From James Rollins, ITW Awards Chair:
You may not have been at Left Coast Crime in Bristol, but that doesn't mean you're out of the awards' loop.
At a dinner on Friday, March 17th, 2006, the co-presidents of International Thriller Writers, Gayle Lynds and David Morrell, announced the nominees for the new International Thriller Awards (or more simply "The Thrillers").
Over three hundred titles were reviewed by our judging committees, along with a slew of screenplays by our film panel. And as stipulated in ITW bylaws, no one on the board of directors, nor myself as chair of the awards, was eligible to compete. Each judging committee was selected to balance men and women, authors and reviewers, while also incorporating an international flare with judges from beyond US borders. Operating under a strict code of silence and isolated from prejudicial interference, they have deliberated for the past several months to pare down the towering pile of submissions to the nominees listed below.
So with great pride and delight, and congratulations to all, here are the nominees (listed alphabetically by writer) for the first International Thriller Awards.
BEST NOVEL
PANIC by Jeff Abbott (Dutton)
CONSENT TO KILL by Vince Flynn (Atria)
VELOCITY by Dean Koontz (Bantam)
THE PATRIOTS CLUB by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)
CITIZEN VINCE by Jess Walter (Regan Books)
BEST FIRST NOVEL
IMPROBABLE by Adam Fawer (William Morrow)
THE COLOR OF LAW by Mark Gimenez (Doubleday)
COLD GRANITE by Stuart MacBride (St. Martin's Minotaur)
PAIN KILLER by Will Staeger (William Morrow)
BENEATH A PANAMANIAN MOON by David Terrenoire (Thomas Dunne Books)
BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL
SLEEPER CELL by Jeffrey Anderson (Berkley)
PRIDE RUNS DEEP by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)
UPSIDE DOWN by John Ramsay Miller (Dell)
THE DYING HOUR by Rick Mofina (Pinnacle Books)
EXIT STRATEGY by Michael Wiecek (Jove)
BEST SCREENPLAY
MATCH POINT, screenplay by Woody Allen
SYRIANA, based on the book by Robert Baer, written by Stephen Gaghan
CACHE (Hidden), screenplay by Michael Haneke
OLDBOY, screenplay by Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Lim, and Chan-wook Park; story by Garon Tsuchiya
MUNICH, screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth; based on the book by George Jonas
From David Montgomery:
Congrats to all the nominees! An interesting bunch of books, sure to generate discussion, compliments and dissent.
I was one of the judges for the Best First Novel award, so I can't comment on those nominations, other than to say it was a lot of hard work and we had tough decisions to make.
My initial reaction to the Best Novel selections is one of cautious approval. There are a couple of books I really would have liked to see be nominated. Joe Finder's Company Man, for example. I was also hoping to see a nomination for Barry Eisler's Killing Rain.
I've only read 2 of the 5 books nominated for Best Novel (Jeff Abbott's Panic and Dean Koontz' Velocity) and they are both worthy of recognition. I can particularly recommend the latter, which was excellent. (On second glance, I wonder...Is the Jess Walter book even a thriller?)
Having been one of the judges, I can state without hesitation that it is a trying and grueling process, and all the judges are to be commended for their hard work. Way to go, everyone!
