By Wilda Williams

• Attendance rises 30 percent over ’07 show
• 2009 event to feature librarian-tailored programs
• Robert Harris’s The Ghost named Best Novel of 2008

More attendees (about 780, up 30 percent), more publishers, more galleys, more press, and more buzz characterized this weekend’s third annual Thrillerfest conference held by the International Thriller Writers (ITW). Manhattan’s Grand Hyatt Hotel hosted the event, July 9-12, which featured the likes of Lee Child (pictured right), Alafair Burke, Katherine Neville, Steve Berry, and other top thriller authors, who talked shop with publishers, editors, literary agents, would-be writers, and avid fans. This year’s focus to attract more publishers and greater press coverage bore fruit. Next year, the organizers hope to pull in more readers/fans and librarians, with specific librarian-tailored programs. The ITW’s next publishing project, a YA thriller anthology edited by R.L. Stine, should endear them further to librarians.

For would-be writers, the conference’s two-day CraftFest featured mini-writing classes aimed at novices. Friday and Saturday brought out the big guns, with a number of author panels, including “Chasing Indiana Jones: The Action-Adventure Thriller,” moderated by Steve Berry (The Charlemagne Pursuit), “Myth and Mystics: Thrillers Based on the Ancients,” emceed by Douglas Preston (The Monster of Florence), and “From ARCs to Reviews: How To Get Noticed,” led by Seattle PL’s Jeff Ayers (who also reviews thrillers for LJ).

Other highlights included spotlight interviews with Kathy Reichs, author of the popular Tempe Brennan forensic series (Devil Bones) and producer of Bones, the TV series based on her books; Brad Thor, whose latest thriller, The Last Patriot (reviewed in LJ Xpress Reviews July 7) has just claimed the number one spot on the New York Times hardcover best seller list; and 2008 ThrillerMaster Sandra Brown (Smoke Screen.). At a Saturday morning breakfast, Lee Child (Nothing To Lose) introduced 16 debut authors whose novels were published in 2008. The final day ended with the Thriller Awards banquet, where Robert Harris’s The Ghost was named Best Novel of 2008. Joe Hill’s Heart-Shaped Box won for Best First Novel and Tom Piccirilli’s The Midnight Road was honored as Best Paperback Original. The Silver Bullet Award went to author David Baldacci for his contribution to the advancement of literacy.

Expect ThrillerFest 2009 back at New York City’s Grand Hyatt, July 8-11, 2009.