The Thrill of Victory

We’ve been hearing favorable reports about the first-ever ThrillerFest, organized by the International Thriller Writers and concluding this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. However, it took some digging to figure out who the hell had won the Thriller Awards, given out on Saturday night during a banquet at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel. (The BookBitchBlog seems to have been favored with the results before anybody else.) In any event, here are the winners, at last:

Best Novel: The Patriots Club, by Christopher Reich (Delacorte Press)

Also nominated: Panic, by Jeff Abbott (Dutton); Consent to Kill, by Vince Flynn (Atria); Velocity, by Dean Koontz (Bantam); and Citizen Vince, by Jess Walter (Regan Books)

Best First Novel: Improbable, by Adam Fawer (Morrow)

Also nominated: The Color of Law, by Mark Gimenez (Doubleday); Cold Granite, by Stuart MacBride (St. Martin’s Minotaur); Painkiller, by Will Staeger (Morrow); and Beneath a Panamanian Moon, by David Terrenoire (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin’s Minotaur)

Best Paperback Original: Pride Runs Deep, by R. Cameron Cooke (Jove)

Also nominated: Sleeper Cell, by Jeffrey Anderson (Berkley Prime Crime); Upside Down, by John Ramsey Miller (Dell); The Dying Hour, by Rick Mofina (Pinnacle Books); and Exit Strategy, by Michael Wiecek (Jove)

Best Screenplay: Cache (Hidden), screenplay by Michael Haneke

Also nominated: Match Point, screenplay by Woody Allen; Syriana, screenplay by Stephen Gaghan; based on the book by Robert Baer; Oldboy, screenplay by Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Lim, and Chan-wook Park; story by Garon Tsuchiya; and Munich, screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth; based on the book by George Jonas

In addition, Clive Cussler (Raise the Titanic!, Sahara, Treasure of Khan) has been given the ITW’s first Lifetime Achievement Award.