Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Fourth Day (Charlie Fox) by Zoë Sharp


Charlie Fox has often been dubbed the female Jack Reacher. That's doing this character a bit short, though. Sure, she's ex-military and knows how to kick ass, but she's a whole different person than Reacher. While Reacher's main problems are if he'll manage to sleep with the attractive women who walk on stage and if he'll manage to survive the bad guys assaults Charlie also has a lot more personal problems to deal with. This makes this series extra attractive to female readers who don't think Reacher is a heartthrob and the series too much focused on violence.
In this particular novel she, along with her boyfriend Sean, are hired to get Thomas Whitney out of a mysterious cult. Charlie has a very personal secret though, a secret that puts her relationship with Sean to the test. It's that secret that adds raw, honest emotion to the fast-paced action and violence and makes Zoe Sharp's work stand out from that of writers like Lee Child, Andy McNabb and Vince Flynn.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

The nominees are...

The nominees are in for the Shamus Award of the Private Eye Writers of America:

Best Hardcover P.I. Novel:
• The Silent Hour, by Michael Koryta (Minotaur)
• Where the Dead Lay, by David Levien (Doubleday)
• Locked In, by Marcia Muller (Grand Central)
• Schemers, by Bill Pronzini (Forge)
• My Soul to Take, by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (William Morrow)

Best First P.I. Novel:
• Loser’s Town, by Daniel Depp (Simon & Schuster)
• The Last Gig, by Norman Green (Minotaur)
• The Good Son, by Russel D. McLean (Minotaur)
• Faces of the Gone, by Brad Parks (Minotaur)
• Chinatown Angel, by A.E. Roman (Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original P.I. Novel:
• Dark Side of the Morgue, by Raymond Benson (Leisure)
• Sinner’s Ball, by Ira Berkowitz (Three Rivers Press)
• Red Blooded Murder, by Laura Caldwell (Mira)
• Vengeance Road, by Rick Mofina (Mira)
• Body Blows, by Marc Strange (Dundurn)

Best P.I. Short Story:
• “The Dark Island,” by Brendan DuBois (from Boston Noir, edited by Dennis Lehane; Akashic)
• “Deadline Edition,” by S.L. Franklin (Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, April 2009)
• “Blazin’ on Broadway,” by Gary Phillips (from Phoenix Noir, edited by Patrick Millikin; Akashic)
• “Suicide Bonds,” by Tim L. Williams (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, March/April 2009)
• “Julius Katz,” by Dave Zeltserman (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, September/October 2009)

The names of this year’s Shamus winners will be announced in October.
My personal favorites: The Good Son and Sinner's Ball. And isn't it ironic that many nominees are not from America?