New Spider Shepherd Cover

Hodder and Stoughton are working on the cover of the new Spider Shepherd book, which should be in the shops this coming summer. I think it looks great. In the book Spider comes up against Somali pirates and it's a bit of a departure from the recent books, with much more action in it!

Midnight Is Published Today!

The second book in the Jack Nightingale occult detective series is published today. I'm rushing to finish the third as we speak. I always have great fun with the Nightingale books, I can really let my imagination run riot!

Bangkok Noir - Including An Inspector Zhang Story Of Mine

Bangkok Noir, a book of short stories set in Thailand, will be in shops next month, including an Inspector Zhang story of mine. Inspector Zhang is a Singaporean detective with a taste for mysteries, and I'm hoping to have eight tales done by the end of the year so that I can publish The Eight Curious Cases Of Inspector Zhang. In the story I gave to Bangkok Noir, edited by my pal Christopher Moore, Inspector Zhang is called in to investigate when a Thai gangster dies mysteriously in the first class cabin of a Bangkok-bound passenger plane. Most of the proceeds of the book are going to charity, which is good news!

Hurrah! Money From Ghana!

This just in! From a married man with three kids, so it must be real!


Mr. Eric Offei
Branch Manager
Eco Bank of Ghana
First Light Branch
Accra, Ghana .

Esteemed Compliments,

I anticipate that you read this mail quickly and let me know your opinion or willingness on this classified information that I will release to you. Firstly, I am a happily married man with 3 kids and therefore I would not want to jeopardize this opportunity to change my financial status that will give my family a secured future.

I have packaged a financial transaction that will benefit both of us, as the Branch Manager of the Eco Bank Of Ghana, It is my duty to send in a financial report to my Head Office in the capital city Accra-Ghana at the end of each year. On the course of the last two years report (2008), I discovered that my Branch in which I am the Manager made a proceed of $12,850,000.00 (Twelve Million Eight Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars) which my Head Office are not aware of nor must they know that I am involved in this transaction.

I have since place this fund on what we call SUSPENSE ACCOUNT without any beneficiary. As an Officer of the bank I am not directly connected to the fund, this is why I am contacting you for us to work so that you can assist in receiving this money into your Bank Account for us to SHARE, while you will have 35% of the total fund. Note there are practically no risk involved, it will be bank to bank transfer, all I need from you is to stand as the Original Depositor of this fund who made the deposit with our branch so that my Head Office can order the transfer to your designated Bank Account. If you accept this offer to work with me, I will appreciate it very much. As soon as I receive your kind response, I will give you details on how we can achieve it successfully.

Note there are practically no risk involved, it will be bank to bank transfer, all I need from you is to stand claim as the original depositor of this fund who made the deposit with our branch so that my Head office can order the transfer to your designated bank account. If you accept this offer to work with me, I will appreciate it very much. As soon as I receive your kind response, I will give you details on how we can achieve it successfully.

Please reply me on this mail for more details.

Yours Faithfully,
Mr.Eric Offei

I Love It When I Get Emails Like This

I just received another email that's put a smile on my face!


Dear Stephen,

Thank you for replying to the previous email. It was after reading about the young chap on your blog who started reading with a vengeance after picking up one of your books whilst on holiday in Majorca .

Mine is a similar situation, I am now sixty eight years old and for years I did not read because I always seemed to have so many other things to do.

It was in October this year whilst on holiday in Ibiza , I was slowly coming to the end of a Michael Caine novel, when I saw that my wife had just finished a book entitled “Cold Kill”. Well I could not believe what had happened to me, I found I could not put it down. I could not wait to get back to the hotel in the afternoons to have my cup of coffee and a couple or more hours of a good and exciting reading. After reading Cold Kill, I checked out your first “Spider” book and have now gone through to your last Spider” book Fair Game.

I just love the way you have you have more than one situation going on within a couple of pages, and no end of chapter which seems to make for great excitement in a continuous manner.

Whilst waiting for the next “Spider” book I read the “Bomb Maker” which again was written in the same style making it very exciting .


I would just ask when Fair Game will be on sale, and thanks for helping me to fill in the time between my allotment, walking and watching my grandson play football, who is coming up to thirteen, the same age as Dan’s son Liam.

Thanks again Stephen you’ve given me a great lift and renewed interest. I shall be going for all your other books now

The very best regards

Money From Kenya!!!!!

This just in!

Hello Dear

I know that we haven't known or come across each other before considering the fact that I sourced your email contact through the internet in search of trusted person who can assist me urgently and save my life.

My name is Regina John Paul Oulo 24 years old female from the Republic of Kenya, the daughter of Late Mr John Paul Oulo. My late father was a Kenyan lawyer and human rights activist who was the Chief Executive Officer and Communications and Advocacy Officer of the Oscar Foundation Free Legal Aid Clinic Kenya (OFFLACK). My Father was brutally shot dead on Thursday 5Th March 2009 after a government spokesman accused their group of aiding a criminal gang. What led to the cold blood killing is still unclear but I know that my father life was the target. You can read more about my father in the bbc link below. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7927873.stm

I am constrained to contact you because of the maltreatment which I am receiving from my step mother. She planned to take away all my late father's treasury and properties from me since the unexpected death of my beloved Father. Meanwhile I wanted to travel to Europe, but she hide away my international passport and other valuable documents. Luckily she did not discover where I kept my father's File which contained important documents. Now I am presently staying in the Mission in Burkina Faso. I am seeking for long term relationship and investment assistance. My father of blessed memory deposited the sum of US$ 6.5 Million in one bank in Burkina Faso with my name as the next of kin.

I had contacted the Bank to clear the deposit but the Branch Manager told me that being a refugee, my status according to the local law does not authorize me to carry out the operation. However, he advised me to provide a trustee who will stand on my behalf.I had wanted to inform my stepmother about this deposit but I am afraid that she will not offer me anything after the release of the money.

Therefore, I decide to seek for your help in transferring the money into your bank account while I will relocate to your country and settle down with you. As you indicated your interest to help me I will give you the account number and the contact of the bank where my late beloved father deposited the money with my name as the next of kin. It is my intention to compensate you with 20% of the total money for your assistance and the balance shall be my investment in any profitable venture which you will recommend to me as have no any idea about foreign investment. Please all communications should be through this email address only for confidential purposes.

Thanking you a lot in anticipation of your quick response. I will give you details in my next mail after receiving your acceptance mail to help me.

Yours sincerely,
Regina John Paul Oulo.

Great Review On Amazon For Dreamer's Cat

Just had an absolutely fabulous review for Dreamer's Cat posted on Amazon!

One of the best reviews I've ever had, I think!

Reason for purchasing: This book was chosen for me by my youngest son. When I asked him why he purchased it, was it the cover, the story, how did he research the author I have never come across, he laughed and said he brought it for my recently purchased Kindle. Unbeknown to me, he used my Kindle to search the Kindle top ten and saw this was science fiction, and as we had just rescued a cat from the RSPCA he thought the title rather apt, and the price, well, at [...] you can't go wrong, can you? I laughed and tucked in without any preconceptions. I could not stop reading. What a joy it was to find a different kind of science fiction book, one that was not top heavy on the science but concentrated on the fiction. This book came at a time when I was losing faith with science fiction in general, having recently failed to complete first a new science fiction book then a new science fiction dvd.

Storyline: Through the eyes of the central character, Leif Ableman, a failed novelist who, to make the alimony payments, was advised by his agent to take the psi test. To his amazement, Leif had what it took, was the one in a million who could turn their dreams into a new form of entertainment: psi discs. These discs go beyond three dimensions and virtual reality to enable the populace to experience dreamers' dreams, to touch them, to taste them, to re-live them. Again and again. For a society this new form of entertainment soon becomes an addiction. However, rather than worrying about all the moral dilemmas, Leif is only interested in completing his contract with Cerebral Broadcasting Services Corporation, laying down his tenth psi-disc, and getting paid so he can escape the business he hates. Unfortunately, there is a snag, well, actually, there are two. Firstly, three dreamers and counting have died whilst laying down their psi-discs. Secondly, the more discs you lay down, the madder you become. To this, Leif has an answer, his bobcat companion Ruth - a figment of his imagination that keeps him in control. Only he can see Ruth and only he can hear Ruth. She tells him what is real and what is not. Ruth is Leif's lifeline; she keeps him sane whilst those around him are teetering on the edge of insanity. The second point is out of Leif's control as he is manoeuvred into plugging into the three discs the dreamers died creating and finding out if their is a problem with CBS equipment or if a killer is after the dreamers. This is where Dreamer's Cat is quintessentially different, for it has all the trappings of a thriller. I was not surprised, therefore, to discover Stephen Leather has been writing thrillers since 1992.

Style: Simple. Concise. Compelling. Very readable.

Prognosis: Great value for money. My son was right, you cannot go wrong for 72 pence. I hope he has purchased more of Stephen Leather's books for my Kindle for Christmas.

Kelvin M. Knight, 18th December 2010