Ed Gorman's Blog, page 216

Forgotten Books: A TOUCH OF DEATH by Charles Williams

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A TOUCH OF DEATH

I spent a good share of last night reading Hard Case Crime's snappy edition of A Touch of Death by Charles Williams and I'll say what I've said before about this book. It likely has more plot turns than early James M. Cain, a writer whose influence on Williams is clear. But have to point out quickly that he made this particular set of tropes his own. His men are not those of Postman or even Double Indemnity. His men are smarter--but to no avail.

One of Charles Williams' amoral failed men narrate. He was briefly a football star. Now he's a busted real estate agent. No wonder he gets interested, after initial reluctance, in stealing one hundred twenty thousand dollars that a bank president took from his own bank. The woman who convinces him to help her makes it sound simple. It's probably in this mansion. All you have to do is get in there and find it. The bank president's wife won't be home for two days. You'll have plenty of time.

Right. Well, we know better than that, don't we? Yes, he gets in but he finds he's not alone. The woman is there, beautiful beyond description, and drunk beyond belief. But so is a killer. After saving her life, failed star takes her to a cabin in the woods where he plans to persuade her to tell him where the money is.

That's the beginning. Everybody in this book is a professional liar as Andre Gide said of Hammett's The Maltese Falcon.. And the bank president's wife is the most fatale of femmes. She lies on virtually every page and occasionally almost gets them killed. That she knows where the money is is obvious. That she killed her husband is also obvious. But who is trying to kill her and why?

There is a sadness, a sorrow, in Williams that informs much of his work. It's not the usual noir feeling that the world is rotten. These men know that they themselves are rotten. And are not so smart after all. If David Goodis wrote suicide notes and Jim Thompson (in The Killer Inside Me) pleaded for understanding, Charles Williams frequently took us on guided tours of lust and greed and men who almost consciously destroyed themselves. Maybe it's what they really wanted all along.

Quarry - Max Allan Collins & Terry Beatty

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I've said many, many times here that Max Collins' Quarry books are among my all-time favorite hardboiled crime novels. For me there are two reasons for my enthusiasm-One, Max makes Quarry a real human being, something fictional hired killers almost never are; Two, the storytelling in these books is flawless. The pacing, the twists, the black comedy, the actually sexy sex and the always staggering payoffs. These are books that can be enjoyed again and again. I've probably read each of them at least five or six times. They get richer with age.

Now, thanks to Perfect Crime books, the Quarrys have the packaging they deserve. Terry Beatty, artist extraordinary, has designed the look and done the illustrations. Terry has won many awards for his work and has done everything from Batman to advertising.

The photo at the top was Max at the time he began writing the Quarrys. He explains this in his excellent afterwards found in each novel.

Holiday gifts? You bet. Anybody who appreciates superior storytelling, vivid characterization and plotting that just doesn't quit will be happy to get these books. I promise.

Wolf Moon now on Top Suspense

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Ed here: Of my westerns, Wolf Moon seems to get the most response from readers. I suspect this is so because Wolf Moon is a hardboiled crime novel set in the 1800s. I hope you'll give it a try along with all the other great books on Top Suspense Group. Wold Moon in e book form can be yours for $2.99.

Here's a recent review from Pulp Serenade:

"Wolf Moon" by Ed Gorman (Gold Medal, 1993)

I'm a big fan of Ed Gorman's work, but the opening prelude to Wolf Moon still caught me off guard and left me excitedly wondering what more twists lay just around the corner? Many more, I was pleased to discover. The story is as noir as they come, with a bleak and blistering finale you won't soon forget. Originally published by Gold Medal in 1993, Wolf Moon is now available for the Kindle via Top Suspense Group.

The novel opens with the story of a wolf cub who was captured, and whose family was murdered, by a man named Schroeder. Gorman then shifts to the story of Chase, who was set-up and sent to prison because of this same Schroeder. When he gets out of jail, he has the chance to reunite with the love of his life, Annie, and start a new life as a police officer – but Chase's thirst for vengeance threatens to ruin everything.

With its dual story of man and animal, Wolf Moon sometimes has the quality of a fable. It's an original and innovative spin on the Western revenge novel, and Gorman isn't afraid to risk taking new paths or going to dark places with this one. The parallel stories of entrapment highlight not only a festering need for vengeance that consumes one's identity, but also how the loss of one's family can ignite and exacerbate that all-consuming passion for destruction. Family is an important topic in Gorman's work, a constant and necessary reminder of humanity, and without that reminder a character drifts away into oblivion. Family offers his characters a moral grounding, a reaffirming sense of the self, and absolution for their actions, whatever they may be.

A reoccurring motif in Gorman's books is that there no crime is worse than hurting one's own family, or their loved ones. That single act of betrayal, whether deliberate or accidental, seems to be the most devastating of all. These sorts of stories reappear throughout Gorman's work, sometimes as the central plot (as in Wolf Moon), and other times as an aside about a minor character. Chandler famously wrote that Hammett "gave murder back to the kind of people that commit it for reasons, not just to provide a corpse." Gorman seems to follow in this trajectory, but he takes it in his own direction: he gives back a conscience to crimes committed, a lingering sense of regret that never goes away, and a moral weight that wears away at ones soul.

Wolf Moon is an excellent Western novel thick with noir and suspense overtones. Fans of Gorman's crime novels shouldn't miss this one. Wolf Moon is now available for the Kindle via Top Suspense Group.

PRO-FILE: DAVE ZELTSERMAN

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PRO-FILE: DAVE ZELTSERMAN

1. Tell us about your current novel (or project).

I'm going to cheat and talk about 3 of my novels.

I just put out an original e-book for the Kindle and Nook, something that's a very high octane, ultra noir crime and horror hybrid called Vampire Crimes. Think Pulp Fiction with vampires and it gives you some idea what this one's about. I wrote Vampire Crimes back in 2006, but my agent at the time had her hands full trying to sell Pariah, The Caretaker of Lorne Field and Outsourced, so she never did anything with it. I eventually switched agents, moving to Matt Bialer over at Sandford J. Greenburger, and Matt was excited by this book, thought it would be an easy sale, and we came close—we had a number of young editors who loved this book and tried to acquire it but ran into problems for any of these reasons (a) editors higher on the food chain were trying to bring in their own vampire books and didn't want the competition (b) people were afraid the book was too noir for a thriller (c) the fear also that the book was too much of a horror novel, especially with the vampire genre being co-opted as more of a teen romance. We also had the problem that Matt was sending this out in March of 2009, which was when the publishing industry had started to go South in a big way. So it didn't sell, and I got sick of seeing of one of my better noir books gathering dust, so I put it out there myself for about the price of a cup of coffee.

My latest print book release was The Caretaker of Lorne Field, which Overlook Press published in late August. This isn't a crime or mystery novel, but instead a mix of horror and allegorical fable, and the reader reaction to it has been great, with the book already being nominated for a Black Quill Award for best dark genre novel of the year among some very stiff competition, including Stephen King's Under the Done, Peter Straub's A Dark Matter and Justin Cronin's The Passage.

The basic premise of the book is a simple one—a family has been responsible for weeding a field for the last three hundred years, with the belief being that if the field isn't weeded according to the strict guidelines set out by the contract, that the weeds will grow into monsters and the world will quickly end. Now in present time, the current Caretaker believes these legends and believes he's saving the world each day, but few others in this town still believe this. As simple as this concept is, the book is almost like a Rorschach test where each reader seems to take something different from it—some readers looking at the book as pure horror, others as a religious parable, others as a political parable, others as an allegory of sacrifice vs. selfishness, or of belief faith vs. reality, and the list goes on.

In February, Serpent's Tail will be releasing my bank heist crime novel, Outsourced, which Booklist already calls a small gem of crime fiction, and which has gotten some very nice reviews in the UK from The London Times, The Financial Times and Morning Star, and a rave review from The Australian. I have a film deal with this with Impact Pictures, who are the guys who make the Resident Evil movies, and the script and financing are already set, so hopefully this will go into production soon. This is a fun, fast-paced twisty crime book that people are going to enjoy.

2. Can you give a sense of what you're working on now?

I just finished a Julius Katz & Archie novel. My novella, Julius Katz, got a great reaction from mystery readers, winning several awards including the Shamus, and since all the other books I ever submitted to NY were always rejected for being too dark, too gritty, too unlikable characters, etc., I decided this time to write a charming and lighthearted book with endearing characters that already have 1000s of fans from the stories with these same characters that have already appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. The feedback I've gotten from my early readers and Julius Katz fans that I showed the manuscript to has been extremely enthusiastic, and the novel really works much better than the stories. It should be a no-brainer for NY, but we'll see.

3. What is the greatest pleasure of a writing career?

The creative part. It's such a great high when you get lost in the writing and the rest of the world disappears. I love the writing part of the business

4. What is the greatest DISpleasure?

The business side of writing.

5. If you have one piece of advice for the publishing world, what is it?

Learn a lesson from the independent publishing houses and start buying the books you love and trust your readers. And, uh, publish my Julius Katz novel—1000s of mystery readers have already enthusiastically embraced the characters from the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine short stories, so no reason to talk yourself out of it with reasons that don't make any sense!

6. What is the best piece of writing advice you ever got?

Enjoy the journey.

7. What is the worst piece of writing advice you ever got?

This is specific advice I got regarding Small Crimes when an editor gave me a three page analysis of everything that he thought was wrong with the book. If I didn't trust my own instincts, I would have ruined the book by blindly taking his suggestions. It is important to listen to other people, but ultimately you have to trust your own judgment and gut level feelings.

8. What is the best piece of writing business advice you ever got?

Don't stop writing while you're waiting on submissions. Just keep writing. It helps keep you productive and keeps your head in a good place.

9. What is the worst piece of writing business advice you ever got?

That's a tough one, Ed. Just as I ignored most of the good advice I've gotten over the years I think I've probably tuned out most of the bad advice as well.

10. Are there two or three forgotten mystery writers you'd like to see in print again?

Gil Brewer and Cornell Woolrich have some of their books in print, but it would be nice to see more of them.

11. Tell us about selling your first novel. Most writers never forget that moment.

My first sale was Fast Lane to the Italian publisher, Meridiano Zero, which happened due to an odd sequence of events. My first English rights sale was Small Crimes to Serpent's Tail, which was also due an unusual sequence of events, and I'll talk about that one. Everyone in New York had rejected Small Crimes, some publishers several times, and I was getting ready to throw in the towel and quitting writing. I had several people, including Ken Bruen and Vicki Hendricks saying really good things about this book, and because of that I was able to get John Williams at Serpent's Tail to take a look at it, but John told me the chances of them buying it were slim—that they only buy books that they absolutely love and feel they can't live without, so while I thought it likely that John would like Small Crimes, I didn't expect to sell them the novel. After a year of not hearing anything, I decided to accept an offer I had from Five Star, and call it quits. Five Star has good people, and is a good library publisher (selling almost entirely to libraries), but it wasn't what I was looking for to keep going at this. Two days after I signed and mailed back the contract to Five Star, I got a call from John that Serpent's Tail wanted to buy it, and at that point I was scrambling to try to arrange something with Five Star. Fortunately the people there are great and we worked out trading my novel Bad Thoughts for Small Crimes, but it was such a stressful month while trying to work this out, that I couldn't really enjoy the moment of selling Small Crimes. I enjoyed it more a couple of years later when Small Crimes was published and NPR picked it as one of the 5 best mystery and crime novels of 2008.

Pro-File: Bill Crider

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1. Tell us about your current novel (or project).

The book that's out now is Murder in the Air, a story about chickens, bad smells, and small-town law enforcement under the direction of Sheriff Dan Rhodes. It would be the perfect Christmas gift for everyone on your list and dozens of others, too. Next year, The Wild Hog Murders will be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

2. Can you give a sense of what you're working on now?

I'm (supposed to be) working on a Sheriff Rhodes book about the murder of a young woman who has a lot of close friends. Her death has made a lot men in Blacklin County very nervous.

3. What is the greatest pleasure of a writing career?

It's all good. Writing the books, cashing the checks, having my name on the New York Times Bestseller List . . . okay, I'm lying about that last one, but it would be a pleasure if it ever happened.

4. What is the greatest DISpleasure?

Well, I have to admit that I don't love going over copyedited manuscripts. And not being on the NYT Bestseller List kind of sucks.

5. If you have one piece of advice for the publishing world, what is it?

The e-book revolution is here. Better adjust, and quickly.

6. What is the best piece of writing advice you ever got?

You can't sell it if you don't write it.

7. What is the worst piece of writing advice you ever got?

Pencil, yellow legal pads, longhand. Only way to go.

8. Are there two or three forgotten mystery writers you'd like to see in print again?

Harry Whittington, Charles Williams, William Campbell Gault.

9. Tell us about selling your first novel. Most writers never forget that moment.

That would the The Coyote Connection, a collaborative effort with Jack Davis, and one of the Nick Carter series. When Jack called me to tell me that Ace/Jove was buying the book, I thought he was kidding me. It was a great moment.

Ralph Dennis-The Hardman Books

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Ed here: One of the real thrills of the 70s was reading the Hardman series of original paperbacks by Ralph Dennis. I always thought of them as the workingman's version of Spenser. And a few of them were as good or better than Spenser (he spared Hardman from being a gourmet and he didn't know Susan Silverman). I wasn't alone. A small cult developed around the books. But as it turned out the writer Ralph Dennis was as luckless as many of the street people in his novels.

Richard A. Moore is a fine mystery novelist himself so he brought real skills to his piece on Dennis, which he published in Alan Guthrie's great website some years ago. Paul Bishop published a fine piece on Dennis today. I thoughtI'd add to it with an excerpt from Moore's take on Dennis' work and life.

Richard A. Moore:

Back to his heyday of the 1970s, I do wonder that I did not seek him out as I began writing mysteries. The Atlanta Constitution ran a feature on Dennis shortly after I began reading him and at that time Dennis had moved back to Chapel Hill. I might have looked him up but for that. Skip forward a few years. I moved to Washington in 1981 but made twice a year returns to Atlanta. Oxford Books was always one of the places I visited especially after they opened an Oxford II that featured used books. One day as I looked around Oxford II, I noticed this bald, middle-aged guy at a counter going through the new arrivals and pricing them. He looked familiar. Then I remembered the feature in the Constitution that included a picture of Ralph Dennis. I wandered his way and introduced myself. He did a double-take at being recognized but never asked me how it happened.

We chatted for several minutes. I wondered why I had not seen anything by him in several years. He pointed to a Richard Stark novel about the tough crook Parker that I had in my pile. Dennis said he had written a novel with a lead character that made Parker look like a sissy. His editor was enthusiastic and Dennis thought it was his best work. Unfortunately, the editor was let go by the publisher and his replacement did not care at all for the novel. It was the old story of the orphaned novel and writer. A publisher intended to reprint all the Hardman novels and oddly started with the second The Charleston Knife's Back In Town (alas, the reprinting did not extend to the others as planned: it just wasn't to be).

All of this took place as other store personnel buzzed about us with censoring looks. I felt guilty for taking up his time and perhaps getting him in trouble as other staff members had hovered near us during our conversation.

Some months later I went back and he wasn't there. At the cash register there was a Ralph Dennis memorial sign and I was shocked to learn of his death.

for the rest go here:
http://www.allanguthrie.co.uk/pages/n...

Pro-File: Lee Goldberg

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Pro-File: Lee Goldberg
Member of The Top Suspense Group

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From Lee Goldberg's website:

Lee Goldberg writes books and television shows.

"His mother wanted him to be a doctor, and his grandfather wanted him to go into the family furniture business. Instead, he put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist, writing for such publications as American Film, Starlog, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times Syndicate, The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle (He also wrote erotic letters to the editor for Playgirl at $25-a-letter, but he doesn't tell people about that, he just likes to boast about those "tiffany" credits).

"He published his first book .357 Vigilante (as "Ian Ludlow," so he'd be on the shelf next to Robert Ludlum) while he was still a UCLA student. The West Coast Review of Books called his debut "as stunning as the report of a .357 Magnum, a dynamic premiere effort," singling the book out as "The Best New Paperback Series" of the year. Naturally, the publisher promptly went bankrupt and he never saw a dime in royalties.

"Welcome to publishing, Lee.

"His subsequent books include the non-fiction books Successful Television Writing and Unsold Television Pilots ("The Best Bathroom Reading Ever!" San Francisco Chronicle) as well as the novels My Gun Has Bullets ("It will make you cackle like a sitcom laugh track," Entertainment Weekly), Beyond the Beyond ("Outrageously entertaining," Kirkus Reviews), and The Man with the Iron-On Badge ("as dark and twisted as anything Hammet or Chandler ever dreamed up," Kirkus Reviews).

"Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to Spenser: For Hire. Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (SeaQuest), cop shows (Hunter), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid's shows (R.L. Stine's The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch), comedy (Monk) and utter crap (The Highwayman). His TV work has earned him two Edgar Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America.

"His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he began writing the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. And he also writes novels based on Monk, another show he's worked on.

"Goldberg lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his daughter and still sleeps in "Man From UNCLE" pajamas."

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1 The Monk novels are big hits. One just appeared in paperback, correct?

Yes, "Mr. Monk is Cleaned Out" is now in bookstores, drugstores, airports, e-retailers and finer supermarket nationwide. The hardcover really seemed to hit a nerve…in a good way…with readers and reviewers, since it dealt with the current economic crisis. Monk essentially loses his savings and his job…and is facing eviction. I think it gave readers a chance to find some laughter in their own predicaments. The story also touches on the whole Bernie Madoff thing. Monk is convinced a Madoff-like guy is guilty of murder…even though he's under house arrest, is wearing an GPS ankle bracelet, and is under constant police and media surveillance.

2. What's the next Monk book about and when does it come out?

It's called "Mr. Monk on the Road" and comes out in hardcover in January. It's the first book set after the final episode of the TV series. The book is also something of a departure…literally. Monk and Natalie take Ambrose on a road trip in a motorhome. Naturally, they come across a murder along the way.

3. What is the greatest pleasure of a writing career?

It's exactly that -- having a writing career. I get paid to sit at my computer and make-believe. People pay me to share my fantasies. It doesn't get any better than that.

4. The greatest DIS-pleasure?

The opportunities for writers in book publishing and episodic TV are shrinking every day. It's a scary time to be a professional writer if you aren't already a bestselling author or an A-list screenwriter/TV showrunner.

5. If you have one piece of advice for the publishing world, what is it?

Hire me to write more books and pay me more!

6. Are there two or three forgotten mystery writers you'd like to see in print again?

Richard S. Prather, Harry Whittington, Dan J. Marlowe...and, from more recent times, Richard Barre, Jeremiah Healy, and Doug Swanson.

7. Tell us about selling your first novel. Most writers never forget that moment.

My first novel under my own name was "My Gun Has Bullets" (I'd written four others under the pseudonym "Ian Ludlow"). I wrote it out of frustration. I was stuck in Canada working on a terrible syndicated action show starring a compete imbecile. Instead of getting into arguments with the so-called star, I went back to my hotel room and took my anger out at the keyboard. The book was a broad satire on the TV business. The tagline was: "The Mob is bringing their style of doing business to TV. They don't cancel series. They kill them." It was great fun to write.

8. What do you consider the highlight of your career thus far?

In publishing, it would have to be writing "The Man with the Iron-on Badge," which didn't sell well but it was very well reviewed, was nominated for the Shamus, and is probably my best book. I am very proud of it and wish it had been successful enough for me to still be writing about that character.

In television, it was the three years I wrote and produced "Diagnosis Murder" with William Rabkin (who writes the "Psych" novels). We knew even as we were doing it that things would probably never be as good again, which somehow made the experience even sweeter.

9. How about the low point?

In publishing, it was the commercial failure of my book "The Walk," which also didn't get any critical notice one way or the other (but the story has a happy ending – it has become a Kindle bestseller. I've sold nearly 19,000 ebook editions of "The Walk" in almost a year-and-a-half). In TV, it was writing for "The New Adventures of Flipper," starring a teenage Jessica Alba and a dolphin.

10. Which book or short story would you recommend to readers unfamiliar with your work?

My best book is "The Man with the Iron-On Badge," but it's pretty hard to find. Otherwise, I'd recommend the DIAGNOSIS MURDER novel "The Past Tense" (the darkest entry in that series) or any of my MONK books, all of which are light-hearted mysteries that I'm proud of.

Thanks very much, Ed

Really Interesting J.A. Konrath: The Bestseller Shift

Wednesday, December 08, 2010

The Bestseller Shift

In just a week, Amanda Hocking has sold over 10,000 ebooks.

Who is Amanda Hocking?

She's a self-published paranormal romance author. Check out her blog.

Not counting sales of Shaken, Afraid, or my Jack Daniels ebooks, I've sold about 2200 ebooks this week. And I've got about three times as many titles for sale as Amanda does.

Now, this isn't a competition, and writers should never compare their numbers, but I'm bringing Amanda's numbers up because I think it's indicative of a paradigm shift within the industry.

In the traditional publishing model, the most important factor in how many books sell is distribution.f

or the rest go here:
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

Day of The Outlaw

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Last night TCM ran Day of The Outlaw, a movie I hadn't seen in thirty years. It startled me first because so much of it is noir and second because the script is a knock-out and the acting is just as good.

In brief the story concerns Blaise Starrett (Robert Ryan) coming to a tiny outpost called Bitters in Oregon to confront the man most responsible for putting up barbed wire fencing (the source of many confrontation in the old west) thus inhibiting Starrett's cattle. The first twist is that the farmer who did this is married to Helen, the woman Starrett has loved for years and once had a relationship with. She is played by Tina Louise. Now you probably remember Tina from Gilligan's Island. Forget it. Here she is allowed to be a wild and natural beauty and beauty she is. Really stunning. And believe it or not, a fine actress.

The second twist comes when a disgraced (he oversaw the massacre of Mormons) cavalry officer named Bruhn. Burl Ives plays the role and should have been nominated for an Academy Award for best actor. But this was a low budget black and white western so forget it. He arrives with six thugs. There is a blizzard coming this night and all they want (they say) is shelter for the time being and they will leave in the morning. One of them is played by David Nelson of Ozzie and Harriet fame. Much better actor than his brother Ricky.

In case you don't believe me about the noir aspect, Elisha Cook, Jr. and Dabs Greer are among the players who endure this long night of suppressed rage and ever increasing tension. I promise you the suspense is chilling because you're never quite sure where the story is going. And because Ryan and Ives are so compelling in the psychological games they play. The second act is almost stage bound; the actors could be in a play.

Russell Harlan was the cinematographer. The way he used the violence of winter in the mountains reminded me a great deal of "On Dangerous Ground" another noir with Robert Ryan. Nature becomes brutalizing here, especially in the third act which is shot entirely in the snowy wasteland of the mountain passes.

The script is credited to Philip Yordan. Given his reputation for sticking his name on things that he didn't write (he paid ghosts and sometimes just convinced writers to let him share credit) I'm not sure who actually wrote it. Though early on Yordan was a hell of a good writer so I'll take his word for it here.

This was the last western Andre De Toth directed. He did many of them but this is his triumph. I don't care how many westerns you've seen, you've never seen one like this. It's fitting that the critics of the time hated it. This was all about human beings--it could've been a contemporary crime film--and they didn't know what to make of it.

Believe me this movie will stay with you. You can get a copy cheap cheap on Amazon.

Damndest thing I've heard of this month

Ed here: We have now officially entered the Twilight Zone. Borders, near bankruptcy, wants to buy Barnes & Noble? Hufington Post

Borders-Led Takeover Bid For Barnes & Noble Gets Ackman's Support


MAE ANDERSON | 12/ 6/10 04:03 PM |

NEW YORK — Buying out Barnes & Noble would give its much smaller rival, Borders Group, a bigger and firmer stake in the digital world, but some analysts said combining the two largest companies in the shrinking world of traditional book selling could hurt both – perhaps irreparably.

Activist investor William Ackman and his investment firm announced in a regulatory filing Monday that they had offered to finance a $963 million bid by Borders for Barnes & Noble Inc.

Under the deal, Pershing Square Capital Management would sponsor a bid by Border's of $16 per share for more than 60 million outstanding Barnes & Noble shares.

The stock shot up 13.6 percent to $15.08 on the news Monday afternoon.

Both book sellers face increasingly tough competition from much bigger merchants online and in stores, including Amazon.com, Target and Walmart. And both have said they are relying for growth on electronic books and readers, a still-small arena where another giant, Google Inc., launched its own bookstore Monday.

Barnes & Noble debuted its reader, the Nook, last year and has invested heavily in its electronic bookstore, while Borders sells readers and e-books on a smaller scale through a partnership with Kobo.

The financing from Ackman, who owns 37 percent of Borders' outstanding shares, would let Borders to make a "quantum leap" in the e-book space, Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said.

"It's is a sign Borders is looking to catch up," Wahlstrom said.

For the rest go here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12...