Cover of Ace Atkins's DARK END OF THE STREET!

Last December, BFP reprinted Ace Atkins's first Nick Travers novel, Crossroad Blues (978-1-935415-03-9; $15), with a new foreword by music journalist Greil Marcus (Mystery Train) & a never-before-published Travers story, "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" (which went on to be nominated for the Edgar!). Now, in October 2010, BFP is proud to release a new edition of the third Travers novel, Dark End of the Street (978-1-935415-17-6; $15), with a new foreword by Robert Gordon (Can't Be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters) & possibly another original story! Check out the kick-ass new cover of Dark End of the Street, designed by Mark Francis (who worked on Crossroad Blues and who does the design work on Ace's website) and featuring photography by Neil Krug & Nick Findley. What do you think??

Also, congratulations to Ace for winning this year's Alabama Book of the Year (Fiction) Award for his historical crime novel, Wicked City, which is set in 1954 Phenix City, Alabama, once named by Look magazine as "the wickedest city in America."

And Ace's spring tour for his new novel from Putnam, Infamous, has just been announced, with Ace hitting Phoenix, Atlanta, Houston, Oxford (MS), and more! Booklist raves about Infamous: "It's Atkins' prodigious research that makes this novel a compelling road trip through Depression-era America. He vividly portrays the Dust Bowl, foreclosures, the grinding poverty, gnawing hunger, desperation and the rage at bankers (most of which resonate in today's America); and he captures the imminent end of the gangsters' heyday. Like many fine historical crime novels, Infamous offers a window on society, then and now."

Bill Fitzhugh's PEST CONTROL sequel... coming from Busted Flush Press!

Back in 1996, screenwriter-turned-novelist Bill Fitzhugh released his debut comic thriller, Pest Control -- a hilarious action novel about a Manhattan exterminator mistaken for an "EXTERMINATOR" (you know, the kind that kills people). The book ended with... well, I'm not going to give it away, but fans remember it was left open to the possibility of a sequel.

Bill followed Pest Control with other funny crime novels, including The Organ Grinders (my favorite) and Heart Seizure (which Bill himself bills as "Midnight Run but with a human heart instead of Charles Grodin"). Yet he's long toyed with the idea of what happened to reluctant, accidental hitman Bob Dillon, and now, 15 years after the publication of Pest Control, the sequel arrives by way of Busted Flush Press! The Exterminators will be launched at Left Coast Crime 2011 in Santa Fe next March. I can promise you, this one is just as funny as the first, if not funnier, as Bill brings our favorite ersatz assassin to Hollywood! It's Carl Hiaasen, Christopher Moore, Jack Bauer, The Professional, and The Player, all put in a Cuisinart and served up Fitzhugh-style.

Bill Fitzhugh will be the toastmaster at this year's Left Coast Crime in Los Angeles, March 11-14. If you're attending, you're in for a treat as he shares more news about the book.

Bill shares some of his thoughts on the history of Pest Control and its sequel on the blog this weekend! Please check back. We'll also have the cover for Ace Atkins's Dark End of the Street, an excerpt from A. E. Maxwell's Just Enough Light to Kill, and more!

All four Zoë Sharp covers revealed!

Busted Flush Press is proud to publish in the U.S. for the first time Zoë Sharp's early Charlie Fox thrillers! The series debut, Killer Instinct, comes out in May, with a new foreword by Lee Child! The other three will follow later this year & into 2011. The covers for Killer Instinct and Riot Act are slightly different than originally announced because we decided to make Zoë's name uniform across all 4 books. Enjoy!
























Killer Instinct (Charlie Fox #1)
Trade paperback original, $15 (Canada $18)
May 2010 / 978-1-935415-13-8

Riot Act (Charlie Fox #2)
Trade paperback original, $15 (Canada $18)
July 2010 / 978-1-935415-15-2

Hard Knocks (Charlie Fox #3)
Trade paperback original, $15 (Canada $18)
September 2010 / 978-1-935415-10-7

(Note: Charlie Fox #4, First Drop, is in print in the U.S. from St. Martin's Minotaur.)

Road Kill (Charlie Fox #5)
Trade paperback original, $15 (Canada $18)
February 2011 / 978-1-935415-41-1

DAMN NEAR DEAD 2 cover!

Here it is! Drawn by super-talented artist Jeff Wong (who also provided the cover for Tower), the cover of Damn Near Dead 2, BFP's fall 2010 geezer noir anthology. I crack myself up every time I look at it!

Damn Near Dead 2: Live Noir or Die Trying
Edited by Bill Crider. Introduction by Charlaine Harris.
Trade paperback original / $18 (Canada $21.95)
November 2010 / 978-1-935415-21-3

Featuring original "geezer noir" stories by Ace Atkins, C. J. Box, Christa Faust, Ed Gorman, Carolyn Haines, Joe R. Lansdale, Denise Mina, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Cornelia Read, Kat Richardson, S. J Rozan, Don Winslow, and more!

But have you read the first, award-winning geezer noir anthology, Damn Near Dead (paperback original; $18)?? Find it here!

Cover for reprint of Don Winslow's first novel!

Beginning this fall, Busted Flush Press will reprint Don Winslow's first novels, the five books that comprise the Neal Carey P.I. series. These acclaimed, off-beat novels have been out-of-print for over 15 years and have been highly sought after by fans of Winslow's more recent work, like The Dawn Patrol (my favorite of his), The Power of the Dog, The Winter of Frankie Machine, The Death and Life of Bobby Z, and California Fire and Life.

A Cool Breeze on the Underground (Neal Carey #1)
Trade paperback, $15 (Canada $18)
November 2010 / 978-1-935415-21-3

Neal Carey is not your usual private eye. A graduate student at Columbia University, he grew up on the streets of New York, usually on the wrong side of the law. Then he met Joe Graham, a one-armed P.I. who introduced him to the Bank, an exclusive New England institution with a sideline in keeping its wealthy clients happy and out of trouble. They pay Neal's college tuition, and Neal gets an education that can't be found in any textbook -- from learning how to trail a suspect to mastering the proper way to search a room.

Now its payback time. The Bank wants Neal to put his skills to work in finding Allie Chase, the rebellious teenage daughter of a prominent senator. The problem: Allie has gone underground in London, and to get her back, Neal has to follow her into the punk scene, a violent netherworld where drugs run rampant and rage is the name of the game. Up against punk junkies, antique book thieves, and murderous betrayal, Neal has his work cut out for him to save Allie -- and get back above ground for good.

"Don Winslow's Neal Carey series is hands down one of my favorite series, and it should be a 'must read' for every mystery fan." -- Jon Jordan, Crimespree Magazine

And look for Winslow's new thriller, Savages, due out from Simon & Schuster this summer! Young, independent Laguna Beach-based marijuana kingpins are blackmailed into working for the Baja Cartel after one of their threesome is kidnapped.

Covers for upcoming Reed Farrel Coleman reprints!

Check out the covers of Busted Flush Press's upcoming reprints of Reed Farrel Coleman's 4th & 5th Moe Prager novels...

Soul Patch (Moe Prager #4)
Trade paperback, $14 (Canada $17)
September 2010 / 978-1-935415-09-1
New foreword by Craig Johnson.
New afterword by Reed Farrel Coleman.
Includes original short story!
Winner of the Shamus Award! Nominated for the Edgar, Barry, Macavity Awards!

Empty Ever After (Moe Prager #5)
Trade paperback, $14 (Canada $17)
October 2010 / 978-1-935415-19-0
New foreword by S. J. Rozan.
New afterword by Reed Farrel Coleman.
Includes original short story!
Winner of the Shamus Award!

And look for Moe Prager #6 -- Innocent Monster -- in hardback from Tyrus Books this October!

BookPeople's Scott Montgomery names his top ten of 2009!

Last June we interviewed Scott Montgomery, who runs the mystery section of Texas's largest indie bookstore, BookPeople in Austin. (Read the interview here.) Now, he's come up with his list of favorite books of 2009. We're happy to see Tower make the cut, of course, but it's a damn good line-up regardless. Enjoy!

1. Dope Thief (by Dennis Tafoya; St. Martin's Minotaur)
2. Tower (by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman; Busted Flush Press)
3. Devil’s Garden (by Ace Atkins; Putnam)
4. The Long Fall (by Walter Mosley; Riverhead)
5. Dark Horse (by Craig Johnson; Viking)
6. Spade and Archer (by Joe Gores; Knopf)
7. Bury Me Deep (by Megan Abbott; Simon & Schuster)
8. Road Dogs (by Elmore Leonard; Morrow)
9. A Quiet Belief in Angels (by R. J. Ellory; Overlook Press)
10. Filthy Rich (by Brian Azzarello & Victor Santos; DC/Vertigo Crime)

2010 Hammett Prize nominations!

The 2010 Hammett Prize nominations have just been announced, and two BFP authors made the list!

Megan Abbott, Bury Me Deep (Simon & Schuster)
Ace Atkins, Devil's Garden (Putnam)
Jedediah Berry, The Manual of Detection (Penguin)
Walter Mosley, The Long Fall (Riverhead)
George Pelecanos, The Way Home (Little, Brown)

IACW/NA awards The Hammett Prize annually for literary excellence in the field of crime-writing, as reflected in a book published in the English language in the U.S. and/or Canada. The winner receives a "Thin Man" trophy, designed by sculptor Peter Boiger. Go here for more information on IACW & The Hammett Prize.

Megan Abbott & Ace Atkins have also been nominated for the 2010 Edgar Award (Megan for Best Paperback Original and Ace for Best Short Story).

Film based on Daniel Woodrell book wins big at Sundance!

Writer-director Debra Granik's indie film adaptation of Daniel Woodrell's 2006 novel Winter's Bone was a hit at the 2010 Sundance Film festival, winning the dramatic competition grand jury prize and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award (Granik co-wrote the screenplay with Anne Rosellini)! The dark thriller was then picked up by Roadside Attractions (Super Size Me) for North American distribution. According to Roadside's website, they plan on releasing Winter's Bone in theaters this summer... I, for one, can't wait! There's a lot of buzz about not only this movie but the breakout performance by Jennifer Lawrence as the film's 16-year-old heroine, Ree Dolly. It also stars an actor I really like, John Hawkes, whom Deadwood fans will recognize as Sol Star.

Daniel Woodrell previously had a book adapted to the big screen: Ang Lee's 1999 Ride with the Devil (starring Tobey Maguire & Skeet Ulrich), based on Woodrell's 1987 Western novel, Woe to Live On. And according to IMDB, Give Us a Kiss is in development.

Busted Flush Press will reprint Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red (w/ a new foreword by Megan Abbott) in September and The Death of Sweet Mister (w/ a new foreword by Dennis Lehane) in March 2011. Check back to the blog next week... covers for these reprints are almost ready! (We'll also have cover art for Don Winslow's A Cool Breeze on the Underground, Ace Atkins's Dark End of the Street, and Reed Farrel Coleman's Soul Patch and Empty Ever After.)