A View to a Thrill

During a ceremony at this weekend’s ThrillerFest VII in New York City, winners of the 2012 Thriller Awards were announced as follows:

Best Hardcover Novel: 11/22/63, by Stephen King (Scribner)

Also nominated: Buried Secrets, by Joseph Finder (St. Martin’s Press); A Hard Death, by Jonathan Hayes (Harper); The Ridge, by Michael Koryta (Little, Brown); and The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes, by Marcus Sakey (Dutton)

Best First Novel: Spiral, by Paul McEuen (The Dial Press)

Also nominated: The Genesis Key, by James Barney (Harper); She Can Run, by Melinda Leigh (Montlake Romance); The Fund, by H.T. Narea (Forge); and Midnight Caller, by Leslie Tentler (Mira)

Best Paperback Original: The Last Minute, by Jeff Abbott (Sphere/Little, Brown UK)

Also nominated: Threat Warning, by John Gilstrap (Pinnacle); The Glass Demon, by Helen Grant (Delacorte Press); The Queen, by Steven James (Revell); and Already Gone, by John Rector (Thomas & Mercer)

Best Short Story: “Half-Lives,” by Tim L. Williams (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], March-April 2011)

Also nominated: “One More Lie,” by James Scott Bell (Compendium Press); “Anything to Win,” by Michael Z. Lewin (The Strand Magazine, June-September 2011); “Happine$$,” by Twist Phelan (from Mystery Writers of America Presents The Rich and the Dead, edited by Nelson DeMille; Grand Central); and “A Hostage Situation,” by Dave Zeltserman (EQMM, September-October 2011)

On top of all that excitement, true-crime writer Ann Rule was presented with the True Thriller Award. Novelist Jack Higgins (né Harry Patterson) acted as the convention’s ThrillerMaster.

As usual, congratulations to all of the winners and nominees!

READ MORE: “Great People, Awful Pictures from ThrillerFest!” (Criminal Element).