http://www.77shadowstreet.com/

77 SHADOW STREET is the latest thrilling and chilling story from the imagination of master storyteller Dean Koontz. To get a taste of the action, visit the link below to the 360-degree immersive online tour. It’s packed full of features, some of which we haven’t even found yet!

The Pendleton - where nightmares grow...

There layout is the actual building which Dean created, with all its floors, the rooms of actual resident characters in the book, and a shed-load of interactive objects and animations. Oh, and some terrifying things waiting to jump out at you!

Check it out, it’s a really cool idea that they’ve executed very well – let us know what you think too.

http://www.77shadowstreet.com/

All the best

The Killer Reads Team

Now he needs it again.

When the truth finally begins to dawn, it shines on an evil so twisted, so dangerous, it could destroy everything that he cares about…

A Sunday Times Top 10 Hardback bestseller, The Hundredth Man is a brilliant page-turner that will keep you hooked from the very first page. To be in with a chance to review it, simply email killer.reviews@harpercollins.co.uk

Here’s Stuart’s plan:

Travel to Aberdeen from anywhere in the UK and accommodation at one of the finest hotels Aberdeen has to offer are also included.

To win, all you have to do is vote for the new morgue to be named after Stuart at www.millionforamorgue.com - you’ll get one competition entry for each £1 donated to the campaign, so the more votes, the more likely you are to win. The winner will be picked from the hat on 29 February.

Since its publication on Kindle in May 2011, Catch Your Death has been an ebook sensation. It was the first fully-independent British book to hit No.1 on Amazon, where it stayed for a month, selling tens of thousands of copies. This year, HarperCollins have released Catch Your Death in paperback, and it’s already had fantastic reviews. As Louise and Mark work in a team to write, we thought we’d ask them, how does it work? Find out below…

Louise: Our writing partnership - as all the most lasting relationships tend to - grew gradually over an 18 month period back in 1999/2000. We used to email our work to each other all the time and soon came to trust each other’s judgement when it came to editorial advice. It was only once we’d actually met up and realized the other one wasn’t a nutter (there was always just this small nagging doubt, when we were penpals!!) that it seemed entirely natural to start planning our own book together - Killing Cupid. We had the premise, the characters, the twist(s) - and once we started, we never looked back…’

Mark: I didn’t even know what Louise looked like before I met her. At least she knew I looked vaguely normal. I think if this had happened now, and I’d seen Catfish, I might suspect that ‘Louise’ was actually a 54-year-old Hell’s Angel emailing me from prison. But she was perfectly normal and nice. Phew! And when we started writing together, it turned out that we had each discovered our perfect creative foil. Lennon and McCartney. Morecambe and Wise. Keith Harris and Orville. And now Voss and Edwards.

Louise: Or, ‘Vedward’, as my friend christened us! It’s true to say I’m not 54, a Hell’s Angel, or a jailbird. Maybe Mark had a lucky escape… Yes, I knew he looked normal as I’d seen him on the telly - that was how we met, after I watched this documentary about three wannabe authors, and empathized with Mark (who was one of the three) so much that I was moved to write him a brief email via his agent. That’s how we first got in touch. He moved to Japan for a year shortly after we met - not, I trust, as a reaction to having met me - so the whole thing was done via email. We didn’t even speak on the phone during that year, just went back and forth, one chapter each per week.

Mark: Killing Cupid was written in a quite old-fashioned way, even though one of us was in London and the other in Tokyo, and it was all done by email. But because the book alternates male and female viewpoints, it was very easy to write; kind of like writing one of those chain stories that we used to write on coach trips when I was school. Write a line, pass it on and the next person writes the next line. Catch Your Death was more complicated.

Louise: Yes - at first we found it quite tricky to blend our styles into one 3rd person narrative. Back then we were really strict about writing a chapter each, then emailing to the other for a thorough edit and to add touches of our own voice to try and unify the style. It’s funny though - these days it comes naturally and often neither of us can remember which of us wrote some bits. It has just got easier and easier. I think we’ve become like those dog owners who resemble their dogs! Bit of a weird analogy but hopefully you get the drift…

Mark: When I read Catch Your Death now I honestly can’t remember who wrote which bits. For Catch Your Death and its forthcoming sequel, The Antidote, we worked to a plan, divvying up the chapters depending on who fancied writing what. (Louise: ‘I’ll take the big emotional goodbye.’ Me: ‘Bagsy the hideous disfigurement scene.’) Then we share the chapters and edit and comment on them immediately. We are very honest with each other. The secret of our co-writing success is that we respect each other’s ability and never take offence if the other person says ‘That’s rubbish.’ There’s no emotional baggage between us. We just want to write the best books possible.

 For your chance to win a copy of Catch Your Death, simply tell us:

Which country was Mark living in when he and Louise wrote Killing Cupid?

We have three copies to give away, so email your answer into: killerreadscomp@harpercollins.co.uk.

His gripping, gritty new novel BIRTHDAYS FOR THE DEAD has been number one in the Sunday Times bestseller charts for two weeks.

The story follows Detective Constable Ash Henderson who is on the investigation trying to find The Birthday Boy, a serial killer who abducts girls before their thirteenth birthday. Ash’s eldest daughter, Rebecca, was taken by The Birthday Boy, who sends Ash a card every year showing Rebecca being tortured on her birthday. No one else knows that Rebecca was taken, they all think she ran away. Because if they do, Ash will be thrown off the case – and he cannot give up before The Birthday Boy gets what he deserves.

The latest Logan McRae novel, SHATTER THE BONES is also in the top ten in paperback. It’s an absolutely cracking, pacy read that was also a number one bestseller last year.

Alison and Jenny McGregor, Aberdeen’s mother-daughter singing stars are kidnapped after they reach the semi-finals of Britain’s Next Big Star. The ransom demand appears all over the TV and internet, and the media circus rises to fever pitch. But with no leads Logan McRae and the rest of Grampian’s finest are at a dead-end…

Congratulations to Stuart, huge thanks to his legions of fans who support him and we hope you’re all enjoying the books!

All the best,

Killer Reads

By Todd Ritter

            After reading my first mystery, DEATH NOTICE, my father asked me the question that I knew was coming. “Where on earth,” he said with obvious worry, “did you come up with that?” He was referring to the plot of the book, in which a taxidermy-obsessed killer sends the local newspaper obituaries of his victims — before they’re killed.

            I gave him my standard answer about how the main idea came to me while working at a small newspaper, where one of my duties was to type and proofread obituaries. One night, I came upon an obituary that mistakenly listed the deceased’s date of death as being the next day. That was enough to get my imagination running and the rest of DEATH NOTICE grew from there.

            I didn’t have the heart to tell my father that he was also one of my biggest inspirations.

No, my dad isn’t a serial killer. In the eyes of woodland creatures, he’s worse. My father, you see, is a taxidermist.

He’s not a full-time one, mind you. Stuffing animals is something he has done as a hobby since before I was born. I’m not sure when or how he discovered this particular talent. All I know is that I grew up in a household where the limp bodies of animals moved from the large freezer in the basement, to his workshop, to the walls of our home, where they gazed down at us with glass eyes.

Growing up, this all seemed perfectly normal. It wasn’t until high school that I realized not every father indulged in this particular pastime. To my classmates, this was bizarre, creepy and, yes, somewhat cool.

So when it came time to give the villain of DEATH NOTICE a hobby, taxidermy was the only thing that popped into my head. I knew it would make readers feel the same way as my old school chums — creeped out yet oddly fascinated. I also knew that it would require no research on my part. Professors tell budding authors to write what they know. Well, thanks to my dad, I already knew a lot.

Patricia Thompson writes:

This is definitely a five star read and one of the best books I’ve read for a long time.

The Woodcutter in the title is Wolf Hadda who we meet properly on his wedding anniversary when his house is raided and he’s arrested for crimes which he insists he hasn’t committed and has no knowledge of.

Gradually we begin to learn more of Wolf and his past and present and he’s a believable character who had me rooting for him and for his innocence to be proved throughout the book.

This is a book which I read at breakneck speed as I couldn’t wait to find out more and more about Wolf, boy and man.

For anyone who is familiar with Reginald Hill from his Dalziel and Pascoe books, this is a departure from his usual style and not a Yorkshire Moor in the whole book, just some gritty characters who you find yourself warming to as soon as they’re introduced and others you dislike immediately which I think is a sign of some excellent story writing as the reader is totally absorbed into the story and everyone in it.

After I’d turned the last page I was left with a sadness that it had come to an end. A thoroughly enjoyable book which you both want to finish to tie all the loose ends up and a sense of loss that it is all over. I’m sure Wolf will stay in my head for a long time as his character was so believable that you don’t want to say goodbye to him.

Carol Peace writes:

A great standalone book, a definite 5 out of 5.

A great book and a great mystery. The book revelations keep you glued and you just have to read the next page to find out what the conclusion will be.

 Jo Barry writes:

With the recent death of Reginald Hill the literary world has lost a writer at the top of his game, however he could not have asked for a finer swansong than The Woodcutter. Five stars.

The Woodcutter is not your average piece of crime fiction, but Reginald Hill is not your average crime writer.  His voice is quintessentially British, as evidenced by his Dalziel and Pascoe novels, the basis for the highly successfully UK television series.

The novel is set, for the most part, against the rugged and unforgiving landscape of Cumbria, providing the perfect backdrop for this tale of betrayal, revenge and perhaps, redemption. 

Wilfred (”Wolf”) Hadda, the son of a woodcutter, meets with his destiny as a teenager in the form of the willful and sexually precocious Imogen,   The daughter of his father’s employer she is a prize to be earned and Wolf leaves to seek his fortune and prove himself worthy of her.

Three years later, having uncovered a talent for making money for both himself and other people, Wolf returns to claim his reward.  He has also discovered a few other talents which are tantalizingly hinted at in the opening paragraphs.

Wolf and Imogen marry and many years of happiness and prosperity follow, until his world is turned upside down by an event which brings disgrace, financial ruin and the loss of all he holds most dear in its wake.

To say too much more would be to spoil this finely written and intricately plotted story.  Suffice to say that all is never as it seems in this modern day fairytale.

From the first sentence it is evident that the reader is in the hands of an expert and it is easy to be swept along by the combination of strong, fully developed characters and edge of the seat excitement.

1. A collection of no less than SIX Stuart MacBride books, including a proof of his latest Birthdays of the Dead, is on the way to Mark Silver!

2. Stephanie Parker, Claire Barker and Ellen Stafford will all be sipping from their Sorry branded mugs as they turn the pages of this terrifying thriller

3. With a brilliant selection of our up-and-coming crime releases of 2012, Lucinda Fountain will be in the know this year

4. A signed, first-edition of Absolute Midnight will take pride of place on Debra Johnson’s bookshelf

5. As will the signed copies of House of the Hanged that are on their way to Christine Burridge and Elaine Huxstep

6. Laura Starling and Andrew Tedder will be on the edge of their seats with Michael Crichton’s latest techno-thriller Micro

7. Mark Richmond, Barbara Chambers, Solange Thomas, Maggie Barker, Nathan Holden and Sajad Farid will be kept up way into the night with Dean Koontz’s twist on the Frankenstein classic

8. Surely one of this year’s most gifted presents, the first four specially released hardbacks of the Game of Thrones series will be proudly owned by Robert Turpin

9. A signed edition of this historical crime classic Heresy featuring none other than Giordano Bruno goes out to Wilma Jones and Jane Willis

10. Holly Green will have nightmares for weeks with a selection of Avon’s best (and scariest) crime reads

And last but not least….

11. Gillian Phillips will receive a gift from the Queen of Crime herself, with six Agatha Christie facsimile edition hardbacks.

Furthermore, the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that we never gave away a twelfth prize! Well, now’s your opportunity. To be in for a chance to win our mystery prize (a collection of books snaffled from various desks around the building), then please email your answer to this question to killerreadscomp@harpercollins.co.uk

Which Scandi-crime author sets her books in Fjallbacka?

Competition closes on Friday at midnight, so get entering now!

A gorgeous pack of six Agatha Christie facsimile editions to be won:

To enter, simply:

Name the world’s longest running play, penned by the brilliant Agatha Christie.

Email your answer to killerreadscomp@harpercollins.co.uk along with your name and address for your chance to win!

The Drowning Pool, by Syd Moore
Fragile Minds, by Claire Seeber
Cold Kill, by Neil White
Life Sentences, by Laura Lippman
Long Gone, by Alafair Burke

To enter, simply:

Name the main character in Syd Moore’s The Drowning Pool.

Email your answer to killerreadscomp@harpercollins.co.uk along with your name and address for your chance to win!