Last May, TNT announced it was adapting a series of crime books for a new series of made-for-television adaptations called TNT Tuesday Night Mystery. (The name has since been changed to the slightly more clunky TNT Tuesday Night Mystery Movie.)
Last week, we learned that Bill Pullman has been cast as Rusty Sabich in the first of these movies, Innocent, adapted from the Scott Turow legal thriller of the same title, and set 22 years after the events of Presumed Innocent, a theatrical hit that starred Harrison Ford as Sabich. Innocent is set to premiere this coming November.
Today we're learning that John Corbett will star as Savannah cop Duncan Hatcher in an adaptation of Sandra Brown's 2006 thriller Ricochet. Julie Benz co-stars as Elise Laird, who is married to a prominent judge and who supposedly kills an intruder in self-defense.
The four other books slated to be adapted are Richard North Patterson’s Silent Witness; Lisa Gardner’s Hide; April Smith’s Good Morning, Killer; and Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark’s Deck the Halls.
(Source: Deadline|Hollywood)
Friday, July 29, 2011
More Casting News for TNT's Tuesday Night Mystery Movie
Mystery Bestsellers for the Week Ending July 29th, 2011
A list of the top 15 mystery hardcover bestsellers for the week ending July 29th, 2011 has been posted by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books.
There's essentially a three-way tie for the top spot this week, with Janet Evanovich's 17th numbered Stephanie Plum mystery, Smokin' Seventeen, just edging out Now You See Her by James Patterson and Portrait of a Spy by Daniel Silva. One new title enters the top 15.
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The 10th Scot Harvath action thriller, Full Black by Brad Thor, comes in at number 10.
Born in the shadows and kept from heads of state, there are some missions so deadly, so sensitive, that they simply don’t exist.
When one such mission goes horribly wrong, a wave of dramatic terrorist attacks is set in motion. Their goal: the complete and total collapse of the United States.
With the CIA’s intelligence abilities hobbled, former Navy SEAL Team 6 member turned covert counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath launches an audacious plan to infiltrate the terrorists’ network and prevent one of the biggest threats the United States has ever faced.
Simultaneously, a foreign wet work team has been sent to California. Their target: one of Hollywood’s most famous filmmakers.
While working on a secret documentary project, movie producer Larry Salomon has unknowingly exposed one of the world’s wealthiest and most politically connected powerbrokers—a man with a radical anti-American agenda poised to plunge the nation into deadly, irreversible chaos.
As the plots rocket to their pulse-pounding conclusion and the identities of the perpetrators are laid stunningly bare, Harvath will be left with only one means to save America. Unable to trust anyone, he will be forced to go Full Black.
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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.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
BBC America Orders a Crime Drama as its First Scripted Series
In a press release today, BBC America announced its first scripted television series ... and it's a crime drama.
Copper will center on a young Irish cop assigned to the Five Points neighborhood of New York City in the 1860s. He must "navigate the unruly and sometimes violent currents of his immigrant neighborhood, while simultaneously interacting with uptown Manhattan high society and the emerging black community in Harlem."
Production on the 10 episode series is expected to begin later this year in Toronto with a premiere date of Summer 2012.
(Source: BBC America)
HBO Considering Continuing The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as Made-for-Television Movies
We've known for some time that HBO's plans for its short-lived series The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency from 2009 did not include renewal for a second season. However, we didn't know until today that the cable network is considering at least two made-for-television movies based on the character of Mma Ramotswe (played by Jill Scott in the series).
During this week's Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour, HBO executives stated that they have received scripts that they are considering for the stand-alone films.
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is adapted from a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith, which feature Precious Ramotswe as Botswana's only female private detective. The most recent of these, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party, was published earlier this year. We had the pleasure of reviewing it, saying, "The mysteries in this series are enjoyed more for the delightful characters, their respective life experiences, and, to a lesser extent, the unusual setting in which the storylines play out, than for their crime plots, which are typically of the non-violent sort. Readers who have come to enjoy the entries in this series will not be disappointed with this one." (Mysterious Reviews, March 2011)
(Source: TV|Line)
Hostage in Havana by Noel Hynd is Today's Featured Free MystereBook Part Two
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Hostage in Havana by Noel Hynd 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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Hostage in Havana by Noel Hynd
The Cuban Trilogy (1st in series)
Zondervan
A few days ago we featured this title as a free Nook Book. Today it is now a free Kindle book (though the Nook Book is also still free, so we're providing that link as well). Hostage in Havana is the first book in the "Cuban Trilogy" featuring US Treasury Agent Alexandra LaDuca, who was also the lead protagonist in the author's "Russian Trilogy" of political international thrillers, which was published in 2008/2009.
About Hostage in Havana (from the publisher): U.S. Treasury Agent Alexandra LaDuca leaves her Manhattan home on an illegal mission to Cuba that could cost her everything. At stake? Her life ... and the solution to a decades-old mystery, the recovery of a large amount of cash, and the return of an expatriate American fugitive to the United States.
After slipping into the country on a small boat, Alex makes her way to Havana. Accompanying her is the attractive but dangerous Paul Guarneri, a Cuban-born exile who lives in the gray areas of the law. Together, they plunge into intrigue and danger in a climate of political repression and organized crime. Without the support of the United States, Alex must navigate Cuban police, saboteurs, pro-Castro security forces, and a formidable network of those loyal to the American underworld.
Bullets fly as allies become traitors and enemies become unexpected friends.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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Cowboys & Aliens Opens in Theaters Friday, July 29th
This Friday, July 29th, 2011, the western sci-fi thriller Cowboys & Aliens opens in theaters.
Adapted from the graphic novel by Andrew Foley and Fred Van Lente, with artwork by Dennis Calero and Luciano Lima, from a concept by Scott Rosenberg, the film stars Daniel Craig as a stranger with no memory of his past, who stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution, Arizona Territory.
The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). It's a town that lives in fear.
But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.
Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force.
With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents — townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors — all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
Watch a trailer for the film below.
Review: No Rest for the Dead with an Introduction by David Baldacci
No Rest for the Dead by David Baldacci (Introduction). Non-series. Touchstone Hardcover, July 2011.
The good news is that there's a terrific story being told in this collaborative effort by 26 popular mystery writers. The less good news is that there doesn't seem to be any point in having all these authors contribute to this book other than as a marketing gimmick as each chapter is written in essentially the same manner, as if by a single writer.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: No Rest for the Dead by David Baldacci (Introduction).
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Telemystery: A&E Passes on Big Mike, Decision Pending on Longmire
In prime time time cable news, A&E has elected not to move forward with Big Mike, a crime drama featuring a plus-sized San Diego cop. Its other pilot series, Longmire, based on a character created by mystery writer Craig Johnson, is still in the running for pick-up.
Earlier this month, A&E renewed Breakout Kings for a second season, and its other scripted crime drama, The Glades, is performing well enough during its summer run to assure it a renewal for a third season.
(Source: Deadline|Hollywood)
OMN Welcomes Suspense Novelist Christopher Kokoski
Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome Christopher Kokoski, author of the suspense novel Past Lives (BlackWyrm Publishing, July 2011 Trade Paperback, 978-1-61318-109-6).
Today Christopher writes about the background to the plot of his new book.
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My novel, Past Lives, is about a man who discovers under hypnosis that he is a reincarnated serial killer. As crazy as it may seem, the overall story is actually grounded in a degree of reality, based on actual real life events.
The seeds of the story go all the way back to the early 1900's, when an ordinary man named Edgar Cayce discovered an uncanny and quite extraordinary ability to recall past lives, traverse space and time to answer seemingly impossible questions, provide succinct and powerful medical advice (although he wasn't a doctor) while in a deep state of self-hypnosis. His remarkable life and "readings", as his trance-state uttering came to be called, are captured in several nonfiction books.
Although I can't pinpoint the exact moment or reason, I became fascinated with hypnosis sometime in college. In the years following, I gobbled up every morsel on the subject I could find in bookstores, and especially online. It was my captivation with hypnosis that led me to the idea of reincarnation. One of the most controversial uses of hypnosis, I discovered, was to recall previous lives.
As a Christian myself, I don't subscribe to the belief in reincarnation, but I do find the subject intriguing. Over the years, the two ideas – hypnosis and reincarnation – simmered in the dark recesses of my subconscious, merged with other ideas, and the resulting concoction became the beginning of my first novel.
Most people who seek out past lives seem to discover that they were kings, knights, royalty, or otherwise famous. I wondered, What would happen if a man discovered he was a reincarnated serial killer? How would someone deal with that revelation? How would it affect their relationships, job, family, sanity? These questions prickled my curiosity, eventually generating further complications, the lifeblood of good fiction.
What if the man (who became Eric Shooter) not only found out that he was a vicious monster, but also was pulled into a modern day murder mystery? He would be conflicted by the past, present and future. Add to the mix an attractive hypnotherapist dealing with her own demons, a famous detective bent on pinning the crime on Eric, and a separate cunning killer lurking in the background, and I thought I had a pretty good base of conflict upon which to build an engaging storyline.
The novel also draws on themes very personal to me. The largest of these themes is "overcoming the darkness within." The main character, Eric Shooter, struggles with a growing and troubling darkness throughout the novel, one we learn in the story has been a lifelong challenge, a veritable thorn in his side. Eric's darkness threatens to destroy everything and everyone he loves. Perhaps we all wrestle with some kind of "darkness," some painful flaw that we keep hidden from the outside world, tucked away in the dusty corner of our private lives.
Does Eric succeed in overcoming his personal darkness, proving his innocence, and changing his endless cycle of death and rebirth as a serial killer? I hope you'll read the book to find out!
Special Offer: Once you order Past Lives, email me at bestsellerwritingsecrets@yahoo.com with a proof of purchase (no attachments), and I will send you a "bonus package" with a $50.00 value for free. The bonus material includes 3 short stories, 3 author interviews, a self-quiz, secrets of hypnosis and reincarnation, an in-depth author commentary and much more!
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About Past Lives: Plunged into the center of a high-profile murder investigation, Eric Shooter discovers under hypnosis that he is a reincarnated serial killer. The only way to clear his name is to track down the most elusive and cunning predator in history, a methodical assassin with whom he shares a shocking connection.
If he fails, he is doomed to repeat the endless cycle of death and rebirth, placing thousands of innocent lives in danger. As the mounting darkness within him threatens to destroy everything and everyone he loves, as the real killer closes in, Eric is forced to confront an ageless and unimaginable evil. As past and present lives collide, Eric must catch the serial killer to prove his innocence, and alter his destiny to save it.
Past Lives is available in Trade Paperback from Barnes&Noble and Blackwyrm Publishing.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Review: Deed to Death by D. B. Henson
Deed to Death by D. B. Henson. A Toni Matthews Mystery. Touchstone Trade Paperback, July 2011.
This chick-lit mystery introduces a strong heroine, who is determined to learn the circumstances surrounding her fiancé's death. The murder plot has a compelling whodunit element, but what makes the story come alive is the strong character of Nashville real estate agent Toni Matthews.
Read the full text of our review at Mysterious Reviews: Deed to Death by D. B. Henson.
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The Fey by Claudia Hall Christian is Today's Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature The Fey by Claudia Hall Christian 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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The Fey by Claudia Hall Christian
An Alexandra Hargreaves Mystery (1st in series)
Cook Street Publishing
This first in a series that currently includes three books introduces Alexandra Hargreaves, the last surviving member of the Fey Special Forces Team.
About The Fey (from the publisher): Released from Walter Reed Hospital, Sergeant Alexandra Hargreaves settles in her hometown of Denver, Colorado. With her family and friends close, and her enemies closer, she strives to collect the pieces of her shattered life.
Then things fall apart.
Haunted by the past, and terrorized in the present, Alex must reach past pain, through memory, and beyond the grave to find her self, and her future.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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Recently Published Indie Mysteries (110727)
We're always on the lookout for new mystery, suspense and thriller books, and with this series of recurring posts, we're looking at Indie Mysteries, books published by small, independent publishers, or self-published, that recently caught our eye ... and may be of interest to you too. Most of these titles, selected primarily from the Smashwords website, are ebook only, though some may also be available in a print format.
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Jersey Heat
by Joseph D'Agnese
Non-Series
NutGraf Productions (Ebook)
July 2011
It’s a hazy, hot, and humid summer in New Jersey, circa 1993.
No mobile phones. No Internet. No Caller ID. No DVDs. No terrorists. And the environment isn’t cool.
Luke Mulcek calls himself a businessman. He’s actually a thug in a suit, a former Brooklyn kid, ex-boxer, and mechanic who made good. Luke’s got an in at the water company in a piece of shit town, where he’s concocted a $200 million land deal to build condos on the reservoir. Ramming the plan through the town’s planning board is the tricky part. Shadow Lakes isn’t Brooklyn, and even before page one Mulcek has decided to cut through the red tape the way he would have done in the old neighborhood.
With payoffs, threats, blackmail — and murder.
A retired cop and a young slacker are all that stand between Mulcek and his violent grasp at the good life.
Also available in a Kindle edition.
Homewrecker
by Gina Drew
A Koniotis Mystery
6th (and final) in series
Cyberworld Publishing (Ebook)
July 2011
UN undersecretary general for security Takis Koniotis and his estranged archaeologist wife, Caitlyn Spenser Koniotis, struggle to come back together through family endangerment and to counter the forces of evil in the eastern Mediterranean.
As the cast of surviving characters of the Koniotis mystery series strolls across the stage for the last time in some surprising and interesting combinations and diminishing numbers, once again Cyprus is both the center of Mideast upheaval and the budding hope for regional peace. Takis Koniotis, in his UN security chief role is preparing another Cyprus-based peace conference while also becoming embroiled in a series of explosions on the island that threaten to reopen old Greek versus Turk separatist wounds, and that have deadly repercussions beyond Cyprus. As has happened before, the Koniotis’s face challenges on both the regional and family security fronts. But this time they are not facing the dangers in a united front nor are all of those they once counted on for support either on their side or free enough of their own devils to be of much assistance.
Also available in a Kindle edition.
The Mayan Mask of Death
by Loretta Jackson and Vicki Britton
Non-Series
Solstice Publishing (Ebook)
July 2011
When Arla Vaughn accepts the role of temporary Dean of Archaeology, the museum’s purchase of an elaborate Mayan mask seems an evil portent. The dual face, one side a handsome Mayan nobleman, the other side a skull-like visage with a glimmering obsidian eye represents the good and evil of mankind.
Three years ago Jordan Lund’s wife was strangled on campus and he has devoted his life to finding her killer. When a second woman from Arla’s department is murdered in the same way, the police believe this is the work of a mysterious serial killer known as The Scarlet Strangler. But Arla soon links the brutal murders to the dig in Copan. Her investigation takes her to where the mystery has its roots, the Copan ruins in the jungles of Honduras. There, to uncover the truth, Arla must match wits with a killer as duplicitous as the Mayan Mask of Death.
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For more recently published Indie Mysteries, visit the Smashwords Mystery and Detective category page or the Thriller and Suspense category page.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Dead Deceiver by Victoria Houston is Today's Second Featured Free MystereBook
MystereBooks is pleased to feature Dead Deceiver by Victoria Houston as today's second 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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Dead Deceiver by Victoria Houston
A Loon Lake Mystery (11th in series)
Tyrus Books
The Loon Lake mysteries are set in Wisconsin and feature retired dentist and fly fisherman Paul "Doc" Osborne. A type of fishing fly is included in the title of each book.
About Dead Deceiver (from the publisher): It’s late January in Loon Lake and bodies abound: a woman on snowshoes has been discovered wedged under a wooden bridge on a cross-country ski trail. A day later, Police Chief Lewellyn Ferris interviews a couple who alleges that the wife, a former nun, is being stalked. Meanwhile, Loon Lake is hosting an International Ice Fishing Festival with problems.
Important Note: Prices can and do change without prior notice, so please confirm the price of the book before completing your purchase.
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Max Allan Collins to Finish Three Additional Unfinished Mike Hammer Mysteries
Last week during Comic-Con in San Diego, crime novelist Max Allan Collins announced that he will be completing three more unfinished Mickey Spillane books featuring hard-boiled PI Mike Hammer. The books will be published by Titan.
The first, Lady, Go Die!, was started by Spillane in 1948 and would have been the second Mike Hammer mystery (after I, the Jury). It will likely be published in sometime in 2012.
The second, Complex 90, described as a cold-war thriller, will be published in May 2013, and the third, King of the Weeds, in May 2014.
Collins has already published three other unfinished titles by Mickey Spillane, The Goliath Bone, The Big Bang, and Kiss Her Goodbye (read our review), all for Houghton Mifflin.
(Source: Max Allan Collins website)
