How Thrilling Is That?

Having kept a close eye this evening on the International Thriller Writers’ Twitter feed, I can now report which books and authors have won the 2016 Thriller Awards, given out during a banquet at the ThrillerFest XI convention in New York City.

Best Hardcover Novel:
The Fifth Gospel, by Ian Caldwell (Simon & Schuster)

Also nominated: Playing with Fire, by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine); The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins (Riverhead); Inspector of the Dead, by David Morrell (Mulholland); and Pretty Girls, by Karin Slaughter (Morrow)

Best First Novel:
Bull Mountain, by Brian Panowich (Putnam)

Also nominated: Little Black Lies, by Sandra Block (Grand Central); The Drowning Game, by L.S. Hawker (Witness Impulse); What She Knew, by Gilly Macmillan (Morrow); and The Gates of Evangeline, by Hester Young (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original Novel:
Against All Enemies, by John Gilstrap (Pinnacle)

Also nominated: Day Zero, by Marc Cameron (Pinnacle); Name of the Devil, by Andrew Mayne (Bourbon Street); The Angel of Eden, by D.J. McIntosh (Penguin Canada); and Pockets of Darkness, by Jean Rabe (WordFire Press)

Best Short Story:
“Gun Accident: An Investigation,” by Joyce Carol Oates (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], July 2015)

Also nominated: “Feeding the Crocodile,” by Reed Farrel Coleman (from Jewish Noir, edited by Kenneth Wishnia; PM Press); “Repressed,” Jeffery Deaver (from Killer Nashville Noir: Cold Blooded, edited by Clay Stafford; Diversion); “The Water Was Rising,” by Sharon Hunt (EQMM, August 2015); and “El Cambalache,” by Terrence McCauley (ThugLit 17, edited by Todd Robinson; ThugLit)

Best Young Adult Novel:
Pretending to Be Erica, by Michelle Painchaud (Viking Books
for Young Readers)

Also nominated: Code of Honor, by Alan Gratz (Scholastic Press); The Forgetting, by Nicole Maggi (Sourcebooks Fire); Half In Love with Death, by Emily Ross (Merit Press); and The Dogs, by Allan Stratton (Sourcebooks Fire)

Best E-book Original Novel:
The Prisoner’s Gold, by Chris Kuzneski (Chris Kuzneski)

Also nominated: Jack and Joe, by Diane Capri (AugustBooks); Deadly Lullaby, by Robert McClure (Alibi); Ivory Ghosts, by Caitlin O’Connell (Alibi); and Lie in Wait, by Eric Rickstad (Witness Impulse)

Congratulations to all of this year’s contenders.

READ MORE: “ThrillerFest XI: Sights, Sounds, and Screams,” by Thomas Pluck (Criminal Element).