Like to see gore spilling across the page? Jack Kilborn will make you Afraid (Headline) next March. A helicopter crashes on the outskirts of sleepy Safe Haven, Wisconsin. The townspeople are forced to run from a weapon designed purely to annihilate, in a book designed to get your heart pounding.
    Thomas Perry’s Runner (Quercus, February) features a woman who has settled quietly into a new life after 10 years
in a dangerous, secretive profession helping people escape their enemies. But after a bomb goes off and a young pregnant girl is involved, Jane finds herself falling back on old skills and contacts.
    Also from Murdoch is Stieg Larsson’s follow-up to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo--in January--The Girl Who Played With Fire (Quercus). Lisbeth Salander’s prints are on a murder weapon and her history of unpredictable behaviour doesn’t recommend her. The team at Millenium magazine are determined to prove her innocence--but they have to find her first.
    Can you believe the words of a master forger? William Heaney’s Memoirs of a Master Forger (Gollancz, December) might be autobiography or might be fiction. Heaney drinks too much and sees demons, he forges Jane Austen first editions and gives the money to homeless hostels, and a woman walks into his life who might just be able to save him. He used to be in a rock band. He is humorous, self-deprecating and sounds quite genuine, but then so did James Frey at first.
    And if you’re looking for thrills for younger readers: a sailor appears at the door of the old inn, and ends up keeping two sick children company with his tales during a long stormy night. When dawn arrives, shocking truths will reveal themselves. Tales of Terror from the Black Ship (Chris Priestly, illus. David Roberts, Bloomsbury, December) is full of grisly prose for ages 14-plus.

This article from Thorpe Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter and Media Extra is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: jack kilborn, stieg larsson, thomas perry, william heaney