Raymond Carver meets Elmore Leonard in Tod Goldberg’s The Low Desert: Gangster Stories, an extraordinary collection of contemporary crime writing set in the critically acclaimed Gangsterland universe. If I’m being perfectly honest, most collections of crime short stories are … fine. Entertaining and good for a quick genre fix but often lacking in depth and memorability.…
The world of academia has always been ripe fruit for the fictional plucking, as it often leaves a mark everyone who endures it, as student and teacher. And as it serves as the day job for many writers, they have a fresh perspective. Lawrence Block’s latest anthology, the fifth—at least—since he announced his retirement, is…
My love of both humor and illicit behavior started at a very young age, ignited by watching my two older brothers try to kill one another over the rights to whatever toy came in the box of Trix breakfast cereal my mother had just bought. Silly rabbit, bloodlust is for kids. As I grew up,…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! Check back every Wednesday and see what we're reading for the week!
It’s not an exaggeration to call Brad Meltzer a Renaissance man. After all, he’s a #1 New York Times bestselling author—one of the only writers with bestsellers in fiction, non-fiction, advice, children’s books, and comics. He’s also a television host, a history expert, a lawyer, and he even created a successful clothing line. One thing…
The House of Secrets by Brad Meltzer and Tod Goldberg follows Hazel Nash, who wakes up in a hospital with amnesia and sets out to put the pieces back together and solve the mystery of her past, as well as one involving her dead father and a corpse with a leather book hidden in his…
Killer Nashville has announced the full list of finalists for the 2015 Silver Falchion Readers Choice Awards, which we have below. Congrats to everyone nominated, and make sure you vote for your favorites here! Killer Nashville kicks off on Octobe 29th. Best Novel: Romantic Suspense Judgment – Carey Baldwin The Lost Key – Catherine Coulter and…
Awards season closing in on us, so dust off those red carpet duds, grab your finest champagne flute, and get ready to roll! We've already informed you of 2015's Thriller Award nominees and winners, Shamus Award nominees, Crimefest Award winners, Macavity Award nominees, Anthony Award nominees, Arthur Ellis Award nominees, Agatha Award winners, and the…
