Our Caliber of Thrills

Last evening, during a ceremony held at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, in Manhattan, the International Thriller Writers organization announced the winners of its 2022 Thriller Awards. It proved to be a good night, indeed, for Virginia novelist S.A. Cosby.

Best Hardcover Novel:
Razorblade Tears, by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron)

Also nominated: The Turnout, by Megan Abbott (Putnam); Rock Paper Scissors, by Alice Feeney (Flatiron); These Toxic Things, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer); Red Widow, by Alma Katsu (Putnam); and I Am Not Who You Think I Am, by Eric Rickstad (Blackstone)

Best Audiobook: Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby, narrated by Adam Lazarre-White (Macmillan)

Also nominated: Sleeping Dogs Lie, by Samantha Downing, narrated by Melanie Nicholls-King and Lindsey Dorcus (Audible Originals); How It Ends, by Rachel Howzell Hall, narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt (Audible Originals); Prodigal Son, by Gregg Hurwitz, narrated by Scott Brick (Macmillan); and The Jigsaw Man, by Nadine Matheson, narrated by Davine Henry (HarperCollins)

Best First Novel:
My Sweet Girl, by Amanda Jayatissa (Berkley)

Also nominated: Girl A, by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins); Repentance, by Eloísa Díaz (Agora); Damascus Station, by David McCloskey (Norton); and Bones of Hilo, by Eric Redman (Crooked Lane)

Best Paperback Original Novel:
Bloodline, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)

Also nominated: Flight Risk, by Joy Castro (Lake Union); Under Color of Law, by Aaron Philip Clark (Thomas & Mercer); The Lighthouse Witches, by C. J. Cooke (Berkley); and My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black, by Terry Roberts (Turner)

Best Short Story:
“The Lemonade Stand,” by Scott Loring Sanders (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], January/February 2021)

Also nominated: “Not My Cross to Bear,” by S.A. Cosby (from Trouble No More: Crime Fiction Inspired by Southern Rock and the Blues, edited by Mark Westmoreland; Down & Out); “Demon in the Depths,” by William Burton McCormick (EQMM, September/October 2021); “The Interpreter and the Killer,” by Jeff Soloway (EQMM, January/February 2021); and “Bad Chemistry,” by John Wimer (EQMM, July/August 2021)

Best Young Adult Novel:
The Project, by Courtney Summers (Wednesday)

Also nominated: The Box in the Woods, by Maureen Johnson (HarperCollins); Calculated, by Nova McBee (Wolfpack); Dark and Shallow Lies, by Ginny Myers Sain (Penguin Young Readers); and House of Hollow, by Krystal Sutherland (Penguin Young Readers)

Best E-Book Original Novel:
Blood Parish, by E.J. Findorff (Neutral Ground)

Also nominated: The Dark Side: Alex Hunter 9, by Greig Beck (Pan Macmillan); Where the Wicked Tread, by John A. Connell (Nailhead); Little Girl Taken, by Wendy Dranfield (Bookouture); Mother May I, by S.E. Green (SEG); Blue Madagascar, by Andrew Kaplan (Smugglers Lane Press); and Last One Alive, by Karin Nordin (HarperCollins)

In addition, authors Frederick Forsyth and Diana Gabaldon were named as recipients of ThrillerMaster Lifetime Achievement Awards; the literary agency Writers House was given the Thriller Legend Award; Theresa Lee and Rosie Story were recognized as the 2022 ThrillerFans; and Joseph Finder and Veronica Roth were honored as Spotlight Guests.

(Hat tip to The Gumshoe Site.)