The International Thriller Writers (ITW) held their fourth annual convention at New York City’s Grand Hyatt Hotel July 8-11, culminating in the awards ceremony at Cipriani 42nd Street on Saturday night. This year the organizers felt no need to provide musical or comedy entertainment (unless you count the tongue-in-cheek “worst review award”), the gorgeous, cathedral-like setting more than sufficing to keep guests in a good mood while they dined on five-star food and awaited the presentations.
The Silver Bullet Award went to Brad Meltzer for his contributions to the advancement of literacy, the Silver Bullet Corporate Award to Dollar General Literacy Foundation for their support of literacy and education.
Alexandra Sokoloff won best short story for “The Edge of Seventeen” from the superhero anthology The Darker Mask (Tor). Tom Rob Smith won best first novel for his Russian serial killer tale, Child 44 (Grand Central). Jeffrey Deaver, who had two books nominated among the five finalists, took best thriller with The Bodies Left Behind (Simon & Schuster), which PW called not “up to Deaver’s best.”
Sandra Brown, last year’s ThrillerMaster, introduced this year’s ThrillerMaster, David Morrell, who received the award “in recognition of his vast body of work and influence in the field of literature,” i.e., he created Rambo, one of only five fictional characters that are said to be known worldwide (along with Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, James Bond and Harry Potter). A former professor with a Ph.D. in American literature, Morrell kept the audience enthralled in an acceptance speech that while it may have annoyed those eager to move on to the ThrillerMaster after-party at the Hyatt by its length, nonetheless made a cogent case for the contribution of Rambo--as incarnated by Sylvester Stallone on the movie screen--to the downfall of Communism in eastern Europe. Smuggled Rambo films helped inspire Solidarity in Poland, Morrell said, adding that “Rambo” was inscribed on the Berlin Wall as it fell.
