Dirty Business Down Under

January Magazine has chosen Gunshot Road by Adrian Hyland as one of the best books of 2010.  Hyland’s latest offers more than the average crime drama.  Gunshot Road is the story of a young aborigine woman named Tempest who becomes a rookie cop in the Outback.  When an elderly man is murdered in a remote village, her first lead brings her to the man’s friend, who confesses to the crime.  Her boss considers the case closed, but something tugs at Tempest, until she decides to strike out on her own, following leads and using her native skills to look deeper into the man’s death.

This offering from Soho Crime takes the reader on a different tour of Australia, foregoing the beautiful beaches and lush cities for the dust and blood of the less traveled roads Down Under.  Tempest is as far from the typical crime novel protagonist as she can get, and offers an exciting struggle that is all her own as she digs for, and finds, danger on her quest for the truth.  If you’re looking for a fresh tale to keep you reading in suspense, check out Gunshot Road.

Scorsese and De Niro Together Again

A few interesting facts about The Literary Group’s long-rumored film deal for Charles Brandt’s best-selling mafia memoir, I Heard You Paint Houses, have surfaced this week.  It’s been known for some time that legend Martin Scorsese will be directing.  Mr. Scorsese recently confirmed that he will be working alongside Robert De Niro to make the film a success.  This marks the ninth convergence of their talents, in a variety of successful movies.  Steve Zallian, screenwriter for Gangs of New York, will be on hand as well.

I Heard You Paint Houses reveals the life of Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran as he turns from a union leader to a mob hit-man, channeling the skills he brought back from his active duty in World War II into a life of crime.  The film, currently titled The Irishman, could be ready for filming by next year.  If you can’t wait that long, or you have a taste for organized crime drama, you can pick up a copy of Brandt’s book, published by Benay client Steerforth Press, while you wait.

Inside and Out

We’ve been talking a lot about what’s inside some of our favorite books on the blog lately.  Honestly, the words, characters, and ideas inside a book are what move us.  But, on occasion, a book can strike out at a person’s heart, grip them long before the cover is ever opened.  We’re talking about cover art.  Tin House Books’ November 22, 1963 was featured on the CBS website earlier this week, not only for the content of Adam Braver’s chronicle of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and the events surrounding his wife in the aftermath, but also for the moving photo on its face, done by Rodrigo Corral Design Inc.

They say an image is worth a thousand words, which makes this front cover an unwritten prelude to the sorrowful first chapter within.  Check out the CBS article for yourself here.

Soho Strikes Gold

Drunken preachers, pans full of dirt and hope, and a ‘one-woman bordello’ make Soho’s newest gold rush novel, Crown of Dust, one of the most jaw-dropping, original novels we’ve come across yet.  Mary Volmer dives deep into one of the most chaotic, exciting times in American history never written about, bringing contemporary humor to bear on the quirky situations of the past. 

‘Golden Boy’ Alex Ford finds a niche in the rough, all-man town of Motherlode by disguising herself as a young man.  With the curious patronage of the town’s matron and innkeeper, Emaline, Alex is able to keep her secret safe and stay one step ahead of her bloody past, but when she strikes gold, the whole town’s attention falls on her and suddenly the rough dudes of Motherlode are looking a lot harder at the slender, quiet boy they’ve been slapping on the back for the past few months.  We could tell you more, things that would have you gaping at the screen, or laughing in disbelief, but if you want to find out why Crown of Dust is on The New York Times’ radar, or what happens when one of these gold-crazy mountain men realizes there’s something about that golden boy he can’t resist, go digging in your local bookstore.  There be gold in them shelves.

Last-minute Holiday News

Our friend Frank Weimann over at The Literary Group has plenty to be proud of over the holidays.  The news came down yesterday that he has signed yet another book to Thomas Dunne, of Thomas Dunne Books.  Doctor Chopra Says: Medical Facts and Myths Everyone Should Know, by doctors Sanjiv Chopra and Alan Lotvin, is sure to be a success with both young and old people dismayed with the cost of simple medical advice as they struggle to make sense of their changing bodies.  What can we say?  Mr. Weimann knows how to pick them and if you ask us he’s knocked this one out of the park.

Speaking of all-star plays, check out this tasteful holiday gift basket we just received from the man of the hour:

  

Thanks Frank, and thank you, all of our readers.  We’d like to wish everyone a long, satisfying weekend.  Happy holidays!

Tin House at the Top of the Chart

If you like memoirs, or you’re a struggling writer, of if you’re just looking for a compelling, father-son story, Kirkus Reviews has a suggestion for weekend reading and last minute gifts.  This week they’ve named Tin House’s Mentor by Tom Grimes one of the top 25 nonfiction books of the year. 

The book reveals Tom’s journey from waiting tables, to marriage and a few published short stories, to entrance into the exclusive Iowa Writer’s Workshop.  His unlikely teacher, the gruff, smoke-billowing Frank Conroy is at the center of Tom’s life.  He helps Tom navigate “the incestuous logrolling of academic writers” and teaches him how to succeed in the world of publishing.  Mentor offers plenty of lessons, about writing as well as life.

More from Soho

When a series holds its readers’ attention for seven books, you know the author must be doing something right.  The Globe and Mail seems to agree, giving the latest Seymour of Scotland Yard mystery Soho Crime, A Dead Man in Malta, a place in its reviews this month. 

Michael Pearce’s latest follows Sandor Seymour through turn-of-the-last-century Malta as he hunts down the clues to the death of a German balloonist.  Several other deaths seem to be related, and the author does a bang-up job of describing the exotic terrain and mixture of cultures on the island.  While the shady paradise has its roots in Arab culture, the English influence seems to have taken hold well, but with the specter of the First World War creeping over the pristine beaches, the motivations of the natives seem conflicted at best.  Seymour struggles to put their fears to rest, catch the killer, and avoid having his own body wheeled down to the morgue.  How’s a gentleman to spare a moment for the scenery with so much intrigue afoot?