THE SHINING GIRLS sold to Mulholland Books in the US

North American rights in two novels by this year's Arthur C. Clarke award winner Lauren Beukes, author of the novel ZOO CITY, have been sold to John Schoenfelder at Mulholland Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company in a major pre-emptive deal. The first novel THE SHINING GIRLS - a high concept thriller about a time travelling serial killer - will be published by Mulholland in Spring 2013. 

Beukes said of Schoenfelder, "I met John in New York and we connected on all the things we like from The Wire to Warren Ellis. Mulholland is a seriously stylish and progressive imprint with an edgily commercial list and they do awesome covers. It's a great fit and I'm thrilled to be a part of it."

Schoenfelder said, "ZOO CITY is one of the most inventive novels I've come across in years and I've known for some time that Lauren is an author with immense potential. I am thrilled to be working with her in this next stage of her career and feel that THE SHINING GIRLS is a book tailor-made to introduce her talents to a much wider audience."

Having turned down several attempts at a UK pre-empt, a UK auction is now underway with several publishers competing. A South African auction is expected and German rights in THE SHINING GIRLS  1 have been pre-empted by Rowohlt with more deals expected in and around the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Praise for Lauren Beukes:

'Beukes's energetic noir phantasmagoria...crackles with original ideas...Beukes skilfully employs all the twists of first-rate noir...powerful indeed.' -- Jeff Vandermeer, The New York Times

'Recommended as "very, very good" by William Gibson, this is the other face of cyberpunk ... But true to the king of cyberpunk's original code, this isn't about exposition. ZOO CITY is about surface, décor and incident, grungey eyekicks and jive-talk for the in-crowd ... like Gibson, she brings a secret tenderness and humanity to her off-kilter portrait of the here and now. What her many fans will remember, and value, is deadbeat Zinzi's personal journey, towards a frail but determined integrity.'  -- The Guardian      

'Lauren Beukes is very, *very* good. It feels effortless. Utterly accomplished.' --  William Gibson

Photo credit Casey Crafford

DEAD MAN’S GRIP at No 2 in the paperback charts

DEAD MAN'S GRIP by Peter James is No 2 in the paperback charts after only 3 days sale. This 7th novel in the Roy Grace series is selling even faster than the previous bestsellers. Earlier this year, DEAD MAN'S GRIP was the hardback No 1 for two weeks and stayed in the top 10 for another four weeks and with 40,000 sold in just 6 weeks.

Peter James has been nominated for ITV3's People's Bestseller Dagger Award. For more information, please click here (although voting has just closed) http://www.itv.com/crimethrillerawards/

The award ceremony will take place on Friday, 7 October.

Peter James' new novel, the stand-alone PERFECT PEOPLE will be published in hardback by Macmillan UK on October 27.

Praise for Peter James:

'Authenticity, coupled with the ingenuity of his plotting, drives the tale at a pace that could fuse speed cameras on the M1.' -- David Connett, The Sunday Express

'The grim creativity of the victims' deaths and the ease of movement of the action are two of the many compelling reasons to stick with this series.' -- Starred Review, Publisher's Weekly

WITNESS THE NIGHT listed for DSC Prize for the South Asian Literature 2012

Kishwar Desai's award-winning debut novel, WITNESS THE NIGHT, has been longlisted for the DSC Prize for the South Asian Literature 2012 which seeks to showcase the diverse ethnicity, culture and human stories from the region.

The prize carries a purse of $50,000 (Rs.23.8 lakh) and the shortlist will be announced Oct 24 in London with the winner being announced January 2012.

Other books to make the list include 'Jimmy, the Terrorist' by Omair Ahmed, 'Bharatipura' by U.R. Ananthamurthy, 'A Street in Srinagar' by Chandrakanta and 'Day Scholar' by Siddhartha Chowdhury.

WITNESS THE NIGHT is published in the UK by Beautiful Books and is sold in: India (HarperCollins); China (Beijing Jiban); Finland (Like); Germany (Goldmann ltb); India (Full Circle [Hindi]); Italy (Il Saggiatore); Hungary (Nouvion); Poland (Zwierciadlo) and Portugal (ASA). The sequel, BABY LOVE, is due to be published at the beginning of 2012.

More detail on the prize can be found here.

Praise for WITNESS THE NIGHT

Longlisted for Waverton Good Read 2011, Winner of Costa First Novel Award 2010, Longlisted for Man Asian Literary Prize 2009

'No 'next-best-thing' novel has been as literary, bold and compelling as WITNESS THE NIGHT... it is a taught, gripping and complex thriller with two enigmatic heroines at its core. Despite its dark subject, this is a pleasing read, boasting a complex plot made accessible by Desai's very direct voice and sumptuous prose. Desai has created rich characters and a thriller about women that speaks to all the sexes. Readers: if you liked Stieg Larsson's Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, this is the book for your summer/autumn 2011. I dare you - woman, man, neither or both - not to love Witness The Night.' -- Abigail Tarttelin, Huffington Post

'Terrific' -- Toby Clements, The Telegraph

'A powerfully-felt, shocking and moving indictment of cruelty and oppression' -- Maggie Gee, author of THE WHITE FAMILY

'Social justice campaigner Desai's debut novel is very much an issue-based book, the issue being "gendercide" and, for those girls who survive birth, oppression in Indian society. Set in Punjab, Witness the Night begins when 14-year-old Durga is found beaten and tied to a bed inside a house which contains 13 butchered corpses. Social worker Simran Singh, independent and scandalously untraditional in her behaviour, is tasked with getting the mute and traumatised girl, who is suspected of murdering her relatives, to talk. Singh finds a web of deceit and corruption as she uncovers the way in which a family has sacrificed its female members in order to preserve status. There's a bit too much theorising, but this sad and thought-provoking tale is certainly worth the read.' -- Laura Wilson, The Guardian

'Very important themes [and a] very appealing central character.' -- Jane Garvey, BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour

'Essential reading.' -- Nihal, BBC Asian Network

'Kishwar Desai pulls off a remarkable trick, transplanting a country house murder to modern day India in a book that's not afraid to tackle serious themes.' -- 2010 Costa First Novel Award

Deon Meyer wins Barry Award at Bouchercon 2011

As announced at the 2011 Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, the US edition of Deon Meyer's THIRTEEN HOURS has won the Barry Award in the Best Thriller category. Please click here for more information on the Barry Award.

THIRTEEN HOURS, Deon Meyer's most recent paperback, was also shortlisted for the CWA International Dagger 2010, nominated for the US Macavity Award, and won the South African ATKV prize for suspense fiction in 2009.

Deon Meyer's latest title, TRACKERS, which was highlighted as one of PW's Top 10 Fiction: Mysteries & Thrillers for this autumn is out now in the UK, US and Canada, and will soon be out in France and Germany.

Joan Smith said of TRACKERS in the Sunday Times: 'A riveting crime novel, the author's best work yet...Deon Meyer is one of the sharpest chroniclers of post-apartheid South Africa...This is the author's most accomplished novel to date. Following the thrilling plot of his bestselling THIRTEEN HOURS was always going to be a challenge but he's visibly gained confidence, showing his technical skill and handling the different sections of the new book with effortless ease. It's a mesmerising read, and a startling revelation at the very end suggests that we haven't heard the last of these engaging characters.' Click here to read the full review on her blog.

And Shots Magazine says: 'Meyer has moved into the John le Carré class...TRACKERS is a great thriller and a fine novel of characterisation.'

Please click here for a YouTube video of Deon discussing TRACKERS.

PRAISE for Deon Meyer
 
The Financial Times on Deon Meyer's 13 HOURS: 'Superbly accomplished chase thriller by a South African writer now gaining deserved international recognition...Watch out for TRACKERS, his new book due out in September.'

'Deon Meyer has written six novels and THIRTEEN HOURS is probably the best (not taking anything away from its predecessors).  It is taut, moving and deeply memorable, and is highly recommended.' -- Theodore Feit, Crimespree and Spinetingler Magazines

'Deon Meyer is one of the unsung masters. THIRTEEN HOURS proves he should be on everyone's reading list. This book is great!' -- Michael Connelly

'THIRTEEN HOURS has breathtaking suspense, psychological understanding, and one of the most inspiring detectives ever. Deon Meyer deserves his international reputation.' -- Thomas Perry

'Try picking up THIRTEEN HOURS and setting it down. Try. You can't do it. I'm a pro, and I couldn't do it.' -- Don Winslow, author of THE POWER OF THE DOG and SAVAGES

'Best-selling South African novelist Meyer delivers another exciting if brutally violent crime novel. Expertly cutting away from the politicized police investigation to the plight of a terrified young girl literally running for her life, Meyer also steeps his novel in the day-to-day life of a country still reeling in the wake of radical transition.' -- Joanne Wilkinson, Starred Review, Atlantic Monthly

Joseph O’Connor’s GHOST LIGHT long-listed for two French prizes

GHOST LIGHT by Joseph O'Connor, released as MUSE in France, has been long-listed for two prestigious literary prizes in France - the Prix Femina Étranger and the Prix Médicis Étranger. The former was created in 1904 by twenty-two writers in France, and the winner is decided each year by an exclusive female jury. Previous winners have included, Sofi Oksanen, Nuala O'Faolain, Joyce Carole Oates, Erri de Luca and Amos Oz. REDEMPTION FALLS was also nominated for this award in 2007. The winner for this year's prize will be announced on 2 November.

The Prix Médicis Étranger is a prize that celebrates foreign novels in France and was created  in 1970 in association with the the Prix Médicis for French novels. Previous winners include David Vann, who won last year, and Aharon Appelfeld, Orhan Pamuk and Enrique Vila-Matas. Other novelists that have been long-listed Eleanor Catton, Jonathan Franzen, David Grossman and Alessandro Piperno.

GHOST LIGHT, is published by Phébus in France and Harvill Secker in the UK and by twelve other publishers around the world. Joseph O'Connor has received wide acclaim for this novel both overseas and in the UK.

Praise for Joseph O'Connor:

'Joseph O'Connor always impresses us with the accuracy of his writing and his ability to create a setting and atmosphere, which is as poetic as it is charged with mystery.' -- Alain Favarger, La Liberté

'One of the best novelists of the Irish 'nouvelle vague'.'-- Le Quotidien Jurassien

'When I think of GHOST LIGHT, the words climb over each other to be first in the queue: brilliant, beautiful, exhilarating, heartbreaking, masterly. It's that good.' -- Roddy Doyle