I. J. Parker's Blog – June 2009 Archive (4)

Kirkus offers grudging praise.

THE CONVICT'S SWORD was reviewed by Kirkus a day or so ago. Now, Kirkus has a reputation for grumpy reviews and a certain amount of snootiness, so I'm not too disappointed -- even if the reviewer misread Seimei's character. Subtlety doesn't always work. :) Here it is:

THE CONVICT'S SWORD

Author: Parker, I.J.

Review Date: JULY 01, 2009

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 418

Price (paperback): $$15.00

Publication Date: 8/1/2009 0:00:00

ISBN:… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on June 27, 2009 at 12:11am — 4 Comments

THE JAPAN TIMES reviews THE CONVICT'S SWORD

I've always been very grateful to the book reviewer of the JAPAN TIMES, Mark Schreiber, because he has faithfully covered the release of each of my novels. This time he has truly outdone himself:

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Eleventh-century lord cracks Kyoto crimes in the worst of times

By MARK SCHREIBER

THE CONVICT'S SWORD by I.J. Parker. New York: Penguin, 2009, 421 pp., $15 (paper)

In Shamus Award-winning mystery author's I.J.… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on June 22, 2009 at 2:15am — 6 Comments

Happy Days!

It's started, the best time of the year for the hard-working author: The first reviews are coming in.

Usually PUBLISHERS WEEKLY is the earliest. In this instance, I was blessed with a short review in THE DAILY BEAST last week. But now PUBLISHERS WEEKLY has arrived with a starred review:

The Convict's Sword: A Mystery of Eleventh-Century Japan I.J. Parker. Penguin, $15 paper (416p) ISBN 978-0-14-311579-3

In Parker's compelling fifth mystery set in feudal… Continue

Added by I. J. Parker on June 18, 2009 at 5:21am — 11 Comments

The first review of THE CONVICT'S SWORD

Well, it's a reviewlet, but very welcome. This one is by Christopher Gortner, a fellow author, and appears on the DAILY BEAST. We are still a month and a half from release, so I assume the ARCs are beginning to reach people.

The link is http://bit.ly/q3FpZ.

I like some of the phrases: "brutality-beneath-the-silk" and "This historical reads like a modern thriller." I wonder if I shocked Mr. Gortner. :)

Added by I. J. Parker on June 13, 2009 at 4:58am — 7 Comments