Deadline.com is reporting that a deal is near for Unique Features to acquire the film rights to the noir thriller game Heavy Rain, released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 earlier this year. Former New Line Cinema co-founders Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne are behind the project.
About Heavy Rain (from the developers): How far will you go to save someone you love? Each player discovers their own answer to this question as they experience a gripping psychological thriller filled with innumerable twists and turns, where choices and actions can and do result in dramatic consequences. Spanning four days of mystery and suspense, the hunt is on for a murderer known only as the Origami Killer — named after his macabre calling card of leaving behind folded paper shapes at crime scenes. Even more chilling is the fiend's well established pattern of killing his victims four days after abducting them. The public is gripped with fear as the police seem powerless to stop the carnage, and another potential victim — Shaun Mars — has gone missing. Now four characters — a father, a photographer, a FBI agent with a special skill set and a retired cop turned private detective — each following their own leads and with their own motives, must take part in a desperate attempt to prevent the killer from taking yet another life.
Each of the characters (players) have different paths, means and motives to ending the reign of terror that the Origami Killer has imposed on their city. As players follow the path laid before their character of choice, they are able to explore, interact with and view their surroundings in a variety of ways using their controller's left and right sticks. At crucial times players are given a series of choices relating to how to proceed in various situations, with the outcome of these choices revealing both benefits and consequences. Benefits can be important to progressing through the game, while possible consequences can in turn pose a very real danger to characters, including death. But unlike other games, and because Heavy Rain features four playable characters that exist independently of each other, yet simultaneously within the same the story arc, this does not end the game. Players are instead able to play as one of the other available characters, with appropriate changes to possible outcomes due to the absence of the deceased character(s).
Friday, May 21, 2010
Film Adaptation of Noir Thriller Game Heavy Rain in Works
Authors on Tour: Jeffrey Leever Visits CMash Loves to Read and Murder by 4
Mystery Books News is thrilled to be coordinating this week's online book tour for author Jeffrey Leever, whose thriller, The University (Capital Crime Press Trade Paperback, November 2009), has investigative journalist Kevin Gibson drawn into a cunning world few know exist -- a conspiracy involving facilty, students, and some well-connected people in high places on the campus of a local college.
Today, Friday May 21st, Jeffrey will be visiting two blog sites:
• CMash Loves To Read, where The University is reviewed; and
• Murder by 4, where Jeffrey is the guest author.
We're also delighted to announce that Jeffrey is giving away a signed copy of his new book to one lucky tour visitor. Visit each tour site on the day indicated and pick up a unique PIN to be used to enter the giveaway on that day. The entry form can be found on Jeffrey's tour page.
We hope you have the opportunity to stop by each of the tour sites this week to learn more about Jeffrey and the secrets that lie beneath a university's upstanding exterior.
Games of Mystery: Robinson Crusoe and The Cursed Pirates, New from Big Fish Games
Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.
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1679: After escaping the inhabited island, Robinson Crusoe sets sail for England. Four weeks later, however, he and his friend Friday encounter an uncharted land mass. Something strange happens with their hands, with black spots appearing over them. Voodoo magic can be smelt in the air ...
Explore a ghost island inhabited by cursed pirates as you prepare an anti-curse cure from a local root. Find your way through an underground labryinth while searching for the undead captain. And test your knowledge of pirates in IQ contests, participate in turtle races and grog competitions, complete mind-bending puzzles, and more.
Also available: Robinson Crusoe and the Cursed Pirates Strategy Guide and a Robinson Crusoe and the Cursed Pirates Game Walkthrough.
See also the first game in the series, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.
Robinson Crusoe and The Cursed Pirates may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (177.75 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.
Watch a preview video below:
Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)
Read Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!
Big Fish Games: Bestsellers
Big Fish Games: New releases
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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!
Mystery Bestsellers for May 21, 2010
A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending May 21, 2010 has been posted on the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books website.
No change in the top three bestselling mysteries this week, with the 10th mystery in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series, Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris retaining the top spot. Two new titles debut this week.
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In 9th position is the 14th Jack Reacher novel, 61 Hours by Lee Child.
A tour bus crashes in a savage snowstorm and lands Jack Reacher in the middle of a deadly confrontation. In nearby Bolton, South Dakota, one brave woman is standing up for justice in a small town threatened by sinister forces. If she’s going to live long enough to testify, she’ll need help. Because a killer is coming to Bolton, a coldly proficient assassin who never misses.
Reacher’s original plan was to keep on moving. But the next 61 hours will change everything. The secrets are deadlier and his enemies are stronger than he could have guessed—but so is the woman whose life he’ll risk his own to save.
Sixty-one hours. Not a minute to spare.
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Just one place lower in 10th position is the 20th Lucas Davenport mystery, Storm Prey by John Sandford.
There's a storm brewing ...
Very early, 4:45, on a bitterly cold Minnesota morning, three big men burst through the door of a hospital pharmacy, duct-tape the hands, feet, mouth, and eyes of two pharmacy workers, and clean the place out. But then things swiftly go bad, one of the workers dies, and the robbers hustle out to their truck -- and find themselves for just one second face-to-face with a blond woman in the garage: Weather Karkinnen, surgeon, wife of an investigator named Lucas Davenport.
Did she see enough? Can she identify them? Gnawing it over later, it seems to them there is only one thing they can do: Find out who she is, and eliminate the only possible witness ...
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The top four mystery bestsellers this week are shown below:
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.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Film Adaptations of Robert Ludlum's Covert One Thrillers under Development
Pajiba is reporting that the series of Covert One thrillers by Robert Ludlum (and assorted co-authors) will be the basis of a potential franchise of films, the first of which is expected to be directed by Frank Marshall. The first book in the series, The Hades Factor, originally published in 2000, was previously adapted for the television mini-series Covert One: The Hades Factor that aired on CBS during 2006.
Captivate Entertainment has the rights to all of Ludlum's novels, and is reportedly working on several projects including adaptations of The Materese Circle, The Parsifal Mosaic, The Sigma Protocol, The Chancellor Manuscript, a remake of The Osterman Weekend, and (if it ever sees the light of day) the fourth Bourne film.
About The Hades Factor (from the publisher): Covert-One is the code name for three brave men who risk their lives to uncover the truth behind the today's most deadly power plays: bright, driven U.S. Army doctor Jon Smith; eccentric electronic genius Marty Zellerback; and fearless foreign intelligence expert Peter Howell.
A baffling virus has claimed the lives of four people across the country -- including Dr. Sophia Russell, a research scientist working to understand the disease. Bitter and broken-hearted over the death of his beautiful fiance, Jon Smith is determined to uncover the cause of the virus that killed her -- and prevent it from turning into a pandemic of epic proportions. There are two men who can help Smith -- and with their brilliance and expertise, he'll travel across the globe and into the darkest corridors of murder and greed, to find a killer who would sacrifice millions of lives for his own success ... and whose first target is Smith himself, the only man who can stop him.
eHarlequin Free Book Fridays: Nightwalker by Heather Graham
eHarlequin.com gives you another reason to love Fridays! Buy two or more books this Friday and they'll give you their weekly featured book absolutely free! That's right, every Friday, enjoy a featured free book with the purchase of two or more other titles!
This Friday's free book (05/21/2010) is a Mira paranormal thriller.
Nightwalker
Non-series
One night, desperate for money to support her grandfather, Jessy Sparhawk places the bet that will change her life forever. Just as she's collecting her winnings, a man stumbles through the crowd, a knife protruding from his back, and crashes into her, pinning her to the table.
Hired to investigate the murder, private detective Dillon Wolf finds himself fascinated by the gorgeous redhead who'd been trapped beneath the victim—and by the single word the dying man had whispered in her ear: Indigo.
One murder leads to another as Dillon and Jessy realize that the nightmare is only just beginning—and that the dead still have a hand left to play.
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Keep up to date by subscribing to eHarlequin.com's free newsletter that contains the latest information about their series of books as well as informing you about subscriber-only special offers and new products. Click on the banner below to subscribe for free:
Authors on Tour: Jeffrey Leever Visits Novel Works and Allie's Musings
Mystery Books News is thrilled to be coordinating this week's online book tour for author Jeffrey Leever, whose thriller, The University (Capital Crime Press Trade Paperback, November 2009), has investigative journalist Kevin Gibson drawn into a cunning world few know exist -- a conspiracy involving facilty, students, and some well-connected people in high places on the campus of a local college.
Today, Thursday May 20th, Jeffrey will be visiting two blog sites:
• Novel Works, where Jeffrey is interviewed; and
• Allie's Musings, where Jeffrey is the guest blogger.
We're also delighted to announce that Jeffrey is giving away a signed copy of his new book to one lucky tour visitor. Visit each tour site on the day indicated and pick up a unique PIN to be used to enter the giveaway on that day. The entry form can be found on Jeffrey's tour page.
We hope you have the opportunity to stop by each of the tour sites this week to learn more about Jeffrey and the secrets that lie beneath a university's upstanding exterior.
Games of Mystery: Strange Cases, The Lighthouse Mystery Collector's Edition
Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.
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Little has been reported about this game, other than it is a sequel to Strange Cases: The Tarot Card Mystery. Series character FBI Agent Claire Ellery is back, and her partner has turned up dead, the police claiming it was a suicide.
This Collector's Edition, which predates the regular edition expected to be released in 2-3 weeks, includes a bonus case for Claire, "The Case of the Missing Scientist", a strategy guide, downloadable soundtrack, a sneak peak at the next game in the series, and more.
Strange Cases: The Lighthouse Mystery Collector's Edition may be downloaded and purchased for $19.95 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (120.43 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour; the full version is 285.37 MB.
Watch a preview video below:
Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)
Read Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!
Big Fish Games: Bestsellers
Big Fish Games: New releases
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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Today's Fall 2010 Television Upfront Coverage (100519)
Today's Fall 2010 television upfront coverage from The Hollywood Reporter and network press releases, focusing on suspense and crime dramas.
CBS is the last of the major networks to announce its Fall 2010 schedule, which it did today. As mentioned previously, the remake of Hawaii Five-0 is a go, to air on Mondays. The legal drama The Defenders will air on Wednesdays, with Tom Selleck's new crime drama Blue Bloods airing on Fridays. (News item)
Here's the new opening credits for Hawaii Five-0 (a tough act to follow if ever there was one):
Mystery Book Review: Adios, Aries by Leonie Albani-Tremaine
Review of Adios, Aries by Leonie Albani-Tremaine
Leonie Albani-Tremaine introduces astrologer and Carlsbad (California) cafe owner Theodora Quinn, who looks to the stars when a famous actress is murdered in Adios, Aries.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews.
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Adios, Aries
Leonie Albani-Tremaine
A Theodora Quinn Mystery
AuthorHouse (Trade Paperback)
ISBN-10: 1-4490-4186-8 (1449041868)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4490-4186-1 (9781449041861)
Publication Date: October 2009
List Price: $14.49
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Mysterious Reviews is your source for the latest mystery, suspense, thriller, and crime novel reviews, edited by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.
Return to Mystery Books News ...
Today's Featured Free Kindle Mystery: Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon
Kindle Mysteries is pleased to feature a mystery title that is currently available in Kindle eBook format for free from Amazon.com. 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 download it today!
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Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon
Non-series
HarperCollins (Kindle eBook)
Download Link
About Rage of Angels (from the publisher): Jennifer Parker is brilliant, beautiful and indomitable – the most glamorous lawyer in America and one of the most successful. Her life is shadowed by two men. Both of them powerful and both drawn irresistibly to her. One is the politician destined for greatness, who fathers her son. The other is the Mafia boss, her only ally when crisis strikes – and the man who will bring her world crashing down …
(MBN note: Rage of Angels was adapted for a two-part television mini-series in 1983 starring Jaclyn Smith.)
New Crime Dramas in Development at TNT and TBS
TNT announced today in a press release the cable network's development plans for new programming, which include some promising crime dramas.
Graysmith: Based on the life of cartoonist, writer and part-time private detective Robert Graysmith (author of Zodiac and many other books), this series will follow the renaissance man himself as he uses an unconventional approach and unusual skills to solve crimes.
Brain Trust: Delve into the world of an old-fashioned (and recently demoted) detective as he teams with four brilliant but socially awkward, sheltered academics to help him solve crimes.
Miss Philly: Explore the pristine suburbs and urban war zones of Philadelphia, where the mayor has hired the first African-American police commissioner. She finds herself handling more than she ever expected.
TNT's sister network, TBS, also has a crime drama in the works.
The Rabbit Factory: This series follows the detective team of Mike Lomax and Terry Biggs, two characters from the book series by Marshall Karp. Recently widowed Lomax and recently married Biggs work to protect and serve, navigating the daily challenges of their jobs while tackling their personal lives. (The Rabbit Factory is the title of the first book in the series.)
Authors on Tour: Jeffrey Leever Visits Café of Dreams and Wendy's Minding Spot
Mystery Books News is thrilled to be coordinating this week's online book tour for author Jeffrey Leever, whose thriller, The University (Capital Crime Press Trade Paperback, November 2009), has investigative journalist Kevin Gibson drawn into a cunning world few know exist -- a conspiracy involving facilty, students, and some well-connected people in high places on the campus of a local college.
Today, Wednesday May 19th, Jeffrey will be visiting two blog sites:
• Café of Dreams, where The University is reviewed; and
• Wendy's Minding Spot, where Jeffrey is the guest blogger.
We're also delighted to announce that Jeffrey is giving away a signed copy of his new book to one lucky tour visitor. Visit each tour site on the day indicated and pick up a unique PIN to be used to enter the giveaway on that day. The entry form can be found on Jeffrey's tour page.
We hope you have the opportunity to stop by each of the tour sites this week to learn more about Jeffrey and the secrets that lie beneath a university's upstanding exterior.
New (Longer) Trailer for Third Season of True Blood on HBO
Last week we reported that HBO had released a preview for its third season of True Blood, based on the series of Southern Vampire mysteries by Charlaine Harris, mistakenly referring to the 30 second clip as a "trailer". Now, the cable network has released a full-length trailer (series of clips) for the upcoming third season.
True Blood stars Anna Paquin as telepathic barmaid Sookie Stackhouse, who is "cursed" with the ability to listen in on people's thoughts but is tolerant of vampires who have no brainwave activity -- particularly when it comes to Bill Compton (played by Stephen Moyer), the handsome 173-year-old living up the road.
The third season of True Blood starts June 13th.
The True Blood Season Two set of DVDs is scheduled for release on May 25th, and may be pre-ordered by clicking on the "More about the DVD" button.
Watch the 2 minute video below.
Return to Mystery Books News ...
Games of Mystery: Journalist Journey,The Eye of Odin, New from Big Fish Games
Games of Mystery is pleased to announce the availability of a new mystery casual game from Big Fish Games released today and available to BFG Club members. You can find out more about these games by visiting our Mystery Games: Big Fish Download Games page or by clicking on the links provided below.
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Intrepid investigative reporter Cathy is out on assignment to report on the strange, glowing symbols that are appearing all over the world. Journey with her through over 25 fantastic locations on this exciting adventure as she searches for answers among the hidden objects. Help to uncover the truth behind the ancient runes by solving minigames and puzzles. Learn about a mysterious group of followers and their connection to the mythical Odin though beautiful in-game comics. It's up to you to see that Cathy gets her story.
Also available: Journalist Journey: The Eye of Odin Game Walkthrough.
Journalist Journey: The Eye of Odin may be downloaded and purchased for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. A demonstration version (144.64 MB) may be downloaded and played for free for one hour.
Watch a preview video below:
Get any standard game for $6.99 with a Big Fish Game Club membership. Other benefits include the $2.99 Daily Deal, Tomorrow's Game Today, and special member rewards. And if you purchase any 6 games within a single month, you earn a free game with the Big Fish Game Club Monthly Punch Card! (Collector's Editions earn 3 punches each, half-way towards your free game!)
Read Ms. Terri's reviews of the adventure and casual mystery games featured on this site, including Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy, Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses!, Enlightenus, and many more!
Big Fish Games: Bestsellers
Big Fish Games: New releases
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Games of Mystery is your source for mystery-themed video, electronic, and board games, parties for kids and adults, and murder mystery weekends and mystery getaway vacations!
