Competition: CAN ANYBODY HELP ME? by Sinead Crowley

Sinead Crowley’s debut CAN ANYBODY HELP ME? (Quercus) has just been published in paperback, and to celebrate Sinead is offering a signed copy to one lucky reader. First, the blurb elves:

It was crazy really, she had never met the woman, had no idea of her real name but she thought of her as a friend. Or, at least, the closest thing she had to a friend in Dublin.
  Struggling with a new baby, Yvonne turns to netmammy, an online forum for mothers, for support. Drawn into a world of new friends, she spends increasing amounts of time online and volunteers more and more information about herself.
  When one of her new friends goes offline, Yvonne thinks something is wrong, but dismisses her fears. After all, does she really know this woman?
  But when the body of a young woman with striking similarities to Yvonne’s missing friend is found, Yvonne realises that they’re all in terrifying danger. Can she persuade Sergeant Claire Boyle, herself about to go on maternity leave, to take her fears seriously?

  To be in with a chance to win a signed copy, just answer the following question:

What is the title of Sinead Crowley’s second novel, to be published later this year?

  Answers to dbrodb[at]gmail.com by 5pm on Friday, March 6th please, and don’t forget to include a contact email address. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free Books: GRAVELAND by Alan Glynn

I was very impressed by Alan Glynn’s GRAVELAND, the third of a loose trilogy that also includes WINTERLAND and BLOODLAND – although I think that as good as those books were, GRAVELAND represents another step up in class. I’m delighted to host a competition giveaway for three copies of GRAVELAND, but first the blurb elves:

A Wall Street investment banker is shot dead while jogging in Central Park. Later that night, one of the savviest hedge-fund managers in the city is gunned down outside a fancy Upper West Side restaurant. Are these killings part of a coordinated terrorist attack, or just coincidence? Investigative journalist Ellen Dorsey has a hunch that it’s neither. Days later, when an attempt is made on the life of another CEO, the story blows wide open...
  Racing to stay ahead of the curve, Ellen encounters Frank Bishop, a recession-hit architect, whose daughter has gone missing. The search for Lizzie and her boyfriend takes Frank and Ellen from a quiet campus to the blazing spotlight of a national media storm - and into the devastating crucible of a personal and a public tragedy.
  Meanwhile, lurking in the shadows once again is James Vaughn, legendary CEO of private equity firm the Oberon Capital Group. Despite his failing health, Vaughan is refusing to give up control easily, and we soon see just how far-reaching and pervasive his influence really is.
  Set deep in the place where corrupt global business and radical politics clash, Alan Glynn’s GRAVELAND is an explosive and hugely topical thriller.

  To be in with a chance of winning a copy of GRAVELAND, just email me at dbrodb[at]gmail.com, putting ‘Alan Glynn’ in the subject line and – very important, folks – a postal address to which we can send you the book. The competition closes at noon on Saturday, June 8th. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free Books: THE BIG O

It occurred to me during the course of the last book giveaway, Mark Sullivan’s CROCODILE TEARS (the winners of which will be notified in the next couple of days), that the ‘free book’ offer was pretty much limited to this blog. I could mention it here, on Twitter and Facebook, certainly, but the word was still going out to a relatively limited number of people.
  Of course, the point of the exercise was twofold. One, put a copy of a very good book in readers’ hands. Two, make as many people as possible aware that the book is available.
  With that in mind, I’m going to try a little social media experiment for the next giveaway, which is for three signed hardback copies of my own humble tome, THE BIG O. If you’d like to play along, please do. First the blurb elves:

Karen can’t go on pulling stick-ups forever, but Rossi is getting out of prison any day now and she needs the money to keep Anna out of his hands. This new guy she’s met, Ray, just might be able to help her out, but he wants out of the kidnap game now the Slavs are bunkering in. And then there’s Frank, the discredited plastic surgeon who wants his ex-wife snatched - the ex-wife being Madge, who just happens to be Karen’s best friend. But can Karen and Ray trust each other enough to carry off one last caper? Or will love, as always, ruin everything?

  To be in with a chance of winning a signed hardback copy of THE BIG O, just link to this giveaway on Twitter, Facebook, Google + or your blog, or anywhere else you like on the Web (feel free to click on the buttons below this post). If you use ‘Declan Burke’ on Facebook or the Twitter handle @declanburke I’ll know you’ve entered, but you can also email me at dbrodb[at]gmail.com to confirm. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free Books: CROCODILE TEARS by Mark O’Sullivan

I’ve gone on record saying that I’ll be very pleasantly surprised if there’s a better Irish crime fiction debut this year than Mark O’Sullivan’s CROCODILE TEARS, and I’m delighted to offer readers the opportunity to snaffle a free copy of said tome. First the blurb elves:

DI Leo Woods’ life is a mess. Work keeps him sane. More or less. On an ice-cold winter morning in an affluent Dublin suburb, he stares down at the bloodied corpse of a property developer. Dermot Brennan’s features, distorted in terror, are a reflection of Leo’s own disfigured face. Life does that kind of thing to Leo. Makes faces at him.
  With the help of ambitious but impetuous Detective Sergeant Helen Troy, Leo uncovers a frosted web of lies, where nobody is quite who they seem. But who ever is? A host of suspects emerge: Brennan’s beautiful but aloof wife, Anna; their estranged son; two former business associates bearing grudges and secrets; a young man convinced Brennan has ruined his life; an ex-pat American gardener; and an arrogant sculptor who may or may not have been having an affair with the dead man’s wife.
  As ice and snow grip Dublin, Woods and Troy find themselves battling forces as malevolent as the weather: jealousy, greed and betrayal. Can they identify the murderer before things get even uglier?

  To be in with a chance of winning a copy of CROCODILE TEARS, just email me at dbrodb[at]gmail.com, putting ‘Crocodile Tears’ in the subject line and including your name and postal address in the body of the email. The giveaway is open until noon on Friday, May 18th. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

UPDATE: A quick thank you to everyone who took part in the Tana French / BROKEN HARBOUR competition – the response was fantastic. The winner is Linda Callaghan of Glasnevin in Dublin, Ireland. Stay tuned for another competition later this week, when I’ll be giving away copies of Mark O’Sullivan’s CROCODILE TEARS.

As you may or may not know, Tana French’s BROKEN HARBOUR won the Best Mystery / Thriller Award at the LA Times awards last weekend. A splendid achievement, I think you’ll agree, and fully deserved – BROKEN HARBOUR is a wonderful book.
  To (modestly) celebrate Tana’s win, I’m giving away a copy of BROKEN HARBOUR to one lucky reader. First, the blurb elves:

In Broken Harbour, a ghost estate outside Dublin - half-built, half-inhabited, half-abandoned - two children and their father are dead. The mother is on her way to intensive care. Scorcher Kennedy is given the case because he is the Murder squad’s star detective. At first he and his rookie partner, Richie, think this is a simple one: Pat Spain was a casualty of the recession, so he killed his children, tried to kill his wife Jenny, and finished off with himself. But there are too many inexplicable details and the evidence is pointing in two directions at once.
  Scorcher’s personal life is tugging for his attention. Seeing the case on the news has sent his sister Dina off the rails again, and she’s resurrecting something that Scorcher thought he had tightly under control: what happened to their family, one summer at Broken Harbour, back when they were children. The neat compartments of his life are breaking down, and the sudden tangle of work and family is putting both at risk . . .

  To be in with a chance of winning, just email me at dbrodb[at]gmail.com, putting ‘Broken Harbour’ in the subject line and your name and postal address in the body of the email. The closing date is noon on Friday, May 3rd, and I’ll draw the winner’s name out of a bobbly hat on Friday afternoon. Et bon chance, mes amis …

UPDATE: Just a quick reminder, folks – some of the entrants to the competition have neglected to include their name and postal address in the body of the email. If you’re taking part, please remember to include your name and address as part of your entry. Thanks kindly.

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

As all Three Regular Readers will be aware, my humble tome ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL has been short-listed in the Crime Fiction category at the Irish Book Awards, and very pleased I am about that. To celebrate, I’m giving away three signed copies of ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, which has, all false modesty aside, been rather well received by the critics. The latest review comes courtesy of Alan Griffiths over at Brit Grit, with the gist running thusly:

“I rattled through AZC. It’s highly original, witty, laugh-out-loud at times, thought-provoking and sprinkled with cracking dialogue that, I think, is a hallmark of Declan’s writing. AZC is a terrific read.” - Alan Griffiths, Brit Grit

  I thank you kindly, sir. Incidentally, Michael Malone also has some rather nice things to say about AZC over at May Contain Nuts …
  Elsewhere, the general thrust of the AZC reviews have run something like this:

“Karlsson is a thrilling creation, up there with the Patrick Batemans of literature … a masterpiece of unsavoury reflection on history and Darwinism blended with a hefty dose of sociopathy, yet always leavened with pitch-black wit … Funny and disturbing, it also straddles a fine line between the absurd and the profound. It never forgets the conventions of crime fiction, while simultaneously subverting them. A triumph.” - Sunday Times

“Thus begins a fascinating hybrid of MISERY, AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS, THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN, and who knows what else … ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL isn’t quite like anything else you’ve read, in any genre. It’s clever, intimate, passionate, and funny: altogether a wonderful achievement.” - Irish Times

“What is most refreshing … is its ambition. It is rare that a so-called genre book attempts to wrest free of its constraints and do something entirely different. ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL is a genre-buster. Clever, funny, challenging, surreal, unexpected and entirely original.” - Irish Independent

“Declan Burke plunges into surreal realms in this exhilarating, cleverly wrought novel … Comparisons to Flann O’Brien’s AT SWIM-TWO-BIRDS are obvious, yet Burke’s canny control of his novel means they’re positive ones.” - Sunday Business Post

  For more in the same vein, clickety-click here …
  To be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, just answer the following question:

What’s the best crime novel you’ve read in 2011?

  Answers via the comment box, please, leaving an email contact address (using [at] rather than @ to confound the spam monkeys) by noon on Thursday, November 10th. Et bon chance, mes amis …
  Finally, if you’ve read AZC, and would like to vote for it in the Irish Book Awards (you don’t have to be Irish, by the way, or living in Ireland), then clickety-click here …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

The very kind souls at the Overlook Press have offered us a signed copy of Eoin Colfer’s current offering, PLUGGED, to give away to a discerning reader. First, the blurb elves:

The long-awaited crime caper so outlandish, so maniacal, so wickedly funny, it could have only come from the mind that brought you Artemis Fowl. Daniel McEvoy has a problem. Well, really, he has several, but for this Irish ex-pat bouncer at a seedy, small-time casino the fact that his girlfriend was just murdered in the parking lot is uppermost in his mind. That is until lots of people around him start dying, and not of natural causes. Suddenly Daniel’s got half the New Jersey mob, dirty cops and his man-crazy upstairs neighbour after him and he still doesn’t know what’s going on. Bullets are flying, everybody’s on the take and it all may be more than Daniel’s new hair plugs can handle. And Daniel’s got to find the guy who put in those hair plugs - or at least his body - and fast, or else he’ll never get that voice out of his head. Head-spinning plot twists, breakneck pacing and some of the best banter this side of Elmore Leonard’s Detroit, will keep you on the edge of your seat and itching for more.

  It’s been picking up some very nice reviews Stateside, has PLUGGED, with a selection from The Washington Post, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews and the Library Journal to be found here. The gist of the New York Times review runs thusly:

“Dan’s chivalric mission of mayhem makes no logical sense, but it does attract the attention of numerous unsavoury characters and results in lots of bloody fun.” - New York Times

  Nice. To be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of Eoin Colfer’s PLUGGED, just answer the following question:

Who should play the lead role in the inevitable movie of PLUGGED?

  Answers via the comment box, please, leaving an email contact address (and using (at) rather than @ to confound the spam monkeys) by noon on Thursday, October 6th. Et bon chance, mes amis …

How Cool It Was, How Cool …

You’ll forgive me, I hope, for rattling on about ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL yet again, but there has been a flurry of activity - by my standards, at least - surrounding the book since it launched last Wednesday, when Arlene Hunt, Declan Hughes and Alan Glynn (right, righter and rightest) were among those to make it along to the Gutter Bookshop (and yes, that is the Dark Lord, aka John Connolly, skulking menacingly in the background).

  First up, there were two very interesting reviews indeed on Saturday, from the Irish Times and the Irish Independent. If I’m perfectly honest, I’m still a little bit stunned by the reaction; you do hope for decent reviews (well, any reviews at all, really) when your book appears, but those two were far beyond anything I’d let myself hope for. Sample quote: “ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL isn’t quite like anything you’ve ever read, in any genre.” For the full skinny, clickety-click here …

  Also on Saturday, the Evening Herald was good enough to publish an interview with yours truly, which was terrific in itself, but had the added bonus of being published under the header ‘Paint It Black’, which just so happens to be my favourite Stones track. Coincidence? I think so. For the interview, clickety-click here …

  Another interview, this one of the radio variety, comes courtesy of the good folk at RTE’s Arena programme, which was actually broadcast on the night of the book’s launch. Sean Rocks asks the questions, and the considerably-less-than-dulcet tones of yours truly can be heard doing their best not to make a complete hames of answering. One click takes you there …

  Meanwhile, the team at writing.ie hosts yet another interview with me, and thanks kindly to them. That interview, by the way, comes with a bonus of offering the opportunity to win a free copy of ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. For the interview, click here; if you want to bypass my blatherings and go straight for the freebie, clickety-click here …

  Lastly, but by no means leastly, the venerable Dana King conducts an interview with a difference over at One Bite At A Time, which opens up with allegations of a SWAT team arriving to break up the AZC launch on Wednesday night, and goes downhill rapidly from there. If you’re interested, you know what to do …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

One man. One hospital. This town ain’t big enough for the both of ’em …

Yep, it’s ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, a whimsical black comedy about blowing up hospitals, and Liberties Press has been kind enough to give me three copies to give away to the readers of Crime Always Pays in the run-up to said tome’s official launch on August 10th. First, the blurb elves:

Who in their right mind would want to blow up a hospital?
  “Close it down, blow it up – what’s the difference?”
  Billy Karlsson needs to get real. Literally. A hospital porter with a sideline in euthanasia, Billy is a character trapped in the purgatory of an abandoned novel. Deranged by logic, driven beyond sanity, Billy makes his final stand: if killing old people won’t cut the mustard, the whole hospital will have to go up in flames.
  Only his creator can stop him now, the author who abandoned Billy to his half-life limbo, in which Billy schemes to do whatever it takes to get himself published, or be damned . . .

  “A harrowing and yet hilarious examination of the gradual disintegration of a writer’s personality, as well as a damned fine noir novel … Burke has outdone himself this time; it’s a hell of a read.” – Scott Phillips, author of THE ICE HARVEST

  So there you have it. To be in with a chance of winning a free copy of ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, just answer the following question:

What’s your favourite story-within-a-story novel, and why?

  Answers via the comment box, please, leaving an email contact address (and using ‘at’ rather than @ to confound the spam munchkins), by noon on Monday, August 8th. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

He may be one of the best in the business, but Adrian McKinty hasn’t forgotten his roots. No sir / ma’am. All the way from Australian comes the generous offer from said McKinty of free copies of his latest novel, FALLING GLASS, for readers of Crime Always Pays. Quoth the blurb elves:

An old associate of regular hero Michael Forsythe, Killian makes a living enforcing other people’s laws, collecting debts, dealing out threats. Forsythe sets Killian up with the best paid job of his life. A prominent, politically connected Irish businessman, Richard Coulter, needs someone to find his ex-wife and children. Reluctant to take it, but persuaded by the money, Killian takes the job. Once on the trail, Killian discovers the real reason Coulter’s ex is running, and helps her take refuge amongst his people - a community of Irish Travellers, who close ranks to look after them. McKinty is at his continent-hopping, pacy, evocative best in this new thriller, moving between his native Ireland and distant cities within a skin-of-his-teeth time-frame.

  Sounds tasty. David Park, writing in the Irish Times, liked it a lot. To wit:

“McKinty is a streetwise, energetic gunslinger of a writer, firing off volleys of sassy dialogue and explosive action that always delivers what it has promised the reader. The story is skilfully constructed, and the pace is always full throttle forwards. There is one violent scene in Mexico involving a chainsaw that is definitely not for the squeamish, but it would be unfair to think of the author as someone exclusively reliant on external action. There is, for example, an interesting psychological exploration of Killian’s re-embracing of his half-forgotten roots and the cultural values of the Traveller community. Even the dark figure of Markov, the Russian hitman, gets layered and lightened with some psychological subtleties that are the product of his relationship with his partner, Marina, and experiences of the war in Chechnya that continue to haunt him.”

  For the rest, clickety-click here …
  Meanwhile, to be in with a chance of winning a free copy of FALLING GLASS, just answer the following question:

What actor, and why, should play McKinty’s ‘unfuckingkillable’ hero Michael Forsythe when the inevitable movie happens?

  Answers in the comment box below, please, leaving a contact email address (using (at) rather than @ to confound the spam munchkins) by noon on Monday, March 21st. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

It’s been a turbulent old week for EIGHTBALL BOOGIE. As most of the Three Regular Readers will be aware, EIGHTBALL went live as an ebook on Kindle UK, Kindle US and many other formats on Monday, at the knockdown, recession-friendly price of €0.99c. That was a buzz in itself, not least because the book got a brand spanking new cover for itself; I am by no means sartorially inclined, but I do love a nice new jacket once in a while. Nicer still was the fact that the book picked up a couple of five-star readers’ reviews in its first days, and that sales appear to be steady if not earth-shattering.
  Behind the scenes, meanwhile, the cogs and gears were whirring at a furious rate. When I got in touch with the publisher of the hard copy EIGHTBALL to tell them about the impending ebook odyssey, I was offered the opportunity to buy up the existing stock of the book at a scandalously low price. Now, the alternative to me buying up the stock was that the books would end up pulped at some point, and the idea of all my little babies being orphaned and crushed was simply unbearable. And so we agreed a reasonable price, and now I own the rights to EIGHTBALL.
  Behind the scenes, meanwhile, the cogs and gears of the universe were whirring at a furious rate. I got up the following morning to find an email from my agent waiting for me, saying that a well known and very respected UK production company had been in touch with him enquiring about - dum-dum-DUM! - EIGHTBALL. Now, I’ve been in this position before, both with EIGHTBALL and THE BIG O, and nothing has ever come of it; still, it was a nicely serendipitous validation of my decision to buy out the rights to the book.
  Anyway, the cogs and gears, etc., and the stock was delivered, and very nice it was too to see all those orphan-type rascals home again. Trouble is, we don’t have room for them all here at our modest orphanage. So we had a chat, me and the orphans, and I’ve agreed to find them all a good home; and because I managed to buy them back at a very reasonable rate, I’m in a position to give them away, free, gratis and for nothing - although, the postal people being who and what they are, I’ll need to charge for the post-and-packing, which comes to €4.50 / £3.80 / $6.20.
If you’re wondering whether or not the book is worth the post-and-packaging, here’s what a selection of generous people had to say about it:

“I have seen the future of Irish crime fiction and it’s called Declan Burke. Here is talent writ large - mesmerizing, literate, smart and gripping. If there is such an animal as the literary crime novel, then this is it. But as a compelling crime novel, it is so far ahead of anything being produced, that at last my hopes for crime fiction are renewed. I can’t wait to read his next novel.” - Ken Bruen, author of THE GUARDS

“Burke writes in a staccato prose that ideally suits his purpose, and his narrative booms along as attention grippingly as a Harley Davidson with the silencer missing. Downbeat but exhilarating.” - The Irish Times

“Harry Rigby resembles the gin-soaked love child of Rosalind Russell and William Powell ... a wild ride worth taking.” - Booklist

“A manic, edgy tone that owes much to Elmore Leonard … could be the start of something big.” - The Sunday Times

“One of the sharpest, wittiest books I’ve read for ages.” - The Sunday Independent

“EIGHTBALL BOOGIE proves to be that rare commodity, a first novel that reads as if it were penned by a writer in mid-career ... [it] marks the arrival of a new master of suspense on the literary scene.” - Hank Wagner, Mystery Scene

“The comedy keeps the story rolling along between the sudden eruptions of violence … Burke’s novel is not just a pulp revival, it’s genuine neo-noir.” - International Noir

  So there it is. EIGHTBALL BOOGIE, at $0.99c / £86p on ebook; or free, not including post-and-packaging, in its original dead tree incarnation. Anyone interested in picking up a copy of the latter should email me at dbrodb(at)gmail.com. And make haste, people - those orphan-type rascals are eating me out of house and home …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

The generous folks at Penguin get in touch to offer five free copies of Nicci French’s COMPLICIT, the latest novel from best-selling writing partnership Nicci Gerrard and Sean French, and which is released in paperback on March 17. First, the blurb elves:

Who is more deadly? An enemy? A friend? Or a lover? Bonnie Graham is in her friend’s flat. She is alone, except for the dead body lying in a pool of blood. What happened? What will she do? And is any or all of it her fault? Bonnie is a music teacher who has spent a long, hot summer in London rehearsing with a band. It was supposed to be fun, but the tricky knots of the band’s friendships unravel with each passing day. What was meant to be a summer of happiness, music and love turns deadly as lovers betray, passions turn homicidal and friendship itself becomes a crime. Someone in the band must be a killer. Is it Bonnie? And if not – who is it?

  Sounds like a belter. To be in with a chance of winning a copy, just answer the following:

Name one other writing partnership, and recommend one of their novels.

  Answers via the comment box below, please, leaving a contact email address (using (at) rather than @ to confound the spam monkeys) before the closing date of noon, Friday 25th February. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

The ever generous Katrina Alvarez gets in touch to offer free copies of Noah Boyd’s new thriller, AGENT X, the sequel to Boyd’s New York Times bestselling debut, THE BRICKLAYER. Quoth the blurb elves:

FBI-agent-turned-bricklayer Steve Vail once helped the FBI solve a brilliant extortion plot. It was supposed to be a one-and-done deal. But when he’s in Washington, D.C., to see Kate Bannon—an FBI assistant director—on what he thinks will be a romantic New Year’s Eve date, suddenly things get complicated. The FBI has another unsolvable problem, and it has Vail’s name written all over it.
  A man known as Calculus, an officer at the Russian embassy, has approached the FBI claiming that he has a list of Americans who are selling confidential information to the Russian SVR. In exchange for the list, he is asking for a quarter of a million dollars for each traitor the FBI apprehends. But then Calculus informs the FBI that he has been swiftly recalled to Moscow, and the Bureau suspects the worst: the Russians have discovered what Calculus is up to, probably have access to his list, and will be hunting the traitors to kill them unless the FBI can find them first.
  The FBI realizes that it has to keep the operation quiet. Once again, Vail is the perfect man, along with Kate Bannon, who would be anyone’s first pick for help on an impossibly dangerous case. But finding the traitors isn’t going to be easy. In fact, it’s going to be downright deadly. And if the Bricklayer survives, he will have to come up with a few tricks of his own.
  AGENT X is a heart-pounding thrill ride with an authenticity only a writer who’s an FBI veteran can provide, and Steve Vail—a man Patricia Cornwell calls a “new American hero”—is one of the smartest, toughest, and most compelling new characters to come along in many years.

  Noah Boyd is the author of the New York Times bestseller THE BRICKLAYER and a former FBI agent who spent more than twenty years working some of the Bureau’s toughest investigations, including the Green River Killer case and the Highland Park Strangler case (which he’s credited with solving). He currently works on cold cases when he’s not writing.

  So there you have it. To be in with a chance of winning a copy of AGENT X, just answer the following question:

What’s the best spy thriller you’ve read to feature those pesky Russians?

  Answers in the comment box below, please, along with a contact email address (using ‘at’ rather than @ to confound the spam munchkins). The competition closes at noon on Wednesday, February 16th; et bon chance, mes amis.

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

Tony Black regularly gets raves from the likes of Ken Bruen and Irvine Welsh for his Gus Dury novels, but he’s stepped away from the persecuted Gus for his latest outing, TRUTH LIES BLEEDING. Quoth the blurb elves:

Tony Black moves away from the noir of his Gus Dury novels with this terrific police procedural featuring Detective Inspector Rob Brennan. Four teenagers find the mutilated corpse of a young girl stuffed into a dumpster in an Edinburgh alleyway. Who is she? Where did she come from? Who killed her and why? Above all, where is the baby to which she has obviously recently given birth? Inspector Rob Brennan, recently back from psychiatric leave, is still shocked by the senseless shooting of his only brother. His superiors think that the case of the dumpster girl will be perfect to get him back on track. But Rob Brennan has enemies within the force, stacks of unfinished business and a nose for trouble. What he discovers about the murdered girl blows the case – and his life – wide open.

  The good people at Preface Publishing have been kind enough to offer Crime Always Pays three copies of TRUTH LIES BLEEDING to give away free, gratis and for nuffink, and to be in with a chance of winning a copy, all you have to do is this:

Recommend for the delectation of your fellow readers another novel with a title containing the words ‘Truth’, ‘Lies’ and / or ‘Bleeding’ (bonus points for novel titles that offer combinations of said words).

  Answers in the comment box below, please, leaving a contact email address (using ‘at’ rather than @ to confuse the spam munchkins). All submissions go into my bobbly hat. Closing date is noon on Thursday, January 27th, et bon chance, mes amis.

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

The good people at Quercus are offering three free copies of THREE SECONDS by Roslund and Hellström, said pair being a journalist and creator of Sweden’s number one cultural TV program, Kulterkanna, and an ex-criminal who founded a criminal rehabilitation program in Sweden, respectively. First, the blurb elves:

Piet Hoffman is the best undercover operative in the Swedish police force, but only one other man is even aware of his existence. When an amphetamine deal he is involved in goes badly wrong, he is faced with the hardest mission of his life: to infiltrate Sweden’s most infamous maximum security prison. Detective Inspector Ewert Grens is charged with investigating the drug-related killing. Unaware of Hoffman’s real identity, he believes himself to be on the trail of a dangerous psychopath. But he cannot escape the feeling that vital information pertaining to the case has been withheld or manipulated. Hoffman has his insurance: wiretap recordings that implicate some of Sweden’s most prominent politicians in a corrupt conspiracy. But in Ewert Grens the powers that be might just have found the perfect weapon to eliminate him ... Intelligent, gripping, brutal, THREE SECONDS is the latest thriller from Roslund and Hellström, the heirs apparent to Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell as masters of Scandinavian crime.

  To be in with a chance of winning a copy, just tell us what your fantasy crime-writing duo might be. James Ellroy and Janet Evanovich? John Connolly and Michael Connelly? Ken Bruen and Stieg Larsson? Elmore Leonard and Patricia Highsmith? Quirkiest, most apt or simply the funniest entries go into the hat, with bonus marks for a quick synopsis of your fantasy duo’s novel …
  Entries in the comment box below, please, and the closing date is noon, December 23rd. Please include an email contact address, using [at] rather than @ to confuse the spam-munchkins. Et bon chance, mes amis …

Fly Concord For Free

I had a piece published in the Irish Times yesterday on the Concord Free Press, which is currently publishing Scott Phillips’ rather excellent RUT. The opening ran a lot like this:

The best things in life are free books. That’s the philosophy of the US-based Concord Free Press, which publishes books and gives them away.
  “GIVE + TAKE, my fourth novel, inspired the whole idea,” says Stona Fitch of CFP. “It’s about a jazz pianist who steals diamonds and BMWs and gives away the money - in short, a modern retelling of the Robin Hood fable. But it’s also about the limits of generosity and the slippery nature of value. When the book ran into classic delay at a major New York publishing house, I decided to start the Concord Free Press and give it the book away, asking only that readers give some money to a charity they believed in or someone in need.”
  The CFP publishing model - which they have dubbed ‘generosity-based publishing’ - is overseen by an Advisory Board of writers that includes Joyce Carol Oates, Russell Banks, Megan Abbott and Gregory Maguire, among others. “It’s important to point out that we’re a group of writers that publishes books,” says Stona, “not a publisher only. We’ve just seized control of the machinery of publishing and put it to work in a new way.”

  For the rest, clickety-click here …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

Pepper Smith has been kind enough to offer CAP two copies of her new novel, BLOOD MONEY, for the purposes of a competition giveaway. First, the blurb elves:

When Patty O’Donnell married her Irish sweetheart and moved from America to her husband’s small home town on the Irish seacoast, the most dangerous things she had to deal with were the half-ton racehorses in her father-in-law’s stables. But when she and her husband return from a late night out to find their house being searched, she discovers there are far worse things lurking in her bucolic surroundings than temperamental Thoroughbreds. The teenage son of a late family friend brings proof of a long forgotten debt owed by the O’Donnells, part of a cargo lost in a shipwreck over a century and a half ago. He wants the cargo salvaged, and quickly, so he can help his mother free herself from her abusive second husband. The O’Donnells are willing, but the search and salvage mission puts them square in the sights of modern-day pirates, who want the salvage for themselves. Suddenly, Patty finds herself hunted and in a fight for her life, where yielding to panic means a swift and ugly death.

  For Chapter One, clickety-click here. Meanwhile, to be in with a chance of winning a free copy of BLOOD MONEY, just answer the following question:

Which Irish author recently released a book entitled BLOOD MONEY? Was it:
  (a) Arlene Hunt;
  (b) Bertie Ahern;
  (c) The Board of Directors at Anglo-Irish Bank?

  Answers in the comment box, please, along with a contact email address (using (at) instead of @ to confound the spam monkeys), before noon on Monday, April 26th. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

We’re celebrating the UK publication of Adrian McKinty’s FIFTY GRAND today, folks, and while it feels kind of odd to be giving away signed copies of a book that will be worth a small fortune in years to come, I already have a signed first edition, so I can afford to be generous. What’s rare is wonderful, right? First, the blurb elves:

Cuban cop Mercado has a score to settle, on behalf of a deadbeat dad, a ‘traitor’ who skipped free from Castro’s control to set up a new life working illegally in Colorado. He settled in a ski resort popular with the Hollywood set, where the facade is maintained by the immigrant cleaners and labourers who work for below minimum wage while the local sheriff is bribed to turn a blind eye. Hernandez Sr’s dreams of fortune and freedom came to a swift end when he was killed in a hit-and-run accident. Sworn to avenge his death, Mercado has some obstacles to overcome - not least getting out of Cuba, where visas are as elusive as constant electricity. Segueing back and forth between heat-soaked Havana and the icy luxury of the mountainside resort, FIFTY GRAND is an audacious thriller from an acknowledged talent - and an incendiary debut for a new hero.

  Nice. To be in with a chance of winning a copy signed by the fair hand of the maestro himself, just answer the following question.

Is ‘Adrian McKinty’ almost an anagram for:
(a) Kinky Hadrian;
(b) Drincky Nadir;
(c) Dinky Radical;
(d) Where, Exactly, is the Dignity in All of This?

  Answers via the comment box please, leaving a contact email address (using (at) rather than @ to confuse the spam-munchkins) before noon on Tuesday, July 7th. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

Another week, another freebie giveaway, and this week the generous souls are Hachette Books Ireland, offering three signed copies of Twenty Major’s sophomore novel, ABSINTHE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER. First, the blurb elves:

It’s just days after the Folkapalooza concert and having saved the world, Twenty Major is looking forward to some R&R&G (Rest & Relaxation & Guinness) - but little does he know that someone from his murky past is about to surface ... Notorious Dublin gangster Tony Furriskey is calling in his marker. A while ago, he helped Twenty and Jimmy the Bollix out of a hole and the time has come for them to repay the favour ... or end up swimming with the Dublin Bay prawns. Twenty and Jimmy must follow a young man and his pals to Barcelona, where the stag weekend of Tony’s future son-in-law is taking place. Their job is to infiltrate the party and make sure, one way or another, that the wedding doesn’t happen ... In the city of Gaudi and Picasso, Twenty, Jimmy, Stinking Pete and Dirty Dave are more gaudy and pick-arse as they try to enjoy the cheap mojitos and Mediterranean sun, while making sure the job gets done. But Twenty’s Barcelona past is about to catch up with him.

  Nice. To be in with a chance of winning one of these signed copies, just answer the following question.

Was Twenty Major’s debut novel called …?
(a) THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX PARK;
(b) BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX PARK;
(c) THE PHOENIX HAS LANDED IN THE PHOENIX PARK;
(d) THE CORRECT PLURAL OF ALBATROSS IS ‘ALBATROSSI’, NOT ‘ALBATROSSES’.

  Answers via the comment box, leaving a contact email address (using (at) rather than @ to confuse the spam munchkins), before noon on Monday, March 23rd. Et bon chance, mes amis …

The Best Things In Life Are Free … Books

Christy Kenneally’s latest offering, TEARS OF GOD, sounds like a cracker, and we have three copies to give away courtesy of the kindly folk at Hodder Headline Ireland. First, the blurb elves:

Father Michael Flaherty returns to his island home to hide from the world, knowing that those he loves are in danger simply because he is alive. But try as he might, he can’t escape his past - and soon an assassin’s dying message makes him realise that he must face his enemy one final time to rid himself of the evil that threatens everything and everyone he holds dear. He finds himself in Jerusalem - the most volatile city on earth. As the Ghost, the malevolent director of the CIA, schemes to blindside the new American president and play Christians, Jews and Muslims off against one another and lead them to the brink of war, Michael Flaherty is involved in the much more simple game of who should live and who should die. And a Crusader Knight has just one question - ‘Where are the Tears of God?’

  No, God’s tears are not ‘the rain’ – that’s a whole precipitation-evaporation-precipitation dealio. To be in with a chance of winning a copy of TEARS OF GOD, just answer the following question.

Does God cry:
(a) tears of sorrow;
(b) tears of joy;
(c) the tears of a clown;
(d) from hay fever, mainly?

  Answers via the comment box, please, leaving a snail-mail or contact address (using (at) rather than @ to confuse the spam-munchkins), before noon on Saturday, March 14. Et bon chance, mes amis …