Sidney Williams's Blog - Posts Tagged "mystery"
Poe Returns
News that an ABC series with Edgar Allan Poe as its detective lead is intriguing and exciting, especially with dark mystery investigations on the agenda.
I'm sure the style, while the setting is historic, could resemble The X-Files and The Night Stalker revival with a little C. August Dupin-style ratiocination thrown in, but it's a little off-beat and innovative, and pays homage the father of many of the things I enjoy. I'll certainly sample it.
While it's to be written by Chistopher Hollier who's worked on Alias, the concept reminds me of a novel I enjoyed as a kid, a time when the idea of Poe and Poe's work were particularly thrilling.
I have mentioned it briefly here before though only in passing.
It's called Poe Must Die by the versatile Marc Olden who wrote thrillers of many stripes including a paperback series in the seventies, police procedurals and some wonderful Asian-themed thrillers including Dai-
Read the full post
I'm sure the style, while the setting is historic, could resemble The X-Files and The Night Stalker revival with a little C. August Dupin-style ratiocination thrown in, but it's a little off-beat and innovative, and pays homage the father of many of the things I enjoy. I'll certainly sample it.
While it's to be written by Chistopher Hollier who's worked on Alias, the concept reminds me of a novel I enjoyed as a kid, a time when the idea of Poe and Poe's work were particularly thrilling.
I have mentioned it briefly here before though only in passing.
It's called Poe Must Die by the versatile Marc Olden who wrote thrillers of many stripes including a paperback series in the seventies, police procedurals and some wonderful Asian-themed thrillers including Dai-
Read the full post
The Girl in The Trunk - Pulp Covers and How Bish's Beat can be dangerous
I now own a copy of the book to the left, The Girl in the Trunk, an early seventies pulp-noir mystery from Ace by Bruce Cassiday. It's the tale of a Honolulu cop who has to investigate, well, I think you get the idea from the cover.
I was browsing the fabulous Bish's Beat blog one day and caught sight of it in his vintage covers gallery.
Read full post here.
Val McDermid BBC World Book Club
I can't always report top news here, but I have a bit of information that may be of interest to those in the UK. On May 4, thriller writer Val McDermid will be visiting BBC World Services World Book Club, a radio show and podcast.
The program, recorded at Bush House, home of the BBC, spotlights an author discussing, reading from and answering questions about a single book. Past guests have included James Ellroy, Carlos Ruiz Zafron, Uberto Eco and many others. I subscribed a while back and have enjoyed the installments I've listened to. They're great discussions for writers to hear. More
The program, recorded at Bush House, home of the BBC, spotlights an author discussing, reading from and answering questions about a single book. Past guests have included James Ellroy, Carlos Ruiz Zafron, Uberto Eco and many others. I subscribed a while back and have enjoyed the installments I've listened to. They're great discussions for writers to hear. More
Big Thrill Interview
Author Gary Kriss did a nice interview with me about my first thriller Midnight Eyes.
It was for The Big Thrill Website and newsletter for The International Thriller Writers.
Check it out and pass it on if you get a chance. Interview
It was for The Big Thrill Website and newsletter for The International Thriller Writers.
Check it out and pass it on if you get a chance. Interview
Signing Az
As mentioned in my previous post, Azarius, my first novel, is rolling out in a new e-book edition from Crossroad Press. As one buddy once put it, it's the tale of an arch-demon menacing a small Southern town. I like the way that sums it up.
More
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What's on the iPod - Miami Purity - Feminine Noir
I'm not sure how I missed Vicki Hendricks' dark, noirish Miami Purity (1995), often dubbed a feminine The Postman Always Rings twice, but I was happy to discover the audiobook recently. That's due to a mention in a Salon article about what to read after Gillian Flynn's brilliant Gone Girl.
Miami is brilliant also, a steamy--in more ways than one--and grim crime excursion told by the protagonist, Sherri Parlay. She's a former stripper who's maintained a vestige of innocence in spite of her rough thirty-six years and a deceased husband. He's deceased because she clipped him with a boom box while he was being abusive.
After her husband's death and some suspicion about it by the cops, Sherri lands a job in a Miami cleaner called Miami Purity. She's hired by the owner, Brenda Mahoney. More
Miami is brilliant also, a steamy--in more ways than one--and grim crime excursion told by the protagonist, Sherri Parlay. She's a former stripper who's maintained a vestige of innocence in spite of her rough thirty-six years and a deceased husband. He's deceased because she clipped him with a boom box while he was being abusive.
After her husband's death and some suspicion about it by the cops, Sherri lands a job in a Miami cleaner called Miami Purity. She's hired by the owner, Brenda Mahoney. More
Paper and Delux Editions of Dark Hours now available
My book
Dark Hours,
a short thriller, is now available in trade paper and also a deluxe hardcover edition from Crossroad Press.
O'Neil DeNoux, author of the LaStanza detective series, had this to say about it: "...a tight, well-written book, I highly recommend.”
It should be available wherever you order books.
O'Neil DeNoux, author of the LaStanza detective series, had this to say about it: "...a tight, well-written book, I highly recommend.”
It should be available wherever you order books.
All new thriller Fool's Run up for pre-order
My new novel will be released November 24, 2020.
Pre-Order link is here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
Happily we got a good review in Publisher's Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-...
Synopsis:
Si Reardon knows nobody wants to hire an ex-cop fresh out of prison unless it’s for a job nobody wants.
His only offer’s from Rose Cantor, an elegant and beautiful “special counsel” who just wants him to take a meeting.
Her clients Grace and Adam Holst are asking for extreme justice. A very bad man named Valentine Alexeeva, a criminal on the rise, once ordered the deaths of their young daughters over a business deal gone wrong. Alexeeva covered his tracks well. Now he’s still deadly but cultivating a classy façade and making friends in high places.
Si would like to say no, but he has a daughter of his own who’s in danger, and he needs money fast.
Dealing with Alexeeva means jeopardizing everything and drawing on contacts Si met in lockup plus The McCluskeys, a pair of weird, bayou-dwelling brothers with a few nefarious enterprises of their own.
And Si knows no job is ever as simple as it looks. He soon finds himself embroiled in a game with Alexeeva and his brutal minions, a game that could earn Si a bit of redemption or cost him his freedom or his life.
Pre-Order link is here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...
Happily we got a good review in Publisher's Weekly https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-...
Synopsis:
Si Reardon knows nobody wants to hire an ex-cop fresh out of prison unless it’s for a job nobody wants.
His only offer’s from Rose Cantor, an elegant and beautiful “special counsel” who just wants him to take a meeting.
Her clients Grace and Adam Holst are asking for extreme justice. A very bad man named Valentine Alexeeva, a criminal on the rise, once ordered the deaths of their young daughters over a business deal gone wrong. Alexeeva covered his tracks well. Now he’s still deadly but cultivating a classy façade and making friends in high places.
Si would like to say no, but he has a daughter of his own who’s in danger, and he needs money fast.
Dealing with Alexeeva means jeopardizing everything and drawing on contacts Si met in lockup plus The McCluskeys, a pair of weird, bayou-dwelling brothers with a few nefarious enterprises of their own.
And Si knows no job is ever as simple as it looks. He soon finds himself embroiled in a game with Alexeeva and his brutal minions, a game that could earn Si a bit of redemption or cost him his freedom or his life.
The Fun Part
I'm in the fun moments in the lead-up to the release of my new novel, Fool's Run.
Fool's Run: A Si Reardon Novel
If the writing is the hard part, finalizing details before the book drops marks the exciting and exhilarating part.
Details include working with the audiobook narrator.
In this case, Josh Brogadir will be reading Fool's Run for the Audible release. If all goes well, it'll release with the print and ebook editions on Nov. 24.
He's an exciting choice for me because he has narrated other books for Crossroad Press including some by the late Charles L. Grant, whose work I admire.
When Crossroad Publisher David Niall Wilson connected us to communicate about the book, I boldly suggested Josh could just contact me about any French or Louisiana words in the Bayou State-set tale.
I grew up in Louisiana and lived there many years in adult life. I've also heard audiobooks where words like Lafayette or Pontchartrain don't get the local flourishes, even from readers from other southern states.
Piece of cake to help, I thought.
Josh sent a list of words the other night, many of them proper names which were easy to dash off phonetically.
But a couple of words cropped up that I realized I'd read but never heard, even being from Louisiana.
It's not a huge state, but the way things like the Calliope street name are said in New Orleans aren't traditional. It's Cali-ope and not the classical.
In central Louisiana there's an area called Rigolette that's pronounced ro-gulley. I'd sometimes say it wrong if I'd recently viewed it in print.
So, I have emails out to Louisiana friends at the moment in search of clarification.
Hopefully we'll get the last details nailed down shortly.
Fool's Run: A Si Reardon Novel
If the writing is the hard part, finalizing details before the book drops marks the exciting and exhilarating part.
Details include working with the audiobook narrator.
In this case, Josh Brogadir will be reading Fool's Run for the Audible release. If all goes well, it'll release with the print and ebook editions on Nov. 24.
He's an exciting choice for me because he has narrated other books for Crossroad Press including some by the late Charles L. Grant, whose work I admire.
When Crossroad Publisher David Niall Wilson connected us to communicate about the book, I boldly suggested Josh could just contact me about any French or Louisiana words in the Bayou State-set tale.
I grew up in Louisiana and lived there many years in adult life. I've also heard audiobooks where words like Lafayette or Pontchartrain don't get the local flourishes, even from readers from other southern states.
Piece of cake to help, I thought.
Josh sent a list of words the other night, many of them proper names which were easy to dash off phonetically.
But a couple of words cropped up that I realized I'd read but never heard, even being from Louisiana.
It's not a huge state, but the way things like the Calliope street name are said in New Orleans aren't traditional. It's Cali-ope and not the classical.
In central Louisiana there's an area called Rigolette that's pronounced ro-gulley. I'd sometimes say it wrong if I'd recently viewed it in print.
So, I have emails out to Louisiana friends at the moment in search of clarification.
Hopefully we'll get the last details nailed down shortly.
The Trade Paper Cover for Fool's Run
I don't think I've shared the trade paper cover art here for my upcoming book Fool's Run, which is planned as the first adventure for Si Reardon. A cop who is just out of prison and faced with a job nobody wants.
It'll drop in ebook and trade paper formats Nov. 24, 2020.
“This thriller-cum-caper will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
Here's a look at the nigh final version with a sense of the wrap-around effect.
There's one repeated line of copy that will get tweaked, but by and large, this is the look.
It's now up for pre-order on Amazon and other sites.
It'll drop in ebook and trade paper formats Nov. 24, 2020.
“This thriller-cum-caper will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
Here's a look at the nigh final version with a sense of the wrap-around effect.
There's one repeated line of copy that will get tweaked, but by and large, this is the look.
It's now up for pre-order on Amazon and other sites.
