- Jeffrey Siger’s latest book, A DEADLY TWIST, has been published (inexplicably) in trade paperback, with a very small hardcover run (at the insistence of the author and two booksellers). All of his prior 11 books in the series were published first in hardcover, then in paper. His new publisher Sourcebooks decided to issue #12 in trade paper. But there will be a few hardcovers. Mystery Mike’s (317-402-6091)and The Poisoned Pen will be the sole source of hardcovers (all of them signed), so if you have a collection of hardcover Jeffrey Siger novels, as I do, you may want to connect with Mystery Mike’s or The Poisoned Pen to get a copy. That’s what I’m going to do. Signed copies of this soon-to-be-rare hardback edition will be available May 11th.
2. One of my favorite sites on the internet is Shots Magazine run by good friend Mike Stotter. The site has been down for the last couple of days so I emailed Mike asking him why. He replied that he has been a victim of a malicious hacker and it it going to take approximately 3 weeks to get the site restored and running again. I just don’t understand the mentality of someone who would do something like that. I feel bad for Mike. It could happen to any of us. In the meantime I’ll just keep going to his blog, SHOTSMAG CONFIDENTIAL, for all my British crime fiction news.
3. I’m sad to announce the passing of espionage author Jason Matthews, who is famous for his “Red Sparrow” series, which was featured in the cover article for Issue #82 of Deadly Pleasures.
“Jason Matthews, an award-winning spy novelist who drew upon his long career in espionage and his admiration for John le Carre among others in crafting his popular “Red Sparrow” thrillers, has died at age 69. Matthews died Wednesday from Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD), a rare, untreatable neurodegenerative disease, according to his publisher, Scribner.
“How a bestselling, critically- acclaimed spy novelist sprung from the head of a quiet CIA operations officer appeared to be a great mystery,” Colin Harrison, Matthews’ editor at Scribner, said in a statement. “But when you learned Jason Matthews spoke six languages, had read widely for decades, was an astute observer of human behavior, and was adept at composing long classified narratives, it all made sense. His books were not only sophisticated masterpieces of plot and spy craft, but investigations into human nature, especially desire in all its forms.”
“Matthews worked 33 years in the CIA’s highly secretive Operations Directorate before retiring a decade ago and following the path of such authors as le Carre and Charles McCarry in fictionalizing their time in intelligence. “Red Sparrow,” published in 2013, was a neo-Cold War tale later adapted into a movie.”