Hunted - paperback

 

Hunted, my first standalone thriller under the name Alex Knight is out in UK paperback today.

I'd love to tell you it's available from all good bookshops, but as we know, all good bookshops are closed right now.

You can get it online of course, from the usual places. I know a lot of independent bookshops have really upped their game on online sales this year, so if you're buying the book, I'd love it if you support one of your local shops by ordering direct from them.

It's available in all the other online places too, of course, and if you don't happen to have a local bookshop, it just so happens that Hive is offering the lowest price as of time of writing, so that's a great way way to support the little guys.

I think it's one of the best books I've written so far. I hope you love it...

Paperback
Hive
Waterstones
Amazon

Ebook
Kindle
Kobo
Google
Apple

Audio
Audible
Kobo Audio

You're woken early by the doorbell. It's a young girl, the daughter of the love of your life. She's scared, covered in blood, she says her mother is hurt.

You let her in, try to calm her down, tell her you're going to get help. You reach for your phone, but it lights up with a notification before you touch it.

It's an Amber alert - a child has been abducted by a dangerous suspect.

The child is the girl standing in front of you.

The suspect? You.

“I loved it. This has an astonishing opening and just gets better and better. A stunning thriller. ” – Steve Cavanagh

“Brilliant. Opens at a breakneck speed and does not let up.” – Lara Dearman

“Jolts and shocks like a claustrophobic rollercoaster. Knight could be the Hitchcock of the 21st Century. Hide-behind-the-sofa compelling” – Denzil Meyrick

“A smart, tense, edge-of-your-seat thriller with characters you’re desperately rooting for.” – SJI Holliday

“They don’t come better than this. One of those thrillers that really and truly thrills! A masterclass from Alex Knight.” – Tony Kent

“Amazing opening, and just got better and better.” – Jenny Blackhurst

“A well-crafted, tightly-plotted thriller that races from the streets of San Francisco to the coast without pausing for breath.” – CJ Carver

Hunted is also available in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Click to check if it’s available where you are in paperback or Kindle.

Hunted - publication day

Hunted, my first book under the pseudonym Alex Knight, is published in the UK today.

It's a little weird having a new book out right now. Normally, I would have a launch event at a bookshop and get to meet readers, sign some books and have a few glasses of wine. There would be post-launch drinks in a beer garden somewhere with other writers and readers. 

But obviously none of that's happening right now, so Hunted is going out with a little less fanfare than normal.

I'm really proud of it and I think it's one of my best books, so I hope people buy it. 

You can help by getting the word out, telling your friends, leaving a review (if you like it, feel free not to if you hate it!), talking about it on Facebook - anything you can do will be much appreciated.

In the meantime, you can tune in virtually to OnLyme Crime on Saturday morning at 11am to see me and Tony Kent talk about Hunted and his fantastic thriller Power Play.

Check out the blurb below, and you can read chapter one on the Alex Knight website - if you enjoyed the Carter Blake books, I think you'll love it.

“A STUNNING THRILLER”

– Sunday Times bestselling author Steve Cavanagh

Trade Paperback

Waterstones

Amazon

Hive

ebook

Kindle

Kobo

Google Play

Audio

Audible

You're woken early by the doorbell. It's a young girl, the daughter of the love of your life. She's scared, covered in blood, she says her mother is hurt.

You let her in, try to calm her down, tell her you're going to get help. You reach for your phone, but it lights up with a notification before you touch it.

It's an Amber alert, sent to every one of the four million phones in the Bay Area - a child has been abducted by a dangerous suspect.

The child is the girl standing in front of you.

The suspect? You.

What She Saw Last Night - UK paperback out now

It's paperback day in the UK! What She Saw Last Night is out in paperback now from all good bookshops, as well as ebook and audio.

If you like it, I'd love it if you would write a short review on Amazon or Goodreads (on the other hand, if you hate it, I'm okay with you not doing that).

It's had some great reviews from readers, bloggers and the press. Scroll down to find out more, and you can buy from the links below.

UK paperback
Waterstones
Amazon
WHSmith
Hive
Big Cartel (signed copies)

UK ebook
Kindle
Kobo
Google Play
iBook

UK audio

Audible

A secret that could kill her.

A truth no one believes...

Jenny Bowen is going home. Boarding the Caledonian Sleeper, all she wants to do is forget about her upcoming divorce and relax on the ten-hour journey through the night.

In her search for her cabin, Jenny helps a panicked woman with a young girl she assumes to be her daughter. Then she finds her compartment and falls straight to sleep.

Waking in the night, Jenny discovers the woman dead in her cabin ... but there's no sign of the little girl. The train company have no record of a child being booked on the train, and CCTV shows the dead woman boarding alone.

The police don't believe Jenny, and soon she tries to put the incident out of her head and tells herself that everyone else is right: she must have imagined the little girl.

But deep down, she knows that isn't the truth.

***

"If you like your thrillers fast-paced, with lots of surprises along the way, this is
definitely for you." - Heat

"A chase thriller that begins as a locked-room puzzle" - Morning Star

"A truly original thriller, reminiscent of Hitchcock and Christie. " - Woman's Way 

"A taut, emotional thriller that rolls along at speed before derailing you several times - this is gut-punchingly good." - SJI Holliday 

"A killer premise combined with page-turning, pulse-pounding suspense - this brilliant psychological thriller is a real must read!" - Stephanie Marland 

"A pacy, high-octane thriller with shades of John Buchan and Alfred Hitchcock and a brilliant premise." - Paddy Magrane 

What She Saw Last Night is published today in the UK!

What She Saw Last Night, my first ever standalone thriller after five books in the Carter Blake series, is published in the UK today.

The book opens aboard the Caledonian Sleeper train from London to the Scottish Highlands. It begins with a dead body, a missing child, and a mystery...

You can buy it now in trade paperback, ebook and audio - links to all the usual outlets are right here:

Trade paperback (large format)

Waterstones

Amazon 

WHSmith

Hive

Big Cartel (signed copies)

ebook

Kindle

Kobo

Google Play

iBooks

Audio

Audible

I hope you like it. If you do, please consider leaving a short review. These days, customer reviews are more and more important in deciding what books are promoted, which get supermarket slots etc, so every one helps! 

Where's the best place to leave a review? The honest answer is Amazon - personally, I'm happy with whatever way you want to get my books: Waterstones, an independent store, the library, second hand shops, but if you're looking for the place where reviews have most traction, that's the one.

So without further ado, here's everything else you need to know about the book...

A secret that could kill her.

A truth no one believes...

Jenny Bowen is going home. Boarding the Caledonian Sleeper, all she wants to do is forget about her upcoming divorce and relax on the ten-hour journey through the night.

In her search for her cabin, Jenny helps a panicked woman with a young girl she assumes to be her daughter. Then she finds her compartment and falls straight to sleep.

Waking in the night, Jenny discovers the woman dead in her cabin ... but there's no sign of the little girl. The train company have no record of a child being booked on the train, and CCTV shows the dead woman boarding alone.

The police don't believe Jenny, and soon she tries to put the incident out of her head and tells herself that everyone else is right: she must have imagined the little girl.

But deep down, she knows that isn't the truth.

Buy What She Saw Last Night here 

Presumed Dead - publication day

World, please welcome Presumed Dead - be nice to it!

If you're in the UK, Ireland, Australia and NZ, you can get the new Carter Blake book in all the usual places, but to make it extra easy, here are some links:

Click here to get the trade paperback in your home territory

or

Click here to get the Kindle version

UK trade paperback (large format)

Waterstones

Amazon

WHSmith

Hive

UK ebook

Kindle

Kobo

Google Play

iBook

UK audio

Audible

Kobo Audio

I'm hoping to have an idea of US release date soon, so watch this space. In the meantime, you can get the other four books right now.

Don't Look For Me is out in UK paperback today

The fourth Carter Blake book, Don't Look For Me, is published in paperback in the UK today. It's part of the series, but as always you can read it as a standalone.

Here's where to get it:

Paperback
Waterstones
Amazon
WHSmith
Hive

ebook
Kindle
Kobo
Google Play
iBook

audio
Audible

(Not in the UK? Click here to see if it's available where you are.)

DON'T LOOK FOR ME 

A nail-biting new thriller ― perfect for fans of Jack Reacher, Alex Cross, and Jason Bourne ― about the desperate hunt for a woman who has a secret to kill for...

Six years ago, the woman Carter Blake loved disappeared and told him not to ever look for her. For six long years, he kept that promise. She was a woman on the run ― a woman with a secret many would kill for. It was better that she stay hidden.

But now someone else is looking for her. Trenton Gage is a hitman with a talent for finding people ― dead or alive. And his next job is to track down the woman Carter Blake once loved, a woman on the run. With both men hunting the same person, the question is: Who will find her first?

What authors thought:

"Terrific stuff!" - Ian Rankin

"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

"So pacy I'm exhausted! Definitely one to read if you like your thrillers thrilling." - Emma Kavanagh

What the press thought:

"With few pauses for reflection, and plenty of heart-pounding, visceral action, this one immediately calls to mind Lee Child." - Booklist

"A well-plotted and tension-filled tale delivering more twists and turns than the Hampton Court maze and is packed with memorably drawn characters." - Irish Independent

What readers thought:

"Each one has been a pure joy to read and this one is no different in fact it is probably my favourite so far." - Liz Barnsley (LizLovesBooks)

"It's a fast-paced, page-turning, consumate thriller in which we learn much more about the mysterious Blake." - Keith Nixon (Goodreads)

"The plot is complex and confounding, the action fast and alarming, while the turns and surprises keep on coming. It’s a great read, I enjoyed the story, the landscape and the people inhabiting it. Mason Cross just keeps getting better and better." - FireflyScotland (Amazon)

Buy Don't Look For Me here

Don't Look For Me - publication day

The fourth Carter Blake book: Don't Look For Me is published today in the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. You can get it in all formats from the usual places - links below for your preferred online book emporium.

The advance reviews have been fantastic, and Simon Kernick says it's "A fast-paced, high octane thriller".

I hope you like it too - if you do, I'd love it if you could take a couple of minutes to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.
 

You can also let me know on Twitter or Facebook what you thought of it, and since it's being released at this time of year, you can let me know if you find the hidden Easter egg...

Trade paperback (large format)

Waterstones
Amazon
WHSmith

Hive

ebook

Kindle

Kobo

iBook

Google Play

Audio

Audible  

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?

The Time to Kill - UK paperback publication day

Two launches in a week, I feel spoiled!

Pleased to say the third Carter Blake book, The Time to Kill, is published in UK paperback today, with a new-look cover.

They taught him to kill. Now they want him dead.

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.


You can get The Time to Kill at all good bookshops and in your format of choice:

Paperback

Waterstones

Amazon

Hive

ebook

Kindle

Kobo

iBooks

Google Play

Audiobook

Audible

American readers can also buy the same book under a different title - Winterlong was published in a beautiful hardcover edition in the US two days ago.

Winterlong - American publication day

Delighted to say that the third Carter Blake book, Winterlong, is published in hardcover in the USA today.

They taught him to kill. Now they want him dead.

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.


You can get Winterlong at all good bookshops and in your format of choice:

Hardcover

Amazon

Barnes & Noble
Indiebound

ebook

Kindle
Nook

Kobo

iBooks

Audiobook

Audible

British readers can also buy the same book under a different title - The Time to Kill is published in an excellent new paperback edition in the UK in just two days time.

Lastly, I'm in New York City for launch day, and am hoping to sign some stock in the Mysterious Bookshop - if you're in the area you can pick up a signed copy.

Publication day: The Time to Kill

The Time to Kill is published by Orion today in the UK and some other territories. It's out in the US on 7 February next year, published under its original name.

I think this is my favourite book yet, and I can't wait to see if readers agree! So far, the advance word is pretty great.

Here's where you can buy the new Carter Blake book in your preferred format:

Trade paperback

Waterstones 

Amazon

WHSmith

Hive

ebook

Kindle

Kobo

iBooks

Google Play

Audiobook

Audible

Or, if you'd like to win a free signed copy of the trade paperback, click through to the Goodreads giveaway and register before July 14 - open to readers in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Time to Kill

by Mason Cross

Giveaway ends July 14, 2016.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

I'm going to be out and about doing events over the next few months, so don't forget to sign up to the mailing list for the latest news. Happy reading!

Paperback day... and a BIG announcement

The Samaritan is out in UK paperback at all good bookshops today.

But you'll see it particularly well-displayed if you go into any branch of WHSmith, because...

Yep.

I'm delighted to be able to announce (at last) that The Samaritan has been selected for the Richard and Judy Spring 2016 Book Club. This is a massive deal, and it's really a dream come true for my book to get this kind of recognition.

Head over to the Smiths blog to check out the other great-sounding novels on the list, and you'll also find a preview chapter from The Samaritan, Richard & Judy's excellent review of the book, some book club questions, and a Q&A with yours truly.

You can buy the book from today from bookshops and supermarkets, online and off, but if you buy from WHSmith you'll get the special edition with exclusive bonus content.

The Richard and Judy book club is a fantastic way to reach new readers, and I'm honoured to be chosen as one of only eight from hundreds of submitted books. I can't wait to see what people make of The Samaritan and Carter Blake. 

If you like the book, I'd love to hear from you - you can tweet me, drop me an email, like my Facebook page, or just comment here at the blog. And if you want to find out when the next book is coming up, sign up for my mailing list. 

That's enough from me - happy 2016 and happy reading!

You can buy The Samaritan now from: 

Paperback
WHSmith

Waterstones

Amazon

ebook
Kindle

Kobo
iBook

Audio

Audible

Go to masoncross.net to find out publication dates for the United States and foreign territories.

The Samaritan - UK publication day

The Samaritan

is now available in all formats from all good offline and online bookstores

Hardcover 

Waterstones
Amazon
WHSmith
 

Trade paperback

Waterstones
Amazon
WHSmith
 

ebook

 Kindle
Kobo
iBook

 

Audio

Audible

 

Or order from your local independent bookshop

The paperback

The Killing Season is published across the UK in paperback today!

You can get it, well... pretty much everywhere:

Waterstones

WH Smith

Amazon

Sainsburys

Asda

Tesco

Morrisons

Easons

 



Apologies for the difficulty finding links for the supermarkets, but the big four have all ordered healthy numbers, so you should see it in store soon.

Orion is really pulling out the stops for me on the publicity, and I'm looking forward to reaching a whole lot of new readers.

Waterstones Argyle Street has also been as fantastic as always - they received an early shipment of the paperback last week, which I duly signed:

...and they now have an amazing window display promoting the book.

And if that's not enough, the first few people to buy the book at the Argyle Street store will receive one of these exclusive Killing Season shot glasses (took me a while to get that):

In fact that last thing is so cool that I may even be tempted to buy a copy of my own book...

Publication Day: America

The Killing Season is published in hardcover in America today by Pegasus.

It's already had some great advance reviews in Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and Library Journal and on US mystery blogs like Over My Dead Body, and now I can't wait to hear from readers in the spiritual home of pulp fiction.

It's a really big deal for me to be published in the world's biggest thriller market, and it's yet another milestone I dreamed about hitting when I was spending my nights writing this thing.

If you like the book, I'd love to hear from you. Reviews and telling a friend are very welcome too. If your friend happens to be Steven Spielberg or Clint Eastwood, that's even more welcome.

You can get The Killing Season in various formats in the following stores in the US:

Hardcover

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

 Indiebound

eBook

Kindle

Nook

Apple

 

Audio

Amazon

 Audible

 

“British author Cross makes a spectacular U.S. debut with this harrowing thriller. The gripping, intense pace and the intriguing characters will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Hope for a sequel!” (Library Journal starred review)

“Mason Cross has created an enigmatic character in Carter Blake. The writing is taut, intelligent, oozes suspense. A highly impressive debut novel.” (Matt Hilton, author of the bestselling Joe Hunter thrillers)

“Keeps the pace breakneck, the suspense high, and the body-count higher.” (Booklist)

"The suspense builds all the way to the breathtaking ending. Readers will look forward to seeing more of Blake." (Publishers Weekly)

"Pulse-pounding. Mason Cross launches into The Killing Season with no-holds-barred, as he deftly combines an adrenaline rush plot with one of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher. Prepare to read all night." (Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author)

“Cross provides a gratifyingly high body count, ruthlessly efficient action sequences and all the other thrills you'd expect of the superior popcorn movie you can expect his first novel to spawn, right down to a nifty extra twist in the tail.” (Kirkus starred review)

"My kind of book." (Lee Child)

Publication Day

 

The Killing Season

 

is now available in all formats from all good offline and online bookstores

 

Hardcover | Trade paperback | ebook | Audio

 

 

Buy your copy now from:

 

Waterstones

 

Amazon

 

WH Smith

 

Audible

 

Or order from your local independent bookshop

 

Ninety-six days

I had intended to blog on Monday to mark the point when it was exactly 100 days until The Killing Season is published on April 24th. Lots of things got in the way this week, so instead I'm going to mark the all-important 96 day point.

There are lots of things to keep me busy over that time. I'm currently doing the rewrite on the second Carter Blake book. Once I've finished that and sent it back to my editor, I think I'll blog about the experience of writing a sequel, and the unique challenges of writing That Difficult Second Novel.

The website is up and running now, and although it's fairly sparse at the moment it means I have somewhere to add news and events in the run-up to the end of April. Talking (typing?) of which, I've already been asked to come to a couple of crime and literary festivals, which will be fantastic. I'll post the details here and on the events page when everything's finalised, but for now I can say I'll definitely be in Bristol for CrimeFest in May. Looking forward to catching up with some of the readers and authors I've already met and saying hello to some new ones.

My editor got in touch yesterday to say that, several months after Orion put in the request, we've been granted permission to use a couple of Paul Simon lyrics in the book. I'd resigned myself to doing without and had stripped them out of the final version, but I'm happy to be able to include them after all. I've always liked song lyrics in crime fiction, I think that (used sparingly), they can really add something to a book. On more than one occasion, I've bought an album because I liked the way an artist's words were sampled in a novel. Which I think is a pretty sensible argument for allowing portions of songs to be used by authors free under fair use, but I guess this is where I differ with the record industry.

The final exciting thing on the horizon is unrelated to the book. After well over ten years of intermittently submitting short stories and having them politely rejected, I've sold my first story to Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. It's not a Carter Blake story, and in fact it's a story I only submitted on a whim, really not thinking it would get anywhere. Not for the first time I've realised that I have no idea what's going to work and what isn't. Just goes to show it's always worth throwing your hat in the ring, and that it pays to be persistent.

Long before I ever tried to write a full-length novel, my ambition was to sell a story to one of the big mystery magazines. EQMM has published so many legends from Agatha Christie to Stanley Ellin to Stephen King to Michael Connelly, and it's daunting (in a good way) to think I'll be joining that list.

When I know which issue it's going to be published in, I'll post the details here. It's beyond cool to be selected for a magazine with such a storied history, and I can't wait to see the story beneath one of those fantastic old-school pulp covers. Maybe even one a little like this classic:

One year later

Today marks exactly one year since Orion signed me to a two-book deal for The Killing Season and its follow-up.

It's been a really busy year, what with carrying out edits on The Killing Season and writing the first draft of the followup, currently titled The Samaritan. As well as that, I've also been working the day job and, in what spare time remains, doing daddy duties on two girls and a baby boy (who was born the same week Killing Season was sent out on submission). So all in all, the year has gone by pretty quickly.

Book one will be published on April 24th next year, which is a mere 158 days from today, and things are already beginning to pick up speed. For example, Orion sent me through the final cover proofs, which look absolutely fantastic with the blurb and the gold lettering (I suspect I'm not alone among aspiring novelists to have always dreamed of seeing my name in embossed gold foil):

Also, I'm now appearing listed as a real-live author on the Orion and Hachette websites, complete with biography.

But one of the very best things that's happened lately is I'm starting to get endorsements from some of the established authors Orion sent my book to. Last week my editor Jemima forwarded me two fantastic quotes:

Mason Cross has created an enigmatic character in Carter Blake, a mystery man who is both cerebral and ruthless, an inexorable protagonist on the trail of an equally relentless and dangerous enemy. The writing is taut, intelligent, oozes suspense, and is an accomplished first book: The Killing Season is a highly impressive debut novel. Cross is a name to watch, and I eagerly await the next Carter Blake thriller.

- Matt Hilton

Pulse-pounding. Mason Cross launches into The Killing Season with no-holds barred, as he deftly combines an adrenaline rush plot with one of the best new series characters since Jack Reacher. Prepare to read all night .

- Lisa Gardner

We're definitely getting into regularly-having-to-pinch-myself territory. Just over a year ago, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself just to have a novel out on submission with major publishers. When I signed with Orion I was delighted to have been taken on by one of the best publishers in the business. Now, I'm getting fantastic feedback from some of the authors I've read and loved in the past.

Looking forward to the next 158 days...