M&C has joined forces with The Random House Publishing Group to get fans ready for Charlie Huston’s new book, “The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death,” with The Charlie Huston Free Book Countdown!
Bestselling author Charlie Huston is crime fiction’s fastest rising star. Stephen King calls him “the most remarkable prose stylist to emerge from the noir tradition in this century.”
Charlie Huston is the author of the Henry Thompson Trilogy which includes the Edgar Award-nominated “SIX BAD THINGS” as well as The Joe Pitt Casebooks. He is also the writer of Marvel Comics’ Moon Knight. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife. Visit Huston’s official website for more information.
Huston’s new book is coming January 13th, 2009, and to celebrate this highly anticipated event, we’ll give M&C readers a chance to sample his previous books. If you haven’t been on the Huston bandwagon, here’s your chance to do it now!
Here’s how it works:
During the next three months, M&C and The Random House Publishing Group will be giving away all three of Huston’s previous Hank Thompson novels as well as offering fans a chance to download the free pdf version of the book.
250 winners will receive a paperback version of “Caught Stealing” in October, “Six Bad Things” in November, and “Dangerous Man” in December.
In addition, Random House is offering fans a chance to win a copy of the new Huston novel in 2009. To enter, fans will need to read all three books and send their comments to Random House.
A look at the prizes:
October’s Charlie Huston Book - “Caught Stealing”
“This engaging debut novel delivers fresh, jazzy riffs on the innocent-man-stumbling-into-jeopardy genre.
Having fled California for New York City after an injury cut short his promising baseball career, Hank Thompson settles into an aimless life as an alcoholic bartender. Still, Hank prides himself on making Manhattan a bit more hospitable by helping his friends, so how can he refuse when a neighbor asks him to cat-sit?
One lost kidney later, Hank realizes that an Elmore Leonardesque collection of Russian mobsters, short-fused cons, and renegade cops will snuff out all 10 lives he and the cat share between them if that's what it takes to find the not-so-good neighbor. His dull wits sharpened by pain and fear, Hank must keep one bum foot out of the grave long enough to figure out what the bad guys are looking for--and how to give it up safely.
With a mania familiar to baseball die-hards, Hank keeps an eye on the playoff-contending San Francisco Giants even as he makes several potentially game-ending errors of his own.
This polished debut promises a bright future for Huston and definitely belongs on every Elmore Leonard fan's to-read list. One note of caution: Lovers of mystery-solving felines should place paws over eyes during the hair-raising cat torture scene.“ - Booklist *Starred Review
November’s Charlie Huston Book - “Six Bad Things”
“Six Bad Things is so good, in part, because Huston manages to make it horrific, hilarious and hip.
If Huston's literary godfathers include Raymond Chandler and Elmore Leonard, they also include Hunter S. Thompson, who would have appreciated the speed freaks, crank heads, gun nuts, Russian mobsters, greedy federales, and assorted geeks and psychos who populate these pages … If you agree that the art of killing can encompass comedy as well as tragedy, Six Bad Things is state of the art.
This crazed, wildly readable adventure works because Huston writes with such delicious, deadpan verve and because Hank, his self-described mad-dog killer, is such an appealing, totally cool dude.” - The Washington Post - Patrick Anderson
December’s Charlie Huston Book - “A Dangerous Man”
“Huston writes dialogue so combustible it could fuel a bus and characters crazy enough to take it on the road.” - –The New York Times Book Review
Reluctant hitman Henry Thompson has fallen on hard times. His grip on life is disintegrating, his pistol hand shaking, his body pinned to his living room couch by painkillers–and his boss, Russian mobster David Dolokhov, isn’t happy about any of it. So Henry is surprised when he’s handed a new assignment: keep tabs on a minor league baseball star named Miguel Arenas.
Henry has no pity for the slugger and the wicked gambling problem that got him in trouble, but he can’t help liking the guy. After all, Henry used to be just like him: a natural-born ball player with a bright future.
But hell, that was long ago. Before Henry did some guy a favor and ended up running for his life. Before his girlfriend and buddies got gunned down by someone on his tail. Before he agreed to buy his parents’ safety with a life of violence.
And when Miguel gets drafted by the Mets and is sent to the Brooklyn Cyclones, Henry must head back to New York, back to the place where all his problems began–and where Henry might find a real reason to keep living, a reason that may just cost him his life.
To enter win a copy of October’s Charlie Huston Book “Caught Stealing”, contestants need to provide a name, address of where prizes would be shipped and e-mail address.
Sorry, but this competition is open to residents of the USA only.
"The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death" is now available for pre-order at Amazon for a Jan 13th, 2009, release. It is also available pre-order at Barnes & Noble . Visit the book database for more information.
The competition and free download for Caught Stealing has now ended.
The new competition and free download for Six Bad Things has started! Click Here to enter to win a copy of Six Bad Things and to access the free pdf download of the book.
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