On the Radar — The connected world of the internet, apps, social media and the Dark Web offers the perfect inspiration for contemporary crime authors and it sometimes surprises us that this whole murky milieu doesn’t appear more in what we read. This week two books are arriving where it features large – Too Far by Jason Starr and Ginger Snapped by Chloe Sunstone. There’s some good old butt-kicking action too, taking place in Russia and at the North Pole with Martin Osterdahl’s debut and a Christmas-inspired caper by Aaron Frale. Meanwhile, if you’re a classic crime reader, don’t miss Keigo Higashino’s Newcomer for something a bit different…
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Jason Starr is, well, a bit of a star if you love comics, graphic novels and crime fiction. From his first thriller Cold Caller, which came out 20 years ago, through to novelisations of the TV show Gotham and Punisher and Wolverine comics, he’s done it all. He’s even co-written with Irish crime supremo Ken Bruen. On 16 November his novel Too Far is arriving for Kindle and in it you’ll meet Jack Harper, a man with a bit of a drink problem and a bit of a wandering eye. While messing around with a dating site he finds a hook-up and the next thing he knows he’s wanted for some pretty serious crimes…
Pre-order now on Amazon
First introduced to English language readers in the excellent Malice, Japanese police detective Kyochiro Kaga returns for another case in this translation of Keigo Higashino’s 1996 novel. Here, Kaga is a newcomer to the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo and a middle-aged woman has been strangled in her apartment. She had recently divorced, but it was amicable and Kaga and his partner have no clear suspect or motive. As he moves through the neighbourhood, Kaga peers into the lives of a range of people whose paths may have crossed with the victim and gradually scratches together a picture of what was really going on in the life of the dead translator… Newcomer is actually the seventh book in the original Japanese series and arrives on 20 November. More Japanese crime fiction can be found here.
Pre-order now on Amazon
Christmas is coming, a time of tinsel, turkey and… terrorism? Meet Jing, one of Santa’s little helpers. He’s usually found waterboarding greedy toy manufacturers or sorting out terrorists crazy enough to try holding Rudolph for ransom. He’s looking forward to enjoying some downtime at the North Pole until a pesky bunch of rogue elves put paid to his plans. They’re planning a takeover, something Jing isn’t happy about, and when an elite fixer is annoyed, you’d better stand well back! Out 23 November.
Pre-order now on Amazon
There’s mystery, intrigue and espionage in this debut Swedish thriller, out now. It features Max Anger, former fighter in an elite band of special-ops soldiers in Sweden, who now has a desk at Vektor, a think tank conducting research on Russia. He is in love with feisty fellow operative Pashie Kovalenko, but when Pashie goes missing while on a mission Max leaves his desk behind and flies to Russia – and into a storm of corruption, violence and deception. He will need to summon all of his special-ops skills to get out of this one alive.
Buy now on Amazon
Ginger and Jake like to work and play in equal measures, so when Jake is offered a dream job he immediately moves to the other side of the country, leaving his wife to sort out things at home and follow on. But Ginger begins to have strange nightmares and has the feeling someone is watching her. Is Jake’s new job putting her in danger? Errr yes, in spades, as our heroine battles to stay one step ahead of a ruthless killer. The first in this new cybercrime series featuring Ginger Gibson is out now.
Buy now on Amazon