Yes, we are ‘Coming for You’ … we’re a creepy, stalkery bunch here at Exhibit A HQ.

But if that hasn’t put you off, CrimeFest 2013, specifically Bristol, is the place to be and meet all kinds of Exhibit A people! Not only will our head honcho, the ever-lovely Emlyn, be participating in panels galore, we also have Richard Parker and William Sutton taking part over the weekend.

Emlyn is moderating the motley crew which includes Alex Blackmore, Dean Crawford, L.A. Larkin, and our own Richard Parker as they discuss ‘The Joys and Pitfalls of Technology in a Crime Novel’. They’re up bright and early for a 9am start on Friday 31 May for that one. As Richard’s brilliant Scare Me examines the terrifying nature of modern technology and the use of the internet as a tool of murderous intent, no doubt he will have some excellent observations and opinions.

With the wonderful title ‘Are Crime Writers Sadists at Heart? Putting your protagonist through the mill’, Emlyn will be examining this topic with fellow panellists Kate Rhodes, Craig Robertson, and Robert Wilson. As we know, Mr Rees is a fantastic crime fiction writer himself, and it will be interesting to hear the thoughts of both the writer and editor here.

William Sutton is aptly taking part in the panel: ‘From Ancient to Modern: Travelling Through Crime & Time’. Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square is a Victorian novel, and the first to feature policeman Campbell Lawless in his attempt to keep the streets of London safe, pre-Sherlock Holmes. Fellow participants include Jane Finnis, Anthony Hays, and Jeffrey Siger.

CrimeFest is one of the highlights of the Crime Fiction Writer’s Calendars and is open to readers and writers alike.; there are a few limited tickets left for the Pub Quiz, Gala Dinner, and the writing workshop with Jeffery Deaver. It’s sure to be a fantastic few days, starting this day week Thursday 30 May and running until Sunday 2 June, especially as not only does it include our guys but the likes of Peter Guttridge, Jeffery Deaver, Chris Simmons, Declan Burke, Barry Forshaw, Colin Cotterill, Brian McGilloway, and Robert Goddard.

If you can’t make it to any of the events, I have it on reliable information that the future of crime fiction will be discussed in-depth in an area of the hotel frequented by authors and publishing types where coincidentally alcoholic beverages are also sold…

If you’re heading next week, be sure to stop and say ‘hi’ to Emlyn, Richard, and William, and enjoy!

***20/05/2013 UPDATE***

Hi again!

First off, thanks to everyone who has commented, tweeted, shared and participated in this conversation; it’s been very encouraging to see how much we all want to make NetGalley even better! I just saw this NG Tumbler post and think it’s worthwhile sharing as well: http://netgalley.tumblr.com/wellness. They’re running a Wellness Pledge programme to help users improve their profiles and usability of the site, with the aim being to get a badge posted to your profile showing publishers that you’re committed to being “NetGalley Healthy”! Here’s the page for the pledge: https://www.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=4ca06851f92c4ded943c5816b387caa4

I hope that further helps!

Caroline

***17/05/2013 POST***

So first off, I want to say how much I utterly love NetGalley; it’s an amazing tool for everyone involved and strikes up conversations about books prior to publication in a, largely, hassle-free manner.

But after working with it for the last month, I thought I’d put together a few, hopefully, handy tips and some advice. The aim is that this will help reviewers, bloggers, librarians, booksellers and everyone else who uses NG, understand what we, as publishers, would love to see in requests. If this helps us approve more requests, and gives you an insight into what we’re looking for, then I’ll be very happy! Thusly:

Profiles

When I was first applying for my publishing internship way back when I was still in college, my cover letter was all about how much I loved books, and thus this naturally meant I was made for the world of publishing. That is, until it was pointed out to me by my lovely publishing mentor that it’s a given to all involved with books that we’re voracious readers who absolutely love everything bookish. It doesn’t mean it’s not important that you love reading, but to us, what’s more important is what you’re going to do after you read our books. Ideally I’d love to see the following in your profile:

• Links to your blog/website/online forums where you talk books
• Your bio as a reviewer/bookseller/librarian (from here on, NG user as I don’t want to leave anyone out!) is really important:

1. how long have you been active whether reviewing, book club recommending, or as a bookseller, librarian etc;
2. where have you reviewed in the past
3. where do you think you’ll be sending this review
4. who will you be talking to about the book ie fellow students/bloggers/librarians/booksellers/customers

• If possible, include direct links to some sample reviews or blogs/school library sites
• If you’re a librarian, and registered with the American Library Association, please try and register your membership number with the NG site so you have the official ALA logo beside your name. That makes a big difference! I’m not sure how you do this, and am happy to be guided, and can include a how-to here if needed.
• For bloggers/reviewers, we absolute love to see your stats: the most useful and helpful basic site statistics are:

1. dated eg as of 17 May 2013 I have xyz followers…
2. if you have a newsletter subscription, tell us how many subscribers you have
3. Page views per day (average)
4. Unique visitors per month

• But don’t just tell us about your site, especially if you don’t have one! If you use Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads etc and will be talking about the requested book on these sites, you can still tell us how many followers, friends, interactions you have.

Requesting

• Whenever we put a title on NG, we send out the respective group email: to the Robot Army, the Chemistry Set or the Witness Protection Programme. We always urge NG users to get requests in early, and I can’t stress that enough: there are often hundreds of requests and we cannot match that amount for each book so do get your request in as soon as possible
• With that, please make sure you do have time to read the books you’re requesting, and that more importantly you download them as soon as possible: our books are generally only available for 4 weeks on NetGalley so if you’ve been approved, please do download the title

Posting Reviews

When you’re sending in your review, there are a few things that would really make my job easier…and also make me love you even more!

• Please include the date the review was published especially if it’s a forthcoming review
• If you run your own blog, or contribute to one, send us the link which the review will appear on, but also don’t forget to include the link for your Goodreads account, your Amazon reviews, twitter or basically anywhere else the review will appear. This not only makes it easier for me to remember how amazing you are, but also to help promote you and your work: if we’re not already connected on Twitter, I’ll tweet your review and link to you. We want you to get as much out of your work as we can.

Possible Reasons for Declining

First off, none of us like declining people…it makes us sad, really. We love our books, and so look forward to people reading them and sending back informed reviews, whatever way they may go. It’s the nature of the game that not all books are going to satisfy all readers, and we’re never going to decline you because you didn’t like our last book or anything silly. But it is a business, and we do need to make sure we don’t potentially undermine any book’s worth by sending out copies to everyone without seeing a value in it. So, to avoid you and I both feeling terrible, please bear in mind:

• If your profile has no link to a blog, or any discernible outlet, but you maintain you’re a reviewer, it definitely lowers your approval chances
• A profile with little info at all will also lower approval rates
• If you provide a link to a website but there haven’t been any recent posts, or it doesn’t have any book reviews, that will look odd. If there’s a reason for this (you’ve been caught up in something else and are looking to get back to bloggging, for example, let us know that – add it to your bio)
• No bio at all: unless you’re an extremely high-profile person or known to us personally, this is always worrying

I think that covers everything; if you think of anything you’d like clarification on or want to run past me/us, please comment below. I’d really love to hear from NG users as well, especially on what we could be doing to help you: this is a site that we’ll all get as much out of as we put in, so let’s start talking about how we could all do better and help each other out!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Caroline

Now available on NetGalley, and limited physical ARCs, is William Sutton‘s Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square!

The first in this Victorian thriller series, Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square follows Campbell Lawless, the novice detective, as he joins the esteemed Scotland Yard and rises through the ranks.

For NetGalley, the usual drill applies: there’s limited availability so it’s first come, first served. Please do make sure to download your book if approved; they will only be available for a month and it would be terrible to not download it in time! Make sure to send through the URL for blog, anywhere reviews will appear, data if you have it – basically, anything that will make it easier for me to say ‘yes’ straight away to your request!

So, go on: get over to NetGalley and request your copy, I’ve even got the link for you here! If physical ARCs are more your thing, do email me as I have a limited amount of those and am happy to send these out also! Do remember, if you’re interested in interviewing William or having him as a guest blogger etc, drop me a line and we’ll get that arranged.

Thanks!
Caroline

About the Book

PRAISE For Lawless & the Devil of Euston Square

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our round-up of all the splendid media outings our authors have taken. It’s certainly been a hectic start since the launch of Exhibit A earlier this month, and if you want to check out how the imprint got off to a flying start, do read this blog and this one, too!

As one of our first titles, Richard Parker‘s Scare Me is still flying the Exhibit A flag high and proud. To celebrate the release of Scare Me’s audiobook, Richard had a guest blog with AudioGo where he writes about the dangers of modern technology and what prompted him to use those as a source of fear in Scare Me. Order your audiocopy of Richard’s book here!

The fantastic Keith Walters reviewed Scare Me and he proclaimed thusly:

“If SCARE ME is anything to go by, then this first release from Angry Robot’s new crime imprint ‘Exhibit A’ will be the first in a long line of fresh and exciting crime thrillers. From the opening it’s a plot that will have its readers gripped and pulled headfirst into its globe-trotting internet-controlled macabre treasure hunt as Will Frost rushes from one crime scene to the next, his sole desire to rescue two people who he holds dear to his heart, whilst his life around him begins to shred and tatter. With a sadistic and creative killer in its midst and the nagging fear throughout as to what in the Frost’s family’s world could have brought the events upon them, Scare Me is a thrilling ride. If I dare quote Lady Penelope here: ‘Parker…Well done!’

Over on Richard’s site, he’s running a brilliant competition for a signed copy of Scare Me PLUS a year’s subscription to Exhibit A’s awesome crime ebooks worth £52 (click here for all the details), and it’s no ordinary competition: to enter, you need to Google yourself and send Richard the results at richard[at]richard-parker[dot]com. Be sure to look around, and try find the most amusing/surprising/strange result there is…or hit ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ and see what you come up with! Good luck!

There’s also a Goodreads Giveaway running at the moment so be sure to call over there and enter…and even if you already have your copy, head over anyway and why not tell us what you thought of Scare Me?

Our other launch title was Dan O’Shea‘s Penance: A Chicago Thriller, which introduced Detective John Lynch, and John and Dan sure are getting around…in the best way possible!

Getting things off to a flying start is The Eloquent Page who were caught almost unawares at the brilliance of Penance: “What starts as a traditional crime novel, morphs into a thriller with a much larger scope than I expected. From the reader’s perspective it’s great stuff, you’re essentially getting two books for the price of one. You don’t just get Lynch’s police investigation, there is also a razor sharp political thriller in there as well.” With “frighteningly believable” “clandestine cloak-and-dagger” Paul reckons “reckon any crime/thriller fan will get a real kick out of it.”

Dead End Follies picks up where it left off on April 30 and Part 1 of their interview with Dan, with Part 2 as Dan talks about his blend of crime fiction meshing with mortality; why he’d pick Lee Marvin over Clint Eastwood; and general writing goodness!

The mighty Chuck Wendig hosted Dan over on Terrible Minds, and head over there to see how Dan withstood Mr Wendig’s Ten Questions.

Dan will be at Murder & Mayhem in Muskego, near Milwaukee much later in the year, 9 November but if you can, do make your way to see him! Keep an eye on the site forthcoming information.

Looking towards our forthcoming titles, next up is Sean Lynch‘s atmospheric, and oft-terrifying, Wounded Prey (28 May US/CA/ebook & 6 June UK). Already chosen by My Bookish Ways as one of May’s Must Read Titles, Wounded Prey is the first title introducing rookie cop Kevin Kearns and retired police inspector Bob Farrell.

Tony Healey praises Sean’s “first-rate, measured writing” and indeed, has all this to say:

WOUNDED PREY is a non-stop thrill ride of a book. Unrelenting, brutal, scary, and at times skin-crawling in its depiction of atrocious crimes. And yet it is also funny, warming and believable. Much like the excellent SUPERBIA police proceedural series, written by former Detective Bernard Schaffer, WOUNDED PREY feels realistic because its author knows what he’s talking about. Sean Lynch has seen a lot of stuff in his law-enforecement career, and that definitely comes across. True, anybody can write a police thriller. But few efforts feel as real as Lynch’s. Like Schaffer, he’s lived the life.

WOUNDED PREY is a great book, the start of a series. Now, Mr. Lynch…get to work on the follow-up. You have one very happy reader waiting for it!

Crime Scene Scotland not only acclaim Wounded Prey for “its smooth prose, plausibly flawed characters and brilliant central villain” but believe, as we here at Exhibit A do, that “if you’re looking for the new Michael Connelly – a big thriller with heart, plausibility and sense of grounding that few other writers can match – then you’re really going to want to keep an on Lynch.” Happy days!

Following hot on the heels of Wounded Prey is July’s release, The Cambodian Book of the Dead by Tom Vater.

Keith Walters hosted Tom as he spoke about the road to publication, the comparisons between Detective Maier and himself, and where his follow-up novel will take his investigator.

With a fantastic cover, it’s no surprise that Civilian Reader‘s head was turned, and as Stefan’s “interest was well-and-truly piqued” by the blurb (I do love “where Apocalypse Now meets The Beach”) I will be keeping an eye out to see what he makes of this excellent book!

If you’d like to read more of Tom’s writing, try something different and head to his blog for Chiang Mai News and get some insights into South and South East Asia before immersing yourself into his world in The Cambodian Book of the Dead.

For all you keen bloggers, reviewers, booksellers, librarians, The Cambodian Book of the Dead is on NetGalley, and so is the just-added Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square by William Sutton, which will be published 30 July US/CA/ebook and 1 August UK.

Keep up to date on all Exhibit A releases, ARC availability and all-round goodies by signing up to our Witness Protection Programme! You can also join our General Mailing List where you’ll receive the latest news and book release info, and no doubt, the occasional free book!

That’s all for now, folks; have a great weekend!

As you all know, Exhibit A is a sister imprint of the science fiction & fantasy crowd, Angry Robot. We happen to think they’re great but some would say we’re biased…not so much now with the fantastic news that Angry Robot has been shortlisted for Best Publisher at this year’s Locus Awards!

Not only that but Madeline Ashby has been shortlisted for Best First Novel with vN  (with sequel iD due for July release) and Aliette de Bodard is nominated for Best Short Story and Best Novella!

The competition in all of the categories is fierce, and the entire awards list highlights some of the amazing work being done in the SF & F genres today, and our congratulations go to the Angry Robot team, Madeline and all of the other finalists.

Locus Online has the full list.

I’m not sure if I’m more honoured to be one of the launch titles for Exhibit A or to have been able to hijack the home page like this but let me tell you, it’s pretty nerve-wracking. The only conditions were to lock up after I finished and leave the place as I found it. Maybe they were too trusting. What’s this? A tub of dried scorpions? Looks like Emlyn Rees has left his lunchbox behind.

But it’s looking none too shabby here. If you click on the main menu above you’ll find a host of great names under ‘Authors.’ Please check out their books – there are some really diverse and radical crime fiction titles there and some names I’m sure you’ll be hearing a lot more from in the very near future.

Meantime, my stand alone thriller Scare Me has found its way into bookshops and is available to buy online and I’ve already heard from a lot of people who pre-ordered and are now getting stuck into it. Two of them read late into the morning and finished in one sitting. I can’t think of better feedback to receive.

It should be available in all good ebook formats and as an audio book very soon. And check out this competition to win a signed copy.

We’re still excited by the movie rights deal for Scare Me and, as Wentworth Miller dives into the adaptation for Hollywood studio Relativity Media, I hope to keep you updated about any developments in that quarter.

Exhibit A will be posting bulletins here plus the Scare Me website is now live at www.richard-parker.com, so there will be more news there. I’d love you to swing by. The carpets have only just been laid, however, so if you wouldn’t mind taking off your shoes I’d be really grateful.

Richard Parker

Welcome back to celebrate the UK launch date of Exhibit A!

Tuesday’s round-up showed the amazing coverage received for not only Exhibit A itself, but also Richard Parker‘s Scare Me and Dan O’Shea‘s Penance which launch the imprint today in the UK, and now in our second celebration of Exhibit A‘s launch, it’s time to look forward to the books that are swiftly following. Whet your appetites with these reviews and teasers, and roll on the summer for publication dates!

• Releasing in June (28 May US & ebook / 6 June UK) is Sean Lynch‘s Wounded Prey, and it has been racking up the early reviews.. As the blurb elves say: “A visceral and heart-wrenching cross between No Country For Old Men and Silence of the Lambs, this is an exhilarating debut from a thrillingly authentic author.” If you’re cynical and don’t believe the publisher or publicist who writes these (and why, pray tell, would you ever not?) well take a look at these reviews and let us show you exactly why Wounded Prey is that good:

• Cheffo Jeffo‘s review starts with a stark warning, advising readers to not start reading on a weekday and that dark places lie ahead…if that sounds like exactly the book you like to read, you’ll be even happier with his summary: “The affections are earned and honest. The pursuit is grueling. The violence is horrifying. Wounded Prey is well-written, compelling and frighteningly believable.”

• Over on Mallory Heart’s Review, Sean’s background in law enforcement is highlighted as to how he gets the nature of the plot so right, but also his writing and it really is excellent: “Disturbing and unsettling topic; but deeply-characterized, good understanding of psychology, well-written.”

• Stuart Evers of NetGalley chose Wounded Prey as one of his ‘big things’ for 2013, and boy Stuart sir, do we agree!

• Finally today, which in case we haven’t mentioned it already is the UK launch date of Exhibit A, the brilliant Liam of Troubled Scribe posted a review that cannot be picked and prodded at, but here’s the last paragraph:

“Reading Wounded Prey for me was like living in the shadows of Vernon Slocum and  crawling my way through the jungles of Vietnam, praying I would make it out alive, watching as the big man slaughtered innocents and combatants alike. In case you can’t tell, I’m still in awe at what a presence Lynch has given Slocum and I can’t imagine any another character trying to enact Slocum’s perverse role. I’m sure there  will be more Farrell and Kearns quests which I will be thrilled to read, but those who try and step up to fill Slocum’s shoes have a might big challenge ahead of them. 9 out of 10 Liams for Wounded Prey by Sean Lynch, I almost wish the hunt had never ended.”

Boom.

Following the mighty Wounded Prey is The Cambodian Book of the Dead in July (25 June US & ebook / 4 July UK) and if we compared Wounded Prey to No Country for Old Men and Silence of the Lambs, The Cambodian Book of the Dead by Tom Vater has been firmly registered as an Apocalypse Now meets The Beach. Crime Fiction Lover have declared: “The narrative is fast-paced and the frequent action scenes are convincingly written. The smells and sounds of Cambodia are vividly brought to life, and aficionados of this kind of writing will love the book.”

• I am, Indeed is calling The Cambodian Book of the Dead “haunting and palpable with tension” and “a great read for mystery and history fans alike”. As ARCs and e-copies fly out of the office, we are greatly looking forward to seeing the rest of these reviews start to come in. If you do have any requests, please drop me a line on caroline [dot] lambe [at] angryrobotbooks [dot] com.

So, with William Sutton‘s Lawless and the Devil of Euston Square in August and J.B. Turner‘s Hard Road due in August (30 July US & ebook / 1 August UK), this summer, whilst not being able to guarantee a sunny season, is sure to be one of heart-pounding, adrenaline-pumping, fear-inducing terror and tension, and we at Exhibit A are looking forward to bringing that to you!

Welcome to the first Round-Up of all things media and Exhibit A!

Here it finally is, the official launch date of Exhibit A, and isn’t it exciting? The US is kicking off today with the  publication of Scare Me and Penance, followed swiftly by the UK on Thursday. To celebrate, here’s a look at the exciting headlines Exhibit A, and our first two awesome authors, Richard Parker and Dan O’Shea, have made thus far.

• The British Fantasy Society were quick off the mark to cover the news of Exhibit A back in April 2012 and from the offset, our fearless and indefatigable editor supreme Emlyn Rees has been busy, banging his Exhibit A drum. Over on My Bookish Ways, Kristin chatted to Emlyn about his own start in publishing as a writer, combining life as an editor and writer, and what to expect from Exhibit A. Following the 2012 CrimeFest International Crime Fiction Festival, Emlyn was on Criminal Element with a piece on authors and their characters … and what he’s looking for as a reader, writer and editor in protagonists.

• News of Emlyn’s acquisitions were featured on various sites over the past year with The Bookseller running pieces on J.B Turner‘s debut and Dan O’Shea‘s Detective John Lynch books. Acquisitions coverage also included the more recent news that Terry Irving, 4-time Emmy award-winning writer and producer, has been signed up for two books starting with Courier in May 2014. Check out what Books and Writers had to say about this great news!

It’s not often that a publishing house opens an imprint with the fantastic news that one of their first titles has been acquired for screen adaptation, but that’s the way Exhibit A like to roll!

There was widespread coverage when announced that Richard Parker‘s Scare Me had been bought by Relativity Media with Wentworth Miller, he of Prison Break, and new Nicole Kidman film Stoker, fame set to adapt the novel for the big screen. Deadline.com led with the exclusive news story and was swiftly followed by many sites including Crime Thriller Girl, DigitalSpy.co.uk, CinemaBlend.com, DreadCentral.com, Cyn’s Workshop, Bleeding Cool (with the great headline that “Richard Parker, Wentworth Miller And Exhibit A To Scare Me, You And Everyone Else In The Theatre” …yes we are….coming for you….) Books and Writers, PushStart.co.uk and Ain’t It Cool News (why, yes it is!).

If that wasn’t enough for us here at Exhibit A, the advance reviews have also been coming in for Richard and Scare Me.

• Alastair Stuart at Bleeding Cool says it’s “fantastic, constantly setting up some familiar looking elements of this sort of story and then doing something completely unexpected with them. There’s all sorts of beats in there, from staggeringly bloody, occasional violence to a serious, well-handled look at bereavement and strained familial relationships.”

• Just A Guy That Likes To Read highly recommends it and calls it “an engrossing, addictive, and all consuming thriller by an author who looks to have mastered the craft of suspense and heart pounding action.”

• MarinaSofia over on Crime Fiction Lover was unsurprised by the movie news as Richard has a “strong, confident voice” and his “scenes are spot-on in terms of creating atmosphere [with] a real cinematic quality to the whole novel.” My Bookish Ways declared Scare Me ”not only an effective, fast paced thriller, but it also mines some very uncomfortable and sometimes tragic territory, which adds depth that you sometimes don’t find in conventional thrillers” and orders readers to “lock your doors, keep the lights on and plan to stay up late, because this is one very clever scavenger hunt from hell that you won’t want to miss!” Now, if ever there was a commanding order at the end of a review!

• On his blog Alasdair Stuart has the loveliest things to say for both Richard and Exhibit A Books: “For Will Frost, Exhibit A is a phone call asking when was the last time he googled himself. For Exhibit A Books, its ‘Scare Me’, a brutally simple, clean piece of crime fiction that refuses to let you go. It’s an excellent book and a phenomenal start for the imprint. Bring on Exhibit B.” Hear, hear, Alasdair! The praise continues as Lit Nerd Around the World declares it a “breath of fresh air” whilst cayocosta72 rightly urges readers to “NOT read this at night because you will not go to sleep until the book is finished.” One early supporter of Scare Me was Bookshelf Butterfly who calls it ”fast paced and satisfyingly gruesome; a tantalising psychological thriller not to be missed.”

• For more info on Richard click here for his site and for Scare Me (if you’re brave enough…) click here where you can also win a year’s subscription to Exhibit A’s ebooks!

 • With news of Dan O’Shea’s forthcoming Chicago thrillers reaching far and wide, readers were excitedly treated to samples of Detective John Lynch’s world through a series of flash fiction shorts including “The Old Rules” on Shots.

• One of Penance‘s most mysterious characters is Paddy Wang who has long-standing ties to the city’s ruling political dynasty. Check out Dan’s short story “The Patience of History” on It’s a Crime as he explores how Paddy learned his first – and hardest – lesson that spurred him on to such growth and reach. These character expansions continued over on Shotgun Honey in “A Wonderful Country” and Terrible Minds in “Pillar of Fire”. Through these short stories, Dan opened the door’s to Lynch’s Chicago and certainly whetted the appetites of many readers!

• Mystery People highlighted Dan’s debut novel as a book to look forward to in 2012′s wrap-up, and early on showed that “a Chicago cop going up against political corruption and a deadly sniper could introduce him to a larger number of mystery readers.” We think so, too!

• Dan has been busy in the online world of crime fiction, and was rightly delighted when Do Some Damage invited him into their group, and there you’ll find him blogging on Wednesdays…sometimes Fridays….

• On Do Some Damage, Dan talks about the city of Chicago and its importance within Penance; only rightly so that Being A Big Sandwich, in an early review, highlight the city as a character in itself, complimenting Dan’s great “job of painting a visual picture, dropping actual locations and architecture to create a vivid portrait of the city” making “his story seem like a actual episode from Chicago’s history. ” That’s not enough praise for Penance from Being A Big Sandwich, and the review firmly places Dan and Det. John Lynch in the same category as Michael Connelly and Harry Bosch himself. That’ll do, pig, that’ll do.

• After leaving I Will Read Books grinning like a toddler on Christmas, Penance hopped over to Criminal Element where Katrina discovered that “when you crack the cover of this novel, you’ll discover there’s a whole lot more there, lurking just below the surface”, including “a heartbreaking account of love and loss, and the havoc that grief can wreak on an unstable mind.”

• ”Epic, ambitious, complex and yet the prose is humble and understated”. Wouldn’t you be happy with a review like that, and from Dead End Follies? But they don’t stop there when reviewing Penance, and must be quoted thusly: “The characters’ nature filters through dialog, rather than exposition, which is I think one of the greatest thing literature can achieve. It’s the most seamless form of mimesis, I find. The most exhilarating too, because it doesn’t feed the reader everything. In Penance, Dan O’Shea works WITH the reader to create great characters and a paranoid atmosphere. I believe in this novel and it makes me all giddy to talk about it. Dan O’Shea reveals himself to be one of the most talented dudes who flew under everybody’s radar so far. Expect Penance to shake things up and conquer conspiracy enthusiasts as well as hardboiled literature fans. It’s a tremendous novel. The kind you experience, rather than read.” Now. Not much more to say after that, is there? Oh wait. Go buy it, and see for yourself just how great it is!

• If you happen to be in Illinois this Friday, 3 May, do go along to Dan’s signing at the Lake Forest Book Store, and be sure to keep an eye on Dan’s website for more info on signings and events.This Friday, 3 May, sees Dan start his author signings and find out more here http://www.lakeforestbookstore.com/event/dan-oshea-lake-forest-book-store-fun-fridays

There you have it, a brief (believe me, this is the brief version!) of the waves Exhibit A, Dan O’Shea and Richard Parker have been making. Tune in tomorrow for features on Dan Newman, Sean Lynch, Tom Vater, and J.B. Turner.

Same bat channel, same bat time.

We’ve got another great signing to tell you about today: Exhibit A is delighted to announce that we’ll be publishing two novels by four-time Emmy award-winning writer and producer, Terry Irving.

Courier is the first in the Freelancer series of breakneck-paced political thrillers, featuring Rick Putnam, a Vietnam veteran and motorcycle courier for one of Washington’s leading TV networks. It’s a super fast thriller, set in 1970s America, with a lead as cool as Easy Rider playing detective against a host of rogue US government elements determined to bury the truth.

In addition to four Emmys, the author, Terry Irving, has also won three Peabody Awards and three DuPont Awards. He has been a producer, editor or writer with ABC, CNN, Fox and MSNBC.

Terry tells us: “I started my career racing through Washington on a motorcycle and getting published by Exhibit A is damn near the most exciting thing to happen since.”

We’ll be publishing Courier in May 2014 simultaneously in the UK and US in paperback and major ebook formats.

Here’s what The Bookseller magazine had to say about Terry joining us.

For more information on Terry, visit his website at www.terryirving.com or follow him on Twitter @terryirving.