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And in Conclusion....

The Hungry Detective had planned on his Post-B'Con post to appear sooner, but the hand of fate had other plans, namely Pneumonia. However with loads of free time over the last 5 days I have felt, besides sick, not very creative in terms of posting here. I extend my apologies to long time readers of The Hungry Detective and those of you who are just here harvesting email addresses.

The Damage - 19 Books
THE LANGUAGE OF BEES + O JERUSALEM - Laurie King
9 DRAGONS - Michael Connelly
THE COLD DISH - Craig Johnson
THE LAST QUARRY + THE FIRST QUARRY + DEADLY BELOVED - Max Allan Collins
THE FURY - Jason Pinter
A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS + The ANNIVERSARY MAN - R.J. Ellory
SO COLD THE NIGHT - Michael Koryta (Free ARC at Connelly interview)
RUNNING FROM THE DEVIL - Jamie Freveletti
BLOOD DETECTIVE + BLOOD ATONEMENT - Daniel Waddell
DOUBLE EXPOSURE - Michael Lister
BOULEVARD - Stephen Jay Schwartz (Book Bazaar)
A CARRION OF DEATH - Michael Stanley (Book Bazaar)
DEAD MEN'S DUST - Matt Hilton (Book Bazaar)
JACK WAKES UP - Seth Harwood (Book Bazaar)

The Books: The Hungry Detective is pretty happy with how things ended up. I had a pretty strict plan going in. Only the Freveletti, Waddell, and Lister books were blind purchases. Oddest purchase was Jason Pinter's THE FURY. I had to go to the Borders down the street from the hotel. Most exciting purchase is Craig Johnson's THE COLD DISH. As far as I could tell it was the only hardcover copy in the room. The layout was good, and ultimately having the books and the authors in the same space worked out.

Panels: Initially I thought there was going to be at least one session a day that I would sit out. The reality is my butt was in a seat for every session. Save one panel which was an out and out stinker, I enjoyed all the panels I saw. 'Heroes for Our Times,' and 'The Cold Dead Hand of the Past' were highlights.

Other impressions: Book Bazaar is a great idea in need of refinement. Great not to see all of those unwanted books piled onto any available free table space in the hotel. Cramming 500? 600? people into that space was nuts. Hotel was perfectly located for plenty of food options. I'm from Wisconsin, so eating at the Weber Grill was mandatory. Elevators were probably the only minor annoyance about the hotel. Oh wait, the bar made the single worst Sidecar I have every had the misfortune to drink. Just terrible.

And in Conclusion: It was overwhelming to meet and spend some time with Trey Barker, Sean Doolittle, and Craig Johnson. Finally, finally It was great to spend some time with Jared. Thanks brother!
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Comments

Seth Harwood said…
Hope you enjoy JACK WAKES UP! Had a great time at Bouchercon too and am just now... cough... starting to feel better myself.

Weber Grill? LOVE that place!
10:36 PM
Dan Wagner said…
The Book Bazaar was probably the petri dish for B'Con Sickness 2009. Looking forward to the book!
7:43 AM
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