And The Winner Is. . .

by Sean Chercover

Put this one down in the books as a good week. A very, very good week . . .

Marcus’ debut novel THE BLADE ITSELF and mine, BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD, both hit bookstores on Tuesday, and our feet haven’t touched the ground since.

Last night, we hosted a joint launch party at Sheffield’s Tavern, and man, you shoulda been there. We had the back room for our party, but so many folks showed up to help us celebrate that we took over the adjacent room as well. The beer was cold and the mood was warm. Backs were slapped and cheeks kissed and books signed . . . and we all had a colossal time.

Marcus and I are humbled and touched by the show of support. Really. It was a hell of a bash, and we will remember it, always.

Now…on to prize awarding business: We have a winner to declare! There were many fine entries to our “best last line of a novel” contest. So many, in fact, that picking a winner became problematic, and we nearly resorted to the scientific “blind dart-toss” judging method.

And there were disagreements, lemme tell ya. Marcus enjoyed: “She’s not my sister, but she could be. I have my forty pieces of silver, and time, as the Stones say, is on my side,” while it didn’t quite crack my top-three. I was intrigued by, “After I’d buried him, I walked into San Francisco City Hall and presented them with my deed to the bridge,” which didn’t quite make the cut for Marcus.

We both hooted over the following entries, which make fine jokes, but don’t actually suggest a preceding novel:

“And, sure, it hurt a little, but if you can’t smile through it, what good’s a gal with a pierced tongue anyway.”

And:

“Even though the final design looked more like a Lamborghini than a Ferrari, Dennis swore that for the rest of his life – no matter what anyone said – he would wear his condom with pride.”

But enough runner-up and honorable-mention talk. We encourage you to read the comments to the previous post, and pick your own winner.

Our winner is. . .

Jude Hardin! Here is Jude’s winning last line:

“I scattered her ashes along the rocky shore of Point Conception, sat in the sand and thought about nothing until the lighthouse switched off and it wasn’t the same day anymore.”

Jude wins a signed first-edition hardcover of THE BLADE ITSELF and BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD. Also, a signed copy of one book by each of our fellow-Outfitters: Barbara D’Amato, Michael Allen Dymmoch, Kevin Guilfoile, Libby Hellmann, and Sara Paretsky. But WAIT, (as Ron Popeil would say) there's more! Joe Konrath has kindly contributed a signed hardcover of THESE GUNS FOR HIRE, the excellent short story anthology he edited for the good folks at Bleak House Books.

That’s EIGHT signed books for you, Jude! Congratulations. Please make contact with Marcus or me through our websites – we need your mailing address.

And thanks to all who played.