Happy New Year!

I’ve been a contributor to January Magazine’s ‘Best Books’ feature for the past few years, although this year, given how busy it was in the run-up to Christmas, I completely forgot to submit my suggestions for the best books of the year. Which was a little disappointing, but lo! It seems that I haven’t been entirely left out of the process. Michael Gregorio was kind enough to pick ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL as one of his favourites of 2012 in the Crime Fiction section, with the gist running thusly:

“I’ll start by repeating a statement I’ve made before: ‘ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL is a wild, zany read, and I loved it.’ … The language is rich, the story is anarchic, the dialogue sparkles and the laughs are frequently side-splitting […] It’s as cool and bare and original as Waiting for Godot, but it offers a lot more laughs.” - Michael Gregorio

  I thank you kindly, sir: that’s a very sweet note upon which to end the year, especially as AZC finds itself in some very good company, which includes Megan Abbott, James Lee Burke, Tana French, Steve Mosby, CJ Sansom, Gillian Flynn and Arnaldur Indridason. Happy days.
  Upward and onward, then, to 2013, and a very happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year to you all. See you on the other side, folks …

ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL: Vote Early, Vote Often*

One of the great things about blogging is the opportunities it creates for cross-pollination and good karma and all that class of malarkey. Last Thursday, for example, I blogged about Gerard Cappa’s debut novel, BLOOD FROM A SHADOW, and noted that it was one of a significant number of Irish crime writing debuts in 2012. Gerard was kind enough to get in touch, to say thanks, but he didn’t let it rest there: the next thing I knew, Gerard had nominated ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL for a GoodReads reading group, which was kindness above and beyond the call of duty.
  Anyway, the voting is now open on that GoodReads reading group, as they vote to decide on what they’ll be reading in July and August. If you’re a member of GoodReads, and you’ve read AZC and think it might be worth their time and effort, your vote would be most welcome here …
  And thanks very much, Mr Gerard Cappa.
  In related news, Claire McGowan - author of another debut title this year, THE FALL - was generous enough to review AZC over at her Pains, Trains and Inkstains blog, with the gist running thusly:

“It’s beautifully written and very funny in parts, stuffed with wisdom and acerbic wit. I will definitely read his other novels, hoping to admire more smooth and cutting sentences, barbed jokes like thorns around some real naked pain. It has a great twist ending, and the title is - well - absolutely cool.” - Claire McGowan, author of THE FALL

  I thank you kindly, ma’am. By the way, if you’re new to this AZC thing and you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, there are signed copies cluttering up the shelves at the Liberties Press offices, and they’d only love to get rid of them. To help them out, clickety-click here …

  *Vote early, by all means, but only once. CAP Towers can in no way countenance subverting the democratic process.

He Who Laughs Last Laughs Lastiest

You get good weeks and you get bad weeks and I guess this is one of the good weeks. Yesterday I heard that ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL has been shortlisted for the ‘Goldsboro Last Laugh Award’, which will be conferred at Crimefest in Bristol for ‘the best humorous crime novel first published in the British Isles in 2011’.
  And that list of nominees in full:

- Declan Burke for Absolute Zero Cool (Liberties Press)
- Colin Cotterill for Killed at the Whim of a Hat (Quercus)
- Chris Ewan for The Good Thief's Guide to Venice (Simon & Schuster)
- Christopher Fowler for Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood (Doubleday)
- Carl Hiaasen for Star Island (Sphere)
- Doug Johnstone for Smokeheads (Faber and Faber)
- Elmore Leonard for Djibouti (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- L.C. Tyler for Herring on the Nile (Macmillan)

  It’s obligatory - but no less accurate for all that - to point out that I haven’t a hope of winning given the stellar quality of the shortlist, but seriously, it really is very nice just to be mentioned in the same company.
  I was shortlisted for the ‘Last Laugh Award’ before, actually, back in 2008, when Ruth Dudley Edwards won it with MURDERING AMERICANS. The book was THE BIG O, which was deliberately conceived as a homage to some of my favourite crime writers, Elmore Leonard, Carl Hiaasen and Barry Gifford. And here we are, four years later, having written an entirely different kind of comic novel to THE BIG O, and staring down the twin barrels of Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen …
  So there you have it. There’s been more good news this week, and it’s actually better news than the ‘Last Laugh’ nomination, but today I’m strapped for time because I’m in the middle of proofing a collection of essays that I think will blow your socks off, and I better crack on. Have a great weekend, everyone …