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Joyland

edited June 2012 in General news
Hard Case Crime, the award-winning line of pulp-styled crime novels published by Titan Books, today announced it will publish JOYLAND,a new novel by Stephen King, in June 2013. Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, JOYLAND tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever. JOYLAND is a brand-new book and has never previously been published. One of the most beloved storytellers of all time, Stephen King is the world’s best-selling novelist, with more than 300 million books in print.



Called “the best new American publisher to appear in the last decade” by Neal Pollack in The Stranger, Hard Case Crime revives the storytelling and visual style of the pulp paperbacks of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. The line features an exciting mix of lost pulp masterpieces from some of the most acclaimed crime writers of all time and gripping new novels from the next generation of great hardboiled authors, all with new painted covers in the grand pulp style. Authors range from modern-day bestsellers such as Pete Hamill, Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block and Ed McBain to Golden Age stars like Mickey Spillane (creator of “Mike Hammer”), Erle Stanley Gardner (creator of “Perry Mason”), Wade Miller (author of Touch of Evil), and Cornell Woolrich (author of Rear Window).



Stephen King commented, “I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favorites. 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. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.”



King’s previous Hard Case Crime novel, The Colorado Kid, became a national bestseller and inspired the television series “Haven,” now going into its third season on SyFy.



“Joyland is a breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking book,” said Charles Ardai, Edgar- and Shamus Award-winning editor of Hard Case Crime. “It’s 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. Even the most hardboiled readers will find themselves moved. When I finished it, I sent a note saying, ‘Goddamn it, Steve, you made me cry.’”



Nick Landau, Titan Publisher, added: “Stephen King is one of the fiction greats, and I am tremendously proud and excited to be publishing a brand-new book of his under the Hard Case Crime imprint.”



JOYLAND will feature new painted cover art by the legendary Robert McGinnis, the artist behind the posters for the original Sean Connery James Bond movies and “Breakfast At Tiffany’s,” and by Glen Orbik, the painter of more than a dozen of Hard Case Crime’s most popular covers, including the cover for The Colorado Kid.



Since its debut in 2004, Hard Case Crime has been the subject of enthusiastic coverage by a wide range of publications including The New York Times, USA Today, Time, Playboy, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Houston Chronicle, New York magazine,the New York Post and Daily News, Salon, Reader’s Digest, Parade and USA Weekend,as well as numerous other magazines, newspapers, and online media outlets. The Chicago Sun-Times wrote, “Hard Case Crime is doing a wonderful job publishing both classic and contemporary ‘pulp’ novels in a crisp new format with beautiful, period-style covers. These modern ‘penny dreadfuls’ are worth every dime.” Playboy praised Hard Case Crime’s “lost masterpieces,” writing “They put to shame the work of modern mystery writers whose plots rely on cell phones and terrorists.” And the Philadelphia City Paper wrote, “Tired of overblown, doorstop-sized thrillers…? You’ve come to the right place. Hard Case novels are as spare and as honest as a sock in the jaw.”



Other upcoming Hard Case Crime titles include The Cocktail Waitress, a never-before-published novel by James M. Cain, author of The Postman Always Rings Twice, Mildred Pierce, and Double Indemnity, and an epic first novel called The Twenty-Year Death by Ariel S. Winter that has won advance raves from authors such as Peter Straub, James Frey, Alice Sebold, John Banville, David Morrell and Stephen King.



For information about these and other forthcoming titles, visit www.HardCaseCrime.com.
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Comments





  • 2013 will be a double whammy for Stephen King fans. The big headliner may be Dr. Sleep, the Shining sequel slated for Sept. 24, 2013, but King’s other much-anticipated novel Joyland comes three months earlier in June from publisher Hard Case Crime. Joyland takes place in a small-town North Carolina amusement park, where college student Devin Jones arrives at the park to work as a carny for the summer, but he ends up experiencing much more than he bargained for when he confronts the legacy of a vicious murder and the fate of a dying child.



    Not only is King going retro with the setting of his upcoming novel, he’s also sticking to a tried-and-true format. “I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts,” he said in the press release. “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. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.”



    Charles Ardai, editor of Hard Case Crime, promises a layered, genre-crossing story. “Joyland is a breathtaking, beautiful, heartbreaking book,” he said. “It’s 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. Even the most hard-boiled readers will find themselves moved. When I finished it, I sent a note saying, ‘Goddamn it, Steve, you made me cry.’ ”
  • Publication date: June 4, 2013



    Press release
  • Bumping this back up to the front page. I interviewed Charles Ardai for an upcoming issue of Cemetery Dance magazine.
  • Fiction Review: 'Joyland' by Stephen King http://pwne.ws/10Lq55N
  • Simon & Schuster Audio has cast Michael Kelly to read the Joyland Audiobook.



    Kelly is a rising star that can be seen alongside Kevin Spacy in the Netflix original series, House of Cards. He’ll also be featured in Zach Snyder’s upcoming Superman film, Man of Steel, as well as Now You See Me (May 2013) starring Morgan Freeman and Mark Ruffalo.

    Previously, Kelly performed on several TV projects including Criminal Minds, Person of Interest and Generation Kill.
  • Here's the Publisher's letter that came with my copy of the ARC:



    Page 1 of the publisher letter:







    Page 2:







    John
  • Cool - thanks for sharing.



    So, have you finished the book yet? ;)
  • Oh, yeah! I give it a 7 out of 10. If you liked the story of Jake and Sadie in 11/22/63, you should enjoy this one. It has the same "flavor".



    John
  • Great to hear! Thanks.
  • There's also a Green Mile vibe.
  • 0D2A39101926212C2A213B4F0 wrote: There's also a Green Mile vibe.


    Even better!
  • Tate Taylor, who launched his writing and directing career by getting the option on The Help before author Kathryn Stockett was done writing it, has gotten himself on the ground floor of another sure-fire bestseller. Taylor has been granted an option by Stephen King to adapt and direct Joyland, the King novel that will be published in June. Taylor will adapt to direct, and John Norris will produce through his Wyolah Films banner. Taylor will also produce.



    >>> Source
  • Stephen King on 'Joyland': I Have No Plans for a Digital Version



    The famed author, who has been an e-book supporter, is going print-only for his latest release.



    Although Stephen King has e-published in the past, he's eschewing a digital version of his latest novel, Joyland, to go fully print.



    "I have no plans for a digital version," the best-selling author told The Wall Street Journal (via the Telegraph). "Maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one."



    One of the buzziest books of the summer season, Joyland -- set for release June 4 -- takes place in a North Carolina amusement park, circa 1973, where a college student gets involved in an old murder. King's tribute to the pulp fiction of his youth, the book is published by Hard Case Crime, an independent company that concentrates on pulpy cover art and previously released The Colorado Kid (2005) by the writer.



    "Part of the reason he publishes with us it to support our authors but I also think he enjoys the pulp presentation," said Hard Case owner Charles Ardai in an interview with the Journal.



    King, No. 1 on THR's list of Hollywood's most powerful authors, is having a big year. He will release Doctor Sheep, a sequel to The Shining, via Simon & Schuster in September, and Under the Dome -- a much-anticipated CBS drama based on his 2011 novel -- premieres June 24.
  • Finished. 283 pages & it felt like reading a short story. Eyes got prickly a few times. Another book with some memorable characters. As usual, well done Mr. King. Well done.
  • Reviews:



    The New York Times Book Review



    Booklist:



    As with King's first release with Hard Case Crime (The Colorado Kid, 2005), this is an uncharacteristically svelte offering that feels born of a weekend whim but is nevertheless possessed with an undeniable offhand charm. In the summer of 1973, 21-year-old Devin stumbles into a job at a North Carolina amusement park called Joyland, where he operates rides, mops up vomit, and "wears the fur" (dressing up as park mascot Howie the Happy Hound to amuse the kiddies). Bittersweet interjections from an older Devin lend the story an aching nostalgia, and between the chummy carny-chatter (terms like gazoonies, fump, and donniker fly fast and furious) and meaningful first times (losing his virginity, a crushing breakup, etc.), a fantastical mystery gradually emerges. Devin befriends a dying 10-year-old whose psychic hunches help hunt down the murderer of the ghost girl who haunts the park's Horror House. Until the ghoulish climax, this reads like a heartfelt memoir and might be King's gentlest book, a canny channeling of the inner peace one can find within outer tumult. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Small-press, paperback-only, yes, but King is still King. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.



    Library Journal:



    Along with hair-raising plots and believable characters (whether innocent or demonic or somewhere in between), a strong sense of place is an essential quality of King's writing. In his second book for Hard Case Crime (after The Colorado Kid) the setting—an old-time amusement park on the North Carolina shore—easily earns its title billing. On a whim, Devon Jones, soon to be a University of New Hampshire senior, takes a summer job at the park and is quickly seduced by the carny atmosphere and the "we sell fun" motto. Soon he's speaking the lingo, operating the rides, and entertaining crowds of kids, troubled only by the waning interest of his college sweetheart, who's stayed behind in Boston. But as the weeks pass, Devon is pulled toward Joyland's darker side, finding more evidence that an unsolved murder victim's ghost still haunts the shadowy tunnels of the Horror House. VERDICT This one's a must for King fans and may also attract YA readers.—Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT



    NOT linked to:  The Guardian review that gave away the identity of the murderer in the first paragraph.  >:(
  • Steve said he didn't know who the killer was until he was near the end of the book himself!
  • I received my signed limited and gift editions today and had a chance to peruse them.  They contain nine interior illustrations by Robert McGinnis (who also does the front cover of the dust jacket for these hardcovers).  I'm not too enthused about these illustrations--they are just not how I envisioned the characters. 



    John
  • Still waiting on mine. Maybe by the end of the month.
  • Hans and I are interviewing Charles for our podcast this weekend. This timely article is an excellent springboard for some questions to ask him!
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