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Ah, Instagram. A great place to share what you’re up to, what you’re into, and how it’s all going. But how do you capture a decidedly in-person experience like reading on the small, captioned, and hashtagged screen? First, some general Instagram tips:

The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters only $3.99

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What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die? Detective Hank Palace has asked this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. Several kilometers wide, it’s on a collision course with planet Earth, with just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. Industry is grinding to a halt. Most people have abandoned their jobs. But not Hank Palace. As our story opens, he’s investigating the latest suicide in a city that’s full of suicides—only this one feels wrong. This one feels like homicide. And Palace is the only one who cares. What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die?

The Last Policeman offers a story we’ve never read before: A police procedural set on the brink of an apocalypse. What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

BEN H. WINTERS is a New York Times best-selling author (Quirk’s Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters) and an Edgar Award nominee (for the HarperCollins YA novel The Secret Life of Ms. Finkelman). His most recent novel, Bedbugs (Quirk, 2011), was hailed by Vanity Fair as a “diabolical tale of paranoia.” He lives in Indianapolis, IN.

For some authors, it's not enough to create a great character. They have to take it to the next level allow their creations to hop the border from book to book. These easter eggs fill us with uncontainable excitement. There’s nothing like discovering a beloved character in a totally unrelated novel. The result is an intricate web we are more-than-thrilled to dissect.

We’ve rounded up a handful of author magicians who love to revive their characters in totally new books. We can’t blame them for not wanting to let them go.

A good villain is more than an oxymoron – they can also easily overshadow a bland hero. Is there anyone who actually prefers Thor to Loki? What would Harry have done all year if not for Voldemort’s nefarious plans? Actually study? And if the sea witch hadn’t granted her wish, the Little Mermaid never would have learned a valuable lesson in not changing yourself for the first man who smiles at you. Villains, for all their scheming and plotting, can be a lot of fun. We've collected a smorgasbord of deliciously devilish evildoers who couldn’t tell the truth if their lives depended on it. 

Working in publishing, sometimes it can be really easy to lose all concept of time. All around the office, you can spot books that aren't set to come out for another, oh, six months or so. This is a common scene around the HQ:

"Did this come out yet?"

"No Eric, that book isn't out for another year."

"What about this one?"

"That book comes out today… did you have your coffee yet?!" 

And you know what? I'd like to confuse you a little too. 

The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook (March 24th), The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy (May 12th), and Nick & Tesla's Special Effects Spectacular (May 5th) aren't due out for a little while, and this is your chance to win a prize pack with all three! I'll even include a sampler of Manhattan Mayhem (April 7th), which includes four stories from the upcoming collection.

Go ahead and enter the Rafflecopter below. I've got THREE prize packs to send out. Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's always an exciting moment when advances of a new book arrive at the ol' Quirk Books HQ. Yesterday several boxes of The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook arrived, and they looked so lovely that I just had to take a couple of pictures to show them off. I'm really psyched to be working with an author as awesome as Kate White (@katemwhite), and this book is just a great, great addition to the Quirk library.

When the book's editor, the fabulous Tiffany Hill (@TiffanyLHill), came down to check out the advances, I asked her what she loved about working on the book:

"This book was so much fun to work on. Over one hundred of the best crime writers out there, all Mystery Writers of America members, submitted their recipes for it. Some are things their characters eat, some are things they make when they turn in a manuscript or when they're focused on a deadline, and some are simply their favorites.

The best part is, all of the contributors are storytellers, and even though a recipe is a totally different medium from a full-length novel, they're still telling stories. You really get a taste of the worlds they create, whether it's a murderer or a dinner party around the corner. I literally laughed and cried the first time I read the manuscript and different recipes. And afterwards, I added a lot of books to my to-read list!"

Enjoy the sneak peek! The Mystery Writers of America Cookbook will be available March 24th. Bloggers! Media! Want to request a review copy? Email me ([email protected]), and I'll hook you up in 2015!