The Thrills Just Keep on Coming

Yesterday, marking the conclusion of Virtual ThrillerFest XVI (June 28-July 10), the International Thriller Writers announced which books and authors have won the 2021 Thriller Awards, in six categories.

Best Hardcover Novel:
Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby (Flatiron)

Also nominated: Hi Five, by Joe Ide (Mulholland); The Thursday Murder Club, by Richard Osman (Penguin); These Women, by Ivy Pochoda (Ecco); and Confessions on the 7:45, by Lisa Unger (Park Row)

Best First Novel:
Winter Counts, by David Heska Wanbli Weiden (Ecco)

Also nominated: The Opium Prince, by Jasmine Aimaq (Soho Press); Without Sanction, by Don Bentley (Berkley); The Bluffs, by Kyle Perry (Michael Joseph); and Ghosts of Harvard, by Francesca Serritella (Random House)

Best Original Paperback Novel:
What Lies Between Us, by John Marrs (Thomas & Mercer)

Also nominated: When No One Is Watching, by Alyssa Cole (Morrow); Unknown 9: Genesis, by Layton Green (Reflector); The Girl Beneath the Sea, by Andrew Mayne (Thomas & Mercer); and Either Side of Midnight, by Benjamin Stevenson (Penguin Random House Australia)

Best Short Story:
“Rent Due,” by Alan Orloff (from Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, edited by Michael Bracken; Down & Out)

Also nominated: “The Death and Carnage Boy,” by Steve
Hockensmith (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, July/August 2020); “Slow Burner,” by Laura Lippman (Amazon Original Stories e-book); “Dog Eat Dog,” by Elaine Viets (from The Beat of Black Wings: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of Joni Mitchell, edited by Josh Pachter; Untreed Reads); and “The Mailman,” by Andrew Welsh-Huggins (from Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir)

Best Young Adult Novel:
Throwaway Girls, by Andrea Contos (Kids Can Press)

Also nominated: Last Girls, by Demetra Brodsky (Tor Teen); I Killed Zoe Spanos, by Kit Frick (Margaret K. McElderry); Teen Killers Club, by Lily Sparks (Crooked Lane); and The Distant Dead, by Heather
Young (Morrow)

Best E-book Original Novel:
A Killing Game, by Jeff Buick (Novel Words)

Also nominated: Avenue of Thieves, by Sean Black (Sean Black); Full Metal Jack, by Diane Capri (AugustBooks); Mongkok Station, by Jake Needham (Half Penny); and No Hesitation, by Kirk Russell
(Strawberry Creek)

Congratulations to all of the nominees!