel (Chikara Press) 

LOST LITTLE GIRL by Gregory Stout (Level Best Books)

BEST PI SHORT STORY

DISPOSABLE WOMEN by Michael Bracken (ToughCrime.com) 

SIXTEEN LIES by Matt Goldman (EQMM September/October) 

SWEEPS WEEK by Richard Helms (EQMM July/August)

ORO DE TONTOS (FOOL’S GOLD) by Tom Larsen (AHMM November/December)

THE HIDDEN PLACES by Linda Stansberry (EQMM May/June)

You do need to check constantly on The Poisoned Pen’s schedule of authors. June is so active that authors are being added constantly. Once in a while an author is changing their appearance time or date. So, please check here. https://poisonedpen.com/ And, check in the Web Store for books by your favorite authors. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here’s a quick reminder of the upcoming schedule of author events in the first half of June.

While Barbara Peters and Patrick Millikin from The Poisoned Pen welcomed Chris Holm for the recent virtual event, James Rollins acted as guest host. Holm is the author of six novels, including his latest Child Zero. There are signed copies of Child Zero available through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3m0FeAY

Here’s the description of Child Zero.

From molecular biologist turned Anthony Award-winning author of The Killing Kind comes a fact-based thriller about our species’ next great existential threat—perfect for fans of Michael Crichton.

It began four years ago with a worldwide uptick of bacterial infections: meningitis in Frankfurt, cholera in Johannesburg, tuberculosis in New Delhi. Although the outbreaks spread aggressively and proved impervious to our drugs of last resort, public health officials initially dismissed them as unrelated.

They were wrong. Antibiotic resistance soon roiled across the globe. Diseases long thought beaten came surging back. The death toll skyrocketed. Then New York City was ravaged by the most heinous act of bioterror the world had ever seen, perpetrated by a new brand of extremist bent on pushing humanity to extinction.

Detective Jacob Gibson, who lost his wife in the 8/17 attack, is home caring for his sick daughter when his partner summons him to a sprawling shantytown in Central Park, the apparent site of a mass murder. Jake is startled to discover that, despite a life of abject squalor, the victims died in perfect health—and his only hope of finding answers is a twelve-year-old boy on the run from some very dangerous men.

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Chris Holm is the author of the cross-genre Collector trilogy, the Michael Hendricks thrillers, and thirty-odd short stories in a variety of genres. His work has been selected for The Best American Mystery Stories, named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, appeared on more than fifty year’s best lists, and won a number of awards, including the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel. He lives in Portland, Maine.

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Enjoy the conversation with Chris Holm.

The Lost Summers of Newport was recently the Hot Book of the Week at The Poisoned Pen. The authors, Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White recently appeared at the bookstore, the first time since the pandemic hit. They also signed copies of the book, and there are copies available. https://bit.ly/3wUNd8X

Here’s the description of The Lost Summers of Newport.

From the New York Times bestselling team of Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, and Karen White—a novel of money and secrets set among the famous summer mansions of Newport, Rhode Island, spanning over a century from the Gilded Age to the present day.

“Three stories elegantly intertwine in this clever and stylish tale of murder and family lies…This crackerjack novel offers three mysteries for the price of one.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review”

2019: Andie Figuero has just landed her dream job as a producer of Mansion Makeover, a popular reality show about restoring America’s most lavish historic houses. Andie has high hopes for her latest project: the once glorious but gently crumbling Sprague Hall in Newport, Rhode Island, summer resort of America’s gilded class—famous for the lavish “summer cottages” of Vanderbilts and Belmonts. But Andie runs into trouble: the reclusive heiress who still lives in the mansion, Lucia “Lucky” Sprague, will only allow the show to go forward on two conditions: One, nobody speaks to her. Two, nobody touches the mansion’s ruined boathouse.

1899: Ellen Daniels has been hired to give singing lessons to Miss Maybelle Sprague, a naive young Colorado mining heiress whose stepbrother John has poured their new money into buying a place among Newport’s elite. John is determined to see Maybelle married off to a fortune-hunting Italian prince, and Ellen is supposed to polish up the girl for her launch into society. But the deceptively demure Ellen has her own checkered past, and she’s hiding in plain sight at Sprague Hall.

1958: Lucia “Lucky” Sprague has always felt like an outsider at Sprague Hall. When she and her grandmother—the American-born Princess di Conti—fled Mussolini’s Italy, it seemed natural to go back to the imposing Newport house Nana owned but hadn’t seen since her marriage in 1899. Over the years, Lucky’s lost her Italian accent and found a place for herself among the yachting set by marrying Stuyvesant Sprague, the alcoholic scion of her Sprague stepfamily. But one fateful night in the mansion’s old boathouse will uncover a devastating truth…and change everything she thought she knew about her past.

As the cameras roll on Mansion Makeover, the house begins to yield up the dark secrets the Spragues thought would stay hidden forever….

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Beatriz Williams is the bestselling author of thirteen novels, including Her Last Flight, The Summer Wives, and The Golden Hour, as well as All the Ways We Said Goodbye, cowritten with Lauren Willig and Karen White. A native of Seattle, she graduated from Stanford University and earned an MBA in finance from Columbia University. She lives with her husband and four children near the Connecticut shore, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.

Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty novels, including The Summer Country, The Ashford Affair, and The English Wife. She lives in New York City with her husband and family.

Karen White is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Dreams of Falling and The Night the Lights Went Out. She has two grown children and currently lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and two spoiled Havanese dogs.

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The team of authors made a fun presentation that day. Enjoy!