Fuse of Armageddon by Sigmund Brouwer and Hank Hanegraaff is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Fuse of Armageddon by Sigmund Brouwer and Hank Hanegraaff as today's free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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Fuse of Armageddon by Sigmund Brouwer and Hank Hanegraaff
Non-Series
Tyndale House

About Fuse of Armageddon (from the publisher): Nothing more could go wrong for maverick hostage negotiator Mulvaney Quinn. First stabbed in the hand during a failed terrorist bust, then arrested for a hate crime he didn't commit. Now Quinn must come face to face with his past in order to stop the worst terrorist threat of all time — a plot to bring about the ultimate religious uprising by destroying one of the most sacred relics in history.

But the Fuse of Armageddon has already been lit. With the clock ticking down toward a global catastrophe, Quinn must team up with the most unlikely ally of all — the woman who arrested him — to bring down an even more unlikely coalition of enemies. Facing an unholy trinity of a Jewish fanatic, a Muslim terrorist, and a "Christian" freedom fighter, only Quinn can stop them from achieving their goal. But will he be in time? Or is it already too late? Because when Armageddon is unleashed, the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Chicago Area Libraries to Host Love is Murder Mini-Conferences in November

Chicago-area residents have the opportunity next month to get a peek into a mystery author's thought process and gain insight into the business side of an author's life at one of two "Love is Murder" mini-conferences being held during November.

Libraries in Waukegan and Lincolnshire will host local-area authors, who will discuss the joys — and challenges — of publishing. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions, mingle with the authors and network with other attendees.

As a special bonus, one registered participant at each even will win a ticket to Love is Murder XIII Mystery Writers' Conference, to be held at the InterContinental Chicago O'Hare in February 2012, a prize valued at $275.

The mini-conferences are free to attend, but registration is required to be entered into the raffle.

Writers Revealed: Mystery Writers Panel
Saturday, November 5th, 2011, 1 to 3 PM
Waukegan Public Library, 128 N. County St., Waukegan IL
To register call (847) 623-2041 or visit WaukeganPL.org
Featured authors are Andrew Grant, Shane Gericke, Tasha Alexander, and Luisa Buehler

Love is Murder Mini-Con
Saturday, November 12th, 2011, 2 to 4 PM
Vernon Area Public Library, 300 Olde Half Day Rd., Lincolnshire
To register call (847) 634-3650 or visit VAPLD.info
Featured authors are Raymond Benson, Michael Harvey, Jeffrey Small, and Robert Goldborough

Note: The Vernon Area Library event will be preceded by an Agatha Christie presentation with actress Betsy Means at 1 PM.

Review: Covenant by Dean Crawford

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Covenant by Dean Crawford.

Review: A Double Death on the Black Isle by A. D. Scott

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: A Double Death on the Black Isle by A. D. Scott.

Reviews of Mystery and Suspense Books for Kids, New This Week on Book Trends (111029)

Book Trends, a review site for young adult and children books, published several new book reviews this past week. We're presenting here a summary of those in the mystery/suspense/thriller category.

The Black Heart Crypt by Chris Grabenstein. The 4th book in the "Haunted Mystery" series. Lexile measure: N/A. Reviewed by a 6th grade student, who writes, "[This book] is so good I did not want to put it down. When I finished I was left wanting to read more! I had never read a book written by Chris Grabenstein, but now I am compelled to read more of his books. If you like mystery, suspense, and a little bit of humor, then I would highly recommend this book." (Read the full review here.)

For more reviews of children and young adult books of all genres, visit Book Trends; their reviews will amaze you! You can also follow Book Trends on Twitter.

Review: The Concert Killer by R. J. McDonnell

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: The Concert Killer by R. J. McDonnell.

Review: Deadly Pursuit by Irene Hannon

Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Deadly Pursuit by Irene Hannon.

Fortunes of War by Gordon Zuckerman is Today's Featured Free MystereBook

MystereBooks is pleased to feature Fortunes of War by Gordon Zuckerman as today's free mystery ebook. We don't know how long it will be offered at this special price (typically only until a certain number of downloads have been completed), so we urge you to download it while it is still available for free.

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Fortunes of War by Gordon Zuckerman
Non-Series
Greenleaf

About Fortunes of War (from the publisher): In the financial devastation of the 1930s, a greedy, power-hungry group of German industrialists plot to usher in the National Socialist Party in order to rearm Germany and reap the financial rewards. Thus rises Hitler. With Hitler in power, the Six Sentinels, graduates of an elite American doctoral program, uncover the industrialists' plan to hoard hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal war profits. Using their financial and familial connections around the globe, they work to foil the machinations of the financiers of the Third Reich. In a daring strategy of Robin Hood style thievery, the sentinels put their lives on the line to serve justice — and thus become embroiled in a dangerous and violent international conspiracy.

Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.

Download Link(s):

Amazon Free Kindle Edition Download Link.

B&N Free Nook Book Download Link.

Apple Free iBook Download Link (via iTunes).

For more free mystery ebooks, visit our Free MystereBooks page.

Winner of the 2011 T. Jefferson Parker Mystery Award Announced

Earlier this week the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association (SCIBA) awards were handed out, with Savages by Don Winslow winning the 2011 T. Jefferson Parker Mystery Award, named in honor of the crime novelist, a lifelong resident of the area.

Winslow has previously been honored with a Shamus Award for Best PI Hardcover in 2000 and two Falcon Awards.

(Hat tip to The Rap Sheet for alerting us to the winner.)

Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending October 28th, 2011

A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending October 28th, 2011 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.

No change among the top five this past week, with the latest Jack Reacher thriller, The Affair by Lee Child retaining the top spot. One new title debuts this week.

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John Grisham's new legal thriller The Litigators enters the list at number 12.

The partners at Finley & Figg—all two of them—often refer to themselves as “a boutique law firm.” Boutique, as in chic, selective, and prosperous. They are, of course, none of these things. What they are is a two-bit operation always in search of their big break, ambulance chasers who’ve been in the trenches much too long making way too little. Their specialties, so to speak, are quickie divorces and DUIs, with the occasional jackpot of an actual car wreck thrown in. After twenty plus years together, Oscar Finley and Wally Figg bicker like an old married couple but somehow continue to scratch out a half-decent living from their seedy bungalow offices in southwest Chicago.

And then change comes their way. More accurately, it stumbles in. David Zinc, a young but already burned-out attorney, walks away from his fast-track career at a fancy downtown firm, goes on a serious bender, and finds himself literally at the doorstep of our boutique firm. Once David sobers up and comes to grips with the fact that he’s suddenly unemployed, any job—even one with Finley & Figg—looks okay to him.

With their new associate on board, F&F is ready to tackle a really big case, a case that could make the partners rich without requiring them to actually practice much law. An extremely popular drug, Krayoxx, the number one cholesterol reducer for the dangerously overweight, produced by Varrick Labs, a giant pharmaceutical company with annual sales of $25 billion, has recently come under fire after several patients taking it have suffered heart attacks. Wally smells money.

A little online research confirms Wally’s suspicions—a huge plaintiffs’ firm in Florida is putting together a class action suit against Varrick. All Finley & Figg has to do is find a handful of people who have had heart attacks while taking Krayoxx, convince them to become clients, join the class action, and ride along to fame and fortune. With any luck, they won’t even have to enter a courtroom!

It almost seems too good to be true.

And it is.

Purchase Options:

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For more mystery books news, please visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.

Thomas Perry's Crime Novel Strip to be Adapted for Film

Thomas Perry's 2010 crime novel Strip is being adapted for film. Aaron Stockard (Gone Baby Gone, The Town) will write the screenplay.

Strip opens with aging but formidable club owner Claudiu "Manco" Kapak robbed by a masked gunman as he places his cash receipts in a bank's night-deposit box. Enraged, he sends out half a dozen security men to find the witless culprit. Their search leads them to Joe Carver, an innocent but hardly defenseless newcomer who evades capture and sets out to make Kapak wish he'd targeted someone else. Meanwhile, the real burglar, Jefferson Davis Falkins, and his new girlfriend Carrie seem to believe they've found a whole new profession: robbing Manco Kapak. Lieutenant Nick Slosser, the police detective in charge of the puzzling and increasingly violent case, has his own troubles, including worries about how he's going to afford to send the oldest child of each of his two bigamous marriages to college without making their mothers suspicious. As this strange series of events explodes into a triple killing, Carver finds himself in the middle of a brewing gang war over Kapak's little empire, while Falkins and Carrie journey into territory more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.

(Source: Deadline.)

The Double Opens in Limited Release this Friday, October 28th, 2011

The murder mystery The Double opens in limited release this Friday, October 28th, 2011.

Based on an original story by crime novelist Derek Haas and his writing partner Michael Brandt (who also directed), the film stars Richard Gere as retired CIA operative Paul Shepherdson, who teams with rookie FBI agent Ben Geary (Topher Grace) to solve the mysterious murder of a US senator that bears the distinctive trademark of the legendary Soviet assassin "Cassius".

Having spent his career chasing Cassius, Shepherdson is convinced his nemesis is long dead, but is pushed to take on the case by his former supervisor, Tom Highland (Martin Sheen). Meanwhile, Geary, who wrote his Master's thesis on Shepherdson's pursuit of the Soviet killer, is certain that Cassius has resurfaced. As Shepherdson and Geary work their way through crimes both past and present, they discover that Cassius may not be the person they always thought him to be, forcing both to re-examine everything and everyone around them.

Watch a trailer for The Double below.

Film Trailer for Thai Noir Thriller Headshot

We recently stumbled upon a film trailer for the Thai film Headshot, adapted from the noir thriller Fon Tok Kuen Fa ("Rain Falling Up the Sky") by Win Leowarin.

The film is set in present day Thailand, a country rife with corruption. Tul, a straight-laced cop, is blackmailed by a powerful politician and framed for a crime he did not commit. Disillusioned and vengeful, he is soon recruited to become a hitman for a shadowy group aimed at eliminating those who are above the law.

Then one day Tul is shot in the head during an assignment. He wakes up after a three-month coma to find that he sees everything upside down — literally. Unaware of whether the condition is medical or a result of karmic retribution, Tul begins to have second thoughts about his profession.

But when he tries to quit, roles are reversed and the hunter becomes the hunted. Then he meets a girl that turns his world even more upside down. Can Tul find redemption from the violence that continues to haunt him?

Kino Lorber picked up the US distribution rights following the film's showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, but we are unaware of any specific release dates.

Watch the trailer below, in Thai with English subtitles, which includes several short NSFW scenes.

Eight Character Posters from The Hunger Games

Eight character posters from The Hunger Games have surfaced at various websites. We're showing Katniss (right), but you can see all of them via the links below.

The Hunger Games is adapted from the first novel in the young adult trilogy of thrillers by Suzanne Collins. It opens in US theaters March 23rd, 2012.

Character posters:

Katniss (via Yahoo Movies)
Gale (via moviefone)
Peeta (via Hollywood Crush)
Rue (via Teen.com)
Cato (via MSN Entertainment)
Haymitch (via IGN)
Effie (via Entertainment Weekly)
Cinna (via Fandango)

Clues to Christie: The Definitive Guide eBook from HarperCollins

Next month, HarperCollins is publishing an ebook titled Clues to Christie: The Definitive Guide to Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, Tommy & Tuppence, and all of Agatha Christie's Mysteries.

This fully authorized and comprehensive guide to the Queen of Mystery includes an introduction by award-winning Agatha Christie expert John Curran with features on each of her classic detectives including Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot and Tommy & Tuppence; guides to reading each of her series and her stand-alone novels; and an A to Z of Agatha Christie. Interspersed throughout are quotes from Christie, a list of the Christie novels that were her personal favorites and three of her classic short stories: "The Affair at the Victory Ball", "Greenshaw's Folly" and "A Fairy in the Flat".

We're not sure what the price will be when published, but you can currently pre-order it from Amazon.com for free.

Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of your book purchase before checking out.