Showing posts with label cover. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cover. Show all posts

Thursday, 22 November 2018

What She Saw Last Night - cover

It's cover reveal time once again!

I'm really happy with this one - they've gone with a really strong image and I like the way it looks and feels a little different from the Carter Blake books. 

What She Saw Last Night is published in the UK on April 18, 2019, and you can find out more about the story here.



Available to preorder from the usual places:

Trade paperback (large format)



ebook


Readers outside the UK can click here to see if it's available to preorder in your area yet.

Monday, 8 October 2018

Presumed Dead mass-market paperback cover

My publisher has finalised the mass-market paperback cover of Presumed Dead, complete with a fantastic quote from the excellent Jenny Blackhurst. Check it out:



You can preorder the UK paperback in the usual places like Waterstones and Amazon now, and it will be in the stores from 29th November. 

If you absolutely can't wait, you can get the slightly more expensive trade paperback or ebook right now. I won't stand in your way.

Back soon with some information on a slightly different sort of book for 2019...

Wednesday, 12 July 2017

Presumed Dead - cover


Book five has a title and a very sexy cover. I think this is my favourite UK cover yet - it's really different to the previous ones, but does a brilliant job of selling the story.

See below for a taster of what the new book is about. Presumed Dead will be published in the UK on 19 April 2018, and you can preorder the trade paperback here (I'll post links to ebook, audio when they become available):



THEN

Fifteen years ago, an unidentified killer terrorised northern Georgia, killing hikers with two shots from a pistol, before disposing of the bodies along the remote trails and in the rivers in the vicinity of Devil Mountain.

The killer was never brought to justice.

NOW

Carter Blake has returned home for the first time in many years. The visit stirs old memories, including a girl from school who vanished without a trace.

Blake runs into the mother of the girl, who mentions a case she's come across in Georgia, where someone is convinced their relative is still alive, fifteen years on.

Adeline Connor was the Devil Mountain Killer's last suspected victim. She vanished without a trace.

So why is her brother so convinced she's still alive?

Monday, 3 July 2017

Don't Look For Me - American cover and release date


Tada!

My US publisher Pegasus has once again delivered the goods - I love this.

Don't Look For Me will be published in the States in hardcover and ebook on January 2nd, 2018.

If you'd like to preorder, it looks like you can only do so at Amazon for the moment, but I'll link to B&N and Indiebound as soon as it shows up there.

Preorder the hardcover edition

Preorder the Kindle edition


Watch this space for a UK cover reveal of the 5th book, very soon...

Monday, 20 February 2017

Don't Look For Me - cover reveal

Here's the brand-new cover for the fourth Carter Blake book: Don't Look For Me, published in the UK by Orion on April 20. I love it!

This story takes Carter Blake from a sleepy barrier island on the Gulf Coast all the way to the glittering lights of Las Vegas, and then out into the most remote parts of Arizona. Normally, Blake is all-business, but this time his connection to the case couldn't be more personal.

I think the cover does a fantastic job of capturing the mystery and isolation at the heart of the book.

And just as an added bonus, one of my favourite thriller authors Simon Kernick has read an advance copy and liked it enough to give me a fantastic quote, which is used on the cover. 



UK pre-order:

Trade paperback (large format)

ebook

Audio



Don’t look for me.

It was a simple instruction. And for six long years Carter Blake kept his word and didn’t search for the woman he once loved. But now someone else is looking for her.

He’ll come for you.

Trenton Gage is a hitman with a talent for finding people – dead or alive. His next job is to track down a woman who’s on the run, who is harbouring a secret many will kill for.

Both men are hunting the same person. The question is, who will find her first?

"Mason Cross is a thriller writer for the future who produces the kind of fast-paced, high octane thrillers that I love to read." - Simon Kernick

Saturday, 11 February 2017

A tale of two titles

As I may have mentioned before, the third Carter Blake book was published this week in two territories under two separate titles:

Winterlong (Pegasus, US)
The Time to Kill (Orion, UK)




















Why the change?

I wrote the book as Winterlong. It's the codename of the secret covert ops initiative Carter Blake used to belong to (although appropriately, it has gone by many names). It works for a book set in the depths of winter. It's also one of my favourite Neil Young songs, and I love the Pixies cover too. But the most important thing was, I liked it as a title.

My UK publisher Orion liked it too, and it was Winterlong throughout the editorial process, right up until the first proofs were produced.



But then they decided to rework the cover. Feedback from sales said that Winterlong wasn't quite thrillery-sounding enough. My editor asked me what I thought about The Time to Kill as an alternative title. I was honest and said I didn't mind it, though I preferred Winterlong. But I was in agreement with taking advice from sales. Call me a mercenary, but as long as it's the same book, I'd rather sell twice as much with someone else's title.

So the book got a new title and a new cover (which I love, both on the new blue paperback and with the original pink font).



Meanwhile, my US publisher Pegasus had acquired the book under the original title, and they thought Winterlong would work better for their market. They also had some concern that it could be confused with John Grisham's A Time to Kill. Again, sound reasoning, happy to go with it.

I got my author copies of both version last week, and I love them both. It feels kind of like I have two books out, and I only had to write one.




The experience got me thinking about why titles change. Some light Googling revealed that it happens a lot.

Would Baa Baa Black Sheep have sold as many copies as Gone With the Wind? Would Trimalchio in West Egg and First Impressions really have done the job as well as The Great Gatsby and Pride and Prejudice?

I asked some of my crime writer friends, and found it difficult to find one who hadn't had a book with multiple identities. With thanks to the below authors for their comments, you can read about what some of the best thrillers of recent years were almost called below:

***

CL Taylor - My UK title was The Accident, my US title was Before I Wake which I thought was clever because a) the main character's daughter is in a coma and b) the main character is sleep walking through life/in denial and what happens 'awakens' her to the danger she's in. 

Tammy Cohen - The original UK title for The Broken was The Fallout, but that changed at the last minute when we realised there was another book coming out the same month called Fallout. But the US publishers much preferred the original title so it came out in the US as The Fallout. I didn't mind at first as I preferred the original title anyway, but actually it wasn't great for me because all the publicity and reviews etc for The Broken don't appear if someone in the US Googles the book. So it's like starting completely from scratch. Plus inevitably there are people who buy the book twice thinking it's a new title and are mighty pissed off!

Brian McGilloway - The Nameless Dead was called Isle of Bones originally. Hurt was called Family Life and in the US ended up as Someone You Know. My name for Preserve the Dead was Sticks and Stones. In the US it ended up as The Forgotten Ones. In every instance I preferred the working titles...

Katerina Diamond - The Teacher was originally called Unkindness - I do love my original name but I also love The Teacher and I fully understand why they chose a punchier name for it. As a result I have never bothered to name any of my other ones. It's a title and it's all about selling at the end of the day - that's the part I know nothing about

Lucy Dawson - My first four all had title changes at Little Brown's request. You Sent Me A Letter and Everything You Told Me were mine and the next one is Come Back, which is mine too. I honestly can't even remember what my original titles for the first four were. 

Sinead Crowley - Book 1 started life as Can Anybody Out There Help Me? but they thought it was too long and we batted every terrible internet related pun back and forth till they accepted Can Anybody Help Me? Book 2 was Are you Watching Me' And book 3 was originally Don't You Remember Me? to fit that theme but no one liked it, and I came up with One Bad Turn which we all love.

Michael J MaloneTaste for Malice was originally called, Sins of the Father - a check on Amazon quickly found how overused that was.

June Taylor - My soon-to-be out there psychological thriller Losing Juliet was submitted to HarperCollins Killer Reads as Two Summers. But as it was to be a winter launch they deemed it unsuitable. Also said it wasn't thrillery enough, and preferred a woman's name in the title. I liked the original one, but a couple of months ago I saw a YA novel released called Two Summers, so maybe the change of title was a good thing.

James Oswald - I wanted to call book six Suffer the Children, but Penguin wouldn't let me. Apparently any suggestion in the title that children might come to harm kills sales. I completely failed to come up with anything else, and it was my editor who suggested The Damage Done. Italian titles for my first two are The Name of Evil and The Book of Evil. I'm betting book three will be The Rope of Evil.

Marnie Riches - The Girl Who Wouldn't Die was originally Blown Away, it ties in with a leitmotif running through the book and some apparent suicide bombing. The Girl Who Broke the Rules was meant to be called Empty Vessel, again, because it tied in with the story, which is about trafficked people whose organs have been harvested. Born Bad, coming out next year, was meant to be called Killing a King

Fergus McNeill - Eye Contact and Broken Fall were my titles, and everyone seemed happy with them. Knife Edge was a brilliant suggestion by my editor (someone actually gets stabbed, right on the edge of a cliff) so thank goodness she dissuaded me from the working title of You're Scaring Me.

Cass Green - The Woman Next Door was Hidden In Ordinary Days until my agent just grimaced and went, "Hmm.. no." !

Clare Mackintosh - I Let You Go was Written in the Sand when I first started it; when it was less thriller, more romantic suspense. It lost the title early on and was nameless, then my editor suggested I Let You Go, which it was perfect. It's been interesting seeing the titles of the various translations. In Chinese it's The Runaway , in German it's My Soul So Cold, in Dutch Mea Culpa, and in Italian - with no prior knowledge of the working title - it's Written in the Sand.

Jenny Blackhurst - How I Lost You was originally Cradle and All but apparently some dude published by Headline already had that. Before I Let You In was Before You Let Me In when I pitched it.

Helen Cadbury - Bones in the Nest was my agent's far better idea. I wanted to call it Bird Bones.

Neil White - The working name for my second novel was The Painter Man (based upon David Mandell - Google him). An excerpt appeared at the end of the first book with that title. It was changed to Lost Souls just before it came out. I get more emails asking why they can't find The Painter Man than anything else. It's a pain in the arse. I prefer The Painter Man.

Tom Wood - My first book was titled The Killer and was published as such in the US, then retitled as The Hunter in the UK ('Women won't buy a book called The Killer,' my UK editor told me). My second book was called The Contract, but the same editor changed it to The Enemy. He wanted my third book to be called The Game, so I just let him. I stopped trying to think of titles after that. My fourth book was published as Better Off Dead in the UK and No Tomorrow in the states because my UK publisher wanted a crimey title and in the US they wanted more thriller. Oh and that same editor wanted my last name changed to Wood from Hinshelwood, which my US publisher liked and so followed suit... after I was already published as Hinshelwood, so The Killer is by Tom Wood in pb and Tom Hinshelwood in hb. This is the short version.

***

After reading all of that, I think I got off lightly with only one title change.

My next one is currently titled Don't Look For Me, but by the time it comes out in April, who knows?








Wednesday, 11 January 2017

The Time to Kill - paperback cover



Very minor changes for this cover compared to the Killing Season and Samaritan paperbacks, but I'm completely okay with that as I was very happy with this design. The only tweaks are the title font changing from pink to blue and a slightly modified tagline from the original 'He was one of them. Now they want him dead.'

The Time to Kill is out in UK paperback on February 9th and you ought to be able to find it in all good bookshops, or you can preorder right here:



Audiobook
Audible

Monday, 3 October 2016

Two extremely cool covers I didn't know existed

It's always nice to see new editions of the books, but I stumbled across the American large print covers on Amazon recently. I hadn't seen either of these, and they're both absolutely beautiful.

I also love the way American covers always point out it's A NOVEL just in case you're confused.

Just thought I would share.








Monday, 29 August 2016

O Samaritano


O Samaritano is available now!

This is the Portuguese translation of The Samaritan, published by Editora 20/20's imprint Topseller. I loved their Killing Season cover (scroll down to see it) and this one is just as good.

As always, the blurb is below, followed by Google's stab at translating into English. Portuguese readers can buy a copy here.


Sobre a obra:

Após uma noite de tempestade, em Los Angeles, a detetive Jessica Allen é chamada ao local onde houve um deslizamento de terras. O motivo? Uma descoberta macabra: foi encontrado o corpo de uma jovem cujo pescoço foi degolado com um corte invulgar. No mesmo dia, são descobertos perto daquele local outros dois corpos mutilados de maneira semelhante. A detetive descobre que se trata da obra de um assassino que opera há mais de dez anos, sem nunca ter sido apanhado. É conhecido como o «Samaritano » e captura jovens desamparadas, cujos carros avariaram, deixando-as paradas e sozinhas na estrada. É então que Carter Blake aparece para oferecer os seus serviços a esta investigação policial. O secretismo em volta das suas verdadeiras intenções leva a detetive a desconfiar dele. Mas quando o Samaritano prossegue com uma escalada de assassínios, os dois terão de se unir para o deter de uma vez por todas…

Sobre autor:

Nasceu em Glasgow, na Escócia, em 1979.
Licenciou-se em Línguas e fez uma pós-graduação em Tecnologias de Informação, o que lhe permitiu descobrir que tem muito mais êxito com as palavras do que com os computadores.
O Caçador é o seu romance de estreia, da série Carter Blake. O 2.º volume, O Samaritano – que a Topseller também publicará –, foi selecionado para o Richard and Judy Book Club, um selo de qualidade.

***

About the work:

After a stormy night in Los Angeles, Detective Jessica Allen is called to where there was a landslide. The reason? A gruesome discovery: the body of a young man was found whose neck was beheaded with an unusual cut. On the same day, they are discovered near that place two mutilated bodies in a similar way. The detective discovers that it is the work of a killer who has been operating for over ten years, without ever being caught. It is known as the "Samaritan" and capture disadvantaged young people, whose cars avariaram, leaving the charts and on the road alone. It is then that Carter Blake appears to offer its services to this police investigation. Secrecy around their true intentions leads the detective to distrust him. But when the Samaritan continues with a murder climbing, the two must come together to stop him once and for all ...

About the author:

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1979. He graduated in Languages ​​and has a graduate degree in Information Technology, which allowed him to find that you have much more success with words than with computers.  The Hunter is his debut novel, Carter Blake series. The 2nd volume, The Samaritan - that Topseller also publish - was selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club, a seal of quality.

O Cacador (The Killing Season) is also available.


Sunday, 31 July 2016

Winterlong - US cover

As I mentioned recently The Time to Kill, the third Carter Blake book, is being published in America under its original name: Winterlong.

I had a sneak preview from my publishers a few weeks ago, but as it's now live on Amazon US, I can proudly reveal the US cover for Winterlong


What do you think? I love it! Can't wait to see a physical copy.

Winterlong is published in the United States on February 7, 2017, and you can pre-order the hardcover right now.

If you don't want to miss any new book releases, remember to sign up to my mailing list!


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Thursday, 28 April 2016

The Time to Kill - cover reveal

So The Time to Kill has a new cover.

Much as I liked the previous version, I think this one is the best jacket I've had to date. What do you think?


It's not long until publication day now - The Time to Kill is published on 30 June in the UK, and you can preorder right now from all good book emporia:

Trade paperback

ebook

Audiobook


IT'S BEEN FIVE YEARS
since Carter Blake parted ways with top-secret government operation Winterlong.

They brokered a deal at the time: he'd keep quiet about what they were doing, and in return he'd be left alone. But news that one of Blake's old allies, a man who agreed the same deal, is dead means only one thing - something has changed and Winterlong is coming for him. Emma Faraday, newly appointed head of the secret unit, is determined to tie up loose ends. And Blake is a very loose end. He's been evading them for years, but finally they've picked up his trace.

Blake may be the best there is at tracking down people who don't want to be found, but Winterlong taught him everything he knows.

If there's anyone who can find him - and kill him - it's them. It's time for Carter Blake to up his game. High-stakes action, blistering tension and a deadly game of cat and mouse, THE TIME TO KILL is the must-read new thriller from Mason Cross.




Tuesday, 15 March 2016

What's in a name?

So the big announcement this week is... Winterlong is no more.

The third Carter Blake book has a brand new title:



What do you think?

The idea originated with my publisher, on the not-unreasonable grounds that The Time to Kill tells you what kind of book this is, in a way that Winterlong doesn't. From a design standpoint, four short words work better than one long one, and I think the look of the cover has improved as a result.

Part of me will always think of this book under the title it's had ever since I came up with the idea three or four years ago, but the new title is growing on me. And it fits the story in a couple of different ways, which is a good thing for a title to do.

But the important thing is, it's the same book, and it's still coming out this summer. You can pre-order in your format of choice here.


Saturday, 16 January 2016

Winterlong - cover reveal

I'm so pleased that I can finally unveil the cover for Carter Blake book 3: Winterlong


Another amazing job from the people at Orion. I think this may be my favourite cover yet. The colours and image and tagline really give you a great sense of the book.

Publication date is still a moveable feast this far out, but according to Amazon it's currently 5th May in the UK. You can pre-order in the usual places and it'll be delivered to your letterbox, Kindle or audio device as soon as it comes out.

You can read a sneak preview of chapter one at the back of the Samaritan paperback. It's one of the scenes I've written that I'm most proud of. It functions as an almost self-contained story, but one which I hope will make you want to read more.

If you're a blogger and would like to review Winterlong, you can request an advance copy right now on Netgalley.

Here's the blurb:


It's been five years since Carter Blake parted ways with top-secret government operation Winterlong.

They brokered a deal at the time: he'd keep quiet about what they were doing, and in return he'd be left alone.

But news that one of Blake's old allies, a man who agreed the same deal, is dead means only one thing - something has changed and Winterlong is coming for him.

Emma Faraday, newly appointed head of the secret unit, is determined to tie up loose ends. And Blake is a very loose end. He's been evading them for years, but finally they've picked up his trace. Blake may be the best there is at tracking down people who don't want to be found, but Winterlong taught him everything he knows. If there's anyone who can find him - and kill him - it's them.

It's time for Carter Blake to up his game.

High-stakes action, blistering tension and a deadly game of cat and mouse, Winterlong is the must-read new thriller from Mason Cross.

***

UK pre-order in hardback, trade paperback, ebook or audiobook from:





Tuesday, 22 December 2015

Una Fuga Sospetta - foreign editions galore


The Killing Season has just been published in Italy by Fanucci under the title Una Fuga Sospetta (A Fleeing Suspect), which is the sixth language it's been translated into. If you speak Italian, you can buy it here.

Now that a few of the foreign language editions have come out, I thought it would be fun to look at how the cover and title changes in different territories. You can find buy links for all of these on the new foreign editions page on my website.
 
http://www.amazon.de/Rushhour-Killer-Thriller-Mason-Cross/dp/344248121X/
Der Rushhour Killer (The Rush Hour Killer) - Goldmann, Germany

http://www.lsamsterdam.nl/boek/het-jachtseizoen/
Het Jach Seizoen (The Hunting Season) - Luitingh Sijthoff, Holland
Av Mevsimi (Hunting Season) - Panama, Turkey
Sezona Umorov (Season Murders) - Ucila, Slovenia

Сезонът на убийствата (Season Killings) - Obsidian, Bulgaria

And finally - not a foreign language, but just for the sake of completeness, here's the slightly different American cover:


http://www.amazon.com/Killing-Season-Novel-Mason-Cross/dp/1605986909/
Pegasus, USA
It's really cool to see how the book is adapted to different languages and markets, and I can't wait to see some more soon. If they're half as good as the cover for the forthcoming German publication of The Samaritan (or Blood Instinct - awesome title), I'll be a very happy international author indeed.

http://www.amazon.de/Blutinstinkt-Thriller-Mason-Cross/dp/3442481317/

Sunday, 6 December 2015

Killing Season - Turkish edition



I've been fairly impressed with the quality of my foreign edition covers so far, but this new Turkish edition is a strong contender for best of the bunch...



Love it.

Av Mevsimi (The Hunting Season) is out now from Panama. If you read Turkish (or are handy with Google Translate), there's a nice review here.

I suspect Turkish may not be Google Translate's strong point, if only because it's given Caleb Wardell the terrifying new moniker 'The Chicago Typewriter'.

Monday, 8 June 2015

An overdue update

I've been uncharacteristically quiet of late thanks to general busyness and the small matter of finishing the third Carter Blake book, so it's time for a quick catch up, largely so I can take stock of what's happened and what's happening next.

I spent another great weekend in Bristol at CrimeFest, which involved two great panels: one on psychological and action thrillers with Sabine Durrant, Paul Hardisty and Rebecca Whitney moderated excellently by Stav Sherez; and one on psychopaths with James Carol, Clare Donghue, Stuart Neville and Caro Ramsay, moderated slightly more chaotically by yours truly.

It was great to finally meet fellow Orion rookie Steve Cavanagh and hang out with the usual suspects. I also got to meet Lee Child and thank him in person for the cover quote. He was very cool and gracious, saying even more nice things about the book and chatting about the new Reacher movie.

Just like last year (although with slightly less nice weather), it was a great chance to catch up with friends, meet some new ones, and drink way too much. I played it smart this year by not volunteering for Criminal Mastermind.



Some really great reviews of The Killing Season and The Samaritan were posted recently:

The Killing Season had a heart-stopping, thrilling ending and this was delivered again in The Samaritan and then some. Thriller fans looking for something fresh, and to feel that excitement you get upon discovering an author such as Mason Cross would be well-advised to check out this series.

[The Samaritan is] a sprawling American epic delivered with panache.
- Barry Forshaw, Independent
The thriller elements are really really well done, keeping you on the edge of your seat, there are some beautiful twists and turns, a gorgeous flow to the prose and generally speaking this is a damn good read. Definitively now one of the series I shall be following avidly and probably re-reading a lot, the Carter Blake series is one of those you can sink into, have a great time with, and re-emerge later wishing you had another 10 books featuring Carter on the shelf to read already. 


The Killing Season is a very exciting novel indeed, made extra tense by the mystery surrounding both prey and hunter. We move across locations, each vividly described, meeting potential victims and suspects, tripping over red herrings, getting sidetracked by false alarms. And then there are the twists. This is a very clever novel. It’s not going to be easy for Blake.

- Kate Atherton, For Winter Nights

This is without doubt one of the best debut thrillers that I've read in a long time - a fantastic page turner that left me totally hooked on Carter Blake and Mason Cross has left me wanting more. A highly addictive read and Mason Cross is certainly one to watch.
- Sam Everett, Tigerlilly Books
 
Book Addict Shaun also kindly interviewed me for the blog here, with some great questions, while Mario Acevedo grilled me for The Big Thrill.

Other stuff...

I'm delighted to be at Bloody Scotland again this year, on a panel with thriller maestros Simon Kernick, Tom Wood and GJ Brown - check out the events page for more details and some other upcoming events.

I'm equally delighted to be on the bill for the first-ever BritCrime online festival. The brainchild of Helen Smith, It takes place on a Facebook near you over 11-13 July and is completely free. Find out more at the Facebook page and BritCrime.com

My editor tweeted the cover proof of The Samaritan and it looks amazing.


Oh, and I sent a few spare proof copies of Killing Season out to known thriller fans... and Bill Clinton sent me a nice reply.

Tuesday, 30 September 2014

The Samaritan

I'm pleased to be able to unveil the fantastic cover for Carter Blake book 2: The Samaritan!


The team at Orion have done another fantastic job on the design, and I think this one actually surpasses the cover for The Killing Season.

It's available to pre-order on Amazon right now, and if you were at Bloody Scotland, you might have picked up the exclusive free sampler.

The Samaritan is released in hardback, trade paperback and ebook on June 4, 2015 - I can't wait.

Sunday, 22 June 2014

The US edition


The cover of the US edition is now showing on Amazon.com, where readers in the US can now pre-order the hardcover edition from Pegasus Books, which has a publication date of February 15 2015.

Obviously it's not a radical departure from the Orion cover, but I'm pretty happy with that - if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I can't wait to hold the physical copy in my hands. Orion has world rights so I'm not sure whether publishers in other English-speaking territories make their own edits, but I'm looking forward to finding out more about the process, and I can't wait to be officially published in the States.

You can check out my author page at Pegasus here.