Interviewed at Murderous Musings

Here's a note that I've been interviewed for Murderous Musings, a cool blog by some cool writers like Beth Terrell, author of the excellent novel Racing the Devil.
I was asked some pretty good questions and hope I provide some entertaining answers.

Cut and Run (Joe Hunter) by Matt Hilton

You don't read Matt Hilton's books for the intricate mysteries or deep characterization. You do read them for the fast action. This new installment in the Joe Hunter series won't let you down. Traveling from Miami to Columbia we get an interesting glimpse into Hunter's past as it looks like an old enemy is back for revenge. As someone seems to be impersonating Hunter he needs to find out who is killing people using his name and is aided by some old friends.
If you love Andy McNabb, action movies or the Executioner novels this one's for you.

Free E-book: Sons of Spade Split Novella series

As a writer I’m always interested in new ways to get my stories out there. As a fan of the PI genre I’m always looking for ways to promote the genre and it’s writers. As a rock reporter I’m well aware of the split EP’s that artists use to promote their stuff. A split album (or split) is a music album which includes tracks by two or more separate artists.
A split allows more than one artist to split the production costs for one release. The same can also apply to the promotional costs of a single release. Splits also allow bands to expose their music directly to another band's fanbase. Usually, the bands on a split are of a similar musical genre.
The idea of a split seemed like a great way to reach my goals. So, I started to look for authors interested in participating. The first guy I thought of was Tim Wohlforth, since I’d been enjoying his short stories online and I figured he wasn’t popular enough yet. I was in luck, he was willing to provide me with a Jim Wolf short story.

The result is available for my visitors for free! Just e-mail me at jvdsteen@hotmail.com and put ''free split novella'' in the subject. Also, comments about this venture are welcome as well. If you're a crime writer and want to be featured in a split novella as well, let me know.

Favorite Sons of 2010

As I do every year I want to share with you my favorite PI-stuff of the year.

BEST PI NOVEL: Big Bang by Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins
BEST DEBUT: Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva
BEST NEW PI: Jimmy Boone (in This Wicked World) by Richard Lange
BEST ACTION SCENES: The Taking of Libbie, SD by David Housewright

Honorable mentions go to Lori Armstrong for her new series featuring Mercy Gunderson that promises to be as good as the Julie Collins books and Nick Quantrill for the most exciting non-US novel of the year.

Loose Ends Kill (Jim West) by Bob Doerr

Jim West (an ex-military investigator) investigates the murder of a friend's wife to get him out of jail. He soon discovers his friend's wife had a very active sex life, one that didn't always include her husband. Can the killer be found among her many lovers?
Jim is a professional investigator and a pretty tough guy. He just didn't come to live for me, however. The writing lacked a certain style or appeal, it lacked that special signature writers like Robert B. Parker, James Lee Burke or John Sanford have to make it stand out from the competition. The mystery didn't surprise me mucheither. All in all, not one of the better books in the genre to come out this year I'm afraid.