I am absolutely thrilled and honoured to feature a guest blog by Matt Hilton here on my website. When I put this site together and wrote up my early book reviews I never imagined that I would be fortunate enough to one day have the likes of Susan Day, Peter Best, Mason Cross and now Matt Hilton guesting on my very own blog. It's truly humbling. So...over to you, Matt:
If I may be so bold…
For those of you that don’t know me, and have never read any of my books before, I think it’s best that I get a few of the questions out of the way that I’m regularly asked (and dispel a few myths – although one of them might be a deliberate lie), and also explain a little about my principle character Joe Hunter.
Matt Hilton is my real name – it isn’t a pen name. Actually my first name is Matthew, but I rarely hear it – or answer to it – unless my wife is mad at me. I’m not related to Paris Hilton, and neither do I own a chain of hotels. The Matt Hilton that directs Coronation Street on TV is a different Matt Hilton. I am the older brother of fellow thriller author James Hilton (who writes the series of Gunn brothers thrillers), who in turn shouldn’t be confused with the James Hilton of Paradise Lost fame. I am the cousin of several former world champion boxers, one of whom I share a name with. I boxed in my youth, but didn’t take too kindly to being repeatedly punched in the face. Instead I trained in martial arts, and achieved the level of 4th Dan in Kempo Ju-Jitsu, and fought in the fledgling mixed martial arts scene in the 1990’s (where ironically I kept getting repeatedly punched and kicked in the face). I worked eighteen years in private security, and four as a police constable. If I weren’t an author I’d be a singer (so thank your lucky stars, and your hearing, I’ve been published). I’m the seventh son of the seventh son of a half-Native American/half-Scotsman named Hawkeye The Noo. I love 1950’s rock ‘n’ roll music and have written songs, recorded by Caldonia and Hot Rod 56 (available on vinyl record and CD from all good second hand shops). My ‘debut’ novel – Dead Men’s Dust – was actually the eighth I’d submitted to publishers. I wasn’t John Candy’s stunt double in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, but I have played a cameo role in an upcoming movie based on one of my short stories, and appeared on stage reading one of my characters, as well as narrating one of my Joe Hunter thrillers on audio book. Apparently my face is best suited to the latter medium. And speaking of mediums, I am fascinated by the paranormal, though I’m an open-minded sceptic, and have conducted various investigations at reputed haunted houses. Though primarily known as a crime thriller author I also write horror and supernatural novels. I also try to make people smile, not always in pity at my cheesy jokes.
But enough about me: allow me to introduce you to Joe Hunter.
Hunter is the protagonist of an ongoing series of books, now numbering eleven novels and around ten short stories. Book twelve in the series – Marked For Death – is published on 17th July 2017. Hunter is a British ex-soldier, once drafted into an experimental counterterrorist paramilitary group codenamed Arrowsake. After leaving the forces he fell into vigilante mode on the streets of Manchester in northern England, before leaving the country to search for his wayward half-brother in America (as seen in Dead Men’s Dust). Since then Hunter has been employed at his friend Jared ‘Rink’ Rington’s private investigations firm in the US. By his own admission Hunter isn’t the best detective in the world. He usually gets involved when his particular set of skills are needed, where he is happiest in protector or avenging force mode. He can be violent and uncompromising in his response to danger, but is a good man at heart, guided by a need to atone for his past sins and to help those in need of protecting. He tends to be a tad reckless, and sometimes hits before he thinks, but he’s no mug, or thug. I see him as a throw back to earlier days, like the lawmen of the Wild West, a wandering Ronin in feudal japan, or Knight errant, but in a modern, contemporary setting.
The Hunter books will never earn prizes for literary merit, but that was never my intention. I write the Hunter books to entertain. Some readers might have to suspend their disbelief before opening the covers, to fully enjoy the thrill ride. The books aren’t thoughtful mysteries, tending more towards high adventure – don’t think ‘whodunit’, think ‘how will they survive this’ – all against a crime thriller backdrop. As I mentioned earlier, Marked For Death, is published on 17th July 2017, and if I can be cheeky (not that it has stopped me before) I think it’s his most explosive, action-packed and high-stakes adventure to date. But that’s for you, the reader, to decide. If this is the first time you’ve come across Hunter, the book is standalone, so can be read and enjoyed without having followed the series before. And despite the way it sounds, this isn’t a ‘men’s’ book (whatever that means these days), the Joe Hunter thrillers are enjoyed by women the world over too.
Readers often ask me if Hunter is based in any way on me. But he’s younger, slimmer, fitter, tougher and better looking than me. Oh, but Hunter has two big hairy dogs, as by chance do I. So that’s one thing we have in common.
Thank you Matt for such a wonderful insight into both you and Joe. For more about Matt and his new book, please continue reading:
BIO
Matt Hilton is the author of the high-octane Joe Hunter thriller series, and the Tess Grey and Po Villere thrillers. His first book, ‘Dead Men’s Dust’, was shortlisted for the International Thriller Writers’ Debut Book of 2009 Award, and was a Sunday Times bestseller, also being named as a ‘thriller of the year 2009’ by The Daily Telegraph. Dead Men’s Dust was also a top ten Kindle bestseller in 2013 and 2016.
Matt has published novels in the supernatural/horror genre, namely ‘Preternatural’, ‘Dominion’, ‘Darkest Hour’ and ‘The Shadows Call’.
His next Joe Hunter novel, Marked For Death, will be published 17th July 2017, and his next Tess and Po novel, Worst Fear, on 29th September 2017.
About the book:
Marked For Death
Joe Hunter has been Marked for Death in his most explosive outing to date
It should be a routine job. Joe Hunter and his associates are hired to provide security for an elite event in Miami. Wear a tux, stay professional, job done.
But things go wrong.
Hunter is drawn into what appears to be a domestic altercation. When he crosses the mysterious Mikhail however, he soon finds something altogether more sinister…
Before long this chance encounter has serious repercussions for Hunter and his friends. Good people are being killed. On the run, in the line of fire, the clock is ticking.
From the bars of Miami Beach to car chases and superyacht grenade battles, bestseller Matt Hilton dials up the intensity in this rip-roaring, set-piece filled thriller perfect for fans of Lee Child, David Baldacci and Stephen Leather.
Available for pre-order now: http://amzn.eu/8jiDk7w