Monday, April 30, 2018

Monday Interview: Chris DeWildt


Heads up! Chris Dewildt has a new book hitting the racks on May 4th. Shotgun Honey is excited to present SUBURBAN DICK and having had the chance to read this suspenseful, eclectic private eye tale I can highly recommend. He's outdone himself.




Private Eye Gus Harris isn’t paid to be nice. Problem is he isn’t paid for much of anything these days. Recently divorced, all Gus wants is a little business to keep his one-man operation afloat and a chance to be a part of his kids’ lives. So when a pair of distraught parents come calling for help locating their missing son, it appears Gus’s luck may be changing.
Gus investigates the boy’s disappearance and discovers something rotten with the Horton High school wrestling team. He soon realizes the missing boy may not be missing at all, but rather part of an elaborate embezzlement scheme that serves to keep the team at peak performance and the college scholarships rolling in. Gus is certain that popular high school wrestling coach Geoff Hanson knows more than he’s willing to admit, but has no idea just how far the man is willing to go to keep his secrets from coming to light.
As the lines between Gus’s work and home life are blurred and Gus finds himself not only trying to crack the case, but also protecting the people most dear to him from Hanson’s vengeful wrath.

Chris kindly agreed to answer a few questions about his newest offering and how he came to write SUBURBAN DICK.

DSD: I feel like I know Gus Harris. He's a decent guy. Trying to do the right thing. Most of the time. Not asking for a giant piece of the American pie. Just a bite. I wonder, who was your inspiration for the highly relatable Gus?

Chris: Me. Without taking this whole thing too seriously, Gus's drive, passion for his work , and self interest are not that far removed from publishing. It's about chasing passions at the expense of everything.

DSD: What is your favorite thing about Gus?

Chris: My favorite thing is how much he loves his kids. Least favorite is his selfishness. Selfishness with his time that is. He would choose his family again and again, but he's his own worst enemy. He'd fuck it up again and again.

DSD: You've created such a realistic setting and developed real-world problems. With the story centering around high school athletic programs, juicing, and the heavy hand of organized religion, where do you find your inspiration?




Chris: Gus's world, Horton, is a fictionalized version of my home town. KILL 'EM WITH KINDNESS was set there too, as well as my novella CANDY and CIGARETTES. It's a place I love, and I know it better than anywhere else. But the religion and the dark shit all stems from there. I knew guys who used steroids and I'd done a lot of research years back for a different unpublished project and always wanted to come back to it. So here we are.

DSD: Are you working on another Gus adventure?

Chris: I am. New case, new set of family problems. Maybe a relocation, but you know, he's still a dick.

DSD: Wouldn't have it any other way.



Please stop by Amazon and check out SUBURBAN DICK by Chris DeWildt.




Sunday, April 29, 2018

Best First Novel


Jordan Harper, SHE RIDES SHOTGUN
A propulsive, gritty novel about a girl marked for death who must fight and steal to stay alive, learning from the most frightening man she knows—her father.
Eleven-year-old Polly McClusky is shy, too old for the teddy bear she carries with her everywhere, when she is unexpectedly reunited with her father, Nate, fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car. He takes her from the front of her school into a world of robbery, violence, and the constant threat of death. And he does it to save her life.
Nate made dangerous enemies in prison—a gang called Aryan Steel has put out a bounty on his head, counting on its members on the outside to finish him off. They’ve already murdered his ex-wife, Polly’s mother. And Polly is their next target.
Nate and Polly’s lives soon become a series of narrow misses, of evading the bad guys and the police, of sleepless nights in motels. Out on the lam, Polly is forced to grow up early: with barely any time to mourn her mother, she must learn how to take a punch and pull off a drug-house heist. She finds herself transforming from a shy little girl into a true fighter. Nate, in turn, learns what it’s like to love fiercely and unconditionally—a love he’s never quite felt before.
"From its bravura prologue to its immensely satisfying ending, this first novel comes out with guns blazing and shoots the chambers dry. It’s both a dark, original take on the chase novel and a strangely touching portrait of a father-daughter relationship framed in barbed wire." - Booklist (starred review)


Deborah E. Kennedy, TORNADO WEATHER
Five-year-old Daisy Gonzalez’s father is always waiting for her at the bus stop. But today, he isn’t, and Daisy disappears. When Daisy goes missing, nearly everyone in town suspects or knows something different about what happened. And they also know a lot about each other. The immigrants who work in the dairy farm know their employers’ secrets. The hairdresser knows everything except what’s happening in her own backyard. And the roadkill collector knows love and heartbreak more than anyone would ever expect. They are all connected, in ways small and profound, open and secret.
Moving…Complex, interlocking plotlines…A narrative that shifts its lenses continually and deliberately, playing with degrees of identification as it slides among more than a dozen viewpoints…Well-crafted, humane, and energetic novel.” - New York Times Book Review


Winnie M. Li, DARK CHAPTER
Vivian is a cosmopolitan Taiwanese-American tourist who often escapes her busy life in London through adventure and travel. Johnny is a 15-year-old Irish teenager, living a neglected life on the margins of society. He has grown up in a family where crime is customary, violence is a necessity, and everything--and anyone--can be yours for the taking.
As Vivian looks to find her calling professionally, she delights in exploring foreign countries, rolling hillsides, and new cultures. And as a young, single woman, she has grown used to experiencing life on her own. But all of that changes when, on one bright spring afternoon in West Belfast, Vivian's path collides with Johnny and culminates in a horrifying act of violence.
In the aftermath of the incident, both Johnny and Vivian are forced to confront the chain of events that led to the attack. Vivian must struggle to recapture the woman that she was and the woman she aspired to be, while dealing with a culture and judicial system that treats assault victims as less than human. Johnny, meanwhile, flees to the sanctity of his transitory Irish clan.                
"A heart-wrenching depiction of a dreadful crime and its horrifying aftermath. Brave, raw and strikingly original, it is a story that will resonate for many years." - Daily Mail (UK)


Melissa Scrivner Love, LOLA
The Crenshaw Six are a small but up-and-coming gang in South Central LA who have recently been drawn into an escalating war between rival drug cartels. To outsiders, the Crenshaw Six appear to be led by a man named Garcia . . . but what no one has figured out is that the gang's real leader (and secret weapon) is Garcia's girlfriend, a brilliant young woman named Lola. Lola has mastered playing the role of submissive girlfriend, and in the man's world she inhabits she is consistently underestimated. But in truth she is much, much smarter--and in many ways tougher and more ruthless--than any of the men around her, and as the gang is increasingly sucked into a world of high-stakes betrayal and brutal violence, her skills and leadership become their only hope of survival.  
"Achingly beautiful...Lola is going to get compared to Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo…But Scrivner Love does better than Steig Larson by creating a female character who is not just standing up to males, she’s actually reconstructing gender for herself and her community.” - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel



Emily Ruskovich, IDAHO
Ann and Wade have carved out a life for themselves from a rugged landscape in northern Idaho, where they are bound together by more than love. With her husband’s memory fading, Ann attempts to piece together the truth of what happened to Wade’s first wife, Jenny, and to their daughters. In a story written in exquisite prose and told from multiple perspectives—including Ann, Wade, and Jenny, now in prison—we gradually learn of the mysterious and shocking act that fractured Wade and Jenny's lives, of the love and compassion that brought Ann and Wade together, and of the memories that reverberate through the lives of every character in Idaho.
In a wild emotional and physical landscape, Wade’s past becomes the center of Ann’s imagination, as Ann becomes determined to understand the family she never knew . . .
“You know you’re in masterly hands here. [Emily] Ruskovich’s language is itself a consolation, as she subtly posits the troubling thought that only decency can save us. . . . Ruskovich’s novel will remind many readers of the great Idaho novel, Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping. . . .  [A] wrenching and beautiful book." - The New York Times Book Review



2018 Anthony Awards - Eligible Titles - Final Push

By Jay Stringer

These are eligible titles, not final nominations. It's also not an exhaustive list, feel free to add more in the comments. 

The nominations period is about to close. Get moving. 


BEST NOVEL

Blame - Jeff Abbott
The Secrets on Chicory Lane - Raymond Benson
The Savage - Frank Bill
Love Like Blood - Mark Billingham
Dead Woman Walking - Sharon Bolton
Another Man's Ground - Claire Booth
In Farleigh's Field - Rhys Bowen
A Killer Harvest - Paul Cleeve
Give Up the Dead - Joe Clifford
the Late Show - Michael Connelly
Blood Truth - Matt Coyle
The Seagull - Ann Cleeves
Winterlong - Mason Cross
Cottonmouths - Kelly J Ford
A Negro and an Ofay - Danny Gardner
The Long Count - JM Gulvin
The Mentor - Lee Matthew Goldberg
The Chalk Pit - Elly Griffiths
Every Day Above Ground - Glen Erik Hamilton
She Rides Shotgun - Jordan Harper
The Woman From Prague - Rob Hart
The Magpie Murders - Anthony Horowitz
The Weight of This World - David Joy.
Seven Suspects - Renee James
Bury the Past - James L'Etoile
The Last Place You Look - Kristen Lepionka
Insidious Intent - Val McDermid
House. Tree. Person. - Catriona McPherson
Everything You Want Me To Be - Mindy Meija
The Long Drop - Denise Mina
Lightning Men - Thomas Mullen
Dangerous to Know - Renee Patrick
Lightwood - Steph Post
Hellhound on my Tail - J.D. Rhoades
Murderabilia - Craig Robertson
Marshall's Law - Ben Sanders
Dangerous Ends - Alex Segura
World Enough - Clea Simon
City of Lies - Victoria Thompson
The Red  Hunter - Lisa Unger
Protocol - Kathleen Valenti
The Force - Don Winslow
The Corruptions - Vincent Zandri

BEST FIRST NOVEL

Double Wide - Leo Banks
Deep Down Dead - Steph Broadribb  
Where The Sun Shines Out - Kevin Catalano
All Things Violent - Nikki Dolson
Heaven's Crooked Finger - Hank Early
Hollywood Homicide - Kellye Garrett
The Dry - Jane Harper
Ragged - Chris Irvin
Dark Chapter - Winnie M  Li
The Irregular - H.B. Lyle
If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio

BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

Hardway - Hector Acosta
Path into Darkness - Lisa Alber
Knuckledragger - Rusty Barnes
The Blade This Time - Jon Bassoff
The Quiet Child - John Burley
Blacky Jaguar Against the Cool Clux Cult - Angel Luis Colón
Desert Remains - Steven Cooper
The Art Of Murder - Casey Doran
Idyll Years - Stephanie Gayle
Reconciliation For The Dead - Paul Hardisty
The Exiled - Kati Hiekkapelto
The Woman in the Camphor Trunk - Jennifer Kincheloe
The Rebellions Last Traitor - Nik Korpon
A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps - Nick Kolakowski
The Soak - Patrick McLean 
Uncorking A Lie - Nadine Nettman
Bad Boy Boogie - Thomas Pluck
What We Reckon - Eryk Pruitt
The Day I Died - Lori Rader-Day
Imperial Valley - Johnny Shaw
Hunger Moon - Alexandra Sokoloff
Blind To Sin - Dave White
Cast The First Stone -James Ziskin

BEST SHORT STORY

Roja Muerta - Hector Acosta - Killing Malmon
Name That Killer - J.D. Allen - The Carolina Crimes
How You Did It - Eric Beetner - Killing Malmon
Home is..... - Jerry Broomfield - Beat To A Pulp
Trial Of Madame Pelletier - Susanna Calkins - Murder Most Historical
Episode Four: Raven and The Cave Girl vs. Dan Malmon! - Dana Cameron - Killing Malmon
Love That Dirty Water - Matthew Clemens - Killing Malmon
God's Gonna Cut You Down - Jen Conley - Just To Watch Them Die
Missouri Waltz - Sarah M. Chen - Just To Watch Them Die
Masterpiece - Sarah M. Chen - Killing Malmon
Blacky Jaguar Might Avengue You, Dan Malmon - Angel Luis Colón Killing Malmon
My Side of the Matter - Hilary Davidson Killing Malmon
The Unseen Opponent - P. A. De Voe - Mystery Most Historical 
Ice Cream, Dan? - Cory Funk - Killing Malmon
Straight Fire - Danny Gardner - Killing Malmon
Millions of Hungry Mouths - Paul J. Garth - Killing Malmon
Crazy Cat Lady - Barb Goffman - Black Cat Mystery Magazine
Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Barb Goffman - 50 Shades of Cabernet
The Hug - Rob Hart - Killing Malmon Killing Malmon
To the Moon and Back - Kristn Kisska - DAY OF THE DARK 
Send 'im A Chicago Sunset - Nik Korpon - Hard Sentences
Rose of my Heart - Nik Korpon - Hard Sentences
The Nebbish - Ed Kurtz Killing Malmon
25 Minutes To Go - S.W. Lauden - Just To Watch Them Die
Reunion - S.W. Lauden - Killing Malmon
The Many Deaths of Dan Malmon - Russel D. McLean
The Last Issue - Jeff Macfee Killing Malmon
Smiling Gnome - J. Michael Major - Mystery Weekly Magazine
Tuesday - Erin Mitchell Killing Malmon
Laundry Day - Erica Ruth Neubauer - Killing Malmon
Malmon's Last Moments - Brad Parks - Killing Malmon
Truth Comes Out of her Well to Shame Mankind - Thomas Pluck - Alive in Shape and Color
Deadbeat - Thomas Pluck - Down & Out: The Magazine
Russian Roulette - Tomas Pluck - Killing Malmon
The Nicest Guy in Town - Bryon Quertermous Killing Malmon
I Know They're In There - Travis Richardson - The Obama Inheritance
Studs Winslow and the Karate Island of Emperor Malmon - Todd Robinson - Killing Malmon 
Master Pandemonium - Alex Segura - Killing Malmon
Streak - Jeff Shelby - Killing Malmon
Good Evening, Pigtown - Nathan Singer - Killing Malmon
Guardian of Galaxy Street - Josh Stallings Killing Malmon
How To Not Find Somebody In Houston - Liam Sweeny - Betrayed
The Panda Heist - Jay Stringer - Killing Malmon
Well Dead - RD Sullivan - Killing Malmon
Fairy Tales - Art Taylor - Black Cat Mystery Magazine 
A Necessary Ingredient — Art Taylor — Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea
Kill Malmon - Bryan VanMeter - Killing Malmon
Money For Nothing - Holly West - Killing Malmon
Don't Want The World To Burn - Dave White - Killing Malmon

BEST CRITICAL/NON-FICTION BOOK

From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon - Bostrom, Matthias

Manderley Forever: A Biography of Daphne du Maurier - de Rosnay, Tatiana
 Murder in the Closet: Essays on Queer Clues in Crime Fiction Before Stonewall - Evans, Curtis
Killers Of The Flower Moon - David Grann
American Fire - Monica Hesse
Chester B. Himes: A Biography - Jackson, Lawrence
Rewrite Your Life - Jess Loury
Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes - Sims, Michael
The End of Policing - Alex Vitale

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Just To Watch Them Die: Crime Fiction Inspired By The Songs Of Johnny Cash - Ed Joe Clifford 
Meat City (And Other Assorted Debacles) - Angel Luis Colón 
Nothing You Can Do - Ed Kurtz
Killing Malmon - Editors Kate & Dan Malmon 
Hard Sentences - Ed David James Keaton and Joe Clifford
Coast to Coast: Private Eyes from Sea to Shining Sea -ed by Andrew McAleer and Paul D. Marks
Passport To Murder - Ed John McFetridge
The Obama Inheritance - Ed Gary Phillips
Betrayed: Powerful Stories of Kick-Ass Crime Survivors - Ed Pam Stack
Killer Women: Crime Club Anthology 2: The Body

BEST ONLINE CONTENT

BOLO Books 
Carstairs Considers
Crimespree
Do Some Damage 
Dru's Book Musings
LitReactor
The Rap Sheet
The Reading Room
Sirens Of Suspense
Sleuthsayers
The Thrill Begins 
Two Crime Writers And A Microphone 
Unlawful Acts
Writer Types 

BILL CRIDER AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL IN A CONTINUING SERIES(Part of a series having published at least three books, one of which must be in 2017)

Path into Darkness - Lisa Alber
Everglade - Greg Barth
Blessed Are the Peacekeepers - Kristi Belcamino
Love Like Blood - Mark Billingham
The Lost Woman - Sara Blaedel
The Ghost of Christmas Past - Rhys Bowen
Murder in Shadow - Anne Cleeland
Give Up the Dead - Joe Clifford
Blood Truth - Matt Coyle
Garden of Lamentations - Deborah Crombie
The Deep, Dark Descending - Allen Eskins
Marathon - Brian Freeman
The Blood Card - Elly Griffiths
Woman From Prague - Rob Hart
City of Saviours - Rachel Howzell Hall
Prussian Blue - Philip Kerr
Remo Went Down - Mike McCrary
Imperial Valley - Johnny Shaw
The House of Unexpected Sisters - Alexander McCall Smith
Silent Rain - Karin Salvalaggio
Dangerous Ends - Alex Segura
An Unsettling Crime for Samuel Craddock -Terry Shames
Flashpoint - Derek Thompson
Murder in the Bowery - Victoria Thompson