News

May 2023. The thrilling new CUMBRIA CRIME series, written in collaboration with bestselling crime fiction author Rachel McLean, is announced, to general wonder and delight. More here

July 2021. The world is beginning to free itself from the grip of the deadly pandemic and the first signs of this include the return of the Harrogate Crime Writers’ Festival. It’s great.

February 2021. The world is STILL gripped by a deadly pandemic but The Lies I Tell has been republished by SpellBound and everyone is, at least briefly, happy.

September 2020. The world is gripped by a deadly pandemic and Joel realises he hasn’t updated this bit of his website for two and a half years. In that time an entire trilogy of Sam Williams novels have been released (see The Books) and, in news that is in equal parts shocking and exciting, Joel’s new psychological thriller The Lies I Tell, published to popular acclaim back in June 2020, has been snapped up by Spellbound Publishing for republication January 2021. Read all about it here.

March 2018Dead North is out. Everyone’s read it, already, and they love it. What’s that? You haven’t read it? Why not? Rectify your errors. Find out more here.

February 2018. Dead North announced. Publication March 22nd. Watch this space.
Keep watching.
Nothing happened, did it?

December 2017. Forgot again. OK, I published Caged. Dead North is currently with two publishers, No One Will Hear is back-and-forth with my agent, editor and beta readers, and the book after that (provisionally entitled The Cold Years, but that’ll be changed because it’s too miserable) is halfway done. I reckon that’s it. See ya.

August 2017. Yeah, OK. So I forgot to update this page. What’s happened since January? I’ll tell you what’s happened. I’ve completed the first draft of No One Will Hear, the follow-up to Dead North, and they’re both with my agent now. I’ve started The Cold Years, the follow-up to the follow-up to Dead North, and I’m around a third of the way through it. I’ve published Victims, a short Sam Williams prequel which is 99p/99c on Amazon or FREE if you subscribe to my newsletter. I’ve sung a twisted parody of Bohemian Rhapsody in a Leeds bar full of hundreds of book lovers, had a blast at the Harrogate Festival of Crime Writing, and continued to love and adore every single one of my readers, even the ones who leave reviews saying simply “Why must they?”

January 2017. The Art of Staying Dead has gone crazy stateside, hovering around the fringes of the top 100 of all books, like, anywhere on Amazon, and cracking the top 5 in major categories such as Legal Thrillers, Crime Fiction, Political Thrillers, Books By Joel Hames Published in 2015, and many many more.

December 2016. Dark Minds, a brilliant collection of short stories by your favourite crime authors, has been published by Bloodhound Books in aid of Sophie’s Appeal and Hospice UK. I’m one of the contributors.

November 2016. Massive news. Dead North, the sequel to The Art of Staying Dead, is finished. It’s done. It’s been read by a handful of advance readers who’ve given it the thumbs up, and is now with my agent. Check back for any further news.

15 January 2016. Big news today. I’ve signed with Mainsail Books, publishers of unusual and intelligent thrillers. More info here.

25th September 2015. Would you look at that? Beautiful new covers for both my babies.

August 2015. Following a successful week-long sale, The Art of Staying Dead hits the top 500 in Amazon UK, top 1000 in Amazon US, and enjoys a spell as Britain’s number one political thriller.

1st July 2015. A red letter day for Bankers Town, with the start of a week-long 99p/99c sale, and its 50th review on Amazon.co.uk (five stars, needless to say).

29 June 2015. The Art of Staying Dead is nominated for Book of the Month in THE Book Club on Facebook, the book club where serious readers hang out. Competition is fierce. I may have to dispose of my rivals in brutal but imaginative ways.

June 2015. Lots of Amazon, goodreads and blog reviews (like this one) for The Art of Staying Dead, which is now knocking Archer, Grisham, and the prodigal Baldacci off their perches. Interviewed by Fiona Mcvie here.

29 May 2015. Built this page.

28 May 2015. People still like The Art of Staying Dead.

27 May 2015. Lots of people have bought The Art of Staying Dead. They seem to like it.

26 May 2015. Amid the sort of fanfare usually associated with a Soviet military parade or a royal wedding, The Art of Staying Dead is launched in e-book and paperback. Readers of advance review copies post their glowing recommendations on Amazon, Goodreads, Wikileaks, wherever they can. The public appetite for news on TAoSD (as those in the know are already calling it) seems insatiable.

6 May 2015. The Art of Staying Dead is made available for pre-order. Mass hysteria ensues. Crime thriller fanatics weep openly on the streets of London and jealous rivals burn effigies of Hames in the cover of darkness.

2014. Bankers Town is published to popular acclaim, is slammed by Katie Hopkins* and referred to as “evil” by Kim Jong Un*, hits the no.1 spot in its Amazon category, is the subject of an almost miraculously brilliant trailer, and cements Joel Hames’ reputation as a human being with access to word-processing software.

* Hopkins/Un stories as yet unverified.

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