Mystery Writers of America Presents Ice Cold: Tales of Intrigue from the Cold War
About this audiobook
Selected by Jeffrey Deaver and Raymond Benson, this is a collection of mystery/thriller short stories from some of today's top writers.
Nuclear brinksmanship, psychological warfare, spies, double agents, femmes fatales, and dead drops...
The Cold War—a terrifying time when nuclear war between the world's two superpowers was an ever-present threat, an all-too-real possibility that could be set off at the touch of a button—provides a chilling backdrop to this collection of all-new short stories from today's most celebrated mystery writers.
Bestselling authors Jeffery Deaver and Raymond Benson—the only American writers to be commissioned to pen official James Bond novels—have joined forces to bring us twenty masterful tales of paranoia, espionage, and psychological drama. In Joseph Finder's "Police Report," the seemingly cut-and-dried case of a lunatic murderer in rural Massachusetts may have roots in Soviet-controlled Armenia. In "Miss Bianca" by Sara Paretsky, a young girl befriends a mouse in a biological warfare laboratory and finds herself unwittingly caught in an espionage drama. And Deaver's own "Comrade 35" offers a unique spin on the assassination of John F. Kennedy—with a signature twist.
About the author
Mystery Writers of America, the premier organization for established and aspiring mystery writers, is dedicated to promoting higher regard for crime writing, and recognition and respect for those who write within the genre.
Jeffery Deaver is the #1 internationally bestselling author of forty-four novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book. His books are sold in 150 countries and translated into twenty-five languages. His first novel featuring Lincoln Rhyme, The Bone Collector, was made into a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie and a hit television series on NBC. He’s received or been shortlisted for a number of awards around the world, including Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers and the Steel Dagger from the Crime Writers’ Association in the United Kingdom. In 2014, he was the recipient of three lifetime achievement awards. He has been named a Grand Master by Mystery Writers of America.
Raymond Benson is the author of over forty published books. He is most well-known as the third—and first American—author of continuation James Bond novels, commissioned by the Ian Fleming copyright holders. In total, six original 007 novels, three film novelizations, and three short stories were published worldwide between 1997 and 2002. His bestselling and critically praised five-book serial, The Black Stiletto, is in development as a possible film or TV series.
Joseph Finder is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Switch, Guilty Minds, The Fixer, Suspicion, Vanished, and Buried Secrets. Finder’s international bestseller Killer Instinct won the International Thriller Writers's Thriller Award for Best Novel of 2006. Other bestselling titles include Paranoia and High Crimes, which both became major motion pictures. He lives in Boston.
John Lescroart is the author of twenty-four previous novels (sixteen New York Times bestsellers), including The 13th Juror, Damage, The Hunter, and The Ophelia Cut. His books have sold more than 10 million copies and have been translated into twenty-two languages in seventy-five countries. He lives in Northern California.
Gayle Lynds is the bestselling, award-winning author of several international espionage thrillers, including Masquerade, The Coil, and The Last Spymaster. A member of the Association for Intelligence Officers, she is cofounder (with David Morrell) of ITW (International Thriller Writers). She lives in Santa Barbara.
Hailed by P. D. James as “the most remarkable” of modern crime writers, Sara Paretsky is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two novels, including the renowned V.I. Warshawski series. She is one of only four living writers to have received both the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America and the Cartier Diamond Dagger from the Crime Writers Association of Great Britain. She lives in Chicago.
Brendan DuBois is the award-winning author of over twenty novels and more than 120 short stories. His short stories have twice won him the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and have also earned him three Edgar Award nominations. He has recently collaborated with New York Times best-selling author James Patterson on several novellas for Patterson's Bookshots. Brendan lives in New Hampshire. A former Jeopardy! champion, he also appeared on-and won-the game show The Chase.
Stephen King is the author of more than sixty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His recent work includes The Institute, Elevation, The Outsider, Sleeping Beauties (cowritten with his son Owen King) and the Bill Hodges trilogy, End of Watch, Finders Keepers, and Mr. Mercedes (an Edgar Award winner for Best Novel and an AT&T Audience Network original television series). His novel 11/22/63 was named a top ten book of 2011 by The New York Times Book Review and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller. His epic works The Dark Tower and It are the basis for major motion pictures, with It now the highest grossing horror film of all time. He is the recipient of the 2018 PEN America Literary Service Award, the 2014 National Medal of Arts, and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. He lives in Bangor, Maine, with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. Bev Vincent is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine, where he has been writing “News from the Dead Zone” for each issue since 2001. He is the author of several books, most recently The Dark Tower Companion, and over eighty short stories, including appearances in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, several SHIVERS anthologies, and two MWA anthologies. His work has been nominated for the Edgar Award, the Bram Stoker Award (twice), and the ITW Thriller Award. He can be found lurking in various corners of the internet, including at BevVincent.com, his book review blog OnyxReviews.com, and @BevVincent on Twitter. Simon Jones Broadway credits include: The Real Thing, Benefactors, The School for Scandal, The Herbal Bed, and Waiting in the Wings (Outer Critics Circle nominee). Off-Broadway credits include: Woman in Mind, Terra Nova, Privates On Parade (Drama Desk nominee). Film and TV highlights: Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, The Devil's Own, Brideshead Revisited, PBS's Liberty and HBO's Oz. Malcolm Graeme has appeared on and off Broadway in Aida, The King and I, Lincoln Center's Hapgood, and M. Butterfly (National Tour). His television appearances include Law & Order, Follow the River, and Mr. Halpern and Mr. Johnson (with Laurence Olivier). Film credits include A Further Gesture, The Adventures of Sebastian Cole, and Reunion.
Katia Lief (a.k.a. Karen Ellis) is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of the acclaimed Karin Schaeffer thriller series. Her work has been nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, Derringer Award, and the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award. Katia teaches fiction writing at The New School and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Jonathan Stone writes his books on the commuter train between his home in Connecticut and his advertising job in midtown Manhattan, where he has honed his writing skills by creating smart and classic campaigns for high-level brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, and Mitsubishi. Stone’s first mystery-thriller series, the Julian Palmer books, won critical acclaim and was hailed as “stunning” and “risk-taking” in starred reviews by Publishers Weekly. He earned glowing praise for his novel The Cold Truth from the New York Times, who called it “bone-chilling.” He is the recipient of a Claymore Award for best unpublished crime novel and a graduate of Yale University, where he was a Scholar of the House in fiction writing. He is also the author of Two for the Show, The Teller, Moving Day, The Heat of Lies, Breakthrough, and Parting Shot.
Joseph Wallace is the author of The Autobiography of Baseball, The Baseball Anthology, and World Series: An Opinionated Chronicle, as well as A Gathering of Wonders: Behind the Scenes at the American Museum of Natural History. He lives with his family in New York City.
T. Jefferson Parker is the author of numerous novels and short stories, the winner of three Edgar Awards (for Silent Joe, California Girl, and the short story "Skinhead Central"), and the recipient of a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for best mystery (Silent Joe). Before becoming a full-time novelist, he was an award-winning reporter. He lives in Fallbrook, California.
Since Laura Lippman's debut in 1997, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the "essential" crime writers of the last 100 years. Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her daughter.
Katherine Neville is the author of The Eight, The Magic Circle (a USA Today bestseller), and A Calculated Risk (a New York Times Notable Book). The Eight has been translated into more than thirty languages. In a national poll in Spain by the noted journal El País, The Eight was voted one of the top ten books of all time. Neville lives in Virginia and Washington, D.C.
J.A. Jance is the New York Times Bestselling author of more than sixty books. Born in South Dakota and raised in Bisbee, Arizona, she and her husband live in the Seattle area with their two longhaired dachshunds, Mary and Jojo.
Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
Stephen R. Thorne is a professional actor and a member of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. He has played Hamlet, Henry V, and Tom Joad, among many other roles. Stephen has narrated over fifty audiobooks.
Meredith Mitchell is an actress who has performed in such films as Mona Lisa Smile and The Reunion, on stage with Shakespeare & Company and the New Repertory Theatre, and on television on Good Morning America. She received her BA in psychology from Emory University and her MFA in acting from Brandeis University.
Barry Press has been an active professional actor, director, and teacher for over thirty-five years, during which time he has performed Off-Broadway and at numerous regional theaters. The winner of an Earphones Award, he narrates audiobooks in a variety of genres. He is also the founder and artistic director of Living Literature, a Rhode Island based literacy program.
Angela Brazil is a professional actor who is proud to be a long-standing member of the Resident Acting Company at Trinity Repertory Company. A faculty member at the Brown/Trinity Conservatory, she received her MFA from the University of Iowa. In addition to teaching and acting, she is an active audiobook narrator and enjoys spending time with her family in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
Mark Peckham is an actor and director based in Rhode Island. In addition to working with Trinity Rep, Virginia Stage Co., and many Boston-area theaters, he was the voice of Joseph Smith in the award-winning PBS documentary American Prophet with Gregory Peck.
Charlie Thurston has appeared on stages across the country, including Trinity Repertory Company, Arden Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Intiman Theater, Chautauqua Theater Company, and Riverside Theatre. Charlie holds an MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep.
Rachel Dulude is an actor and book narrator based in Providence, Rhode Island. She has been recording audiobooks since 2012 in genres ranging from young adult to adult thrillers. As an actor, she has performed with the Wilbury Theatre Group in Providence and the Gamm Theatre in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Rachel has also worked as a costume technician at the Trinity Repertory Company since 2006.
Amanda Dolan is an experienced narrator and actor who received her master's degree from Brown University. In addition to narrating and acting, she works as a theater educator and musician. She is currently based in New York City.
