Tournament of Tension

The International Thriller Writers (ITW) today announced the nominees for its 2011 Thriller Awards as follows ...

Best Hardcover Novel:

• The Reversal, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

• Edge, by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster)

• The Burying Place, by Brian Freeman (Minotaur)

• Skin, by Mo Hayder (Grove)

• Bad Blood, by John Sanford (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original:
• Down Among the Dead Men, by Robert Gregory Browne (St. Martin’s)

• You Can’t Stop Me, by Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens (Pinnacle)

• The Cold Room, by J.T. Ellison (Mira)

• Torn Apart, by Shane Gericke (Pinnacle)

• The Venice Conspiracy, by John Trace (Hachette Digital)

Best First Novel:
• The Things That Keep Us Here, by Carla Buckley (Random House)

• The Poacher’s Son, by Paul Doiron (Minotaur)

• The Insider, by Reece Hirsch (Berkley)

• Drink the Tea, by Thomas Kaufman (Minotaur)

• Still Missing, by Chevy Stevens (St. Martin’s)

Best Short Story:

• “Second Wind,” by Mike Carey (from The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology, edited by Christopher Golden; St. Martin's)

• “Blue on Black,” by Michael Connelly (The Strand Magazine)

• “The Gods for Vengeance Cry,” by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

• “Madeeda,” by Harley Jane Kozak (from Crimes By Midnight, edited by Charlaine Harris; Berkley)

• “Chasing the Dragon,” by Nicolas Kaufman (ChiZine Magazine)

• “Long Time Dead,” by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (The Strand Magazine)

Winners will be announced during ThrillerFest VI, to be held at New York City’s Grand Hyatt Hotel from July 6 to 9.