Crimespree issue 61 featuring CHRIS HOLM!   Our next issue will be shipping in a couple weeks, Chris Holm is on the cover with an interview from Erica Neubauer. Chris , along with Kristi Belcamino are both debuting new on going columns. There are some fun interviews including Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Lisa Brackman and Robert Crais and Lisa Scottoline along with great articles book and DVD reviews and other features.     If you need to subscribe or renew information is RIGHT HERE  ...

FALSE POSITIVE Andrew Grant December 2015 Ballantine Books Detective Cooper Devereaux can’t seem to stay off the suspension list—one thing after another just seems to land him hot water. But when a young boy named Ethan goes missing from his bed, Devereaux’s boss has no choice but to pull Devereaux from his latest time out to work the case. Ethan is an orphan who was adopted by a rich family and Devereaux along with his new partner Jan Loflin—herself just back from some time off after a stint in vice—immediately start looking into the family. It becomes quickly apparent, however, that there is a larger pattern to young Ethan’s disappearance, and Devereaux is going to have to pull on more than a few dangerous threads to rescue Ethan—and himself. Grant is a master at building suspense and moving the plot forward at nothing short of breakneck speed. This new character Devereaux is a fantastic mystery in and of himself—you can’t tell if he’s a good guy doing dangerous things to find the truth, or a dirty cop playing games within the system. The story itself is interspersed with tidbits about Devereax’s career missteps, which only add to the aura of mystery around him. Grant finds the perfect balance, keeping the reader right on a knife’s edge trying to decipher the enigma that is Cooper Devereaux. And while it’s obvious that his new partner Loflin is suspicious of him, it’s also obvious that Loflin is hiding more than a few secrets of her own. Grant really has a gift for creating a fascinating set-up, and for very unexpected twists. This is both a complicated and spellbinding plot, but also an emotionally charged one. Be prepared to devour this in one sitting. And that ending? It will leave your skin crawling—and begging for more. Erica Ruth...

Amazon has released the first trailer for the upcoming sophomore season of BOSCH. This season debuts on March 11th and will, according to Michael Connelly, draw from TRUNK MUSIC and, to a lesser extent, THE LAST COYOTE and THE...

Dan (and Kate): Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, Rob! We think it’s safe to say that between your work at the Mysterious Press, LitReactor, writing the continuing adventures of Ash McKenna, AND your most important job as new daddy… one could say you’re a pretty busy guy. With so much going on, how do you find the time to get anything done? Rob Hart: Most of the credit goes to my wife. My parents and my in-laws are a big help, in the sense that they will happily take the baby at a moment’s notice. But my wife is incredibly patient and understanding. She knows that this is a lot of ass-in-seat work, and sometimes I need to shackle myself to my computer. That said, I try to keep a balance. I am incredibly lucky to work some very cool jobs, but my wife and daughter come first. D (and K): Your debut novel, NEW YORKED, hit shelves this past June, 2015. In NEW YORKED, we meet your unlicensed PI Ash McKenna. Ash is described as being more of a “blunt instrument” than a traditional PI. Also, he has a “bent moral compass.” Ash strikes us very much like Batman, in the sense that he is so tied to his city, it’s a tent pole of his being. Tell us more about Ash, and his relationship with his hometown. RH: Ash is my id. He’s every bad decision I never made. He’s also, in my mind, a bit of a mash-up between a PI and a comic book vigilante. There’s a quote from the new Ms. Marvel that I love—and will probably be the epigraph of the fourth book—“Good is not a thing you are. It’s a thing you do.” I don’t think Ash is a very good person. He wants to be. And when push comes to shove, he’ll do what’s right, because it’s the right thing to do. Ash is part of a very particular class of New Yorker—the embittered native. New York used to be a very dangerous city. Not so much anymore. The population is booming, rents are skyrocketing, old businesses are being driven out. It sucks to love a thing and think you earned it and then it’s taken from you, even though it wasn’t really yours to own in the first place. That’s his relationship to the city, in a nutshell. D (and K): And now, with February 2016’s release of CITY OF ROSE, you dare to plop Ash on the West Coast? How can this possibly work??? (spoiler: It totally works.) RH: Moving Ash around keeps things fresh, for me as a writer, and I hope for the reader. But there’s also this thing about being a native New Yorker: You get stuck on the idea that you’ve seen it all. The thrust of the series is Ash growing up and finding his moral compass. The only way to do that was to put him in places where he was forced to engage with the world—and with himself—on a different level. D (and K): With the internet and social media, you don’t have to live down the block from other writers in order to be part of the mystery community. But living in New York and working at the Mysterious Press and LitReactor, some would say that you are at the epicenter of this amazing community. Please pull back the curtain a bit, and tell us more about this. RH: It’s a little trippy. I’ve got to do some very cool things—run a class taught by Chuck Palahniuk at LitReactor, watch Lee Child buy my book at The Mysterious Bookshop. It’s great to be part of a community, and to access that community from a couple of different angles. Especially because writing is such a solitary act. That said, I still feel like I’m at the kid’s table....

The Cyclops Initiative Book Three in the Jim Chapel series David Wellington William Morrow January 5, 2016 The Cyclops Initiative by David Wellington is a fast moving political thriller. It has a lot of the action of other thrillers but also emphasizes the dilemma of veterans returning home. This third book of the series is the best to date. The author commented, “My contract is up. I am hoping the series will be renewed since I enjoy writing about these characters. They have a lot more stories to be told.” The plot has a Predator drone destroying a cargo ship carrying radioactive materials at an inspection station in the Port of New Orleans. After another take down of power grids in California, intelligence strategists suspect a hacker somehow managed to commandeer the drones to carry out the attacks. Jim Chapel, a military intelligence officer, once a Special Forces commando, disagrees with his bosses’ conclusion that the culprit is a brilliant hacker known as Angel, someone he has worked closely with on past missions. She is the one person he trusts more than anybody and will do anything to clear her name. With the help of Angel, his ex-girlfriend Julia, and some other veterans who also lost limbs in war, Chapel tries to find who is behind this conspiracy that threatens his life, his friends lives, and the security of the US. Intertwined in this action packed story is the contrast between characters. Readers of Wellington’s previous books might remember Angel as being confident, secure, with a take no prisoners personality whose shoulder Jim could lean on. Yet, now on the run and away from her computers she is portrayed as pitiful, someone who does not know how to handle herself publicly. Taken out of her element she is seen as a person with real flaws and problems. Wellington wants the readers to wonder, “Is she a healthy person who found her place in the world or someone who needs help?” Wellington also contrasts the two sides of a warrior with the newly introduced character of Brent Wilkes versus Jim Chapel. Wilkes has the philosophy of “find, fix, and finish,” where he never worries about killing, does not talk about it, and just does it. On the other hand, Chapel uses his wit instead of his sniper skills, only killing someone as the last option. There is also the intriguing contrast of past and present generations. Angel represents the new generation who enjoys interpersonal relationships while on the computer. A powerful quote explains her philosophy; “I was never alone after I got my computer. Any time, day or night, somebody was out there, wanting to talk or share files or whatever.” Yet, Julia, Jim’s girlfriend and Angel’s older friend, cannot understand Angel’s lack of live communication, and how she is satisfied in being a social hermit. The story also points out the hypocrisy of politicians. Wellington does a great job of creating an action packed story centered around a major political conspiracy. He noted that the plot incorporates his own feelings, “Many politicians don’t see their constituencies as human beings, but rather as numbers on a page. I think they have disdain for the American people. For career politicians, on both sides of the aisle, it’s about how much power they can gain and not about how to help people. Politicians seem to forget that they are supposed to represent the people.” The book has a shout out to all those in the armed forces who fought in the different wars and lost limbs, being kept alive because of medical technology advances. Wellington commented, “I wanted to write about how those veterans who lost limbs still have a meaningful life. I hoped I showed how they cope differently, that their life will never be easy, and now it is much more complicated. For me, the struggle they are going through...

All things must eventually come to an end. Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles will come back for a thirteen episode Seventh season before driving off into the sunset. The news came, during the Television Critics Association Winter press tour, from TNT head honcho Kevin Reilly “That will be the final season, I think both ladies have had a really satisfying experience. I don’t know that they wouldn’t do anymore, but I think they felt very comfortable that it’s had a good run. It felt like it was time. Everyone said, ‘Let’s go out and finish 13 great ones and call it a day. “  The series, which is based on the works of Tess Gerritsen, has been TNT’s second biggest series, after only Kyra Segwick’s THE CLOSER. I checked out some of the other reports and it looks like contracts are still needed for the supporting cast, but I can’t imagine anyone not coming back for the last hurrah. After watching the first couple of seasons, I lost interest in the show. Not because it was bad, it simply was not my cup of tea. But having read a number of Tess’s novels, I totally see Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli, but the show’s version of Muara Isles is overly simplified. Regardless of my own thoughts, the show built an impressive following and helped give Miz Gerritsen some much deserved...

Jon sat down with Nicholas Petrie to talk about his debut thriller THE DRIFTER which drops on January 12th. It’s a great book and we think you will all love it....

In no particular order: Ava Black: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN – Paula Hawkins THE DAMNED – Andrew Pyper TWISTED – Andrew Kaufman A DARK LURE – Loreth Anne White EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES – Lisa Scottoline THE DARKEST HEART – Dan Smith NEW YORKED – Rob Hart Ayo Onatade: My favourite books of 2015 are a varied bunch. They are as follows fiction and non-fiction in no particular order and mainly as I have remembered them. Fiction PLEASANTVILLE by Attica Locke (Serpent’s Tail) THE TRUTH AND OTHER LIES by Sascha Arango (Simon and Schuster) THE KILLING KIND by Chris Holm (Mulholland Books) A SONG OF SHADOWS by John Connolly (Hodder and Stoughton) THE GHOSTS OF ALTONA by Craig Russell. (Quercus) SILVER BULLETS by Elmer Mendoza (MacLehose Press) ARAB JAZZ by Karim Miské (MacLehose Press) STEALING PEOPLE by Robert Wilson (Orion) BLOOD, SALT WATER by Denise Mina (Orion) THE BODY SNATCHER by Patrica Melo (Bitter Lemon Press) EVERY NIGHT I DREAM OF HELL by Malcolm Mckay (Pan MacMillan) CANARY by Duane Swiercznsky (Mulholland Books) Non Fiction REACHER SAID NOTHING: LEE CHILD AND THE MAKING OF MAKE ME by Dr Andy Martin (Bantam) CRIME UNCOVERED: DETECTIVE Edited by Barry Forshaw (Intellect) TOM ADAMS UNCOVERED: THE ART OF AGATHA CHRISTIE AND BEYOND by Tom Adams and John Curran (Harper Collins) THE GOLDEN AGE OF MURDER by Martin Edwards (Harper Collins) LITTLE GREY CELLS: THE QUOTABLE POIROT Edited by David Brawn (Harper Collins) Bryan VanMeter: Clive Barker the SCARLET GOSPELS Chuck Wendig STAR WARS: AFTERMATH shane Kuhn HOSTILE TAKEOVER Alex Grecian THE HARVEST MAN Daniel Kraus THE LIFE AND DEATH OF ZEBULON FINCH Erik Larson DEAD WAKE Jason Starr SAVAGE LANE Joelle Charbonneau NEED Sean Chercover the DEVILS GAME Victor gischler GESTAPO MARS Chris Holm: Thanks to a crazy writing year, there are loads of 2015 titles I’m dying to read that I haven’t gotten to yet, so consider this list partial at best. I’d say it’s in no particular order, but that’s not true; I couldn’t help but alphabetize. Megan Abbott THE FEVER Lou Berney THE LONG AND FARAWAY GONE David Mitchell THE BONE CLOCKS (which, okay, came out in 2014, but I didn’t read it until 2015) Stuart Neville THOSE WE LEFT BEHIND Ann Rule THE STRANGER BESIDE ME (yes, this book’s damn near as old as I am, but I’m including it here because Rule died in 2015, and the heartfelt eulogies from her fans encouraged me to pick it up) Dan Malmon: RUMRUNNERS by Eric Beetner (280 Steps) THE FURY OF BLACKY JAGUAR by Angel Luis Colon (One Eye Press) STAY by Victor Gischler (St. Martin’s Press) NEW YORKED by Rob Hart (Polis Books) SAVAGE LANE by Jason Starr (Polis Books) TOP 5 COMICS OF 2015 Dr. Strange by Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo- Marvel Unbeatable Squirrel Girl by Ryan North and Erica Henderson- Marvel Insufferable by Mark Waid and Peter Krause- IDW Black Hood by Duane Swierczynski and Michael Gaydos- Archie Comics/ Dark Circle Secret Wars- Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic- Marvel Erica Ruth Neubauer: THE LONG AND FAR AWAY GONE by Lou Berney THE SHORT DROP by Matthew FitzSimmons FALSE POSITIVE by Andrew Grant THE KILLING KIND by Chris Holm THOSE WE LEFT BEHIND by Stuart Neville CRACKED by Barbra Leslie LITTLE PRETTY THINGS by Lori Rader-Day THE CATALAIN BOOK OF SECRETS by Jess Lourey THE FRAUD by Brad Parks TROUBLE IS A FRIEND OF MINE by Stephanie Tromly THE FATAL FLAME by Lyndsay Faye FLAME OUT by MP Coole Jon Jordan: Novels: BRUSH BACK by Sara Paretsky CHARLOTTE’S STORY by Laura Benedict THE DEVIL’S GAME by Sean Chercover FALSE POSITIVE by Andrew Grant HERBIE’S GAME by Tim Hallinan THE KILLING KIND by Chris Holm LITTLE PRETTY THINGS by Lori Rader-Day MURDER ON THE CHAMP DE MARS by Cara Black ONCE SHADOWS FALL Robert Daniels STAY by Victor Gicshler SPLINTER THE SILENCE by Val McDermid THOSE WE...

STAR WARS:  THE FORCE AWAKENS Episode Seven in the Series Directed by J. J. Abrams Written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams, Michael Arndt Based on Characters by George Lucas Starring Daisey Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Oscar Isaac There is very little point in my summarizing a movie that I am sure most of you have seen and also one that has already been analyzed by keener minds than mine. Just a few words then-the film-makers have done an outstanding job of anticipating just what was needed to get this series back on track: a new group of winning heroes, the old group of winning heroes, a villain to match Darth Vader, some great new creatures, some great old creatures, a plot that is more than serviceable, effects that will thrill you, lots of humor, lots of excitement. I can hardly think of a negative to throw out here. Perhaps a bit too calculating, a bit too on the nose. But hey, you’d be crazy to pass it up if there’s any kid left in you. Patti Abbott In addition to being the Crimespree Senior Film Critic, Patti has penned numerous short stories and her debut novel, CONCRETE ANGEL, is in stores now. She hosts a look at Forgotten Books every Friday with readers, writers and reviewers at pattinase.blogspot.com. She hopes you’ll join...