Okay, you're right. The countdown was supposed to start on Day 10. It would have looked so much more professional and well-planned. But somehow Real Life got in the way, and before we knew it...
Anyway, the long awaited publication in the UK of the 9th Cooper & Fry novel THE KILL CALL is exactly nine days away, on 2nd April. Lucky that we managed to avoid the 1st and all those old jokes about April Fools Day.
Long awaited? Well, it's now 18 months since the publication of book 8, DYING TO SIN, which came out in September 2007. Up to then, I'd been dutifully producing a book a year regular as clockwork, just the way publishers like it. But 2008 was the first year without a new Cooper & Fry novel. You've no idea how many quizzical messages I got from readers wondering whether they'd missed a book, because they usually had one to take their on their summer holidays, and or to give to their Mum on her birthday. I started to feel really guilty.
So here it is, then. THE KILL CALL arrives in plenty of time for your summer hols. It's also in time for Father's Day. It's even in time to catch Easter, for goodness sake - and it's much better for you than all those chocolate eggs!
So what about the rest of the world, I here you cry. Well, according to
HarperCollins Australia, THE KILL CALL is released Down Under on 1st April (I guess you don't have April Fools Day down there?). If I'm not wrong that means Australia actually gets this book first. So it seems we've come a long way since way since those wooden sailing ships took six months to get round the Cape of Good Hope. You'll be getting the internet next. *
HarperCollins Canada are a bit more cautious. They have THE KILL CALL scheduled for 15th May. You can't hurry a Canuck, eh? Got to wait until all the snow has gone, I suppose. **
With one exception, other parts of the English speaking world who get the HarperCollins titles will find THE KILL CALL drifting into their bookshops some time over the next couple of months, many of you apparently preferring the 'export' trade paperback editions to the lovely hardbacks that we get here in the UK.
The exception is, of course, the USA... Well, what can I say? There is no prospect of THE KILL CALL being published in the US. You Cooper & Fry fans across the pond might want to review your options. If you ask me, your best bet could be to move to the UK. Or to Canada, of course, if you have a good pair of snow boots. ***
Failing that, there are some good independent mystery bookstores in the States who will import a few copies, such as
The Poisoned Pen in Arizona. And the internet is a great thing for book buyers. Many readers in the USA tell me they buy UK editions online from The Book Depository, which has the advantage of free worldwide shipping. As it happens, I'm currently a featured author on The Book Depository's website. and THE KILL CALL is one of their most popular pre-orders:
Translations? Well, as usual, the reliable Swedes are quick off the mark, with the Swedish translation of THE KILL CALL due for publication this autumn from
Minotaur. Most other countries are still catching up on the series.
And that's it for now. More news as the countdown continues!
Stephen
* a joke
** another joke
*** the same as the last joke
Posts
