H Is For...

Only two Hs, so a couple of Is too...

Helen FitzGerald - Helen FitzGerald is an Australian living in Glasgow. She has worked as a social worker and a parole officer and has brought her experiences in those fields to her books. Her first novel DEAD LOVELY came out in 2007. I absolutely loved it. It's described as chick lit noir but it's definitely not your normal type of chicklit. Dark, disturbing and demented - in the best way possible. She has two books published in 2009 - MY LAST CONFESSION, which continues the story of the protagonist of DEAD LOVELY, Krissie, and THE DEVIL'S STAIRCASE which is about an Australian teenager who ends up in a squat in London.
"Fitzgerald has written something startling, menacing and original. She shows the savagery under our civilised demeanours, which at any moment can come bursting through with dire, far-reaching consequences." - Literary Review

Hugh C Rae - Hugh Crawford Rae also writes as Robert Crawford, R. B. Houston, James Albany, Stuart Stern and romantic novels as Jessica Sterling. He wrote a series of SAS novels in the 1980s and has written over 20 other novels between the 60s and the 80s. His novels under the Crawford name he describes as "lightweight guns'n'gals thrillers", and he has written novels in different genres. His novel THE SHROUD SOCIETY was made into the film MAN WITH A GUN with Michael Madsen and Jennifer Tilly.

Iain Banks - writes science fiction under the name Iain M Banks and other (very varied) fiction under Iain Banks. Has written 12 books as Iain Banks with a 13th - TRANSITION - to be published in 2009. THE CROW ROAD has one of the best openings ever: "It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach's Mass in B Minor, and I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach."
"Riveting ... exhilarating ... its pace, development, intensity and, above all, its hip and sexy humour never allow it to flag. With The Crow Road, Banks reinforces his credentials as one of the most able, energetic and stimulating writers we have in the UK." - Time Out
Iain Levison - Iain Levison was born in Scotland but now lives in the US. He writes both fiction and non fiction. His novel DOG EAT DOG features Phil Dixon, a bank robber who escapes from a bank heist with a pile of cash and a bullet wound. With the FBI on his tail he needs to hole up somewhere to recover and, luckily, comes across a sleazy history professor having sex with his 15 year old neighbour. Time for a spot of blackmail. Great dilaogue, cynical humour and people of dubious morals. Lovely. His next novel, HOW TO ROB AN ARMOURED CAR, is due out in October.
"Levison is the real deal . . . bracing, hilarious, and dead on." - The New York Times Book Review