What's Matt Up To? Lots.

There are quite a lot of Matt Hilton books hitting the shelves of late, or are imminent, and I thought a quick review of all that's on the go may be helpful to those of you interested in my output.


First up is the paperback edition of Dead Men's Harvest which goes on sale in the UK on 5th January 2012 but is already available from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dead-Mens-Harvest-Joe-Hunter/dp/1444712667/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1291725685&sr=1-2


And on the 19th January 2012 Joe Hunter: Six of the Best an eBook anthology of Joe Hunter short stories will be available on Kindle (but can be ordered now): http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joe-Hunter-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B006HAMCPI/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_4


Joe Hunter's next adventure - No Going Back - will then go on sale in hardback in the UK from 16th February 2012, and can be pre-ordered now here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/No-Going-Back-Joe-Hunter/dp/1444712683/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324661645&sr=1-1


Away from Joe Hunter for a moment, there are also three new eBooks available from Matt Hilton and all are available on all Amazon platforms.


Dominion is an apocalyptic thriller reminiscent of the movies '28 Days Later' meets 'Aliens' and can be downloaded here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dominion-ebook/dp/B006GT3NPI/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324664758&sr=1-1


Darkest Hour is an historical horror thriller set against the Fall of France in WW2 and is reminscent of the movies 'Saving Private Ryan' meets 'Van Helsing'. This is Matt's latest standalone horror book and can be downloaded here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darkest-Hour-ebook/dp/B006P2BHAE/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_3


Also from Matt Hilton but under the pen name J A Norton, there's a YA horror adventure called Deliver Us From Evil and it can be downloaded here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deliver-Us-From-Evil-ebook/dp/B006C752U8/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324664985&sr=1-1




Also, a short story, 'The Skin We're In' is included in The Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 9 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mammoth-Book-British-Crime-Books/dp/1780330944/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324665106&sr=1-1


Another Matt Hilton short story 'Apocalypse Noo' appears in Wild Wold Publishing's 'Holiday of the Dead' under the pen name Vallon Jackson: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Holiday-Dead-John-Russo/dp/1907954058/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324665214&sr=1-2


While in the USA, both Slash and Burn (Joe Hunter 3) and Cut and Run (Joe Hunter 4) have just gone on sale too: http://www.amazon.com/Slash-Burn-Matt-Hilton/dp/0061718475/ref=pd_sim_b_5  and http://www.amazon.com/Cut-Run-Hunter-Matt-Hilton/dp/0062079948/ref=pd_sim_b_1 respectively.

Six of the Best for Christmas

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006HAMCPI/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_8z37ob0S510RS

Joe Hunter: Six of the Best can now be pre-ordered for your Kindle to be delivered to your device on 19th January. Why not treat yourself?

Six of the Best Joe Hunter has always hated bullies. And Tony Largo is a bully who has picked the wrong target when he assaults a war veteran.
Homecoming Joe promises a grieving mother he'll bring her son home, whatever it takes.
Sand Dance When a hot-dog seller gets mugged, Joe finds a sneaky way of getting revenge.
UV Ray Joe and his best buddy RInk don't play by the rules when they take on a child abuser at a bowling alley.
Instant Justice Carl Riley didn't sound like the name of a beast. But he was a man who preyed on the faceless young who worked the neon strip. Until he came face to face with Joe.
The Other Side of the Street Joe plays the Good Samaritan.

Wear your Best Boots

Really pleased to announce that my younger brother, and fellow scribe, James Oliver Hilton, has made available his first collection of crime/action stories as an eBook on Amazon. 'When Dancing With Death' collects three of Jim's 'McMurder' stories, plus two standalone stories, one an urban crime thriller, the other a conspiracy theory thriller...all five of them gems filled with humour, pathos and kick-arse action.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006MK4Y0E/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_eZD7ob1W43KZM

DOMINION paperback

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/dominion/18742971


I mentioned previously about my horror thriller 'Dominion' and how I chose to self-publish it as an eBook to avoid reader confusion etc regarding my usual Joe Hunter thrillers, and how I wished to keep the books as separate entities. This hasn't changed, and the book is available to download via all the Amazon platforms, .com, .co.uk, .de, .it, etc.  However, what did become apparent was that many of my readers still prefer a paper book over an electronic one, and various people asked that I make 'Dominion' available as such. I've done so, making the book a POD product via Lulu.com (see the link above).


One reason why I resisted at first, was because with POD there's always a slight hike in price. This is because the publisher charges per page and 'Dominion' is a hefty read of over 175,000 words (500 pages), and then also expects a take from the 'profit' margin, not to mention adding postage costs. Any way, because people did ask, I decided to make it available and allow my readers to decide if they wished to pay the price for the product they demanded. To help out, I've cut my part of the profit, reducing the overall cost by 10%, and bringing down the cost to what you'd expect to pay for a similarly sized trade paperback in bookstores.


Other reasons why I decided to publish Dominion are as follows:


Regular publisher feedback was generally very good, though none were in position to offer publication. I knew I had a good book, but it didn't sit with these publishers' styles or catalogues and may prove awkward for them to market to the general public. However, the book was good enough in my opinion to find its own market.


I had sent portions of the book to a selection of readers both from the horror and thriller communities and the feedback was that it worked for both markets, yet didn't fully sit in either. Therefore I was happy that I'd developed my own sub-genre from both angles. Is it a thriller with horror, or a horror with thrills? I'll allow my readers to decide that, I thought, and the only way to do that was to make it available to them.


I spent many, many hours working on, and then revising and editing Dominion, and did not wish to see it left to languish on my hard drive. Even if one person reads and enjoys the book in any of its forms, the writer in me will be satisfied. It will mean all of those many hours won't have been wasted.


Plus, I'm greedy. No. I don't mean I expect to make much money from Dominion. I am greedy for readership, like all authors. We want people to read our words otherwise why would we write them down? So, yeah, greed and selfishness also prompted me to publish the book. Paradoxically I hope some readers are equally greedy to read my words. It will mean that I've done something worthwhile for us all.


A trade paperback copy can be found here: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/dominion/18742971


But if you prefer an eBook you can get it at Amazon.co.uk here and Amazon.com here .

No Going Back for Joe Hunter

Loving the cover for Joe Hunter seven 'No Going Back' which will be published February 16th 2012.

The Osseus Box Rises Again!

The incredibly talented horror and crime writer Lee Hughes is finally making his 

superb horror novel "The Osseus Box" available as an on-going serial over at

http://theosseousbox.blogspot.com/p/chapter-1-jesus-people.html and you can

catch the first instalment here. This was a favourite of mine (and still is) over at

Thrillers, Killers 'n' Chillers where it first appeared in a shorter form.

More 'What's Occurring'...

I know I'm throwing lots at you at the minute, but here's a brief resume of all the 

stuff that's coming out/is out at the moment, just so you don't miss anything (see 

first comment):

Out now:


Slash and Burn - paperback (USA) Joe Hunter


Cut and Run - paperback (USA) Joe Hunter


Blood and Ashes - paperback (UK) and eBook (worldwide) Joe Hunter


Dead Men's Harvest - hardback (UK) and eBook (worldwide) Joe Hunter


Holiday of the Dead - short story anthology featuring zombies containing a short story from me under pen name Vallon Jackson paperback and eBook (worldwide)


Off The Record - charity anthology with foreword by me in paperback and eBook.


Deliver Us from Evil - YA horror novella eBook (worldwide) under pen name J A Norton


Dominion - Horror/thriller eBook (worldwide) 


Coming soon:


Early January (5th)  - paperback of Dead Men's Harvest (UK) Joe Hunter


Early January (5th) - paperback  Mammoth Book of Best British Crime 9 includes a short story from me.


Mid-January (19th) - eBook Six of the Best (worldwide) Joe Hunter


Mid February (16th) - hardback of No Going Back (UK) Joe Hunter


Darkest Hour - horror eBook (worldwide)


If anyone wants further info about any of these projects just say...

Six of the Best: available to pre-order now.

Joe Hunter: Six of the Best is an eBook collection of action-packed Joe Hunter tales with twists in the tail, and is now available for pre-order via Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B006HAMCPI/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_alp_1mK2ob1P3W0DP

SEMPRE VIGILE PRESS - a new venture for Me.

Here's some news on a few projects I've been working on for quite some time. Most of you here know me as the author of the Joe Hunter thriller series. Others also know that I write other stories in different genres - primarily that of horror under various pen names (Vallon Jackson, Jack Norton, J A Norton). I'm one of those authors who can't bear NOT to have a book on the go. Therefore when I'm not writing the latest Hunter thriller, I will work on other standalone books.

Now, then, when I've offered these books to publishers, there has been a little problem that gets in the way. The 'Matt Hilton" brand is infinitely connected to Joe Hunter, and there is no desire to cause confusion either for the buyers or readers of Joe Hunter's adventures, so my publishers have politely declined to bring out the stand alone books, though I've received their blessing to bring them out elsewhere.

So here's what I'm doing instead:

I'm going to bring out my books as eBook originals, through my own self-publishing efforts called SEMPRE VIGILE PRESS. If demand is large enough I may look into the possibility of bringing out hardcopy editions - unless some nice horror publisher is reading this and makes me an offer.

A few weeks ago I published a young adult horror novella under the pen name J A Norton called 'Deliver us from Evil', primarily as an exercise into the hows, why, and wherefores of self publishing an eBook, while also working to get ready my first full length adult novel.

My first stand alone horror/thriller is called DOMINION, and it is now available through Smashwords.com to the US market, as well as all Amazon platforms.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006GT3NPI

Spec-Ops soldier, First Sergeant Ellis Kirby leads a JSOC unit into the Tora Ghar cave system in Afghanistan in search of WMDs, but finds something much worse. Infected by an ancient power summoned by an evil cleric Kirby and his companions are whisked back to secret military laboratories in the US. The plague of creatures - known as rakes - that is subsequently unleashed threatens to wipe out the entire population of the United States and perhaps the world.

Kirby wakens in his room to discover that everyone in the lab has been slaughtered, and the monstrous flesh-eating creatures are loose and rampaging throughout the land, killing and propagating their species with abandon.

Through a country rapidly overwhelmed by the ravenous creatures, Kirby aims to return home to his parents’ farm in Iowa, but on his return – following a perilous cross country journey through rake-infested lands - he discovers that they are dead, so chooses instead to take the fight back to the monsters and their master.

Across the same devastated landscape travel Bree and Jill Adams, sisters at odds, who must face their past to survive the future, and three misfits collectively known as the Ruby gang. Each must endure their travails before all of them are thrown together, and then with Kirby, in a race to the eastern seaboard where the final conflict between man and beast is destined to play out in a battle encompassing modern warfare and ancient magic.

The book isn’t a techno-thriller; it focuses on the human stories, and the terror of the plague seen through the eyes of the central characters, and is one of fear, horror, hatred and violence, but also of adventure, humour, courage, loyalty and hope. It runs at over 175 K words, so is quite a hefty read.

One industry insider has described DOMINION as being like "28 Days later" meets "Aliens", an accolade I'll gladly take.

Hope you enjoy my first venture into self-publishing.