Eric Adams --- Plot Twist NEL Paperback £5.99 --- Out on 4th April.
See Review
Eric Adams' debut novel was inspired by his own experiences, as a journalist, of how the media exploits people's lives for its own ends, to feed an ever-hungry public with the sensations they crave. Adams' taut revenge thriller turns the tables on a true crime writer as the media, which once provided his livelihood, now starts baying for his lifeblood....
In exchange for Timmy's life, I want the hands of Jordan Stone. Both of them.
Bestselling true crime author Jordan Stone has made a bundle of money and a long list of enemies by relentlessly exposing the sordid lives of criminals for the simple pleasure of his readers.
Now the tables are turned when his young son is brutally abducted. In return for young Timmy, the kidnapper doesn't want money. He want something altogether more bizarre - the severed hands of Jordan Stone. Now Stone and the FBI must determine who would dare commit such a brazen crime. And when the media catch hold of the story, reporters turn on him and his family with the same feeding frenzy that characterises their coverage of every sensational crime.
As he battles with the media and struggles to keep his family together Stone finds himself in a race against time with a madman determined to ensure that he will never write another word....
"Fair premise, sledge-hammer irony, and a case of biter bit" The Guardian
Eric Adams is an award winning journalist and screenwriter, has worked as a director of radio news, and is author of two travel books. He has won awards for two of his screenplays, and currently has three screenplays in development in Hollywood. He lives in California.
A.R.Beven --- The Sanctuary Man Coronet Paperback £5.99 --- Out on 4th April.
Alex Buchan, puzzled by his elder brother's uncharacteristic absence from an afternoon's corporate entertaining at Lords, drives down to his house where he finds Stuart, lying in a pool of blood, shot dead with one of his own guns, and his step-daughter, bound and gagged in the bathroom. Lack of evidence suggests an unsolved robbery, but Alex is not convinced, and neither is Superintendent Cromarty, who begins to treat Alex as his main suspect.
Left with the remnants of his brother's family; Nicole, Stuart's beautiful neurotic second wife, her daughter Deborah, and Cate, Stuart's daughter from his first marriage, Alex realises that he is the only one who can find and face his brother's killer. For, like Alex, all three women stand to inherit a great deal of money on Stuart's death, and , as Alex discovers, the relationships within the family were not as happy, or as appropriate, as they seemed. Detached and alone, Alex begins to unravel secrets built up over years of resentment, which were perhaps better left hidden.
This is A.R.Bevan's second novel. Set in Durham and London, The Sanctuary Man is a brilliantly crafted psychological thriller, a finely-woven tale of family tension, dark relationships, and the abuse of responsibility told with acute sensitivity and style.
A.R.Beven is a financial journalist on The Guardian, having, in his time, directed plays at the Edinburgh Fringe, acted in local theatre, written advertising jingles, and masqueraded as Spiderman. He studied politics and psychology at Durham university and now lives in Camberwell, South East London.
James David Buchanan --- Different Rules Hodder & Stoughton (0 340 62900 2) £16.99 --- Out on 4th April. See Review
Twenty years ago as a naïve rookie cop Weddy successfully infiltrated a circle of young revolutionaries from well-to-do families. It all ended disastrously in bloodshed, mayhem and murder. Now those former revolutionaries are pillars of the establishment: wealthy and influential members of Long Island society whose youthful misdeeds are being threatened with exposure by an anonymous blackmailer.
For at least one member of the group, youthful idealism has transmuted to a terrifying amoral cynicism, a dogged fanaticism that accepts no limits. As far as they are concerned the armed struggle for revolutionary change is not yet over.
Unwillingly, once more Weddy is drawn into a world of danger, fast-living and unexpected love; a world that lives, and will always live, by very different rules....
Ingeniously constructed, tense and realistic, Different Rules is an atmospheric and powerful psychological thriller which will keep the reader in suspense until the final page.
"What lifts it well above the run-of-the-mill mystery thriller is its rich, imaginative characterisation and the fact that it pays its readers the compliment of assuming that they will savour the extras: namely some interesting intellectual and moral conundrums" (of Palm Monday) Ham & High
"A real discovery: an atmospheric, quietly-spoken, desperately exciting thriller that reminded me of Graham Greene in his early days... a fine novel of character " (of The Prince of Malta) Weekend Australian
James David Buchanan is a screenwriter and the author of The Professional, The Prince of Malta and Palm Monday. He lives in California.
John Burdett --- A Personal History Of Thirst Hodder & Stoughton (0 340 66079 1) £16.99 --- Out on 18th April. See Review
Former barrister John Burdett has written a dazzling first novel which portrays an extraordinary love triangle involving barrister James Knight, the stunning American Daisy and Oliver Thirst. What seems at first to have been a crime of passion, turns into something stranger, rarer, and infinitely more sinister as, through the murder trial that ensues, the true nature of Oliver Thirst, and the effect he had on the lives of everyone with whom he came into contact, is revealed.
When Commander George Homes visits barrister James Knight's London home to question him about the death of a former client Oliver Thirst, he is shocked to hear James confess to the murder. The story unfolds in flashbacks as we hear how Daisy first seduced the bashful James at university and bowled him over with her charisma, eccentric politics and, above all, her quirky sexuality.
Oliver Thirst enters their lives when James gets him off a petty car theft charge. He has a history of petty crime convictions, but claims to be determined to change his life. Against his better judgement, Daisy persuades him to help in Thirst's rehabilitation, but she inevitably becomes hypnotised herself by the gangster's dark charm....
A Personal History Of Thirst is John Burdett's first novel and arises from his experiences practising criminal law. It is by turns a legal thriller, an erotic psychological investigation and an unpredictable whodunnit. It not only questions the hypocrisies of our legal system, but also explores a society - London in the 1970's and beyond - of uncertain values that is fast losing direction.
Conor Cregan --- House of Fire Coronet Paperback (0 340 62306 3) £5.99 --- Out on 4th April.
Grundy and his mercenaries are fighting for Bosnia - it is down to them to defend their village from the Serbs - but the Serb advance up the valley is bloody and steady. The Bosnians know that their time is running out - they must take desperate last measures to stay alive and maintain the defence. The Bosnian commander sends Grundy's men out into the mountains - this small group of mismatched, world-weary, cynical fighting machines, whose tempers and psyches are as hair triggered as the guns they fire - but no one knows if this will be a win of lose situation... and behind it all are the stubborn wills and individual codes of valour that drive these extraordinary men onwards.
House of Fire is an assault in every sense - it bombards the nerve endings with rocket shells and war weapons, it leaves the reader as shell shocked and wounded as the characters within the pages. Here is the tragedy of the former Yugoslavia laid bare to the bone as never before in a thriller.
"A remarkable thriller" Jack Higgins
Conor Cregan is a Dubliner, journalist and author of three novels. To research House Of Fire he travelled through Bosnia, hitching rides with aid convoys, talking to and learning from the people he met - locals, mercenaries, aid workers and regular soldiers.
Reg Gadney --- The Achilles Heel --- Faber & Faber (0 571 17702 6) £14.99
The time is now. An enquiry agent, known as Angell, is hired by the glamorous wife of the century's greatest philanthropist and financier to terminate teh investigation of her husband's secret crimes of child abuse and murder.
Simultaneously, Alan Rosslyn, a young undercover investigation officer in HM Customs and Excise, is surprised to be asked by 'C' - the new head of the Secret Intelligence Service - to abort his pursuit of the manufacturers of the worst pornography ever seen.
Rosslyn's refusal to compromise hurls him into the hunt for Angell, a killer for the millenium.
The Achilles Heel is an odyssey of suspense and violence, a contest undertaken in the shadows of international intrigue. In ingenuity, brilliance and credibility it surpasses even Gadney's previous world bestselling Just When We Are Safest.
Reg Gadney --- Just When We Are Safest --- Faber & Faber (0 571 17383 7) £4.99
Pbk edition of Gadney's world best-selling thriller
"Extrodinarily well-written...It is hard to imagine that the year will see a more readable or more intelligent thriller." Evening Standard
"Gadney is one of the most skilled thriller writers around... The climax is perfectly paced, with abundant surprises and betrayals. The final scenes of violence are shockingly intense and the last page contains a twist of great brilliance...A first class book." Sunday Times
Grazinaus and Starlin--- Thinning the Predators --- Little & Brown
(0 7515 1717 8) £8.99
FBI vetran Ira Levitt has been chasing one man for over fifteen years. A man who has killed over two dozen murderers - a one-man vigilante who has succeeded in ridding society of numerous serial killers whom the police have failed to convict. Ira is tracking down an intelligent adversary and a national hero. Then one particular series of murders among Hispanic immigrants in New York brings hunter and prey together, because people are being brutally murdered as part of a sociological experiment - an experiment which appears to have the blessing of Capitol Hill.
"A powerfully constructed thriller which combines "The Silence of the Lambs" with the Watergate scandal."
Daina Graziunas has worked as one of the most successful commercial illustrators in the book publishing industry. She has amassed what is considered to be the world's most comprehensive collection of crime-related artefacts. With Jim Starlin, she has co-written two previous novels, Among Maidens and Lady El.
Jim Starlin has been both writer adn artist for the world's popular comic heroes including Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Captain Marvel.
Gwen Hunter --- Ashes to Ashes Hodder & Stoughton (0 340 63788 4) £16.99 --- Out on 18th April. See Review
In her third novel Ashes to Ashes, Gwen Hunter conjures up a pacy, evocative picture of the American South, set in South Carolina, seamlessly woven into a gut-grabbing tale of mystery and deception as seemingly fragile Southern belle Ashlee discovers hidden strengths and depths when violence invades her life and she is forced to fight for her home and her child.
When successful businessman Jack Davenport dies suddenly of a heart attack his wife, Ashlee, is bereft, but Jack's death is not the only loss Ash will have to bear. Soon all her illusions are stripped away - Ash discovers that her husband has an affair with her best friend, and then come the anonymous, disturbing telephone calls hinting at shady business deals. Adulterer, crook: has Ash's life with her husband all been based on a lie? When her daughter and her farm are threatened Ash must draw on her ever growing anger to find the strength to fight the unknown enemy....
Gwen Hunter's debut novel Stolen Children became an instant best-seller when it was chosen as one of the titles in the prestigious WH Smith Fresh Talent promotion of 1995, swiftly followed by False Truths, a continuation of the evil, amoral DeLande family set in the steamy heat of the snake-ridden swamps and alligator-haunted bayous of back-country Louisiana.
"Stolen Children grabs you by the throat with its first sentence and finally releases you drained and shaking on page 390. Hunter's writing has that compulsive quality that spells bestsellerdom." The Times
Mark Jones --- Black Lightning Gollancz Vista Paperback £4.99 --- Out on 25th April.
A post-Cold War political thriller set in the new Russia where the threat to the West is greater than it ever was before.
"Russia can emerge - strange as it may seem - as the true victor of the twentieth century. If ever they do use Molniya we will have to hope that they allow the White House to keep one functioning telephone so that we can at least listen to their surrender terms." Extract from US Summary of Intelligence Reports.
Now the Cold War is over, political and social instability and the rise of ultra-right-wing nationalism have made the new Russia a volatile and threatening country. Molniya, or Lightening, a weapon on the Arctic seabed with the ability to paralyse the world's electronics, is in the hands of the nationalists. Action of the most direct and violent sort on the part of the West is called for.
American agent Renard must penetrate the upper echelons of Russia's political/military machine before the West is plunged into perpetual darkness. And time is running out...
Mark Jones, although British born, lived and worked in Moscow for many years and has travelled all over the Russian continent. He has had first-hand experience of the corruption that is at present endemic in Russian society. He is acquainted with the nationalist politician Zhirinovsky. He lives in Shropshire with his Russian wife Natalya.
Zhirinovsky, on being shown an early copy of this book, had this so say:
"We have seen a number of trashy books by so-called experts on the subject of the changes going on in Rusia, and this is one of the worst. The author, Mark Jones, is known to me. His book is full of scandal and lie, the author's views about Great Russia hidden coward-fashion behind the pretence of writing a novel."
Joe R.Lansdale--- The Two-Bear Mambo --- Gollancz Paperback Original (0 575 06220 7) £8.99 Out on 25th April. See Review and Mucho Mojo --- Gollancz Indigo Paperback (0 575 06220 7) £5.99Also out on 25th April. See Review
"Just as funny and violent and gripping as Mucho Mojo" Publishers Weekly
The world's most dangerous odd couple are back! White and black, straight and gay, Hap Collins and Leonard Pine find themselves in deadly circumstances that might add up to Hap's last chance for romance and Leonard's last chance to raise some righteous hell...
Florida Grange, Leonard's gorgeous lawyer and Hap's former lover, has vanished in Klan-infested Grovetown while in pursuit of the real story behind the jailhouse death of a legendary bluesman's bodyguard son. Has she been murdered too?
Redneck psychopaths, voodoo exhumations, biblical thunderstorms, flat-out murder - nothing will deflect Hap and Leonard from their search for the truth. Besides, they've packed a lunch...
The Two-Bear Mambo is a two-stepping bacchanal of savage humour and tension so sharp you could shave with it.
Joe R.Lansdale, author of over two hundred short stories and over a dozen novels, has won the British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award and four Bram Stoker Awards. He lives in East Texas with his wife, son, daughter and German shepherd.
Praise for Mucho Mojo
"A narrative pace that is as blistering as the Texas sun. Savagely compelling" Arena
"....outrageously hilarious. To judge it merely as mystery is to miss much of its charm" Financial Times
"Funny, compulsive thriller.... One of the more enjoyably raffish whodunits of the year" Esquire
Film rights sold to Propaganda Films - to be directed by David Lynch
Watch out for Savage Season and Cold in July in the Hap and Leonard series, published in Indigo in October.
Peter Lovesy --- Bloodhounds --- Little & Brown (0 316 87838 3) £15.99
See Review 
Peter Diamond is back in harness in the Bath CID but doesn't believe his particular expertise is needed to solve the theft of a rare stamp from the local museum.
However, when the stamp and a dead body turn up within hours of each other he decides only his deductive powers can sort the whole thing out. Diamond is delighted when he rapidly solves how the man was killed in a 'locked' room, but whodunnit isn't such a simple matter. He travels many a cul-de-sac, often stumbling across unsuspected secrets and motives, before he takes a multi-murderer off the streets of Bath.
Peter Lovsey's series of Victorian whodunnits put him in the top rank of mystery writing in the 1970's. Since then, he has been awarded both Gold and Silver CWA daggers, and has turned his exceptional skills to the eccentricities of contemporary investigation. Peter Lovesey was the winner of this year's Silver dagger for his novel The Summons
Jim Lusby --- Flashback --- Gollancz (0 575 06041 7) £15.99 See Review
Jim Lusby ---Making The Cut --- Gollancz Vista Paperback £5.99 Out on 25th April. See Review
Someone is killing women in Waterford...
The garden was immaculately landscaped, the front door and window frames freshly varnished. Inside, the black and white tiles and the mahogany panelling lent a sombre air to the hall, which contrasted somewhat with the kitsch green and orange floral wallpaper upstairs. And behind one of the orange-gloss bedroom doors, the bludgeoned and flayed naked body of a woman lay tangled in blood-soaked sheets.
The Belview Guesthouse, overlooking the city of Waterford, is popular in theatrical circles. And it is into the world of local Players and 'home-movie' makers that Inspector Carl McCadden must search for leads.
But before McCadden can dig out his copy of Hamlet another body is found in similar circumstances...
Making The Cut, Jim Lusby's first McCadden mystery, is soon to be a major RTE/Network TV presentation. Flashback is the second in the series.
Jim Lusby is Waterford-born and now lives in Dublin. A former Hennessy Award-winner for his short stories, he has also written for the stage and radio.
"A distinctive and original debut. Making The Cut has more feeling for atmosphere and more sense of character than most crime stories" Evening Standard
"...a welcome arrival on the scene... an entertaining range of strong and credible characters, neatly plotted, it shows an Ireland that tourists never see" Manchester Evening News