The Best Thrillers out there?

The International Thriller Writers (ITW) today announced the nominees for its 2011 Thriller Awards

Best Hardcover Novel:

• The Reversal, by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown)

• Edge, by Jeffery Deaver (Simon & Schuster)

• The Burying Place, by Brian Freeman (Minatour)

• Skin, by Mo Hayder (Grove)

• Bad Blood, by John Sanford (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original:

• Down Among the Dead Men, by Robert Gregory Browne (St. Martin’s)

• You Can’t Stop Me, by Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens (Pinnacle)

• The Cold Room, by J.T. Ellison (Mira)

• Torn Apart, by Shane Gericke (Pinnacle)

• The Venice Conspiracy, by John Trace (Hachette Digital)

Best First Novel:

• The Things That Keep Us Here, by Carla Buckley (Random House)

• The Poacher’s Son, by Paul Doiron (Minatour)

• The Insider, by Reece Hirsch (Berkley)

• Drink the Tea, by Thomas Kaufman (Minatour)

• Still Missing, by Chevy Stevens (St. Martin’s)

Best Short Story:

• “Second Wind,” by Mike Carey (from The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology, edited by Christopher Golden; St. Martin's)

• “Blue on Black,” by Michael Connelly (The Strand Magazine)

• “The God for Vengeance Cry,” by Richard Helms (Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine)

• “Madeeda,” by Harley Jane Kozak (from Crimes By Midnight, edited by Charlaine Harris; Berkley)

• “Chasing the Dragon,” by Nicolas Kaufman (ChiZine Magazine)

• “Long Time Dead,” by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins (The Strand Magazine)
 
Winners will be announced during ThrillerFest VI, to be held at New York City’s Grand Hyatt