Brrr. It’s getting cold out there! With all the snow hitting the east coast, we started to think about all the winter mysteries out there. There’s something extra sinister about a setting that’s dark, cold, and quiet that makes for a perfect murder mystery. And there are plenty of snow-covered countries where our favorites take…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week, we get a new Alex Cross thriller and the latest novel from one of Sweden's best writers! See what…
The Mayakovsky Tapes by Robert Littell brings to life the tumultuous Stalinist era and the predicament of the artists ensnared in it (Available November 22, 2016). In March 1953, four women meet in Room 408 of Moscow’s deluxe Hotel Metropol. They have gathered to reminisce about Vladimir Mayakovsky, the poet who in death had become a…
Cold by John Sweeney is the 1st Joe Tiplady thriller (Available July 1, 2016). Cold is a made-up story inspired by things I’ve seen with my own eyes and whispers I’ve picked up in Russia today. It’s dedicated to three people I had the honor of meeting but who are now dead: Anna Politkovskaya, shot…
The Haunting of Falcon House by Eugene Yelchin is a translated children's story about the story of Prince Lev Lvov of Russia and the mystery of the Falcon House (Available June 14, 2016). A long undisturbed bedroom. A startling likeness. A mysterious friend. When twelve-year-old Prince Lev Lvov goes to live with his aunt at…
Exfiltration started out as a scene from one of Ben Coes's novels, Independence Day. It was cut long before the final draft—the novel took a substantially different turn—but Ben liked the characters and action so much, that he sculpted a separate story for giveaway with a preorder purchase of his new book, First Strike. Here’s…
I wanted to set a story in a small country that was overshadowed by a more powerful one—somewhere beautiful and troubled that had a history of resisting an aggressive, underhanded, massive neighbor. The world is full of these conflicts, and they’ve always fascinated me. I live in London, the confident and overbearing capital of a country that…
The 14th Colony by Steve Berry is the 11th book in the Cotton Malone series, featuring a KGB plot to exploit the flaws in the Constitution and presidential succession act that Cotton Malone must stop before it jeopardizes everything. The Founding Fathers were keen that Canada would become the 14th colony. History has a way…
The 14th Colony by Steve Berry is the 11th book in the Cotton Malone series, featuring a KGB plot to exploit the flaws in the Constitution and presidential succession act that Cotton Malone must stop before it jeopardizes everything (Available April 5, 2016). Read the short excerpt of The 14th Colony below, and make sure…
Submarines have been known to collide in fiction, but do they occur in reality? The short answer—yes. I’ll have to credit Wikipedia with a list of the more well-known submarine collisions since 2000: 2001 – USS Greeneville collision with Ehime Maru 2002 – USS Oklahoma City collision with Norwegian tanker Norman Lady 2005 – USS…
