Fun, Games and Fire

Behold... the cover for the German edition of my next novel, Fun & Games! You can click on the image for a larger view.

Let me point out a few things about this cover. For one thing, the title is not German for "fun and games"; that particular phrase does not translate. So instead, it's Der Bewacher, which according to my publisher means something like "the keeper" or "the minder," especially of property. Which makes perfect sense, because the series hero (Charlie Hardie) is a house sitter. The next two books in the series will follow a similar pattern: Hell & Gone will be called Der Wärter ("the warden"), and Point & Shoot will be called Der Retter ("the rescuer"). Not to spoil anything... but those titles are pretty spot-on.

Then there's a cover image itself, which is pretty damned Die Hard-ian, if you ask me. I love it. Yes, it points to a particular scene in the novel. Two scenes, in fact. It's also a nice change from my previous Heyne covers, which focused on a single element (a shovel, an hourglass, a champagne flute, etc.).

But the biggest change is the name. This is the debut of "Duane Swierczynski" in Germany. Previously, my novels appeared under the name of "Duane Louis" (my first and middle names). I've written about this before, so I won't bore you with the same old story one more time. I am curious to see if German readers will be as mystified by the pronunciation as American readers. (Remember kids, it's easy: sweer-ZIN-ski. Ask for it by name!)

Anyway, what do you guys think? Hot as hell, or a bit too 'splodey?