News from Simon Kernick

NEWS UPDATE!!

Hello there, all. This is a quick update of where things are right now book-wise. I've just been told I've made the shortlist for the Theakstons Old Peculiar Crime Novel of the Year 2008 for Relentless, so thanks to everyone who voted for me- it's hugely appreciated. It's a very strong shortlist but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. Results are announced and the award awarded (can you say that?) on Thursday July 17th at the Harrogate Crimewriters Festival.

Also, my new novel DEADLINE is released on July 14th in the UK. It's going straight to mass market paperback, with a very small print run of hardcovers for libraries and collectors. I'm not going to be touring for it as I'm keeping my head down with the new book (more on that in a minute), but there will be a few dates where I'm out and about signing, so keep an eye on the EVENTS page for details.

And now to the new book... As some of you who regularly check the site will know, I was in the process of writing the third in the Dennis Milne novels (see below), but alas, I've abandoned it, as I'm often wont to do, when a books not going great. I was fifty pages in and for some reason it simply wasn't working so I've decided to go away, have a think about it, and try writing it again next year. It'll definitely get done (I miss old Dennis, I have to say), but I want to make sure it's done exactly right because it's going to be the last of his books, and I want it and him to go out with a real bang.

In the meantime, I'm doing the book I'd planned for next year. Entitled TARGET, it's a very very fast paced thriller, set over three days, with numerous twists and turns. I'm currently seventy pages in and I love it. I'm hoping you all do too...

So, anyway, it's back to the writing and I'll be posting on here again some time in the not too distant.

All the best

Simon 19/06/08

Well hello there, I'm back from the dead!

Well, not exactly the dead but, to be fair, it's been a hell of a long time since I posted anything on this site. But fear not: I've been busy. The latest book, DEADLINE, a kidnap-for-ransom thriller which moves at the same kind of pace as Severed and Relentless, is now all finished. It's being released straight to paperback in the UK on July 14th 2008 (although there will be a limited hardback edition coming out at the same time as well). It's also being released in trade paperback in South Africa in April, and Australasia and the Far East at the beginning of June, and I'd be very interested to hear what everyone thinks of it.

So now I'm back onto book number 8. Tentatively entitled EXECUTIONER, it's the third and possibly final of the Dennis Milne books, and is part prequel to The Business of Dying, and part sequel to A Good Day To Die. In other words, the first three quarters of the book take place at the beginning of the millenium before Dennis has completed his descent into corruption (although at that point, he is teetering), while the last quarter takes place in the present day in Cambodia, where I've spent time researching the book. So far, it's going really well and I'm confident that it could end up being my best work to date. Don't let the dual timelines fool you. It's still very fast paced, with plenty of twists and turns and, as always, plenty of bodies, and the Cambodia plot is an extension of the earlier plot, and not something different.

So does Dennis die at the end?

You'll have to read it and find out. It's due for release in either June or July next year.

As to other news, there's nothing huge to report, though there are still a few projects and possibilities bubbling around, and I'll let you know about them if and when anything comes of them. I'm also going to be out and about a little bit in the next few months signing books, and have started posting details on the events page. More will follow in the next few weeks.

Anyway, it's back to work for me. Bye for now, and I promise that at one point soon I will put something on the Projects Page!

SK 03/04/08