David Thayer

Two Killer Year authors, Sandra Ruttan and Marcus Sakey, have books coming out next month, the first of several releases from the group of debut novelists. SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES is Sandra’s novel about a reporter and a cop in a corrupt town. Is a video depicting a woman’s death a hoax or the real thing? The novel ponders the issue of power and responsibility for journalists as well as cops.

THE BLADE ITSELF will be released January 7. The title comes from a quote by Homer: “The blade itself incites to violence.” Set in Chicago, the story lives up to Homer’s warning as a burglary goes haywire. One man goes to jail while his partner goes straight. Seven years later they meet again and you know that’s not gonna work.

Both of these writers are gifted and smart. The blurbs attached to them are astounding: Ruttan has Cornelia Read, Clive Cussler and Anne Frasier going to bat for her while Sakey has garnered praise from Ken Bruen, George Pelecanos, Lee Child, Victor Gischler, TJ Parker, and Sarah Weinman. Blurbs like these open doors in the pre-pub frenzy, enticing buyers and bookstores to stock the titles.

Killer Year also includes JT Ellison, Sean Chercover, Patry Francis, Jason Pinter, Brett Battles, Dave White, Bill Cameron, Marc Lecard, Robert Gregory Browne, Derek Nikitas, Gregg Olsen, and Toni McGee Causey in their class of 2007. They’ve arranged a mentorship program with members of the International Thriller Writers, founded by David Morrell, Gayle Lynds, Raelynn Hillhouse and others.

Your reporter will try to keep current with these folks as pub dates approach. The Druidical & Literary has many ace reporters: if Olivia Earthwindandfire quits Belvedere Castle we’ll be fully staffed for next year. Come back Olivia. You can do the cool interviews.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 9th, 2006 at 7:54 am and is filed under Crime Fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.