January 2009 Blog Posts (196)

chikatilo: The evil man

This is somewhat of a daunting task but I'm going to attempt it anyway because the subject intrigues me.

I am going to write about Andrei Chikatilo, the serial killer accused of murdering 52 women and children in the Russian SFSR (Sovetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika).

I have recently finished reading Robert Cullen's "The Killer Department" and it is a fascinating story. Chikatilo is probably one of the most evil… Continue

Added by Gitte on January 19, 2009 at 9:11pm — No Comments

Thrillers and Crime Fiction- Feeding the addiction

Since attending ThrillerFest last year in NYC I have been absorbed with this genre. I find I like two kinds of thrillers.

I like the scary kind, like Karen Rose's can be. And I like the kind that make you wonder who the killer is and take you through the steps so you can almost feel like you're a detective too! I guess those are more crime fiction.

I have read a lot of the classics, a lot of romance, self help and horror. If something sounds inspirational I'll read that. I… Continue

Added by Sheila English on January 19, 2009 at 2:10pm — 12 Comments

Pariah now out in the UK

Pariah, my second "man just out of prison" novel being published by Serpent's Tail is now out in the UK, and all of the very early comments and reviews have just been great, from Ed Gorman, Ken Bruen, Crime Scene Scotland, and others, the reaction to this book is better than I could've hoped for. And now the latest review from The Bookbag:

"It's the kind of book that is going to spoil whatever I read next, as it's going to be found… Continue

Added by Dave Zeltserman on January 19, 2009 at 7:41am — No Comments

More Bath by Margot Justes

I don’t want you to think that I covered everything about the Roman Baths Museum-that is by no means possible in a short blog-the exquisite museum has much, much more to offer-I hope I whetted your appetite just a tiny bit.

As promised, there is more. Right next door to the Roman Baths Museum is the Pump Room, and what a room it is. It was the center of the ton-the social glittery whirl of the best English society-since 1706. It is, for lack of a better explanation a tea room, albeit… Continue

Added by Margot Justes on January 19, 2009 at 2:43am — No Comments

The Nemesis Cell wins New Covey Award

I'm thrilled to be able to announce that my forthcoming 4RV Publishing novel 'The Nemesis Cell' with artwork by the talented Graeme S Houston, was voted 'The Most Eye Catching Cover' in The New Covey Awards December Polls. This was the first time one of my books had been included in the Covey Awards and this is a great way to start the new year. Full details can be seen at… Continue

Added by Brian L Porter on January 18, 2009 at 7:40pm — No Comments

Just created a new book trailer for A KILLER WORKOUT

Reposted it with different background color on the slides. I think red on blue was too hard to read.

I'm so stoked--I spent all afternoon and just finished creating my own home-made book trailer for A KILLER WORKOUT and uploaded it to YouTube. Check it out! Do you guys think that opening picture is too racy? I'm going to do one now for the first book.…

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Added by Kathryn Lilley on January 18, 2009 at 6:30pm — 9 Comments

Travelers, Meet Me this Weekend!

As a reminder, today I have a book signing at the Borders in Gateway Center, 4420 Mitchellville Road, Bowie, MD, from noon to 4 pm.

I’m back to the airport tomorrow. This time it’s Ronald Reagan National Airport at the Borders Express on the concourse, from 10 am to 2 pm. I should catch the last folks flying in for Tuesday’s bash.

If you miss me in both places you can always order my novels through my web… Continue

Added by Austin S. Camacho on January 17, 2009 at 10:57pm — No Comments

Toy Box Killer

It is absolutely freezing outside and I am sitting here with a thick sweater on and a cup of hot chocolate with cream by my side. Somewhat of a contrast to the case I'm going to write about which is that of David Parker Ray and his girlfriend Cindy Lee Hendy. Scary stuff.

Parker Ray is also known as the toy box killer due to the fact that he would keep his victims in a torture chamber that he would call his toy box. This chamber was fully… Continue

Added by Gitte on January 17, 2009 at 9:58pm — No Comments

Starkweather

Robert Colvert, working the night shift at the Burlington Northern train yards, was to be the first victim of Charlie Starkweather, the American spree killer who murdered 11 people in Nebraska and Wyoming together with his under-age girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate in the 1950's. Apparently Charlie had tried to buy a stuffed toy on credit for Caril and Colvert had refused. Starkweather returned to the Lincoln gas station a couple of times with a loaded… Continue

Added by Gitte on January 17, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments

The ARCs are here! The ARCs are here!

Yesterday I opened a box of Advanced Review Copies (ARCs) of my May, 09 release, To Hell in a Handbasket. Even though this is my second published novel, I was still thrilled to hold a professionally printed version of my words in my hands, complete with a beautiful cover, bio, cover blurb, acknowledgments, etc. Now comes the hard part of deciding which lucky reviewers I will send those very few copies to. :-) My publisher sends out a couple dozen ARCs to the big-name reviewers and my copies go… Continue

Added by Beth Groundwater on January 17, 2009 at 2:53pm — 3 Comments

Money Shot Nominated for Edgar

My novel MONEY SHOT has been nominated for an Edgar award. Best Paperback Original.

Thanks to everyone who emailed about the news and congrats to all the other nominees!

BEST NOVEL

Missing by Karin Alvtegen (Felony & Mayhem Press)

Blue Heaven by C.J. Box (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Sins of the Assassin by Robert Ferrigno (Simon & Schuster - Scribner)

The Price of Blood by Declan Hughes (HarperCollins – William Morrow)

The Night Following… Continue

Added by Christa Faust on January 17, 2009 at 11:17am — 3 Comments

Preditors and Editors

I just thought I'd dart in here and let everyone know that the anthology A Death in Texas placed at #2 on the rankings:)...Of course, we're all excited...it takes quite a bit of contending to come in with a high rating!

Thanks to everyone on here who voted for it:) We appreciate it!

Loretta

Added by Loretta Wheeler on January 17, 2009 at 10:35am — No Comments

Modesty is the best policy - if your goal is obscurity

I just checked the comments on my last blog entry about becoming an Amazon reviewer. I. J. Parker and John Dishon questioned why I'd want to review my own book, and warned that it could destroy my credibility. So I'm hereby clarifying: no, I didn't review my own book on Amazon, but I did post some biographical information under the heading "Please allow me to introduce myself." (Mick Jagger's "Sympathy for the Devil" was running through my head, but I didn't source the quote - probably another… Continue

Added by Julie Lomoe on January 17, 2009 at 8:23am — 3 Comments

Athletes and Crime

Several months after he was charged with raping a South Carolina woman, former NFL running back David Meggett is in jail again, charged the other day with raping a 21-year-old woman in her North Charleston home. Meggett had been out on bond in connection with another sexual assault charge. Both South Carolina arrests occurred while Meggett was serving out two years probation for a 2006 sexual battery charge in North Carolina.

The running back played for the New York Giants, the New… Continue

Added by Christopher Valen on January 17, 2009 at 5:34am — 8 Comments

Swap - trailer

Here's a trailer for my novel, Swap, coming out this fall.

The question is, does this get you interested in the… Continue

Added by John McFetridge on January 17, 2009 at 5:09am — 3 Comments

The New Inspector Horton Marine Mystery Crime Novel

Here it is, the jacket cover for the NEW Inspector Horton Marine Mystery - Dead Man's Wharf- the fourth in the series. It will be published on 30 April 2009. It looks pretty sinister to me and I hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

Below is a preview of what's to come in Dead Man's Wharf. I'll be posting an extract from the book on my web site in due course. For now you can read extracts of Tide of Death and Deadly Waters, featuring… Continue

Added by Pauline Rowson on January 17, 2009 at 4:16am — No Comments

A psychopath

For years now I have loved reading true crime stories. Behavioral science really interests me and I'm drawn to people's dark side. Why do we do what we do? Most of the people I read about are defined as psychopaths and I'm going to explain a little about what that means.

A psychopath is a person who shows antisocial behavior and I'm going to explain more about what antisocial means in a bit. Psychopathy is a personality disorder, not to be confused with a psychotic disorder.The… Continue

Added by Gitte on January 17, 2009 at 3:29am — No Comments

Was Jack a woman?

An Australian scientist has been in London to take swabs from the envelope of "Openshaw letter", the one thought to be sent by Jack the Ripper to investigators.

Back in Brisbane he extracted the DNA and unfortunately the results were inconclusive but he managed to make a profile which concluded that Jack the Ripper might have been a woman!! This was also the suspicion of Frederick Abberline, the detective who led the investigation. You can read more about it here.

I find… Continue

Added by Gitte on January 17, 2009 at 3:28am — No Comments

De Salvo

I can't help thinking if I should just stick to watching documentaries instead of movies. Whenever I get my little greedy hands on a serial killer movie based on facts, I get so excited. And then so disappointed.

Yesterday I watched The Boston Strangler with Tony Curtis as Albert De Salvo (the strangler suspect). Curtis plays brilliantly but I thought the movie was very, very loosely based on the facts of the crimes.

A little about this figure known as The Boston… Continue

Added by Gitte on January 17, 2009 at 3:27am — 1 Comment

Lurker, looks around, squints, perplexed

Hello All.

New here. New-ish. Been lurking intermittently. Still sorting out the wherewithal of this place. Not much time as I've been writing flash fiction over at Six Sentences and redoing my website. I see there are a lot of knowledgeable, interesting people here though, and look forward to meeting up.

I write. Most recent is a flash series I'm doing on the afore-mentioned Six Sentences (which isn't exclusively crime, but is damn cool. http://sixsentences.blogspot.com/)… Continue

Added by ms.pamila on January 17, 2009 at 3:09am — No Comments