For the thrill of it-- THRILLER FEST V

The spooky spouse and I watch tons of horror films each month, and read horror novels and comics, too. But we like good work in most genres, including action and mystery. That's why we wish we could go to ThrillerFest in NYC, July 7-10.

I got an e-mail from a friend with the event's press release included. Below is that release. There's some hype, but it promises to be a truly thrilling event. (Man, I'd love to see author Ken Follett in person!) Here, read for yourself :

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SUSPENSE AND THE CITY

MASTERS OF LITERATURE’S THRILLER GENRE ARE ABOUT TO EXECUTE AN EVENT SO PERFECT IT’S ALMOST CRIMINAL

ThrillerFest V, the world’s most diabolically delicious literature festival, chills New York City July 7-10, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

There’s only one event where New York Times best-selling masters of the art lurk around every corner, agents appear in broad daylight and fans conspire with writers in the wee, small hours of the night – ThrillerFest V, the International Thriller Writers’ fifth annual celebration of their genre and the largest event of its kind in the world.

The highlight of the event will be the gala ITW Thriller Awards Banquet on Saturday when the heroes of suspense will be honored:

* International best-selling author Ken Follett will receive the 2010 ThrillerMaster Award given by 2009 recipient David Morrell

* Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down will become the first recipient of the True Thriller Award

* Brad Meltzer, recipient of the 2009 Silver Bullet Award, will present the 2010 award to Linda Fairstein

And this year’s winners in the categories of Best Hardcover Novel, Best Paperback Original, Best First Novel and Best Short Story will be revealed.

But the list of the notables doesn’t end there – more than 50 best-selling authors and another 200 up-and-comers will be at the festival, ready to mix and mingle with fans, aspiring writers and industry executives. In fact, ThrillerFest is often called the summer camp of literary events. Everyone--the famous, the infamous, the law-abiding, and the unsung -- all freely chat and party together while sharing their love of thrillers.

There will be plenty of thrills during the four-day event. In the spotlight will be interviews with top authors, each interrogated by another thriller master:

* Ken Follett, legendary author of The Eye of the Needle, Pillars of the Earth, and World Without End is the recipient of the ITW 2010 ThrillerMaster Award, will be interviewed by Steve Berry.

* David Morrell, last year’s recipient of the ThrillerMaster Award and author of First Blood, will be interviewed by Douglas Preston.

* Lisa Scottoline, author of the legal thrillers Killer Smile and Lady Killer, will be interviewed by Jon Land.

* Gayle Lynds, the Queen of International Suspense, will be interviewed by Lisa Gardner.

* Harlan Coben, whose novels Hold Tight and Long Lost debuted at number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, will be interviewed by Kathleen Antrim.

The panels are only the beginning. Returning are CraftFest and AgentFest, mini-festivals within the conference. During the two-day CraftFest, writers looking to hone their craft can take workshops from many New York Times Best Selling authors. An afternoon at AgentFest will be like speed-dating as aspiring writers get a chance to pitch their manuscripts to more than 40 agents. There will also be a complete bookstore, a reader’s reception and many, many book signings.

And what would a gathering of fans and writers of intense suspense be without a party, or should we say, parties? There’s one every night during ThrillerFest V including a celebration of four great, new publications on Friday night:

Wednesday – Get acquainted at the CraftFest cocktail party.

Thursday – Festivities officially begin with an opening reception cocktail party.

Friday – The brand new ITW publication reception cocktail party will feature a grand book signing with dozens of best-selling authors.

Saturday – One ticket to the ITW Awards Banquet gets you into three parties: the pre-event cocktail party, the Awards Banquet and the post-event party and happy recap.

Register now by going to www.ThrillerFest.com and clicking on “Registration.” Like all great literary thrill rides, you’ll want to follow this one all the way to the end.