Just heard from Orion that the mass market paperback edition of The Guardians has gone into its second printing in its first week out in the U.K. Hope this means a few more otherwise good night’s sleeps will be trans-Atlantically spoiled…
THE GUARDIANS paperback…out now!
The title just about says it all.
The trade paperback edition of The Guardians is available in stores and on-line (and everywhere else) in Canada and the U.S. on September 13, and though this announcement comes a day early, you can go to your favourite bookseller and politely hound them to bust open the boxes if they haven’t already (or order the damn thing if they neglected to). Trust me: booksellers love being hounded.
I am especially psyched about this edition because it feels so good. You know that slightly rough, grippy paper they use on paperbacks sometimes? It’s got that. And the spooky house on the cover is just right. And my name – though large – isn’t James Patterson-sized. And the red foil on the title does a shiny thing when you turn it around in the light. And…I just like it.
Which is not always the case with a book’s design. Despite everyone’s best intentions, covers can sometimes turn out a bit turdy. Not this one, my friends! So hit the streets or hit the web and check it out. And if you decide to purchase this thrilling and edifying cultural product, you have my gratitude and undying loyalty.
The Guardians in the Mail on Sunday
With the paperback publication of The Guardians set for September 13 in Canada and the US, and with the UK paperback due early in the new year, I’m presently enjoying the my-work-here-is-done process of viewing, tweaking, and signing off on new cover art and text for the reprint editions. There are haunting new images for both the North American and British covers. And there are also some reviews that have come to my attention that I missed the first time around. One of them boosted my spirits enough (and I needed the boosting, as I’m getting deeper into the uncharted waters of my new novel) that I felt I would indulge myself in blurbing it here. It appeared in the UK’s Mail on Sunday.
“Pyper is the most striking Canadian crime writer to emerge in recent years and The Guardians is a characteristically intelligent move into Stephen King territory.” – Mail on Sunday
Once the glow of reading this wore off (and the glow wears off too damn fast for my liking – reality has a way of roughly pushing self-congratulation aside) it provoked a thought. Will there ever come a time when some other writer will be said to make a move into “Andrew Pyper territory”? And if they do, should I point a shotgun in their direction and tell them to get off my lawn, or invite them in for drinks? (I strongly suspect it will be the latter, just so you don’t get too worried…)
The Guardians spooks The Netherlands
The Guardians has recently appeared in its Dutch translation, and the reviews have quite possibly been the most enthusiastic of them all (and this is saying something, as I have to say that, overall, The Guardians has been the best-reviewed of all my novels). Here’s a couple samples:
“* * * * * [Five stars]. Beautifully written…The characters are drawn with extraordinary skill.” — de Volkskrant
“Brilliant…The Guardians is an excellent and unique thriller, the kind that makes your heart beat faster and faster. Pyper excels at the ghostly, and the supernatural elements have been worked out perfectly.” — NRC Handelsblad
I am especially happy about these notices because, of all the publishers that have brought my novels to print, my longest relationship has been with Ambo|Anthos. It’s funny, but my Dutch publisher is the only one to have published all of my novels. I love them for this, but also for their publisher, Chris Herschdorfer. On the occasions I have travelled to Amsterdam for booky reasons, Chris always takes me to this ancient bar that serves an equally ancient, yellowy gin. We mean only to have one, but drink three. Also, a few years ago, when Ambo|Anthos was celebrating the 10th anniversary of their Literary Thriller list, they – get this – flew me over to Amsterdam for the party. And it was one hell of a party.
Now that’s a publisher.