When a gun doesn’t mean what you think it mean’s
I’m shocked by the lengths some publishers go to in order to sell a few extra copies. Take the book Stolen by Tess Gerristen, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a thriller just as this reader did.
Seemingly the cover should be pink with a kissing clinch rather than black with a smoking gun as it’s more romance than thriller.
I’m surprised that action can’t be taken under The Trade Descriptions Act. And no wonder readers are getting upset. Now I don’t mind books having a bit of a refresh when they’re being re-released in fact it’s probably a wonderful idea but changing its genre at the same time is probably pushing things too far. In fact the confusion has meant her current publisher taking the very sensible step of putting a review on Amazon explaining the confusion.
From the book’s listing on Amazon.co.uk:
Having read the reviews of Stolen, I wanted - as the publisher of Tess’s more recent thrillers as Transworld - to say that STOLEN (previously published as THIEF OF HEARTS), IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS, UNDER THE KNIFE, CALL AFTER MIDNIGHT (gathered together in the anthology Murder & Mayhem), NEVER SAY DIE and WHISTLEBLOWER are not thrillers, but reissues of romantic suspense novels originally published by Mira / Mills & Boon. Recently Mira have changed the titles of some of Tess’s backlist novels to make them more chilling, have called them Sunday Times bestsellers (which is not the case), and even put Harlan Coben’s quote on the front panels - all of which we have asked them not to do, as we felt it might cause confusion among fans.
To avoid confusion in the future, you should note that any books published by Mira are reissues of romantic suspense novels and were first published in the 1990s. The harder hitting serial killer thrillers are published by Bantam/Transworld, and began when we first published THE SURGEON in 2002.
I should add that if you want to talk to Tess about this or other matters, you can do so by contacting her on her website (www.tessgerritsen.com), or via her wonderful blog, or you’ll be able to meet her in person when she tours the UK in January 08 with her new thriller, THE BONE GARDEN.
Hope this is helpful!
Selina Walker, publishing director, Transworld.
