I've been saving up a lot of book-related news to share, so forgive me for this hodge-podge of news about a lot of forthcoming books from some of my favorite crime fiction authors.

Busted Flush Press will issue the U.S. debut of Ken Bruen’s novel London Boulevard. The book dates to 2001, right in the thick of – but separate from -- Bruen’s White Trilogy. This is a stand-alone that has a slightly different feel to me from his other books, but it’s no less visceral and rewarding than the rest. This edition, which comes from the same folks who rescued Bruen’s early work in the A Fifth of Bruen omnibus, includes a new introduction by Academy Award-winning screenwriter William Monahan (“The Departed”) and other “additional bonus material.” Pay particular attention to the cover by artist Jeff Wong, which depicts Bruen and his Hard Case Crime collaborator Jason Starr acting out a scene from the book’s opening. The book is due in July.

Harlan Coben has a lot of news to report. First up, his forthcoming novel, Hold Tight, is being promoted with an online video trailer. It looks like a pretty standard Coben story from this angle, which means to say, I’ll be picking it up early and buzzing through it quickly. The book is due April 15. Meanwhile, for those wanting more Coben, he reports that “Hart Hanson, the creator and executive producer of the TV series ‘Bones,’ is writing a pilot for Twentieth Century Fox studios and Fox network to bring Myron and the gang to a TV near you. The working title -- and this could very easily change -- is ‘Promises And Lies.’” Coben is soliciting suggestions for casting; e-mail him at casting@harlancoben.com. Lastly, the French movie version of his novel Tell No One will finally see U.S. theatrical release in June with English subtitles.

Proving that an old dog can learn new tricks Lawrence Block has adapted two of his short stories for the stage. The one-act plays – “"How Far It Could Go," (shorted to “How Far” for the play) and “One Day I'll Plant More Walnut Trees” – are being performed at the Henry Lawson Theatre in Werrington, New South Wales, Australia, as part of a four-play evening. As Block reports in his newsletter, this stemmed from a theatrical producer in LA wanting to adapt “How Far.” Block offered to do it himself, and while it wasn’t ever staged, further conversations with an Australian friend about it led to the Lawson production. Both stories can be found in Enough Rope, and Block writes that anyone wanting to take a crack at the plays should contact him at LB@lawrenceblock.com. Meanwhile, his next Keller book, Hit and Run, is due June 24. He promises as “special philatelic edition.”

UPDATE: Block just released more info about this edition: "The Philatelic Edition of Hit and Run will consist of a copy of the hardcover first edition, bearing on the flyleaf or title page (I haven't decided yet) an imprint identifying it as such. All copies will be serially numbered and hand-signed by the author -- that's me -- and each will also bear a special genuine US personalized postage stamp showing the cover of the book, tied to the page with a hand-applied cancellation bearing the book's official publication date (June 24, 2008, my 70th birthday, and how's that for timing?) and the city (that'd be New York, duh). And there may be some further philatelic enhancement elsewhere in the book."

Michael Connelly was the author of the month at the Rara-Avis crime fiction e-mail list, and he was kind enough to log on and weigh in on the discussion. Reading through his responses to comments and queries, I was able to cobble together some interesting and new (to me) information. He was asked a lot about Harry Bosch and whether he plans to continue that series. He said that he enjoys writing the books in real time, letting Harry age with each book, but added that he has “planted many seeds about Harry in Vietnam, about Harry as a street cop during the Patty Hearst and SLA period, etc… I have gathered string on these times and events. I've done the research so that I could write the book. It’s just a matter of getting to them.”

He said he feels like he “stumbled onto the right ingredients of character” that sustained his interest through the Bosch series, and doesn’t feel like the newer Mickey Haller series – despite liking it “all right” – could sustain 10 or 12 titles.

Then again, he reports he was ready to give up on Bosch at least once (twice if you count the early arc that finished before his first stand-alone, The Poet. Phenomenal sales for that and subsequent books gave him the clout to pretty much write what he wanted, he said). That came in City of Bones, where Bosch walks out the door having quit the police force. “It was around this time that I made some dramatic shifts in my personal life as well and lo and behold, it was Harry who was one of the only things constant in my life. So I clung to him, re-energized the creativity associated with him and continued to write about him… Any day I get to write about Harry Bosch remains a good day for me.”

Connelly has had some good days lately, then. He follows his shortest book, The Overlook (which evolved from a serial in The New York Times), with his longest, the forthcoming 525-page The Brass Verdict. That one brings Bosch and Haller together. It’s due Oct. 14.

Labels: books, crime fiction