The Return of Matt Helm
By Titan Books On 13 12 2011

"Donald Hamilton has brought to the spy novel the authentic hard realism of Dashiell Hammett; and his stories are as compelling, and probably as close to the sordid truth of espionage, as any now being told." —New York Times

London, U.K. – December 9, 2011 – Titan Books announced today that beginning in 2013, they will reissue the original Matt Helm® spy thrillers written by Donald Hamilton, starring the famed counter-agent whose career included 27 novels spanning more than three decades, four films, and a network television series.

The first Matt Helm® novel, Death of a Citizen, was released in 1960, just two years after publication of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale—which hadn’t yet caught on in the United States. Otto Penzlernoted, “Whereas Bond was a sophisticate who knew wine, expensive cars, and tuxedos, Helm lived much of the time in the American Southwest, drove a pickup truck, and wore flannel shirts.” The novel introduced a man in his mid-thirties, 6’4” and intelligent, who had been a military assassin eliminating Nazis during World War II.

“Helm is about as credible a figure as one can find in the espionage genre.” —The New Republic

Hamilton’s novels were known for a gritty realism as Helm hunted (and killed) foreign agents and other enemies of the United States. When asked to describe his character, Matt Helm, Don replied "He's a nice guy, he just happens to kill people for a living." The action was methodical, even brutal, and the series quickly attracted an avid following. The books sold more than 20,000,000 copies worldwide before disappearing from bookstore shelves.

“These novels were among the best spy thrillers ever published,” said Nick Landau, Publisher of Titan Books and CEO of the Titan Publishing Group. “We’re thrilled to partner with the estate of Donald Hamilton, enabling us to bring them back into print and show readers what they’ve been missing all these years.”

“Helm is a genuinely tough and tough-minded protagonist… your reading diet lacks essential vitamins if you overlook him.” —New York Times

“The appearance of a new Matt Helm story is always good news.” —Chicago Tribune

“This series by Donald Hamilton is the top-ranking American secret agent fare, with its intelligent protagonist and an author who consistently writes in high style. Good writing, slick plotting and stimulating characters, all tartly flavored with wit” —Book Week

“With Matt Helm, Donald Hamilton helped start the spy adventure genre. I welcome the reissue of these books so that readers can experience this mythic hero." —David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of Murder as Fine Art

“Fast, tightly written, brutal, and very good…” —Milwaukee Journal

New Stephen King Thriller Coming Next June
By DAVE ITZKOFF
Stephen King

You don’t have to be Stephen King to find small-town amusement parks inherently terrifying, but that author sees enough suspense in the environs of a 1970s-era carnival – and all the rusty arcade attractions and rickety roller coasters that suggests – to set a new novel there. On Wednesday the Hard Case Crime imprint of Titan Books plans to announce that it will publish “Joyland,” a new work of fiction by Mr. King, whose protagonist is a college student working at a North Carolina theme park in the summer of 1973. While employed there the character “confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever,” the publisher said in a news release. Charles Ardai, the Hard Case Crime editor, said in a statement that “Joyland” is “a whodunit, it’s a carny novel, it’s a story about growing up and growing old, and about those who don’t get to do either because death comes for them before their time.”

Hard Case Crime, which published Mr. King’s 2005 mystery novel “The Colorado Kid,” said it would release “Joyland” in June 2013. Mr. King said in a statement that, in addition to his affection for the subject matter of the book, “I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being.” He added, “‘Joyland’ will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.”