Finder Has “Vanished”

Among my favorite writers is Joseph Finder, who is certainly in the top echelon of today’s thriller novelists. He composes what can be termed “high concept” stories, including Paranoia (2004), one of the all-time-great techno-thrillers. His subsequent works--Company Man (2005; UK title: No Hiding Place), Killer Instinct (2006), and Power Play (2007)--were equally remarkable.

The last time Finder was in London, he talked with me about those novels over lunch, and he even had an amusing anecdote about meeting Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman to share. I saw him subsequently at 2008’s Harrogate Crime Writing Festival, during which he made a fan of my son, Alex. He also told me then that he was working hard on a new series, which he’d sold to Headline Publishing here in Britain. Since then, I’ve been wondering when I might lay my hands on those new books. So it was with delight that I received this e-mail note as a member of Finder’s mailing list:

A month or so ago, I told someone I couldn’t do something because I was on a deadline. That person was offended, and snapped that they didn’t know how I could be on deadline, since they hadn’t seen any news of a book coming out in the next couple of months.

It is true that writers tend to use “I’m on deadline” as a handy, all-purpose excuse. It’s also true, however, that putting a book out takes much longer than you might think, even after an author turns in the manuscript.

As you saw, I turned in the manuscript of VANISHED in September; my editor had notes, and sent it back to me for revisions. I turned those in before the end of the year, and have just finished going over the many corrections suggested by my excellent copy editor, who fixes my punctuation, corrects my spelling and brings it to my attention when I use the same phrase three times in two pages. And catches most, if not all, of my dumb little glitches. Sometime this month, I’ll see proposed cover art for VANISHED, and if all goes well, the first bound galleys (advance reading copies) will be available in March--or April, at the latest.

Once I know exactly when to expect the advance copies, I’ll announce a contest to give a few copies away. I’m also working on a really cool tie-in to promote the book--I’m not saying anything more right now, but it’s a completely new medium for me, and I hope you’ll be as excited about it as I am.

Look for an announcement of this Vanished contest at Finder’s Web site. Meanwhile, pick up this author’s Paranoia or one of his other books, and see if you agree that he’s one of the best thriller novelists going.