Raymond Khoury moved to Rye, New York, from his native Lebanon at the outbreak of the civil war there in 1975. After graduating from Rye Country Day School, he returned to Lebanon to study architecture at the American University of Beirut. During his years there, in between repeated flare-ups of fighting, he illustrated several children’s books for Oxford University Press’s Middle East office. Khoury completed his degree just as the civil war erupted again, and was evacuated out from the city in February, 1984, by the Marine Corp’s 22nd Amphibious Unit on board a Chinook helicopter.

Khoury moved to London and joined a small architecture practice. The architecture scene in the mid-80s throughout much of Europe was going through a severe downturn, and the work was far from fulfilling. He decided to explore other career options and applied to the European Institute of (more…)

Robyn Young is an English author writing as of now novels set in the Middle Ages. She attended University of Sussex in Brighton, England where she completed her master’s degree in Creative Writing, the Arts and Education. In May 2007 Robyn was chosen as one of Waterstone’s 25 authors of the future.

“I was born in Oxford in September 1975, the only child of a civil engineer father and an artist and folk singer mother. My father taught me to read when I was three, for which I continue to be enormously grateful. My mother taught me to find treasure in poetry and self-expression in image, word and song. They, like all good parents, still (more…)

John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute. John Connolly is based in Dublin but divides his time between his native city and the United States, where each of his novels has been set.

 See John Connolly signed books at www.vjbooks.com

Nick Stone was born on Halloween 1966 in Cambridge, England.  He first thriller,  ‘Mr Clarinet’ became a critical and commercial success in the UK and the United States.  Stone’s second novel, King of Swords – a prequel to Mr. Clarinet, set in Cocaine Cowboy era Miami – was published in hardcover in the UK in August 2007, and last month in the US . King of Swords has met with equally strong critical acclaim , with several reviewers considering the novel superior to his debut.

See Nick Stone signed books at www.vjbooks.com

Kate Atkinson was born in York and now lives in Edinburgh. Her first novel, ‘Behind the Scenes at the Museum’, won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award.  She introduced police inspector turned private investigator Jackson Brodie in the critically acclaimed novel, ‘Case Histories’, for which she won the Saltire Book of the Year Award and the Prix Westminster. Her last two novels, ‘One Good Turn’ and ‘When Will There Be Good News’ also feature Jackson Brodie.  Signed editions are now available from VJ Books.

(bangkokpost.com, Nov. 16, Roger Crutchley)

The other evening I had just finished polishing off the latest Stephen Leather novel, Dead Men – a decent yarn by the way – and put the book onto the shelf next to the previous work I had read, A Good Day To Die by another British author, Simon Kernic. Next to that rested some other recent reading material, The Dead Place by Stephen Booth.

Now you don’t have to be a super sleuth to figure out a disturbing theme was emerging here – why this obsession about people expiring? A glance along the bookcase and the situation didn’t improve – there facing me was Looking Good Dead by Peter James snugly resting against the sequel, Not Dead Enough.

It got worse. On the top shelf were City of Bones by Michael Connelly and Bones of Silence by Reginald Hill, both of which dealt with, er … bones. Also sitting there was Patricia Cornwell‘s Post Mortem, the subject matter of which hardly requires an explanation. Even the book by the humorous writer (more…)

C. J. Box is the author of nine novels including the award-winning Joe Pickett series. He’s the winner of the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award, and an Edgar Award and L.A. Times Book Prize finalist. Box was named 2007 Writer of the Year by the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. His short stories have been featured in America’s Best Mystery Stories 2006 and limited-edition printings. The novels have been national bestsellers and have been translated into 16 languages.

Blood Trail, the eighth Joe Pickett novel, was published by Penguin/Putnam in May, 2008, and appeared on the NY Times extended bestseller list its first week and was named a Booksense Notable Book. Blue Heaven, a stand-alone thriller, was published by St. Martins Press in January, 2008 and was on the extended NY Times Bestseller list for four weeks and was recently optioned for film.

Box is a Wyoming native and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he co-owns an international tourism marketing firm with his wife, Laurie. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. Box lives with his family outside of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
See all C.J. Box titles at www.vjbooks.com!

William Bernhardt, best known for his Ben Kincaid series, is the author of many books, including Perfect Justice, Double Jeopardy, Naked Justice, Murder One, Criminal Intent, and Death Row.

Bernhardt’s books have been translated and published in more than two dozen countries. He has twice won the Oklahoma Book Award for Best Fiction, in 1995 and 1999, and in 1998 he received the Southern Writers Guild’s Gold Medal Award. In 2000, he was honored with the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award, which is given “in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large.” That same year, he was presented with a Career Achievement Award at the 2000 Booklovers Convention in Houston. He has also been inducted into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame, the youngest author ever so honored.

In addition to his work as a writer, Bernhardt is also a popular teacher and publisher. In 1999, he founded HAWK Publishing Group. HAWK has published books by acclaimed authors such as Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist N. Scott Momaday, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and PBS newsman Jim Lehrer. He also sponsors the HAWK Writing Workshop each summer to nurture and mentor aspiring writers. Throughout the year, Bernhardt teaches writing and literature to fortunate students who invariably remark on his passion, knowledge, and expertise.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Thomas H. Gilcrease Museum of Western Art, the Advisory Panel for the Oklahoma Arts Institute, the Advisory Council for “Nimrod: The International Journal of Poetry and Prose,” the Publications Committee for the Oklahoma Historical Society, and the Selection Committee for the Peggy V. Helmerich Literary Award.

A former trial attorney, Bernhardt has received several awards for his public service. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his children, Harry, Alice, and Ralph, as well as his cat named Dinah.

See William Bernhardt books at www.vjbooks.com

(jg-tc online, Nov. 12, Juanita Sherwood)

Escalating tension describes the action that spans the 464 pages covering a 24-hour time period in “Third Degree” by Greg Iles.

The main character is Laurel Shields, a special education teacher who is married to a well-respected medical doctor. The couple has two children, a 9-year-old boy named Grant, and a 6-year-old daughter named Beth.

The book opens with the day beginning for the Shields family. When Laurel awakens, she notices that her husband has not been to bed the night before. She reaches (more…)

(www.news.com.au, Dec. 19, Paul Syvret)

Jeffery Deaver is one of the most prolific and accomplished thriller writers in America today.

He is best known for his Lincoln Rhyme books – a series about a brilliant (and quadriplegic) forensic criminalist who battles the most formidable of villains from his wheelchair.

Refreshingly with The Bodies Left Behind, Deaver takes us out of Rhyme’s apartment and the streets of New York, and into the backwoods of rural (more…)