Signed 1st editions of Eyes Wide Open by Andrew Gross are now available!

The 13th Hour is the story of a man given the chance to go back in time in one-hour increments to prevent a vicious crime from destroying his life. Bestselling author Steve Berry, says of The 13th Hour, “What an innovative concept, a thriller in reverse. Brilliantly conceived, perfectly executed. Fresh, exciting, bristling with originality. I only wish I had thought of it first.” While Andrew Gross describes it as, “Explod[ing] out of the box with pace, verve, intrigue, and an ingenious premise, a breathless race to stop a murder that has already taken place.”

A surprising and utterly original thriller, The 13th Hour is pure page-turning suspense — full of double crosses, cliffhangers, and shocking revelations.  “This is one of those books that you cannot put down.” said VJ Books co-founder, John Hutchinson, “It starts.” Hutchinson expects this title to sell out quickly from his website, www.vjbooks.com.

Doetsch‘s first novel, The Thieves of Heaven, was published in 2006 and has been purchased by 20th Century Fox. An international bestseller, The Thieves of Heaven is published in 28 languages and available in 33 countries. His second novel, The Thieves of Faith garnering praise as a tour de force as it rode the bestseller lists around the world.

VJ Books, online bookseller of collectible and signed mystery, science fiction and horror books, is proud to announce its recent membership into ITW (The International Thriller Writers).

ITW is the only writer’s organization devoted exclusively to the thriller genre.

Co-Presidents Steve Berry (Paris Vendetta) and Joe Moore (The 731 Legacy) recently offered their congratulations to John Hutchinson and Virginia Lenneville, owners of the 13-year-old internet company.  Being a part of the associate membership of ITW shows VJ Books’ commitment to promoting the thriller genre at an innovative and superior level.

ITW began in June 2004 and has grown to over 1100 members consisting of authors, fans, publishers and the like.  Past co-presidents include David Morrell and Gayle Lynds, and James Rollins.

VJ Books was honored to have attended the Annual Thrillerfest held in New York.  “We look forward to upcoming events where authors, fans and booksellers can meet to talk about great reading!” offered Ms. Lenneville about the July 2009 event.  David Morrell was honored as 2009 Thrillermaster.  Brad Meltzer, long-time friend of VJ Books was honored with the Silver Bullet Award.

Best Thriller of the Year was given to Jeffery Deaver for The Bodies Left Behind.  His novel The Broken Window was also nominated.  Other “Best Thriller” nominees Harlan Coben, Andrew Gross and Brad Thor also have long-time relationships with VJ Books.

“I can’t begin to tell you how special it was to see our author friends at the workshops and other events that weekend” Lenneville added.  “It convinced John and me that we simply had to become members and support this fine organization.”

For more information on the International Thriller Writers, visit their website at:  www.thrillerwriters.org.  For more information about VJ Books, visit their site at www.vjbooks.com.

With two books in competition for the International Thriller Writers’ Best Thriller of the Year – The Broken Window and The Bodies Left Behind – it looks like the suspense-meister (Jeffery Deaver) has a 40% shot.  (The other nominees are Harlan Coben (Hold Tight), Andrew Gross (Dark Tide) and Brad Thor (The Last Patriot).)  The winner will be announced at the July 11 Thrillerfest 2009 awards banquet.

One of the elements that readers like the most about my writing is the complex web of family ties and family relationship dynamics that weave throughout my stories. In DON’T LOOK TWICE, I explore the bond between two brothers – as well as the parent/child relationship (across two sets of characters). Readers often ask what draws me to focus so deeply on family in my novels and why I think that quality is so compelling. It’s never my precise goal to write “crime” novels, but to write stories about compelling, human situations in which a crime, or some other world‐shattering event, takes place. My stories are rooted in the drama of broken trust, of calm disturbed, when something a person counts on for sure turns out to be false. The family unit is the most universal one where a rupture can feel the most traumatic. I know I’m not exactly the first to work with this material. Our most compelling stories and myths are tales of families in conflict going all the way back to Genesis.

My previous novel, THE DARK TIDE, literally started with a bang. DON’T LOOK TWICE continues this tradition. I’ve been asked how important is the opening scene of my novels? What do I think it has to do to be successful and how I come up with them? Well, call it my Patterson training, but I believe in hooking the reader in conflict right from the start. It doesn’t always have to be a bomb or a shooting. In THE BLUE ZONE, it was a happy, prosperous family torn apart by a father’s arrest. My goal is to make the reader care about the character quickly–in a few pages–and then rip the rug out from under that security. DONT LOOK TWICE is different, in that the hero and his daughter are thrust into the middle of that (more…)

James Patterson is set to add another name to his list of collaborators: Liza Marklund. Marklund is Scandinavia’s bestselling female crime writer. The announcement came Friday afternoon via a blog post by “Lindsay Boxerette” on Patterson’s social-networking site. The international thriller is due in 2010. All that is known of the story at this point is that it is set in Stockholm, Sweden.

Marklund was quoted as saying, “Writing this book is so much fun. The story is violent, emotional, and fast paced. It’s very exciting to work with such an intelligent and creative writer. James Patterson is not only exceptionally smart and funny, he is also incredibly humble.” A goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, Marklund is credited with revolutionizing the Swedish police procedural in the late 90’s with The Bomber, her first novel in a series that is now heralded as the most successful ever by a female Scandinavian writer.

The series centers on character Annika Bengzton, a crime reporter for a tabloid who must balance her career with the responsibilities of motherhood. The books have been so successful internationally that the author has become a #1 bestseller in all five Nordic countries. Collectively, the books have sold 9 million copies in 30 languages worldwide.

Patterson, meanwhile, is set to release MAX, the fifth installment of the young adult Maximum Ride series, on March 16th. Most recently, Run For Your Life (Little, Brown February 2009), written with Michael Ledwidge, topped bestseller lists. Other collaborators have included Andrew Gross, Maxine Paetro, Hal Friedman, Howard Roughan, and Peter de Jonge.

(Hartford Books Examiner, Mar. 8, John Valeri)

www.vjbooks.com has signed copies of all James Patterson novels.

Even before he had a word published by himself, Andrew Gross was a best-selling author as one of James Patterson‘s co-writers. Six novels, including “The Women’s Murder Club” series, put Gross’s work on many best-sellers lists.

But Gross isn’t in Patterson’s shadow anymore. In his third solo novel, Gross continues to show that he is a thriller writer in his own right, though stylistically “Don’t Look Twice” is akin to Patterson’s work with clipped sentences, short chapters and ramped-up action.

“Don’t Look Twice” resonates with character development and a solid plot. Although the dialogue occasionally dips to the level of cliche, Gross’s enthusiasm for his storytelling overrides this flaw.

Greenwich, Conn., police detective Ty Hauck’s quiet outing with his daughter is halted when they are victims of a drive-by shooting at a service station where they are buying groceries. Hauck is wounded, his daughter is all right physically, but David Sanger, a federal prosecutor, is killed. Ty’s investigation first centers on just who was the intended victim: the cop, the prosecutor or the Pakistani who owned the business?

The investigation takes Ty through a maze that leads to a conspiracy, an area casino and a member of his own family. Corruption and greed ooze throughout the thrilling “Don’t Look Twice.”

Gross accelerates the action as he moves the story throughout Connecticut, including Hartford, as well as the Dominican Republic.

(sunjournal.com, Mar. 9, Oline H. Cogdill)

Order your signed copy of Don’t Look Twice by Andrew Gross from www.vjbooks.com

(Publisher’s Weekly, Jan. 26)

At the start of bestseller Gross’s twisty second thriller to feature Ty Hauck (after The Dark Tide), the Greenwich, Conn., police detective gets caught in a shooting at a local service station. A young man wearing a red bandana leans out a car window and fires: he nicks Hauck; kills David Sanger, a federal prosecutor; and wounds others. Was Hauck the target? Was it a hate crime directed at the Pakistani who owned the gas station? Or was Sanger the target? As Hauck investigates, potential leads evaporate or end in blind alleys. When the triggerman is shot dead in the Dominican Republic, the Greenwich police chief suggests Hauck should consider the case closed. Hauck decides to continue, despite increasing pressure to desist from many quarters, including the FBI and the owners of the Pequot Woods Resort and Casino. Hauck does “look twice,” with results that will change his life radically, though some readers may doubt the wisdom of the choice he makes at the end.

Order Andrew Gross signed first edition books at www.vjbooks.com

(andrewgrossbooks.com, Nov. 2008)

The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross

What inspired you to write THE DARK TIDE?

I’ve always been fascinated by how quickly life can change in a nanosecond. Even the most successful lives, the most insulated. This was a theme in THE BLUE ZONE. In this case it’s a good dad and successful hedge fund trader who fate lures into a terrible event. And that event unleashes a web of mystery about who that man really is. And what’s behind him all these years…”

The novel begins explosively with a catastrophe on a commuter train arriving at New York’s legendary Grand Central Terminal, a scene that will knock readers back in their seats and leave them breathless. How long have you been planning to delve into the concept of a life simply “disappearing” in the wake of a sudden catastrophe?
Well, this book really isn’t about terrorism or catastrophe. It’s only the catalyst to drive the central mystery of the story. It’s about a woman whose husband kisses her goodbye in the morning, wakes up the kids, gets on the train, and is never seen again. The reaction I’m hoping for in my readers isn’t (more…)