MILESTONE: My thriller THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY now has 20,000 ratings on GoodReads. Thanks to everyone who read it and more importantly to those who took the time to rate it.
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Posts Tagged: noir
My book of the week is my supernatural thriller ROAD RASH. It’s 99c/99p at Amazon in the US and the UK for this week only!!
It’s the story of James Straley, a bank robber on the run with the proceeds of a botched bank robbery. It’s all he has. His crew is dead and his getaway car just died on him. He’s on foot with the cash when he comes across a two-car pileup. There’s no saving the drivers, but he can save himself by taking one of the wrecked cars. But he boosts the wrong set of wheels. Within an hour of driving off, he develops a rash that eats away at his flesh. No doctor can help him–only the car’s original owner. If Straley wants his skin back, he must journey on the road to redemption.
I have a real soft spot for this book. It was inspired by a trip to Guatemala and a run-in I had with Santeria. You can read all about my adventure here.
There’s also a great audio edition read by Ed Hunter. I love Ed’s voice and it’s probably my favorite reading that anyone has done of my books.
It’s available from iTunes, Kobo, B&N, Audible as well as Amazon. You can find all the links here.
Anyway, I hope you’ll snap up a copy. I think you’ll enjoy it.
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I’m happy to announce the upcoming publication of the Italian edition of PAYING THE PIPER which will be published as OTTO ANNI PRIMA (which translates as EIGHT YEARS AGO). This is my second book with Italian publisher Newton Compton and I hope this book will do as well as first book with them as I’d like them to publish SAVING GRACE next. If you’d like to work on your Italian, this is what the back jacket says:
Quando il giornalista Scott Fleetwood riceve una chiamata anonima che gli offre un’intervista esclusiva con il pericoloso Pifferaio, il criminale che rapisce i bambini a San Francisco, non può credere alle sue orecchie. È un’occasione per aiutare concretamente le autorità a incastrarlo. Per anni, infatti, il Pifferaio ha terrorizzato le più influenti famiglie della città, costringendo i genitori a pagare un riscatto altissimo pur di riavere i loro figli. Ma gli sforzi di Scott per trasmettere le informazioni all’FBI si rivelano presto controproducenti: l’uomo che sta intervistando non è il vero Pifferaio, e la situazione precipita. Il bambino sequestrato viene ucciso. Per otto lunghi anni Scott ha convissuto con il senso di colpa. La sua leggerezza ha causato la morte di un innocente. Ma l’incubo non è ancora finito. Quando il Pifferaio torna a farsi vivo, non vuole un riscatto. Questa volta la posta in gioco è molto più alta. E in ballo c’è la vita del figlio di Scott.
The book comes out in hardback and ebook at the end of August. I will do a cover reveal when final cover art is complete but in the meantime, you can learn more on the OTTO ANNI PRIMA book page!
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It’s my birthday today…but I have a gift for you with the release of my short story collection, FAST CRIMES.
I made my professional bones writing short fiction, and fairly short crime fiction at that. When I started out, there were plenty of markets looking for stories only a few pages long. The stories featured in this collection saw publication in Woman’s World, the side of a coffee can and in a Vegas soft porn magazine, just to name a few.
The jacket copy goes like this:
“Crime happens in a moment and so do the stories in the Fast Crimes collection. These short mysteries start in the moment and build to a climax in a snap. Murders are plotted and carried out. Heists are planned and foiled. Investigators hunt and apprehend criminals. And it all happens in a handful of pages. It’s a smash and grab experience…so strap in.”
The book is available on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes & Noble. Links are here.
So if you’re looking to get me a birthday gift, then I’d love it if you picked up a copy. I hope you enjoy the stories. They’re something you can fit in with a cup of coffee.
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Similarly to Kobo, a bunch of my ebooks and audiobooks are now on iTunes. I must admit I feel like a bit of a rock star because I have an artist’s page on iTunes. So if you’re an Apple iTunes person, you can find all my titles listed here. Just make sure you get the correct “Simon Wood” books. While there are a number of my foreign language titles, please note that I am not the author of the German BDSM erotica…that’s some other guy…really it is. 🙂
My Simon Janus titles are also on iTunes here.
Any questions or issues, let me know. Also, feel free to share with others. I won’t stop you.
I hope you can support me. Thanks!
POSTSCRIPT: Apple have made one of their never-ending updates and unfortunately, my author page no longer shows all my titles although they are on the site. Just to confirm, my titles on iTunes are: DID NOT FINISH, HALF-INCHED, HOT SEAT, THE FALL GUY, FAST CRIMES, WORKING STIFFS, CRESTFALLEN, LOWLIFES & SHORT SHARP SHOCKS. You can find direct links on “BOOK” pages of this website.
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My ebooks are now appearing on Kobo (my English and French titles). Essentially, they’re a competitor to Kindle and Nook. To get some momentum with them I need a few good people to buy them. That’s where you come in, but it’ll hardly cost you’re a penny…well, kinda.
They have an offer going at the moment. When you spend $5.01, they’ll give you $5 off first order. I’d love it if you’d take advantage of their offer and you can get a couple of my books for less than a dollar while helping me cement my position with Kobo. All my books are listed here. (including some of my French titles):
Just make sure you get the “Simon Wood” books as there are a couple that aren’t by me. Any questions or issues, let me know. Also, feel free to share with others. I won’t stop you.
I hope you can support me. Thanks!
Categories: Uncategorized
I’ve got something fast and dirty for you in the guise of a short story collection, FAST CRIMES.
I made my professional bones writing short fiction, and fairly short fiction at that. When I started out, there were plenty of markets looking for stories only a few pages long. The stories featured in this collection saw publication in Woman’s World, the side of a coffee can and in a Vegas soft porn magazine, just to name a few.
The jacket copy goes like this:
“Crime happens in a moment and so do the stories in the Fast Crimes collection. These short mysteries start in the moment and build to a climax in a snap. Murders are plotted and carried out. Heists are planned and foiled. Investigators hunt and apprehend criminals. And it all happens in a handful of pages.
It’s a smash and grab experience…so strap in.”
The book comes out on April 14th…my birthday. You can preorder it here.
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My frustrated DJ self emerges yet again for a playlist for my the latest Aidy Westlake book, HALF-INCHED. The playlist reflects the various themes and plotlines from the book series. If you’ve read the books, these songs will make a lot of sense and if you haven’t, it should give you an inkling as to what to expect. Either way, the songs should result in a shake of the head…or a groan.
So here’s what’s on the playlist:
“The Distance.” – Cake
“Fast Car.” – Tracy Chapman
“Jerry Was Racecar Driver” – Primus
“The Road To Hell” – Chris Rea
“Shut Up And Drive” – Rhianna
“Cars” – Gary Newman
“Road To Nowhere” – Talking Heads
“Keep The Car Running” – Arcade Fire
“Everyday Is A Winding Road” – Sheryl Crow
“One Headlight” – The Wallflowers
“Passenger Seat” – Death Cab For Cutie
“Drive” – The Cars
“Passenger Side” – Wilco
“Granddad” – Clive Dunn
If you have any musical suggestions, leave them in the comments and I’ll add them to the playlist. Now just hit play to listen. Enjoy!!
Categories: new book shelf life
I thought I’d share some fast facts about my latest Aidy Westlake adventure, HALF-INCHED.
1. “Half-Inched” is cockney rhyming slang for pinched as in to steal.
2. Aidy Westlake is named after former Watford Football Club’s had coach Aidy Boothroyd and the late, great writer Donald Westlake.
3. HALF-INCHED was inspired by a British journalist who was discussing high value car thefts in Europe where the vehicles ended up in Moldova. The police in Moldova rarely investigated the thefts as they didn’t occur in their country…but the police would turn a blind eye if the owners chose to steal their property back. As soon as I heard that I knew I had a book! 🙂
4. Readers, Mary-Frances Lascuola & Barb Kreisel, provided the title for the book when I was struggling to come up with one. They won my contest to see who could come up with a better title than me!
If you’ve read the book, I hope these tidbits have given you some additional insight into the story. And if you haven’t read the book, I hope you’ll give it a go.
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