Fiction Review

The Poisoned Pen recently premiered Michael Connelly’s The Dark Hours, “A Renee Ballard and Harry Bosche Novel”. The virtual event takes readers inside the bookstore, and even back in time with an early photo of Connelly. You can order a signed copy of The Dark Hours through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2RtzGgK

Here’s the summary of The Dark Hours.

“A masterpiece”—LAPD detective Renée Ballard must join forces with Harry Bosch to find justice in a city scarred by fear and social unrest after a methodical killer strikes on New Year’s Eve (Publishers Weekly).

There’s chaos in Hollywood at the end of the New Year’s Eve countdown. Working her graveyard shift, LAPD detective Renée Ballard waits out the traditional rain of lead as hundreds of revelers shoot their guns into the air. Only minutes after midnight, Ballard is called to a scene where a hardworking auto shop owner has been fatally hit by a bullet in the middle of a crowded street party.

Ballard quickly concludes that the deadly bullet could not have fallen from the sky and that it is linked to another unsolved murder—a case at one time worked by Detective Harry Bosch. At the same time, Ballard hunts a fiendish pair of serial rapists, the Midnight Men, who have been terrorizing women and leaving no trace.

Determined to solve both cases, Ballard feels like she is constantly running uphill in a police department indelibly changed by the pandemic and recent social unrest. It is a department so hampered by inertia and low morale that Ballard must go outside to the one detective she can count on: Harry Bosch. But as the two inexorable detectives work together to find out where old and new cases intersect, they must constantly look over their shoulders. The brutal predators they are tracking are ready to kill to keep their secrets hidden.

Unfolding with unstoppable drive and nail-biting intrigue, The Dark Hours shows that “relentless on their own, Ballard’s and Bosch’s combined skills…could be combustible” (Los Angeles Times).

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Michael Connelly is the author of thirty-five previous novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Law of Innocence,Fair Warning, and The Night Fire. His books, which include the Harry Bosch series, the Lincoln Lawyer series, and the Renée Ballard series, have sold more than eighty million copies worldwide. Connelly is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He is the executive producer of Bosch, starring Titus Welliver, and the creator and host of the podcasts Murder Book and The Wonderland Murders. He spends his time in California and Florida.

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The Dark Hours reflects the world as it has been in the last year. Enjoy the virtual event with Michael Connelly.

Congratulations to the winners and nominees for the World Fantasy Awards. While it might take a little while to get copies, you can order copies of the books through the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Tor.com reported on the announcement.

The winners of the 2021 World Fantasy Awards were announced this weekend at the World Fantasy Convention, which took place in Montreal, Canada, with the theme of “Fantasy, Imagination, and the Dreams of Youth.” Megan Lindholm and Howard Waldrop received Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!

NOVEL

• WINNER: Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson (Tor Books)
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)
• The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga Press/Titan UK)
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey US/Jo Fletcher Books UK)
• The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk (Erewhon Books US/Orbit UK)

NOVELLA

• WINNER: Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi (Tordotcom Publishing)
• Ring Shout, or Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times by P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom Publishing)
• “Stepsister” by Leah Cypess (The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,May/June 2020)
• Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings (Tordotcom Publishing)
• The Four Profound Weaves by R. B. Lemberg  (Tachyon Publications)

SHORT FICTION

• WINNER: “Glass Bottle Dancer” by Celeste Rita Baker (Lightspeed, April 2020)
• “The Women Who Sing for Sklep” by Kay Chronister  (Thin Places)
• “The Nine Scents of Sorrow” by Jordan Taylor (Uncanny Magazine, July/Aug. 2020)
• “My Country Is a Ghost” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny Magazine,January/February 2020)
• “Open House on Haunted Hill” by John Wiswell (Diabolical Plots, June 15 2020)

ANTHOLOGY

• WINNER: The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer (Vintage Books)
• Edited By, edited by Ellen Datlow (Subterranean Press)
• The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories, Vol. 1, edited by James D. Jenkins and Ryan Cagle (Valancourt Books)
• Shadows & Tall Trees 8, edited by Michael Kelly (Undertow Publications)
• The Book of Dragons, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Harper Voyager)

COLLECTION

• WINNER: Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, translated by Polly Barton (Soft Skull Press US/Tilted Axis UK)
• The Best of Jeffrey Ford by Jeffrey Ford  (PS Publishing)
• Velocities: Stories by Kathe Koja (Meerkat Press)
• We All Hear Stories in the Dark by Robert Shearman (PS Publishing)
• Nine Bar Blues: Stories of an Ancient Future by Sheree Renée Thomas (Third Man Books)

ARTIST

• WINNER: Rovina Cai
• Jeffrey Alan Love
• Reiko Murakami
• Daniele Serra
• Charles Vess

SPECIAL AWARD — PROFESSIONAL

• WINNER: C.C. Finlay, for The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction editing
• Clive Bloom, for The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic (Palgrave Macmillan)
• Jo Fletcher, for Jo Fletcher Books
• Maria Dahvana Headley, for Beowulf: A New Translation (MCD X FSG Originals  US/Scribe UK)
• Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock, for The Monster Theory Reader (University of Minnesota Press)

SPECIAL AWARD — NON-PROFESSIONAL

• WINNER: Brian Attebery, for Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
• Scott H. Andrews, for Beneath Ceaseless Skies: Literary Adventure Fantasy
• Michael Kelly, for Undertow Publications
• Arley Sorg and Christie Yant, for Fantasy Magazine
• Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas, for Uncanny Magazine

To be eligible, all nominated material must have been published in 2020 or have a 2020 cover date. Nominations came from two sources: Members of the current convention as well as the previous two voted for two nominations onto the final ballot, and the remaining nominations came from the panel of judges. This year’s judges were Tobias Buckell, Siobhan Carroll, Cecilia Dart-Thornton, Brian Evenson, and Patrick Swenson

John Charles from The Poisoned Pen recently welcomed Sherry Thomas back for a virtual author event. Thomas, the author of The Lady Sherlock series, discussed the sixth book in the series, Miss Moriarty, I Presume. You can order copies of the book through the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3BVDQoB

Here’s the description of Miss Moriarty, I Presume.

Charlotte Holmes comes face to face with her enemy when Moriarty turns to her in his hour of need, in the USA Today bestselling series set in Victorian England.

A most unexpected client shows up at Charlotte Holmes’s doorstep: Moriarty himself. Moriarty fears that tragedy has befallen his daughter and wants Charlotte to find out the truth. 

Charlotte and Mrs. Watson travel to a remote community of occult practitioners where Moriarty’s daughter was last seen, a place full of lies and liars. Meanwhile, Charlotte’s sister Livia tries to make sense of a mysterious message from her beau Mr. Marbleton. And Charlotte’s longtime friend and ally Lord Ingram at last turns his seductive prowess on Charlotte—or is it the other way around?

But the more secrets Charlotte unravels about Miss Moriarty’s disappearance, the more she wonders why Moriarty has entrusted this delicate matter to her of all people. Is it merely to test Charlotte’s skills as an investigator, or has the man of shadows trapped her in a nest of vipers?

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USA Today bestselling author Sherry Thomas is one of the most acclaimed historical romance authors writing today and a two-time RITA Award winner.

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Enjoy the conversation between Sherry Thomas and John Charles.

Ann Williams edited Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs and Douglas Preston wrote the foreward. It’s subtitled “100 Discoveries That Changed the World”. Williams, who is an archaeologist by trade, was tasked to come up with these 100 discoveries for National Geographic. Unfortunately, Preston did such a great job pushing the book that the signed copies are all sold out at The Poisoned Pen. You can still get on a waiting list for signed copies. https://bit.ly/3qehQ60

Even if you can’t get a signed copy right now, you might want to learn about this fascinating book.

Blending high adventure with history, this chronicle of 100 astonishing discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the fabulous “Lost City of the Monkey God” tells incredible stories of how explorers and archaeologists have uncovered the clues that illuminate our past.

Archaeology is the key that unlocks our deepest history. Ruined cities, golden treasures, cryptic inscriptions, and ornate tombs have been found across the world, and yet these artifacts of ages past often raised more questions than answers. But with the emergence of archaeology as a scientific discipline in the 19th century, everything changed.

Illustrated with dazzling photographs, this enlightening narrative tells the story of human civilization through 100 key expeditions, spanning six continents and more than three million years of history. Each account relies on firsthand reports from explorers, antiquarians, and scientists as they crack secret codes, evade looters and political suppression, fall in love, commit a litany of blunders, and uncover ancient curses.
Pivotal discoveries include:

• King Tut’s tomb of treasure
• Terracotta warriors escorting China’s first emperor into the afterlife
• The glorious Anglo-Saxon treasure of Sutton-Hoo
• Graves of the Scythians, the real Amazon warrior women
• New findings on the grim fate of the colonists of Jamestown

With a foreword from bestselling author Douglas Preston, Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs is an expertly curated and breath-taking panorama of the human journey.

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General Editor ANN WILLIAMS specializes in writing about the ancient world and cultural heritage preservation. A writer for more than three decades career for National Geographic magazine and digital news, she reports on new discoveries and the latest research in archaeology around the world. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DOUGLAS PRESTON (foreword) has published thirty-six books of fiction and nonfiction, twenty-nine of which have been New York Times bestsellers. He writes about archaeology and anthropology for the New Yorker, and has worked as an editor at the American Museum of Natural History, and has taught writing at Princeton University. He divides his time between New Mexico and Maine.

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Anyone intrigued by history will want to watch the virtual event, the conversation between Ann Williams and Douglas Preston.

It’s time to showcase the authors appearing for virtual events at The Poisoned Pen next week. Don’t forget to check the Web store for copies of their books. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Just check out this list.

Diesel returns in Janet Evanovich’s latest book, Game On: Tempting Twenty-Eight. Evanovich and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, discuss a number of the Stephanie Plum books in a recent virtual event. You can still order a signed copy of Game On through the Web Store, although they’re going fast. https://bit.ly/2kNWFsm

Stephanie Plum returns to hunt down a new kind of criminal operating out of Trenton in the 28th book in the wildly popular series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Janet Evanovich.

When Stephanie Plum is woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of footsteps in her apartment, she wishes she didn’t keep her gun in the cookie jar in her kitchen. And when she finds out the intruder is fellow apprehension agent Diesel, six feet of hard muscle and bad attitude who she hasn’t seen in more than two years, she still thinks the gun might come in handy.

Turns out Diesel and Stephanie are on the trail of the same fugitive: Oswald Wednesday, an international computer hacker as brilliant as he is ruthless. Stephanie may not be the most technologically savvy sleuth, but she more than makes up for that with her dogged determination, her understanding of human nature, and her willingness to do just about anything to bring a fugitive to justice. Unsure if Diesel is her partner or her competition in this case, she’ll need to watch her back every step of the way as she sets the stage to draw Wednesday out from behind his computer and into the real world.

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Over the last twenty-five years, Janet Evanovich has written a staggering twenty-four #1 New York Times bestsellers in the Stephanie Plum series. In addition to the Plum novels, Janet has coauthored the New York Times bestselling Fox and O’Hare series, the Knight and Moon series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, the Alexandra Barnaby novels, and the graphic novel, Troublemaker (with her daughter, Alex Evanovich).

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Enjoy the conversation with Janet Evanovich.

Dennis Palumbo has worked with Barbara Peters and Poisoned Pen Press for the years of the Daniel Rinaldi series. One of The Poisoned Pen’s recent virtual events featured Palumbo and Peters talking about Rinaldi and his latest adventures in Panic Attack. You can find copies of Panic Attack, and the other Daniel Rinaldi books, in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/3tRYpjc

Here’s the summary of Panic Attack.

A shooter takes deadly aim, and throws a city into panic

Psychologist Daniel Rinaldi is no stranger to trauma. A survivor of not one, but two attempts on his life by a deranged killer, the therapist also counsels trauma patients in his private practice, and contracts with the Pittsburgh Police to help victims of violent crime cope with their experience. When a sports mascot is gunned down mid-field by a sniper at a college football game he attends, Rinaldi becomes an accidental yet integral part of the investigation. To begin with, the victim in the costume is not the person who was supposed to be wearing it.

When the actual “Teasdale Tiger” hears the news, he suffers a crippling panic attack and calls on Rinaldi to talk him through it. From there, Rinaldi seems to be in all the wrong places at all the wrong times, as the sniper continues his killing spree. Meeting with resistance from members of the Pittsburgh Police force and taking dangerous risks in pursuit of the killer, Rinaldi puts his career and his life in harm’s way as he races to find a connection between the victims before the shooter strikes again.

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Formerly a Hollywood screenwriter, Dennis Palumbo is now a licensed psychotherapist in private practice. He’s the author of a mystery collection, From Crime to Crime, and his short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, The Strand, and elsewhere. His Daniel Rinaldi series includes Mirror Image, Fever Dream, Night Terrors, Phantom Limb, Head Wounds, and Panic Attack.

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Here’s the conversation between Dennis Palumbo and Barbara Peters.

If Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen, is surprised by a crime in a mystery, it’s unusual. And, Lee Goldberg, author of Gated Prey, was able to surprise her. Goldberg and Matt Witten, author of The Necklace, were the guest authors for a recent virtual event. You can find copies of both books in the Web Store. https://store.poisonedpen.com/

Here is the summary of Gated Prey.

A simple sting operation takes a violent and unexpected turn for Detective Eve Ronin in a gripping thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detective Eve Ronin and her soon-to-retire partner, Duncan Pavone, are running a 24-7 sting in a guard-gated enclave of palatial homes in Calabasas. Their luxury McMansion is a honey trap, set to lure in the violent home invaders terrorizing the community. The trap works, leaving three intruders dead, a body count that nearly includes Eve and Duncan.

Eve’s bosses are eager to declare the case closed, but there are too many unanswered questions for her to let go. Was the trap actually for her, bloody payback for Eve’s very public takedown of a clique of corrupt deputies? Or is there an even deadlier secret lurking behind those opulent gates? Eve’s refusal to back down and her relentless quest for the truth make her both the hunter…and the prey.

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Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award and two-time Shamus Award nominee and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels. He has also written and/or produced many TV shows, including Diagnosis Murder, SeaQuest, and Monk, and he is the cocreator of the Mystery 101 series of Hallmark movies. As an international television consultant, he has advised networks and studios in Canada, France, Germany, Spain, China, Sweden, and the Netherlands on the creation, writing, and production of episodic television series. You can find more information about Lee and his work at www.leegoldberg.com.

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Matt Witten’s The Necklace is summarized below.

The clock ticks down in a heart-pounding crusade for justice

Susan Lentigo’s daughter was murdered twenty years ago—and now, at long last, this small-town waitress sets out on a road trip all the way from Upstate New York to North Dakota to witness the killer’s execution.

On her journey she discovers shocking new evidence that leads her to suspect the condemned man is innocent—and the real killer is still free. Even worse, her prime suspect has a young daughter who’s at terrible risk. With no money and no time to spare, Susan sets out to uncover the truth before an innocent man gets executed and another little girl is killed.

But the FBI refuses to reopen the case. They—and Susan’s own mother—believe she’s just having an emotional breakdown. Reaching deep, Susan finds an inner strength she never knew she had. With the help of two unlikely allies—a cynical, defiant teenage girl and the retired cop who made the original arrest—Susan battles the FBI to put the real killer behind bars. Will she win justice for the condemned man—and her daughter—at last?

Perfect for fans of Karin Slaughter and Harlan Coben

Optioned for film—with Leonardo DiCaprio attached as producer.

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Matt Witten, a graduate of Amherst and Brandeis Universities, is a TV writer, novelist, playwright and screenwriter. His television writing includes such shows as House, Pretty Little Liars, and Law & Order. His TV scripts have been nominated for an Emmy and two Edgars, and he has written four mystery novels, winning a Malice Domestic award for best debut novel. He has also written stage plays and for national magazines.

The Necklace has been optioned for film by Appian Way and Cartel Pictures, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached as producer.

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Without spoilers, enjoy the conversation with Lee Goldberg and Matt Witten.

Although Gregg Hurwitz has been known for his Orphan X thrillers in recent years, some of his earlier books have just been picked up for a project. You can find many of those titles available as audiobooks read by fan favorite Scott Brick in the Web Store. https://bit.ly/2Y7Dudb

PARAMOUNT PLAYERS OPTIONS EIGHT GREGG HURWITZ NOVELS FOR FILM

Hurwitz will co-produce with Emmy Award-winning producer Scott Frank of The Queen’s Gambit

October 28, 2021 ““ Paramount Players has optioned eight books from bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz’s “Marked Man” series, with a plan to make lower-budgeted, modern noir thrillers to be adapted by a diverse group of up-and-coming filmmakers.

Scott Frank, the Emmy Award-winning producer of “The Queen’s Gambit, brought the project to Players and will co-produce alongside Hurwitz.

“These thrillers are about ordinary men and women finding extraordinary strength within themselves and our goal is to connect these stories with screenwriters who are early in their own journey to the exceptional,” said Hurwitz. “It’s so goddamned hard to break into screenwriting today and Scott and I are excited at the prospect of finding new voices to collaborate with and support.”

Gregg Hurwitz is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of 22 thrillers including the Orphan X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Hurwitz currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, comics for DC and Marvel, and political and culture pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark and others. He lives with his Rhodesian Ridgebacks in Los Angeles.

The eight books are Do No Harm, The Crime Writer, Trust No One, They’re Watching, You’re Next, The Survivor, Tell No Lies, and Don’t Look Back. While the books do not share a central character, they do share thematic elements.

“There is no talent I admire more than Scott Frank and no one I’d be happier to partner with on the adaptations of these books,” said Hurwitz. “I’m grateful to Paramount Players for giving us this opportunity.”

Clarence Hammond and Nathan Samdahl will be the creative executives overseeing the project for Players.

Hurwitz is represented by Angela Cheng Caplan of Cheng Caplan Company, Lisa Erbach Vance of Aaron M. Priest Literary Agency, Stephen Breimer of Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver & Thompson, LLP, and Julia Borcherts of Kaye Publicity.

More information about Gregg Hurwitz and his novels can be found at gregghurwitz.net.

Cherie Priest has written in all kinds of genres, especially fantasy, but Grave Reservations is her first traditional mystery. You can find copies in the Web Store, and the copies come with signed bookplates. https://bit.ly/3CBKbqn

Here is the description of Grave Reservations.

A psychic travel agent and a Seattle PD detective solve a murder in this quirky mystery in the vein of Lisa Lutz’s The Spellman Files and Charlaine Harris’s Aurora Teagarden series.

Meet Leda Foley: devoted friend, struggling travel agent, and inconsistent psychic. When Leda, sole proprietor of Foley’s Flights of Fancy, impulsively re-books Seattle PD detective Grady Merritt’s flight, her life changes in ways she couldn’t have predicted.

After watching his original plane blow up from the safety of the airport, Grady realizes that Leda’s special abilities could help him with a cold case he just can’t crack.

Despite her scattershot premonitions, she agrees for a secret reason: her fiancé’s murder remains unsolved. Leda’s psychic abilities couldn’t help the case several years before, but she’s been honing her skills and drawing a crowd at her favorite bar’s open-mic nights, where she performs Klairvoyant Karaoke—singing whatever song comes to mind when she holds people’s personal effects. Now joined by a rag-tag group of bar patrons and pals alike, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer—and learn how the two cases that haunt them have more in common than they ever suspected.

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Cherie Priest is the author of two dozen books and novellas, including the horror novel The Toll, acclaimed gothic Maplecroft, and the award-winning Clockwork Century series, beginning with Boneshaker. She has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, and she won the Locus Award for best horror novel. Her books have been translated into nine languages in eleven countries. She lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband and a menagerie of exceedingly photogenic pets.

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Those of us who are readers will be fascinated (and maybe a little appalled) with the stories of Cherie Priest’s childhood reading. Enjoy the conversation between Cherie Priest and Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen.