Latest THRILLERESQUE Magazine coming out next month

The new issue of THRILLERESQUE® Magazine will be out soon, so here’s a preview  of select articles:

> Pages 1-16 Click here. This includes the following articles:
    Article 1 – Russia’s Take on Trump
    Article 2 – Inside Nikita Khrushchev’s Secret Bunker
    Article 3 – Stepping Back into Poland’s Communist Past
    Article 4 – Qatar: Inside the Middle East’s Newly Ostracized State 
    Article 5 – Exploring Bangalore, Asia’s Silicon Valley
    Article 6 – Researching Scenes in Helsinki, Finland
> Pages 18-33 coming soon, including the following:
    Brief news section
    Article 7 – The Russian Air Force Museum at Monino 
    SPECIAL REPORT – North Korea: Is War Inevitable?

Sony hacking sets troubling precedent for publishers and authors

Given that hackers have brought Sony executives to their knees and struck fear into the nation’s largest movie theater chains, are publishers of controversial books and the bookstores that sell them next on the target list? If so, should authors of political non-fiction or even thrillers and mysteries be worried? Should I worry about my forthcoming espionage thriller THE PYONGYANG OPTION, due out in spring? Though my novel does not contain—unlike the Sony movie The Interview—any gory scenes of a nation’s current leader getting his head blown off, it is still set in North Korea and delves into thorny political issues and contains graphic detail of behaviors common in repressive regimes, like torture, secret prison camps, assassinations, defections, mass surveillance and cover ops. Ironically, it also has hacking as a plot element. And as one of the handful of Western authors to have traveled to North Korea, I feel compelled to write about what I saw. So what should authors like me do? Should we invest in better firewalls, purge salacious emails from our archives or otherwise prepare for the potential loss of personal data from our computers and cloud accounts? Or should authors take comfort in the fact that only movies have been targeted (so far). Regardless, the Sony incident sets a potentially troubling precedent for the literary industry. Your thoughts?

A.C. Frieden Speaks at KGB Bar in NYC

Join A.C. Frieden and five other top crime fiction authors for a “Night of Crime” reading/signing event at KGB Bar in Manhattan, New York.

The Serpent’s Game is getting great reviews

“International espionage collides with the Katrina-ravaged streets of New Orleans–an intelligent and intriguing spy thriller that chases secrets across the globe.”
–Crimespree Magazine

“Frieden keeps the suspense high and the twists coming in this gritty, complex and satisfying thriller.”
–Jamie Freveletti, author of Robert Ludlum’s The Janus Reprisal

“Once again, Frieden has delivered a top-notch thriller with an international flair.”
–Marc Paoletti, author of Scorch

“[S]ome of the best writing about the early hours of Katrina that you are likely to come across. In fact, all Frieden’s scenes…are totally convincing.”
–M.K. Turner, BookReview.com

“Are you a fan of Robert Ludlum or Daniel Silva spy thrillers? If you are, this book will leave your synapses crackling and hungering for more.”
–Ditter Kellen, author of Ember Burns

Get your copy today!
Amazon (Kindle and paperback): http://amzn.com/B00H5Y0ICO
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-serpents-game-a-c-frieden/1109797651?ean=2940148962359

The Serpent’s Game is out!

The second thriller in the Jonathan Brooks series is now available in ebook (Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble NOOK), as well as in paperback. Enjoy!

A.C. Frieden Joins a Panel at BOUCHERCON 2012 in Cleveland

Thriller author A.C. Frieden is headed to Cleveland, Ohio to attend BOUCHERCON 2012, one of the largest fan-focused conferences on crime fiction, and will be on a panel titled “What an Author Will Do for a Story,” with fellow authors Jamie Freveletti, Sean Chercover, Sam Reaves, and Mark Sullivan.

For more information about Bouchercon, visit the following sites:
www.bouchercon2012.com.
www.facebook.com/Bouchercon2012.

The official panel annoucement.

A.C. Frieden Announces New Thriller at Printers Row Lit Fest 2012

Thriller author A.C. Frieden at the Avendia Publishing exhibitor tent at Printers Row Lit Fest 2012.

The Avendia Publishing exhibitor tent at Printers Row Lit Fest 2012 was well located on Polk Street.

Thriller author A.C. Frieden attended the Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest this past weekend, signing books at the Avendia Publishing exhibitor tent and announcing the upcoming launch of his sequel thriller THE SERPENT’S GAME. Due out in November, THE SERPENT’S GAME is the second intallment in the Jonathan Brooks legal/spy thriller series following TRANQULITY DENIED.

The two-day book fair is one of the largest in the Midwest and is an excellent opportunity for authors to connect with fans, publishers and other authors. The crowds were huge on Saturday, which accounted for higher than expected sales of Frieden’s latest novel TRANQUILITY DENIED, as well as his other books.

For more information about THE SERPENT’S GAME, TRANQUILITY DENIED and other novels in the Jonathan Brooks series, visit the following: www.acfrieden.biz/titles-jonathanbrooks-series.html

Thriller authors A.C. Frieden and Jamie Frevelleti at Printers Row Lit Fest 2012

Promotion for A.C. Frieden’s next thriller, THE SERPENT’S GAME, due out in November 2012

Third Legal/Spy Thriller in Series Announced

The first three novels in the Jonathan Brooks thriller series by international author A.C. Frieden

Avendia Publishing announced the third legal/spy thriller in A.C. Frieden’s Jonathan Brooks series.  Due out in fall 2013, the third novel titled LETTER FROM ISTANBUL will feature the same protagonist, hotshot New Orleans maritime lawyer Jonathan Brooks, as in TRANQUILITY DENIED (available today) and THE SERPENT’S GAME (fall 2012).  The fourth and fifth books in the series will be announced this December.

Stay tuned for launch event information for THE SERPENT’S GAME by revisiting this blog and checking updates on A.C. Frieden’s official website: http://www.acfrieden.com

Second Thriller Book Cover Sneak Peek

This is the near-final book cover for Frieden's upcoming thriller THE SERPENTS GAME

My book cover designer sent me the latest, near-final cover for THE SERPENT’S GAME, my next thriller due out this fall. The latest changes involved adding armed figures climbing the side of the ship. The back text is still being tweaked, ISBN and price bar codes will be added next week, blurbs will follow in late April, and the ARCs will go out to reviewers in May.  There are many aspects to developing a book cover, and it’s interesting to follow the progress and have some input.  Note that the cargo ship is from a photograph I took while researching and touring the Panama Canal, where two of the novel’s main action scenes take place.

The book cover also provides a visual marker of the long road that I’ve had to take for this manuscript.  It’s a signal that things are moving ahead and reduces the abstractness by which I have slaved over the chapters.  Now, finally, the second installment of the Jonathan Brooks thriller series is becoming tangible.

More updates soon, including dates for the launch events in Chicago and New York.

THRILLERESQUE Magazine Launches Tomorrow!

Great News!  THRILLERESQUE magazine is launching tomorrow, Dec. 21.  It will feature interesting articles about Chicago fiction author Marc Paoletti and French-American thriller author Delphine Pontvieux, as well as author tips, research articles, a literary events calendar. There are also a couple articles about my research for two upcoming novels. You can also test your espionage skills and knowledge in the “Spy Quiz” and win prizes.

THRILLERESQUE is also taking submissions for the upcoming spring and summer issues — particularly literary-related research articles, author spotlights and Q&As, as well as short stories.  Check out the website for details: www.avendiapublishing.com/THR

THRILLERESQUE is a quarterly magazine published by Avendia Publishing®, a Chicago-based press, and is dedicated to topics of interest to fiction authors and their fans.