Sunday Smatterings with Added Thrills

Last night at the rather opulent setting of Cipriani near Grand Central Station - and still bearing the remnants of the bank the place used to be - the Thriller Awards were given out by ITW to Jeffery Deaver for Best Thriller, Tom Rob Smith for Best First Novel and Alexandra Sokoloff for Best Short Story.

Oline Cogdill very much enjoys Linda Castillo's move away from romantic suspense to outright thriller with SWORN TO SILENCE.

Margaret Cannon reviews the latest in crime by Karin Slaughter, Stephen L. Carter, Kwei Quartey, Thomas H. Cook and Simon Beckett, along with DELHI NOIR.

At the Guardian, Laura Wilson has her say on crime fiction by Craig Russell, James McCreet, Johan Theorin and Nury Vittachi.

The Times of London's Peter Millar is less than thrilled with Matthew Glass's ULTIMATUM but enthuses more about Dan Fesperman's THE ARMS MAKER OF BERLIN.

Adam Woog's Scene of the Crime at the Seattle Times looks at new mystery and thriller releases by Steve Martini, J.A. Jance, David Liss, George Dawes Green, Fred Vargas, Mike Lawson and Donald Westlake.

Robin Vidimos at the Denver Post calls Stephen L. Carter's JERICHO'S FALL "an intricate roller coaster of a summer read."

The Chicago Sun-Times' Jeffrey Westhoff has his say on Gregg Hurwitz's TRUST NO ONE and Denise O'Neal looks at THE MEMORY COLLECTOR by Meg Gardiner.

Rege Behe at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has a great piece on the legacy of Donald Westlake, getting quotes from the likes of George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman, Hallie Ephron, Otto Penzler and Mary Alice Gorman.

Thriller award winner Jeffery Deaver describes his perfect weekend to the Nottingham Evening Post.

Karin Fossum chats about her terrific new Inspector Sejer novel THE WATER'S EDGE with the Independent on Sunday.

John Connolly talks with the Liverpool Daily Post about his newest Charlie Parker novel, THE LOVERS.

Morley Swingle has his say on Laura James' fine true crime debut THE LOVE PIRATE AND THE BANDIT'S SON in the St. Louis Dispatch.

Dan Brown's THE LOST SYMBOL has UK publishers scrambling to move up publication dates of scores of books in order to give them a slightly more probable chance of hitting bestseller lists. American publishers have been doing this for a while now, too.

Oh man, if you're in Chicago Monday night, catch Bobby Bare, Bobby Bare Jr. and a whole host of country music luminaries at Millenium Park to pay tribute to the life and works of Shel Silverstein. 

Percival Everett talks with the LA Times and the Bat Segundo Show about his new novel I AM NOT SIDNEY POITIER.

Carole Goldberg at the Hartford Courant has all good things to say about BEST FRIENDS FOREVER by Jennifer Weiner.

What is it about certain writers like David Foster Wallace and Thomas Pynchon that inspire loyal, longtime internet cults?

Roxana Robinson writes in a most unusual location in her Upper East Side apartment.

Charles McGrath marvels that Kenneth Grahame's classic novel for children THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS is getting a new lease on life.

Compare and contrast Rich Cohen's review and Howard Blum's review of Richard Rayner's A BRIGHT AND GUILTY PLACE. One guy gets the panoramic approach; the other, not so much.

And finally, I love, love, love Miracle Jones' vision of the bookcases of tomorrow.

Comments

[Dana King]

Thank you for the link to the Westlake tribute. It's a shame he never got wider recognition, he does things many more famous writers do, but better, and, often, first.

Not to diminish the excellence of the Dortmunder and Parker books, but there's a forgotten gem of his out there title LEVINE. It's a collection of five or six stories from various sources, all about a New York cop with a heart condition. Small, bittersweet, slices of fifties era New York cop life, very much stories about a cop more than crime stories.

[David J. Montgomery]

I don't agree that Westlake didn't get wide recognition. He was one of the most acclaimed, respected and written about mystery writers around. He was also a three-time Edgar winner -- and an Oscar nominee to boot.