Declan Burke Event

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A Wee Review - Dr Yes by Colin Bateman

DR. YES is the third in the Mystery Man series of books that feature No Alibis Bookstore in Belfast. Picking up where Day of the Jack Russell left off, the still nameless protagonist invites unholy chaos into his life when he allows a shaken and seemingly unhinged crime fiction writer to take cover in his shop. Augustine Wogan, a critically acclaimed scribe lost to obscurity, believes that Dr Yes, a plastic surgeon based in Belfast, is responsible for the death of his wife. And a grisly turn of events soon convinces the mystery man and his pregnant girlfriend/sidekick that there may be more to this case than the ramblings of a confused author.

Bateman maintains his knack for creating a great story enhanced by the kind of comic genius that is guaranteed to make the most dour reader laugh out loud. As the series develops so does the protagonists lists of physical and mental hypochondriacal foibles. But he is forced to overcome his obstacles by the allure of another mystery. And so, pregnant girl wonder in tow, Belfast's premiere private eye and bookseller is back in business. DR. YES is that oh so Northern Irish mix of the bleak and comedic that has become a hallmark of Bateman's work. Another winner.

A Wee Review - Back of Beyond by C.J. Box

Back of Beyond features Cody Hoyt who first appeared in Three Weeks to Say Goodbye (2009). He’s an unpredictable and sometimes violent cop who has problems with alcohol. A stereotype of sorts but intentionally so. It is clear that Box wanted to take a break from his series character, Joe Picket, who is an upstanding family man and all-round nice guy. And Box clearly had a lot of fun (if that’s the right word) with this one.

Detective Hoyt suffers the loss of his close friend and AA sponsor, Hank Winters, in a devastating fire. At first glance the tragedy could be written off as an accident. However, Hoyt’s discovery of an empty bottle of bourbon plays on his mind. Winters is the last man he expected to fall off the wagon. Unfortunately, Hoyt’s resolve to stay off the bottle isn’t as strong as his sponsor’s and he soon spirals into his old self-destructive ways. But he needs to hold it together for the sake of his teenaged son. Justin Hoyt is out of reach in the depths of Yellowstone National Park. He’s on a wilderness adventure and a tenuous lead in Winters’ murder investigation suggests the killer is on the same trip. Detective Cody Hoyt has no choice but to delve into the Back of Beyond to protect his son.

Back of Beyond is an expertly plotted and paced wilderness thriller; a great example of Box’s literary forte. He brings Yellowstone National Park to life and impresses upon the reader the awesome power of nature with his skill for descriptive prose. But he is equally adept at exploring the darker side of humanity. He constantly juxtaposes the beauty of nature with the brutality of mankind and vice verse. Tense, tumultuous and ever-twisting. Back of Beyond proves yet again how C.J. Box is worthy of the prestigious crime fiction awards he’s collected over the course of his career.

Less is More

I had a quick trawl through CSNI earlier and realised that I've only posted one review here in 2011. This seems a bit out of sync with the number of books I've received and read in that time. In fact, it's completely out of whack. I've written a few of them for Culture Northern Ireland but that still doesn't account for the discrepancy. Without digging too deep, I think I've discovered the problem.

I've developed a bit of a chip on my shoulder about not being paid to write. When I first started the blog, the only reason I needed to pen a review was the simple joy of sharing my thoughts with like-minded individuals when a good book tickled my fancy. Then it afforded me a chance to get in contact with some of my favourite writers. And soon after that came the free books. Spoilt, I was.

But like any other spoilt child, I started to take everything I had for granted and set my sights on the next step. Money, money, money, money, money. Of course, there aren't many people out there paying for reviews right now. Not from a lowly blogger like myself, anyway. And, disheartened, I lost sight of the reason I began to share my thoughts in the first place.

Time is a factor too, of course. I have my wife and kids to think about. And a wee fluffy puppy and thirty-something tropical fish too. And somewehre between that and my day-job. I need to find time for my fiction, and maybe an hour or two on the Xbox. Banging out five hundred words on my last read barely makes it to the top of my list of priorities these days. But I feel bad about that. Especially since I still get a fair amount of free books every month.

So, what to do?

Well, this week's solution is to write reviews that are much shorter. Fifty to one hundred words. More like blurbs, really. And you know, that's probably a better length for internet consumption anyway, right? At least I'm not shrinking them down to Twitter proportions, right? I'm still contributing to the crime fiction community, right? Oh, you don't care? Right.

Anyway. I just finished reading Back of Beyond by CJ Box, so I expect that to be the first one I review in my new lean, stripped-down blogger fashion. Then I'll go back to the great books I've read but avoided reviewing over the past six months and run a series of short, blurb-like reviews of those. And with any luck, I'll post more regularly and feel just a little less guilty about all those free books that keep my bookshelves stocked.

Cheers

gb

Fancy a Cool One?

Over at Crime Always Pays you can throw your hat into the ring in the hopes of winning a copy of Declan Burke's Absolute Zero Cool. Just answer one question and put your faith in the gods of good fortune. It's a great prize, by the way. In an early incarnation I got to read Absolute Zero Cool and said something like:

Absolute Zero Cool is a slightly psychedelic trip into the workings of Declan Burke’s rather odd mind. The characters leap off the page and the ending twists again and again with more enthusiasm than Chubby Checker and the Fat Boys ever mustered.

Dec's also done a guest spot at Tony Black's Pulp Pusher blog. It's a week in the life of a writer and if you don't crack a smile at it... you're probably not a writer.

And, in my usual blog-neglecting manner, I forgot to point out that I have a story over at Pulp Pusher. Nothing But Time first appeared on the original version of Pulp Pusher and Mister Black was kind enough to resurrect it in case there's somebody out there who might be interested in taking a look. So, click here, kind soul.

(Left to right: Declan Burke, Tony Black and Gerard Brennan)

An Interview - Thomas Fitzsimmons

Thomas Fitzsimmons didn't need to go to the public library, interview participants, or hire a team of high-priced researchers to write gritty stories. For Fitzsimmons, a former New York City police officer, NBC television personality, Ford Model, and soap-opera/TV commercial actor, business associate and friend to some of the country's most rich and famous, it was as simple as recalling his life.

Fitzsimmons, who has written two novels, a memoir, a short story collection, and three screenplays has sold stories in Esquire Magazine, and New York Magazine. He has optioned film treatments to Doug Wick, Academy Award wining producer of "Gladiator," to the actor Ray Liotta and Larry "JR" Hagman's Majlar Productions.

What are you writing at the minute?

I’m writing a third book with the “confessions” theme. First there was “Confessions of a Catholic Cop,” then “Confessions of a Suicidal Policewoman” (coming soon!), and now “Confessions of a Celebrity Bodyguard.” Since I’m a former New York City cop who comes from a family of cops, and have been a bodyguard to A-list celebrities for the past 20years (the last nine spent bodyguarding Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas), I guess I’m uniquely qualified to write these types of books.

Can you give us an idea of Thomas Fitzsimmons’ typical up-to-the-armpits-in-ideas-and-time writing day?

Since I’m on call 24/7 when CZJ & MD are in town, I’m forced to structure the days I’m free to write. I rise around 5:30 a.m., read the New York Times, and drink about six cups of coffee. Then I answer emails, speak to my identical twin brother (a retired cop; we speak every day), eat breakfast. I’m usually at the computer by around 8 a.m. at the latest. I’ll work non-stop until around noon, break for a sandwich, then back to writing. I knock off around 4 p.m., head down to the gym for a workout. Shower. Shave. Off to a pub for a pint or two followed by dinner at one of Manhattan’s fabulous restaurants.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

As mentioned above, I’m a full-time bodyguard and private investigator. The bodyguard work can be most challenging. Unfortunately, there are a lot of crazies in the world (they grow on trees here in New York) and my team and I must be alert and ready for anything and everything; from insensitive, overzealous fans to predatory stalkers.

Any advice for a greenhorn trying to break into the genre fiction scene?

How about I quote Stephen King? “Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do—not why their writing works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad.”

Write what you feel, what you believe, what you’ve lived.

And every aspiring writer should read the “Elements of Style” by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White.

Which writers have impressed you this year?

Dennis Lehane—he keeps getting better. Donald E. Westlake—always makes me laugh. Walter Mosley—for his unique voice.

What are you reading right now?

I read several books at once: “Alone” by Lisa Gardner, “Early Autumn” by Robert B. Parker, and “Eightball Boogie” by Declan Burke.

Plans for the future?

I plan to keep writing as long as the ideas keep flowing. Seeing that I’m of Irish decent (Cavan, Donegal) and grew up in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx, I never seem to be at a loss for the blarney.

Also, I’d like to be a snowbird someday, live and write on a sunny beach in the winter, be home here in Manhattan in the summer.

With regards to your writing career to date, would you do anything differently?

I wished I’d started writing seriously earlier. But I was too occupied with women and beer—still am to a lesser degree. I wish I hadn’t listened to early critics who advised me to write for the marketplace—no author should.

Do you fancy sharing your worst writing experience?

Since the book business is subjective, the worst thing about being a writer is dealing with publishers. When my publisher Tor/Forge published “City of Fire,” which I have re-released as “Confessions of a Catholic Cop,” they published another book by the same title, with a similar theme, and similar cover art at the same time. When I objected, the publisher insisted that having the two thrillers in the same mystery/thriller sections in book stores at the same time wouldn’t be a problem, that there’d be no conflict. They, of course, were dead wrong. There’s also the fact that an author is forced to deal with the publisher’s totally overworked and grossly underpaid editors, marketing and public relations people. There’s no way they have the time to “get behind” a book.

Anything you want to say that I haven’t asked you about? -- What’s it like to be an A-list bodyguard?

It’s a high pressure job. The hours are brutal. You must be vigilant; watch everyone, trust no one. What makes my job worthwhile are my clients. I happen to work for decent, thoughtful, down to earth people who put their family first and above all else.

Than you, Thomas Fitzsimmons!

Crime Fiction in the Wilderness

Fresh from a revitalizing pint of the black stuff at the Crown bar in Belfast the Wyoming-based author, CJ Box, looks very comfortable as he sits by the window of the first floor lounge in the Europa hotel. He sets his Stetson to one side, crown down to protect the brim, and offers a firm handshake and easy smile. In a few hours, he’ll launch his latest novel, BACK OF BEYOND, at No Alibis bookstore on Botanic Avenue, but for now, he’s happy to discuss his latest release and the Joe Pickett series which is currently being published by Corvus at a rate of one a month.

BACK OF BEYOND, set in Yellowstone National Park, features an alcoholic detective by the name of Cody Hoyt and he’s the polar opposite of his series character, Joe Pickett. Box believes it’s easier to write the more traditional flawed hero in crime fiction than a family oriented man. For one thing, they have so much freedom in that they don’t have to go home at night to check in with the wife and kids. Cody Hoyt is ‘stripped down’ and unpredictable and so the reader will never really know how far he might go in a given situation. And Box has enjoyed immensely the opportunity to explore a dark side through this broken man.

Box himself could be a character from one of his wilderness thrillers. He’s a keen fisherman and has been on the kind of outfitting adventure featured in BACK OF BEYOND. And his experiences very much inform his writing style. One of his strengths lies in the way he can bring nature to life through prose. Does he go on hikes with a notebook in hand?

“No, just like it’s easier to write about the summer in winter it’s easier to write about the wilderness when you’re not in it.”

An interesting element to Cody Hoyt’s back story is that he’s a keen crime fiction reader and one of the writers he’s a fan of is Ken Bruen. This is a little Stetson-tip to Box’s friendship with the Galway writer. They met at Bouchercon, an American crime fiction convention, a few years back when Bruen introduced himself as a fan of the Joe Pickett series. Since then, they’ve sent each other their novels and share a mutual respect. In fact, CJ Box described Bruen’s novel, AMERICAN SKIN, as his ‘…biggest, boldest, most sweeping and heartfelt novel yet.’

When asked if any other Irish writers have captured his imagination he cites Adrian McKinty and in particular his Colorado-set novel HIDDEN RIVER.

‘I was kind of blown away by his dark Irish sensibility in sunny Colorado. It’s very well done.’

And like so many others he believes McKinty’s work should be much wider read. And in fact, there and then in the Europa lounge, he jots down a reminder on a napkin that he should download McKinty’s FIFTY GRAND when he gets back to his Kindle.

He may be a man of nature but he has not shied away from the new e-publishing phenomenon. The first of a series of short stories available in electronic format can now be downloaded. The information and links can be found on his website, as well as a full bibliography of his printed novels. It’s an impressive backlist and a reader could do much worse than get stuck in at the start of the Pickett series with the thrilling debut, OPEN SEASON.




A burned out cabin in the woods. A dead body. A dinner table set for two

Detective Cody Hoyt is called to the scene. A brilliant cop, Cody is also an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety. So it doesn’t help that the body in the cabin is his AA sponsor Hank Winters. It looks like suicide, but Cody is convinced it’s foul play.
So who was at Hank’s cabin? Data pulled from Hank’s fire-damaged hard drive leads Cody to a website running wilderness adventures deep into the most remote parts of Yellowstone National Park. Their big trip of year has just left – a two-week horseback journey into the wild. The very same trip that Cody’s estranged teenage son, Justin, has signed up for.

Cody has no choice but to trek deep into the wild himself. In America’s greatest wilderness, Cody is on his own, he’s out of time, he’s in too deep. He’s in the Back of Beyond!

CJ Box is the author of nine novels including the award-winning Joe Pickett series. He’s the winner of the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award, and an Edgar Award and L.A. Times Book Prize finalist. Box was named 2007 Writer of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. His short stories have been featured in America’s Best Mystery Stories 2006 and limited-edition printings. The novels have been national bestsellers and have been translated into 13 languages.

Gerry McCullough Event

Belfast Girls in Town


An hour of readings from bestselling local author Gerry McCullough’s sparkling romance/action-packed thriller, Belfast Girls, currently at No. 6 in the Amazon.com bestsellers list for Contemporary Romance and in the top 100 bestsellers list for the last five months in Amazon.co.uk’s Women’s Literary Fiction.

Take the plotting agility of Desperate Housewives, mix in the romance of Sex in the City, add the humour and warmth of Friends, give it the depth of Andre Maltroux’s The Human Condition, set it in Ireland and you’ve got Belfast Girls. Gerry is joined by guest musicians Raymond of Celtic Roots Radio, and Dave, late of the Debonaires. Come and have fun!

Venue: The Gallery, Market Place Theatre, John Hewitt Summer School 2011.

Date and Time: 6.30 - 7.30 pm, Tuesday 26 July.

You can buy the paperback of Belfast Girls for £7.50 plus postage here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belfast-Girls-Gerry-McCullough/dp/1456387103

and the Kindle version for £1.39 here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Belfast-Girls/dp/B004DNWS3W

And we hope there will be some post free copies on the bookstall which Gerry will be happy to sign!

Box in Belfast

2011: ONE WHOLE YEAR OF C.J. BOX.
AND NOW, THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SEASON…

A new stand-alone novel and the first UK
tour by the multi-award winning US crime writer

‘One of today's solid-gold A-list must-read writers'
Lee Child
BACK OF BEYOND
BY C.J. BOX


2ND AUGUST 2011, CORVUS PUBLISHING
UK TOUR: 18th – 24th JULY 2011


SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL HARDBACK PRICE £7.99

New York Times bestselling author CJ Box will be launching his new novel, BACK OF BEYOND, at Belfast's No Alibis bookshop on Thursday 21st Julyat 6:30 PM.

BACK OF BEYOND is the highlight in a thrilling year for C.J. Box. Over twelve consecutive months and showing undivided commitment to the fastest rising star in American crime writing, Corvus is publishing one spine-tingling book a month from the eleven existing novels in Box’s award-winning Joe Pickett series. Back of Beyond, Box’s heart-wrenching, sleep-stealing stand-alone new novel is published mid-way through on 2nd August.

C. J. Box ventures deep into the wilds of Yellowstone National Park with Cody Hoyt, the maverick cop last seen in the bestselling breakout THREE WEEKS TO SAY GOODBYE

A burned out cabin in the woods. A dead body. A dinner table set for two

Detective Cody Hoyt is called to the scene. A brilliant cop, Cody is also an alcoholic struggling with two months of sobriety. So it doesn’t help that the body in the cabin is his AA sponsor Hank Winters. It looks like suicide, but Cody is convinced it’s foul play.
So who was at Hank’s cabin? Data pulled from Hank’s fire-damaged hard drive leads Cody to a website running wilderness adventures deep into the most remote parts of Yellowstone National Park. Their big trip of year has just left – a two-week horseback journey into the wild. The very same trip that Cody’s estranged teenage son, Justin, has signed up for.

Cody has no choice but to trek deep into the wild himself. In America’s greatest wilderness, Cody is on his own, he’s out of time, he’s in too deep. He’s in the Back of Beyond!
This is classic Box terrain: the flawed hero who will always do right by his friend, the beguiling wilds of America’s Midwest looming large across every page and the ultimate moral question: what would you do if your child’s life is in danger? A hugely popular formula that has already proved a big hit with female and male readers in the US and now, with the superb Back of Beyond, Box is destined for the major league of thriller writers in the UK.

ABOUT C.J. BOX

C.J Box (Chuck) is a proud native of Wyoming. He has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a newspaper reporter and editor for a small Wyoming weekly newspaper. With his wife Laurie, he currently owns and runs an international tourism marketing firm. In 2008, Box was awarded the "BIG WYO" Award from the state tourism industry. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He served on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. They have three daughters. Box lives in Wyoming.

He is the winner of the Anthony Award, the Prix Calibre 38, the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award and the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Novel. His novels are US bestsellers and have been translated into 24 languages.
Visit his website at http://www.cjbox.net/

PRAISE FOR C.J. BOX

‘…Box introduced us to his unlikely hero, a game warden named Joe Pickett, a decent man who lives paycheck to paycheck and who is deeply fond of his wife and his three daughters. Pickett isn't especially remarkable except for his honesty and for a quality that Harold Bloom attributes to Shakespeare -- the ability to think everything through for himself’
New York Times

'One of the best thrillers of the year. It kept me up most of the night, the way few books have ever done. C.J. Box owes me a night's sleep!'
Tess Gerritsen

'In the crowded field of crime fiction, C.J. Box has quickly established himself as an original voice... Box is exploring new territory. He is fresh, captivating, and has something to say'
Michael Connelly

THE BOX-SET
January 2011 Blue Heaven [paperback] £7.99
February 2011 Open Season [Joe Pickett #1] £7.99
March 2011 Savage Run [Joe Pickett #2] £7.99
April 2011 Winterkill [Joe Pickett # 3] £7.99
May 2011 Trophy Hunt [Joe Pickett #4] £7.99
June 2011 Out of Range [Joe Pickett #5] £7.99
July 2011 In Plain Sight [Joe Pickett #6] £7.99
August 2011 Back of Beyond [hardback] £7.99
August 2011 Free Fire [Joe Pickett #7] £7.99
September 2011 Blood Trail [Joe Pickett #8] £7.99
October 2011 Below Zero [Joe Pickett #9] £7.99
November 2011 Nowhere to run [Joe Pickett #10] £7.99
December 2011: Cold Wind [Joe Pickett #11] £12.99

On The Verge

It's been a remarkable couple of weeks so I guess I should, you know, remark on them.

Thanks to Declan Burke's willingness to drop his standards a little I was included in his excellent offering, DOWN THESE GREEN STREETS. The book is basically a collection of essays, interviews and stories on the subject of Irish crime fiction. The list of contributors is a who's who of the Irish crime fiction scene with me taking up the rear by quite a distance. Check out these names:

Adrian McKinty
Alan Glynn
Alex Barclay
Andrew Nugent
Arlene Hunt
Brian McGilloway
Colin Bateman
Cora Harrison
Cormac Millar
Declan Hughes
Eoin McNamee
Gene Kerrigan
Gerard Brennan
Gerry O’Carroll
Ingrid Black
Jane Casey
John Banville
John Connolly
Ken Bruen
Kevin McCarthy
Neville Thompson
Niamh O’Connor
Paul Charles
Ruth Dudley Edwards
Sara Keating
Stuart Neville
Tana French
Tara Brady
Foreword by Michael Connelly
Introduction by Professor Ian Ross of Trinity College
Afterword by Fintan O’Toole

What a line-up, right?

And so, it was with a great big goofy grin plastered to my face that I attended both the Belfast and Dublin launches of this fine tome. And what a treat these wee outings were for a small fish like me.

In Dublin I got to meet Ken Bruen for the first time. And he was with Eoin Colfer. So I got them both to sign my copy of Eoin Colfer's PLUGGED which is dedicated to Ken. AND Tony Black bought me a pint. Who says the Scottish are stingy? I also got to chat briefly to Arlene Hunt (though let's face it, any chat with Arlene is too brief. Charm? This lady has it in spades) and got to shake hands with and nod dumbly to the likes of John Connolly and Declan Hughes. And of course, I got to say hiya to Declan Burke again. I wish I'd introduced myself to Alan Glynn but it's too late to do anything about that now.

And then Belfast. Not only did I get to attend the event with my missus, Michelle, and watch some real pros in action in the form of a panel made up of Colin Bateman, Brian McGilloway and Stuart Neville (with Declan Burke introducing the event and David Torrans asking questions of the panel between book sales), but I got to say hello to Eoin McNamee again and be in the same room (unknowingly, dammit) with David Peace. But even better than this, me and my lovely missus got to have dinner with a bunch of the contributors at a pretty decent Chinese Restaurant on Botanic Avenue. And so my lovely wife and I got to chat to Niamh O'Connor and Kevin McCarthy for the first time and listen to a less formal panel on Irish crime fiction, life the universe and parenting.

And what did I learn from these two events?

Well, I still have quite a distance to go before I can consider myself anywhere near the bottom of their league. These writers represent the cream of the crop of the genre I'm trying to crack into. But with the release of my novella, THE POINT, in October (God bless Pulp Press) and a few other exciting things on the horizon that I can't talk about until some details have been hammered out (not a book deal), at least I can say I'm heading in the right direction. Let's hope I don't get lost or run out of juice along the way.