Time Out for the Thriller Awards

I admit, it’s a bit difficult to stay focused on crime and mystery fiction, while Ukraine seeks bravely to maintain its democracy and national integrity against unwarrented Russian attack. Still, it must be reported that the International Thriller Writers organization has declared its list of finalists for the 2022 Thriller Awards, as follows:

Best Hardcover Novel:
• The Turnout, by Megan Abbott (Putnam)
• Razorblade Tears, by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron)
• Rock Paper Scissors, by Alice Feeney (Flatiron)
• These Toxic Things, by Rachel Howzell Hall (Thomas & Mercer)
• Red Widow, by Alma Katsu (Putnam)
• 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)
• 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)
• The Jigsaw Man, by Nadine Matheson, narrated by
Davine Henry (HarperCollins)

Best First Novel:
• Girl A, by Abigail Dean (HarperCollins)
• Repentance, by Eloísa Díaz (Agora)
• My Sweet Girl, by Amanda Jayatissa (Berkley)
• Damascus Station, by David McCloskey (Norton)
• Bones of Hilo, by Eric Redman (Crooked Lane)

Best Paperback Original Novel:
• 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)
• Bloodline, by Jess Lourey (Thomas & Mercer)
• My Mistress’ Eyes Are Raven Black, by Terry Roberts (Turner)

Best Short Story:
• “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 (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine [EQMM], September/October 2021)
• “The Lemonade Stand,” by Scott Loring Sanders (EQMM, January/February 2021)
• “The Interpreter and the Killer,” by Jeff Soloway (EQMM, January/February 2021)
• “Bad Chemistry,” by John Wimer (EQMM, July/August 2021)

Best Young Adult Novel:
• 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)
• The Project, by Courtney Summers (Wednesday)
• House of Hollow, by Krystal Sutherland (Penguin Young Readers)

Best E-Book Original Novel:
• 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)
• Blood Parish, by E.J. Findorff (Neutral Ground)
• Mother May I, by S.E. Green (SEG)
• Blue Madagascar, by Andrew Kaplan (Smugglers Lane Press)
• Last One Alive, by Karin Nordin (HarperCollins)

This year’s winners will be announced on the final day of ThrillerFest XVII, which is to be held in New York City from May 31 to June 4.

(Hat tip to Mystery Fanfare.)