Swedish writing duo Roslund & Hellström appeared last week on BBC Radio 4′s Open Book programme to discuss their new book Cell 8 and their continuing exploration of Sweden’s dark underbelly during which they often deal with controversial issues.
If you missed the two radio broadcasts then check it out now on BBC iPlayer
For more information on all their titles visit the official website
Very excited to be able to put up this article by author Derek Robinson on the recent publication of his back catalogue as ebooks.
NICE TIMING
Timing is everything in life. I was lucky to be born when I was. It meant that by the time I was published, in the 1970s and 1980s, paperbacks were booming. If my father, born in 1900, had been a writer, the market for his books would have been far smaller – in the 1930s, publishers didn’t take paperbacks seriously. I was lucky to arrive on the scene when TV was big – TV adaptations are very good for sales. And now, after I’ve put together a sizeable backlist (15 novels so far), ebooks ride into town. Nice timing.
When I agreed with Quercus that they should handle my e-book rights, I saw three big advantages. First, and biggest, is the opportunity to give my backlist a new life. The books that make up the RFC trilogy seem well worth reviving. Quercus plans to reissue them, probably in 2013; but meanwhile I get messages from readers all over the world, asking especially for Hornet’s Sting, first published 12 years ago.
It’s a hefty book with an ambitious cast of characters, including two Russian pilots, some surprising ladies, and a younger Stanley Woolley, the pre-Goshawk model. The action ranges from the Western Front to London, to Scotland, and even behind the German Lines as a battle is brewing. Pilots being pilots, the humour keeps bubbling up. A good read, and I’m delighted it’s available on Kindle.
It seems more than a generation from the Bristol Fighters of 1917 in Hornet’s Sting to the Curtiss Tomahawks of the Desert Air Force in 1942. The biggest difference is the desert, and it’s inescapable in A Good Clean Fight, also on Kindle. This sequel to Piece of Cake has familiar names: Fanny Barton as CO, Skull as Intelligence Officer, and so on. Add an S.A.S. patrol to raise havoc and a German Intelligence Officer trying hard to baffle them. Nothing to harm but the sand and themselves. The sand usually wins.
Then there’s Hullo Russia, Goodbye England, which had a limited release and is now available on Kindle. Silko (last seen in Damned Good Show) joins an RAF Vulcan nuclear attack squadron in 1962, just as the Cold War suddenly gets hot. The Vulcan, probably the best aircraft in the world, is a bomber that thinks it’s a fighter. It can destroy Leningrad with one missile, but it couldn’t then return to its RAF base because that would be red-hot cinders too. Not many laughs in that scenario, but humour follows Silko like a faithful dog.
The knowledge that anyone, anywhere in the world, now has access to those (and other) books of mine pleases me. The second big plus is the fact that e-books can remain available forever. They’re never out-of-print. And the third is that all the hard work I put into writing the backlist can start earning me some bread. So it’s a triple whammy. And nice timing, too.
-Derek Robinson
To order any of the seven titles currently available please click on the links below:
War Story”
Hornet’s Sting
Goshawk Squadron
A Good Clean Fight
Damned Good Show
Piece of Cake
Hullo Russia, Goodbye England
These titles are also available in epub from the retailer of your choice.
Philip Kerr’s sequence of historical thrillers featuring private detective Bernie Gunther forms a body of work comparable to the great series of the two masters of the genre, Len Deighton and John le Carré.
The Berlin Noir Trilogy quickly established Kerr and Gunther as the perfect combination of writer, character, setting and genre.
These gritty, noir thrillers, narrated in Gunther’s wry, sardonic voice, range all over Europe and beyond.
They span a 20-year period from the mid-30s to the mid-50s, covering the build up to World War 2, the war itself and finally its bitter aftermath.
With impeccable research that is accurate in every detail yet never interferes with narrative pace, Philip Kerr has created an epic series of thrillers that deserve all the praise that has been heaped upon them.
Prague Fatale is Bernie Gunther’s eighth outing. Set in Prague in 1942, it delivers all the fast-paced and quick-witted action that we have come to expect from Philip Kerr. It is an outstanding thriller by a writer at the top of his game.
Fashion house H&M has announced the launch of a clothing range inspired by the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
H&M’s no stranger to collaborations—but today brings news of their first with a film. Instead of a designer, the Swedish store’s partnering with the American version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, the David Fincher film based on Stieg Larsson’s novel of the same name.
The movie, which stars Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig, opens in December, but they’re already ramping up a massive press presence.
Trish Summerville, the film’s costume designer, worked with H&M to develop a capsule collection of Lisbeth Salander-worthy high street clothes. Leather jackets and pants, slouchy tees and hooded sweaters make up the bulk of the 30 piece collection.
“Salander’s look is very real and very lived in, with pieces that her character has worn for a long time, like her jackets that act as her armour to shield her from the world. I wanted the collection to have the essence and strength of Salander, with a fashion edge, and I’m pleased with the result,” Summerville said.
The collection will hit Colette on November 28th and H&M stores on December 14th.
Head on over to Elle to read the full story, and feel free to watch the collection in action in the video below!
Just a quick note to remind everyone that Mike Costello will be interviewing David Haye on BBC Radio 5 tonight from 7-8pm.
The boxer will be taking listeners questions as part of a special 5 live boxing phone-in.
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