Crime Reads - Suspense, Thrillers, Crime, Gun!
CrimeReads is a culture website for people who believe suspense is the essence of storytelling, questions are as important as answers, and nothing beats the thrill of a good book. It's a single, trusted source where readers can find the best from the world of crime, mystery, and thrillers. No joke,
377 topics in this forum
-
- 0 replies
- 1 view
For those of us obsessed with them, stories about skyjackings offer retro fascination, criminal ingenuity and daring, and, in some cases, wackiness. Skyjackings have been around as long as aviation itself, and continue to this day. But they are most associated with their peak in the 60s-70s, when air travel evoked a sense of glamour (well-coiffed stewardess and Dungeness crab served on china). In this so-called “Golden Age” of skyjackings, global political turmoil produced many cults, revolutionary groups, and malcontents. These are colorful characters, who saw skyjackings as financial or political opportunities. While it was shockingly easy to hijack a plane back then, t…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 1 view
Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks. * Stacey Abrams, While Justice Sleeps (Doubleday) “While Justice Sleeps is a mesmerizing legal thriller that does the rare thing: It uses the novel to get at the truth. Stacey Abrams is a powerful new voice in fiction.” –Michael Connelly Lara Bazelon, A Good Mother (Hanover Square) “A Good Mother is a high-stakes legal thriller packed with intense courtroom drama, but it’s also a story about the complicated sacrifices and compromises that mothers face. In this impressive debut, Lara Bazelon’s talent for both storytelling and the law are on sharp display.” –Alafair Burke LR Dorn…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 1 view
Ah, the thrilling wives. Sometimes they’re the first, sometimes next, and sometimes they’re last. Often, they know too much. They are charming, hunting, haunted and lovely. Sometimes, they’re found in the twilight, or upstairs. These are the wives of domestic suspense, and no matter who their spouses are, these captivating women are the stars of the show. If you’re looking for your next thrilling read, look no further than The Real Wives of Domestic Suspense. Consider these popular episodes: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing Samantha Downing knocked it out of the park with this particular housewife. Millicent and her husband are living the suburban dream. She’s a rea…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 0 views
Some years ago I was invited to a fancy literary dinner where I was seated between Erica Jong and a senior editor of a mega publishing company. Having just exhausted with Erica the infamous topic of the “zipless f—k,” I turned to the editor and asked, “What do you look for in a manuscript that crosses your desk?” Frankly, I thought he’d give me a yawn and turn back to whomever he had been talking to. But he replied seriously, “I want to be intrigued by the first sentence and gripped by the time I reach the third paragraph. Thereafter, I want it to sing.” No doubt I’d overly participated in the several rounds of Beaujolais to which the table had been treated. For I said,…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 9 views
The first time Stephen Mack Jones and I corresponded, it was because of the Newport and Gwent Literary Club, which describes itself as “probably the oldest literary club in Wales.” I’d seen Steve post something on Twitter about the N&GLC and reached out to him. True to form, Steve responded almost immediately, recalling how these “baronesses and knighted U.K. military” had welcomed him into their club soon after his debut novel was released. Looking back on that exchange, I guess I thought it was strange that this sexagenarian crime novelist from Detroit was somehow involved with a literary club across the pond. Now that I’ve had the chance to get to know Steve a li…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 10 views
I’m standing on a concrete slab in the middle of a deserted park. This is no ordinary slab, though. It’s about fifty feet long, twenty feet wide, and twenty feet high. It’s also covered in moss. Fifty years ago, dirt was piled around the whole thing to try and make it look like a hill, yet even now this mound sports only a few leafless trees despite the lush forest all around. There is a lone wooden picnic table in the exact center, black with mold. If I allow history—and a little imagination—to paint the rest of the picture, then it’s safe to assume that directly below my feet there used to be live missiles aimed at Russia. That’s right. A missile base once occupied t…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 8 views
Mongolia—six times the landmass of the UK, but with just over three million people. Sparsely populated and often with an unforgiving climate—blazing hot summers and severe winters, known as Zuds, that commonly kill livestock and ruin herder families. The country’s capital Ulan Baatar (UB) is home to 1.3 million Mongolians, almost half the entire national population. It’s a city that seen big changes since the country crash-dived into capitalism and democracy following the collapse of its sponsor state, the USSR. Now Mongolia, large in land but small in population, lies ‘between the bear and the dragon with the eagle overhead’—sandwiched between the competing attentions of…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 9 views
“The riot had taken on a beauty of its own now. Arcs of gasoline fire under the crescent moon. Crimson tracer in mystical parabolas. Phosphorescence from the barrels of plastic bullet guns. A distant yelling like that of men below decks in a torpedoed prison ship. The scarlet whoosh of Molotovs intersecting with exacting surfaces. Helicopters everywhere: their spotlights finding one another like lovers in the Afterlife. And all this through a lens of oleaginous Belfast rain.” Adrian McKinty, The Cold Cold Ground I was reminded of Sean Duffy’s poetic take on the beauty of a Belfast riot recently while the rubble of the previous night’s endeavors smoldered on the stree…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 9 views
The Place de la Cathédrale was packed with tourists. They stood shoulder to shoulder, studying the gargoyles as their guides droned on about history, the quality of the stones, and the mastery of the craftsmen. Helena skirted the periphery, stepping around tables and chairs, children with ice cream cones, waiters with trays, and a range of well-behaved dogs. She continued to the south side of the cathedral, past the lineup for the public toilets, past the cathedral’s museum where there was no lineup, and down Rue de Rohan to the quay where the tour boats waited. She bought her ticket for the Batorama boat scheduled to depart at noon. Passengers were already waiting, four…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 16 views
Don’t you just want to hate a successful novelist who never took a creative writing class? None. Not one. Not even an English course in college? Well, there was that one class in Shakespeare, if that counts. Yet the world loves Harlan Coben, with more than 30 novels published along with television, movies and multimedia deals under his belt. And for all those writers who have struggled to find an agent or publisher, there’s yet another reason to hate him. Coben never set out to become a novelist. He was a poli sci major who played basketball at Amherst, a liberal arts college in its truest sense where students pick their curriculum and where prerequisites are an after…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
“Girl Drowned; Escort Missing.” This headline, on the front page of The Syracuse Herald’s July 13, 1906 edition, launched a crime story that still reverberates in popular American culture. The body of Grace Brown, a twenty-year-old factory worker from upstate New York, was recovered from the waters of Big Moose Lake, a fashionable boating spot in the Adirondacks. The cause of death was drowning, but cuts and bruises were found oIn 1908n her face and head, indicating she’d been beaten before falling into the lake. During the post-mortem examination, the county coroner discovered something else: Grace Brown was four months pregnant. So began a murder case that would come …
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 10 views
Ted Bundy. Jeffrey Dahmer. Richard “The Night Stalker” Ramirez. These men, all united by their horrific acts, are household names in America. But how many of us have heard of Yang Xinhai, “the Monster Killer,” whose body count was double that of Bundy’s? Or Huang Yong, who murdered as many as 25 teenage boys because he had fantasies of being an assassin? What about Wang Qiang, who murdered 45 people and raped many of his female victims post-mortem? My guess is, not many. This is partly because they committed their crimes far away, in the People’s Republic of China. And partly because the Chinese government would prefer us not to know about them. But to begin closer to …
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
There is a particular joy to imagining a story set in the world of your childhood. For me, childhood means the ‘70s and ‘80s. And sure, the world and all the details in it are imaginary, but that doesn’t dampen the joy of building a scene rich with Rubix cubes, Cabbage Patch Dolls, He-Man action figures, and Care Bears. A Wonder Woman doll that looks absolutely nothing like Lynda Carter and a Snoopy Sno-Cone machine that would require a bodybuilder to actually turn the crank. As I’m writing, I can still hear the squawk of a shaky pair of tweezers in Operation. My memories of those decades are all tied up in toys. I am only slightly ashamed to admit that I had a three-sto…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 14 views
Qiao Hongmei stood before the mirror, posing the way he’d described her, with her weight on one leg. She tried desperately to remember who’d been in the restaurant the night before, but not a single face remained in her mind. Yet he existed. A stranger’s existence, gradually taking on form and substance, a hint of bodily warmth, in their sixteenth-floor apartment with her unwitting husband in the next room. Hongmei walked out of her study and into the kitchen, clutching her empty mug. She looked up suddenly to see Glen in a tracksuit. He was going for a jog, he said, and they could have breakfast together when he got back. “All right,” she said. “Enjoy your run.” His d…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 16 views
It’s that time of year again! The nominees for the Anthony Awards have been announced. The winners will be declared at Bouchercon, scheduled to take place in New Orleans from Tuesday, August 24th to Saturday August 28th. This year’s gathering will be themed “Blood on the Bayou,” and it will be a celebration you don’t want to miss. Congratulations to the nominees! ___________________________________ BEST HARDCOVER NOVEL ___________________________________ What You Don’t See, by Tracy Clark (Kensington) Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books) Little Secrets, by Jennifer Hillier (Minotaur Books) And Now She’s Gone, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Forge Books) The …
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 15 views
Irish women have been known as many things around the world; feisty, tough, kind to name just a few of their well-known traits. All “Irish Mammies” at heart—“Cup of tea? You will, you will, you will …” But let’s not forget that Ireland has been making a name for itself in recent years as the home of world-class thriller writers. So knowing Irish women as you do, it should come as no surprise that they’re blazing a trail, with murder on their minds. On the off-chance that you haven’t been paying attention, let me introduce you to just a few of them. Liz Nugent, Little Cruelties “All three Drumm brothers were at the funeral, although one of us was in the coffin.” If t…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 18 views
I started trying to write professionally—seriously, methodically, a copy of Writer’s Market in one hand and a stack of self-addressed stamped envelopes in the other—at age twelve. (You can imagine how well that ended for me.) Behind me was a decade of bookworminess, yes, but also a deep and abiding love of movies and video games, the faster-paced and more action-packed the better. It’s here I developed a lifelong admiration of a writing choice you see often in visual media but very seldom in books: pitching the viewer (and, occasionally, the reader) directly into the deep end from the first moments of the first scene and paying out just enough line for them to grab onto. …
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 12 views
Each month the CrimeReads editors make their selections for the best upcoming fiction in crime, mystery, and thrillers. * Stephen Mack Jones, Dead of Winter (Soho) Stephen Mack Jones’s August Snow series has been a true revelation for detective fiction, and in this, the third installment, the world just keeps getting richer and more nuanced and the writing more incisive. Here, Snow is approached by the head of a local institution, Authentico Foods, who is being strong-armed by an anonymous antagonist. Snow decides to help, and the investigation soon takes in a shadowy real estate operation and the attempted gentrification of Detroit’s Mexicantown. This is a crime n…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 12 views
The Emmanuel Baptist Church of Capp Street was cursed from the start. In 1878, the church moved from a rented hall on 22nd and Folsom to more permanent digs at 22nd and Capp. A short time later, the church’s first pastor, Reverend Charles Hughes, slashed his own throat with a straight razor. His replacement chose a more common method of suicide and shot himself in the head. Two ministers. Two suicides. You’d think that Mission residents would’ve burned the place to the ground after that and called it a day, but the church kept going. The third pastor, Isaac Milton “I.M.” Kalloch, was young and politically connected. His father, Isaac Smith “I.S.” Kalloch, a minister hims…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 13 views
New Haven, CT As an adult, Miles had always lived alone. Not only had he never married, he’d never had a live-in girlfriend. Sure, plenty of women had slept over through the years, but rarely more than two nights in a row. Miles didn’t encourage that kind of thing. Never give a woman the chance to get comfortable under this roof. He valued his privacy. He liked things just so. Living a solitary existence, at least on the home front, was not a problem. But since the diagnosis, something in him had changed. Not physically, but emotionally. He was lonely. Miles found himself having conversations, out loud, with him- self, if only to hear someone’s voice. Not when the ho…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 13 views
As she was approaching Skálar, fog rolled in without warning, blotting out the landscape and merging sea with sky. It felt like driving into an Impressionist painting, in which her destination kept receding as fast as she approached it; like entering a void in which time had ceased to have any meaning. Maybe, in a sense, this was true: maybe time was less important there; it mattered less what day it was, what hour it was, out here where people lived at one with nature. When she finally reached it, the tiny hamlet of Skálar was wreathed in dense cloud. And now the feeling was more like being in a folk tale, an ominous, supernatural tale, set in a vague, shifting world. Th…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
Aidan Truhen is the author of Seven Demons, the sequel to The Price You Pay. Here, he talks to Nick Harkaway (Gnomon, The Gone-Away World) about writing, identity and the world. Nick Harkaway: You described the first Jack Price book as “morally disimproving”. Do you feel a moral duty as a writer? Aidan Truhen: Bam. No small talk. Just like that. NH: I don’t picture you as someone who likes small talk. AT: That’s fair. NH: So… morally disimproving. AT: Yeah, if we say that books in general matter—which we do—and we say that they uplift and they create empathy and they teach… if books can affect the self, then it follows that some books could also be bad for you. Th…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 10 views
A man walks unsteadily into an impressive art deco building. There are police officers inside, milling about. He asks a question we don’t hear as an anxious score fills our ears. He turns left down a long hallway. Now, he’s outside the Homicide Division—room 44—and enters. There are a half-dozen men sitting around, doing nothing much. Not many homicides in this town, I guess. He asks for the man in charge. He’s shown into an interior office and says he wants to report a murder. He’s invited to sit down and is asked where it occurred. “San Francisco, last night.” “Who was murdered?” “I was.” The Captain looks less shocked than you’d think given the declaration the …
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
- 0 replies
- 18 views
Warning: potential triggers ahead. How about that? A warning at the beginning of this piece; I’ve never done that before. I’ve killed off a decent amount of folks in my thrillers—hell, even crucified a few of them—yet none of my books contains a trigger warning. I added one here because I saw a review on Goodreads for my new book, The Dead Husband, that stated, “There are a couple instances of animal torture/death, which deducted half a star from my final rating.” (To be fair, there was only one instance (that I remember) and the death was quick and off-camera. I say give me my half-star back!) The reviewer went on to mostly praise the book but warn of potential triggers…
Last reply by MichaelNeff, -
Linwood Barclay is the author of eighteen novels, and two thrillers for children. A New York Times bestselling author, his books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. His latest novel, Find You First, about the mysterious deaths of a tech millionaire’s would-be heirs, is now available. ___________________________________ Otto Penzler This is your twentieth adult novel. (With a pair of Young Adult ones to your credit, as well.) However, your first fiction—the four books featuring amateur sleuth Zack Walker, starting in 2004—were quickly overshadowed in 2007 by the immense success of the thriller No Time for Goodbye. It seems you haven’t looked back …
Last reply by MichaelNeff,
Stephen King's War on Plot
An Algonkian Success Story
-
AAC Content Stream
-
This post cannot be displayed because it is in a password protected forum. Enter Password
-
This post cannot be displayed because it is in a password protected forum. Enter Password
-
7
New York Pre-Event Assignments - June 2021
FIRST ASSIGNMENT: Story Statement. In the late iron-age, Norse settler Erik Fenris and his son Einar must overcome trials of love, loss, war and their Viking destiny, to locate and reunite three hidden shards of an ancient, magical talisman, to break the curse of a power-hungry witch, and free their enslaved kinsmen from her burgeoning wolf-skin warrior army. SECOND ASSIGNMENT: in 200 words or less, sketch the antagonist or antagonistic force in your story. Skara, the Volva (witch): Skara is the physical counterpart, “dark sister” to the elemental, spiritual manifes -
0
Contemporary Romance Series Starters!
I’m gathering up the Books on Sale this week, so if you’ve spotted some good discounts, let us know in the comments! The Best Man Plan The Best Man Plan by Jaci Burton is $1.99! This is book one of the Boots & Bouquets series, and is a one night stand/friends to lovers contemporary romance (sniff, sniff…is that catnip?). Book two, The Engagement Arrangement, comes out on June 29, so if you like this one, the next one wi -
0
TEN LOW by Stark Holborn
The eponymous protagonist of Stark Holborn’s far future set sci-fi novel is an ex-convict with a past she is trying to make amends for, but chance has dealt her a harsh hand and continues to torment her with half glimpsed possibilities along a path to redemption. The world, or rather universe, of Holborn’s imagination sprawls across several systems, planets and moons, with a civilisation recovering from a civil war with the rebel “Free Limits” brutally supressed by the governing “Accord.” However, the novel’s action focuses on the desolate moon Factus. For all the emphatic nature of their vict -
0
Incorporating Social Issues Into Your Manuscript
“One writes out of one thing only—one’s own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.” James Baldwin – Notes of a Native Son Over the ages, any revolutionary movement has an element of art tied to it, whether it be paintings, sculptures, writings or music. These mediums are weapons in the fight that shed no blood and take no prisoners, yet they inspire, enrage, motivate, and encourage. A -
0
A Field Guide to the Long History of Skyjackings
For those of us obsessed with them, stories about skyjackings offer retro fascination, criminal ingenuity and daring, and, in some cases, wackiness. Skyjackings have been around as long as aviation itself, and continue to this day. But they are most associated with their peak in the 60s-70s, when air travel evoked a sense of glamour (well-coiffed stewardess and Dungeness crab served on china). In this so-called “Golden Age” of skyjackings, global political turmoil produced many cults, revolutionary groups, and malcontents. These are colorful characters, who saw skyjackings as financial or poli -
0
New Books Coming Out This Week
Another week, another batch of books for your TBR pile. Happy reading, folks. * Stacey Abrams, While Justice Sleeps (Doubleday) “While Justice Sleeps is a mesmerizing legal thriller that does the rare thing: It uses the novel to get at the truth. Stacey Abrams is a powerful new voice in fiction.” –Michael Connelly Lara Bazelon, A Good Mother (Hanover Square) “A Good Mother is a high-stakes legal thriller packed with intense courtroom drama, but it’s also a story about the complicated sacrifices and compromises that mothers face. In this impressive debut, Lara Bazelon’s talent for -
0
In Psychological Thrillers, It’s All About the ‘Wife’
Ah, the thrilling wives. Sometimes they’re the first, sometimes next, and sometimes they’re last. Often, they know too much. They are charming, hunting, haunted and lovely. Sometimes, they’re found in the twilight, or upstairs. These are the wives of domestic suspense, and no matter who their spouses are, these captivating women are the stars of the show. If you’re looking for your next thrilling read, look no further than The Real Wives of Domestic Suspense. Consider these popular episodes: My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing Samantha Downing knocked it out of the park with this particular -
0
On Finding The Perfect Audiobook Narrator (Second Time’s The Charm)
Some years ago I was invited to a fancy literary dinner where I was seated between Erica Jong and a senior editor of a mega publishing company. Having just exhausted with Erica the infamous topic of the “zipless f—k,” I turned to the editor and asked, “What do you look for in a manuscript that crosses your desk?” Frankly, I thought he’d give me a yawn and turn back to whomever he had been talking to. But he replied seriously, “I want to be intrigued by the first sentence and gripped by the time I reach the third paragraph. Thereafter, I want it to sing.” No doubt I’d overly participated in t -
0
Zinger in The Woods Blog Tour and Giveaway
Olive is searching for her missing dog Ginger, but the dog has fallen into a hole and is trapped. Along comes Zen, a homeless dog who helps free Ginger. Together, they make their way back to Olive. This book is perfect for teaching young readers how to trust, make new friends, get out in nature, explore and investigate the world around them and learn about the best doctors, sunshine, diet, fresh air, fresh water, a goodnight's rest, and exercise. Print Length: 24 Pages Genre: Children's ISBN-13: 979-8616441805 Publisher: Independent Zinger in The Woods is available to purchase at Amazon.co -
0
From Little Tokyo, With Love by Sarah Kuhn
B+ From Little Tokyo, With Love by Sarah Kuhn May 11, 2021 · Viking Books for Young Readers RomanceYoung Adult From Little Tokyo, With Love is a modern day, urban, feminist Cinderella meets nure-onna. It is a YA featuring a biracial girl with a ‘kaiju temper’ who prefers monsters to princesses and I am totally here for it. Riki is the daughter of a Japanese-American woman who died in childbirth. Her father, who abandoned Riki’s mother w -
0
Cover Snark: Hair Speedos
You all look like you need some Cover Snark! http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/image-51.png From Peggy. Thanks, Peggy! Sarah: I keep reading the title as “Walk Away.” Yes. Walk away. Slowly. Get outta there. Tara: via GIPHY Amanda: No thank you. Carrie: Aww finally Cousin Itt gets his own story! Shana: That’s gonna give me nightmares Carrie: A Man and his Merkin: A Un-hygenic Love Story. Sneezy: Huh. Been a while since that cut of bikini bottoms were in. This one looks itchy. Unless all of that’s his pubic hair. Catherine: That was my first thought -
7
New York Pre-Event Assignments - June 2021
Story Statement Rescue his parents from Earthlings and stop them from destroying his home planet. Antagonist Commander Natalie Jordan is the leader of the Earthling army on the planet Toren. She bears a scar under her right eye and wears a metal mask over her mouth and nose, which creates the most awful, raspy sound when she breathes. She likes the way people cringe and shy away from her when she draws near. Her goal: do whatever necessary to save Earth from certain destruction, and make her brother—the emperor of Earth—proud. He’s the one who gave her that scar when -
7
New York Pre-Event Assignments - June 2021
1. Story Statement A young drug addict in Kansas fights his addiction, only to move to Texas and struggle with mental illness and sobriety. 2. Antagonist Heroin. Cocaine. Methamphetamine. Benzodiazepines. Addiction. Sobriety. All threaten to take the life of the protagonist, who is the biggest threat of all to himself. 3. Title Drug Seeking Behavior: One Addict’s Broken Memories of the Opioid Crisis in the Midwest Fiend Altered Mental Status: Drug Dealers, Madness, and The Endless Plains of Kansas 4. Genre/Comparable Titles Genre: Memoir The Recove -
0
Four Historicals on Sale!
My Kind of Earl My Kind of Earl by Vivienne Lorret is $1.99! This is book two in The Mating Habits of Scoundrels series. Elyse mentioned this in a previous Hide Your Wallet because she was very intrigued by the idea of the heroine starting a fight in a brothel. USA Today bestselling author Vivienne Lorret continues her charming new trilogy with a bluestocking whose search for information on the mating habits of scoundrels has her stumbling upon the missing heir to an earldom… in the London
-
