2009 Edgar Award Nominations pt. 3

by Greg "The Undead Rat" on April 22, 2009

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This is the third installment of the 2009 Edgar Award Nominations, brought to you by the RATS of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

The Edgar Awards are decided by a jury system. You can read about it on the Mystery Writers of American website: The Edgar Awards — Judging Process — An Overview.

Click the mouse on the book covers to order these books from the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library.

Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original

The Prince of Bagram Prison	The Prince of Bagram Prison Author: Carr, Alex Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 289pp. Pub. Date: March 2008 Publisher: Random House
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original Army Intelligence reservist Kat Caldwell is teaching Arabic at a military college in Virginia when the order comes: Retired spy chief Dick Morrow needs to find a CIA informant who has slipped away from his handler in Spain and may be heading to Morocco. Jamal was a prisoner whom Kat interrogated when she worked at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. Having gained his trust, she is now expected to discover his whereabouts on a treacherous trail that leads from Madrid’s red-light district to the slums of Casablanca. But when a British Special Forces soldier is murdered just as he is about to give testimony on the death of a Bagram detainee, Kat begins to suspect that the real story here is one of the cover-up of U.S.-sanctioned torture. And when in desperation Jamal contacts his former CIA handler, he unwittingly rekindles a bitter struggle between the one man who can save him and the one who wants him dead.



Money Shot	Money Shot Author: Faust, Christa Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 250pp. Pub. Date: January 2008 Publisher: Dorchester
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original They thought she’d be easy. They thought wrong. It all began with the phone call asking former porn star Angel Dare to do one more movie. Before she knew it, she’d been shot and left for dead in the trunk of a car. But Angel is a survivor. And that means she’ll get to the bottom of what’s been done to her even if she has to leave a trail of bodies along the way . . .



Enemy Combatant	Enemy Combatant Author: Gaffney, Ed Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 368pp. Pub. Date: February 2008 Publisher: Bantam Books
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original A man charged with the brutal act of terrorism . . . A lawyer sworn to defend him . . . A courtroom spinning wildly out of control . . . In the trial of the decade, attorney Tom Carpenter was just a spectator. Until, to his own astonishment, Tom finds himself thrust into a case primed to explode . . . The whole world thinks Tom’s new client is guilty of the worst act of terrorism since 9/11 — except for one shadowy figure, who feeds Tom astounding inside information. But just as the trial is about to break wide open, Tom receives a chilling threat. Suddenly Tom cannot trust anyone, and his family must run for their lives. The only way to survive — and the only hope for justice — is for Tom to crack a terrifying conspiracy so vast and so powerful that anyone who believes it has already been marked to die. . . .



China Lake	China Lake Author: Gardiner, Meg Format: Mass Market Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 416pp. Pub. Date: June 2008 Publisher: Penguin Group
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original Evan Delaney learns that not only has her ex-sister-in-law joined a religious cult, but the unstable young mother plans to regain custody of her son and disappear with him into the fold of the fanatical group. But when murder raises the stakes, Evan is dragged even deeper into the nightmare.



The Cold Spot	The Cold Spot Author: Piccirilli, Tom Format: Trade Paperback Type: Novel Page Count: 320pp. Pub. Date: April 2008 Publisher: Bantam Books
Nominated for the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original Chase was raised as a getaway driver by his grandfather, Jonah, a con man feared by even the hardened career criminals who make up his crew. But when Jonah crosses the line and murders one of his own, Chase goes solo, stealing cars and pulling scores across the country. . . . And then he meets Lila, a strong-willed deputy sheriff with a beguiling smile who shows him what love can be. Chase is on the straight and narrow for the first time in his life — until tragedy hits, and he must reenter the dark world of grifters and crooks. Now Chase is out for revenge — and he’ll have to turn to the one man he hates most in the world. Only Jonah can teach Chase how to become a stone-cold killer. But even as the two men work together, Chase knows that their unresolved past will eventually lead them to a showdown of their own.