The Black Hand, vol.55
Hello again! I’m back, and it’s really nice to be back! I hope wherever you are, you’re staying either cool (Australian friends) or warm (US/CAN/European friends) according to your season. I hope you’re safe and in good health.
We’ve been sweating our way through one of the worst Australian summers on record here – we’ve had a series of days over 40C (104F in the old money) and a couple of days at 48C-49C (118F-120F). It’s been damn hot, and we evacuated to Melbourne when we were worried about bushfire risk. The threat is always on our minds, and some friends have been badly affected by the fires, but we’re okay. That risk-awareness is part and parcel of living rural in this country, though, especially with global warming.
We travelled to India with all our kids over Christmas, which was quite a trip. Now our youngest has just started his final year of high school, and I’m mid-draft with a new manuscript. It’s strange to be writing a book set in NYC when I can’t visit the city to do research, but I don’t think I’d be allowed through customs right now. Here’s hoping sanity returns to both the US government and to my own government, which seems incapable of seeing the obvious link between the fossil fuels Australia mines/sells and the increasing climate threats to its citizens.
Anyway, don’t get me started or we’ll be here all day! Before this edition kicks on, a quick shoutout to the Canadian firefighters who are here in Australia helping battle local bushfires – you folks rock, and we appreciate you so much 🖤
Ron Mueck: art of the hyperreal
Now you know I usually talk macabre crime here in this section of the newsletter – but this month, I thought I’d ease in gently by focusing on something that’s more macabre-y, not so crime-y.
Ron Mueck is an Australian artist living and working in the UK. Born in Melbourne to German parents, he grew up in the family business of puppetry and doll-making, and is now acknowledged as an extraordinary sculptor.
Mueck’s work is focused in the area of hyperrealism – artworks that look exactly like the real thing – but on a significantly larger scale. His work has been exhibited globally and often alongside contemporaries like Lucien Freud, Edouard Manet, and Spencer Tunick (sidebar: I participated in a Spencer Tunick photoshoot in Melbourne in 2000. Yes, everyone was naked! It was pretty incredible)
It’s hard to wrap your head around the scale of Mueck’s work – and the time and attention to detail that are involved in producing sculptures this granular at this scale. Commentary about his sculptures – which often dwarf any wandering viewers in galleries – sometimes talk about how his pieces evoke psychological uncertainty, and play with the idea of “the uncanny valley” (the human revulsion for things that look like they should be human, but aren’t). But Mueck’s pieces aren’t just a part of that continuum of digital uncanniness that we’re all becoming (sadly) familiar with from films and TV and AI slop; there’s a three-dimensional, tactile aspect to these sculptures that increases the awe and discomfort that we feel around them.
I haven’t (yet!) had a chance to see Mueck’s work in person, but if you’re in Sydney, you can see it right now! There’s a big exhibition of his latest pieces, called Encounter, happening at the Art Gallery of NSW this summer. If you can, please do go along, it looks incredible!
NO ONE IS SAFE ebook release, let’s gooooooo
Okay, for the confused (I myself was equally confused, at first), the official release date is 1 March 2026, and you can still preorder the book here.
BUT…I found out this week that NO ONE IS SAFE was accepted into the Amazon First Reads program! Which means that for the entire month of February, Prime members can get the ebook for FREE as part of First Reads – and if you’re not a Prime member, you can buy the ebook at 60% off sale price for $1.99.
So the ebook is OUT RIGHT NOW, and you can grab your copy 😊
The First Reads program is a really big deal! I’m massively excited about it! This is the first time one of my books has had a big promotional campaign from a publisher, so like…WOW.
If you’re still not sure if this adult thriller is for you, have a look at the synopsis:
Simon Noone is a serial killer…but he doesn’t know it. Pulled from a river in Guatemala in 1982 with nothing—not even his memories—he returns to America five years later, looking for answers. He finds work at an NYC meatpacking plant and meets rebel ex-cop turned private investigator Nomi Pace. But she has problems all her own.
Nomi agrees to help Simon, if he lends his mysterious talents to solving a child kidnapping case. The two team up and make headway on both investigations, growing closer with every step. But when Nomi discovers the dark truth about Simon’s murderous past, he quickly turns from asset to liability.
Nomi contemplates her next move. Meanwhile, the weight of Simon’s deeds hangs like a dripping carcass on a meat hook. Were his homicidal urges erased along with his memory, or is there a sinister reason why his deft hand itches for the butcher’s cleaver?
Meanwhile, ARC readers have dived into their copies of NO ONE IS SAFE, and reviews are starting to come in, and people seem to really love the book which is a massive PHEW, but also YESSSSS, because I am so stoked to see this one go live. If you’ve already read the book and you’d like to leave an honest rating/review on any platform, that would be amazing! Thank you!
If you’re a reviewer and you missed out on early access but you’d like a chance to read, I have a Netgalley link available for a limited period – please email me at elliemarney@gmail dot com to request.
If you’ve read the book and have been sharing about Simon and Nomi online, thank you from the bottom of my funky black heart 🖤 I really want to see this book soar (not least because it will mean more books in the series!), and I’m really thrilled that so many of you have been digging it!
NO ONE IS SAFE Instagram giveaway coming soon
This month, I’m teaming up with some amazing bookstagrammers to give away some signed, finished paperback copies of NO ONE IS SAFE – if you’re in Australia keep an eye out here, if you’re in Europe keep an eye out here, and if you’re in the US/CAN, give me a minute while we set it up!
NO ONE IS SAFE GoodReads giveaway
If you’re in the US, there’s a GR giveaway kicking off 1 March (the official release date) which puts you in the running for a free ebook – check it out and add your name here!
ALL SHALL MOURN named a 2025 IngramSpark Top Pick
Out of all the books indie published through Ingram last year, All Shall Mourn was one of the most popular – this is blowing my mind. But I have a pic to prove it!
You can find it here on Bookshop, and I just had to share that with you because it was you folks who made it happen 😊
Events: BOOK FAIR AUSTRALIA
I’ll be at Book Fair Australia at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre on 21-22 February as a special guest of Book Addiction, and yes, I will have limited numbers of finished paperbacks of NO ONE IS SAFE! There will be panels and authors and a metric ton of cool books plus book swag and more – it’s going to be a fantastic event. If you’re coming along, check out the lineup here.
Events: WRITING A SERIES
I’m teaching a special online workshop about writing series fiction for Qld Writers Centre on Thursday 12 March – if that’s in your wheelhouse, find info and bookings here.
Events: SELF-PUBLISHING BOOTCAMP
I’m going to be presenting a weekend self-publishing bootcamp in Brisbane later in the year – dates are not yet set, but stay tuned here and on my Insta and I’ll keep you updated.
What else?
Seems wild, but I’m already halfway through writing the next book in the Noone & Pace thriller series. I know, right? But my publisher seems excited about continuing the story, and I’m totally on board with writing more…Wish me luck!
Please don’t talk to me about Heated Rivalry because I have no self-control and will talk for hours and get no work done
I am literally David Suzuki in this pic:
Also this is both funny and true:
I’m also watching The Pitt, and I watched one episode of the Dahmer series from 2022 and had to put it aside and take a breath, even I have limits y’all.
Oh – for the record, I thought PILLION was great and I thought FRANKENSTEIN was meh.
What’s on my Kindle TBR
I am drafting and therefore not allowed to read anything just yet, but these books are waiting for me in ebook form because I am the original “easily motivated by carrot” test subject.
All the Flowers are Dying (Matthew Scudder #16) – Lawrence Block
~only 2 more books left to read in this series! 😭 but Block has a massive back catalogue, so that should keep me going for a while. Also if you know me, you know that for a series to keep my interest through 15 books (so far) it’s got to be freaking incredible.
The Narrows – Ronald Malfi
In the Miso Soup – Ryu Murakami
~both these books were recommended by one of the hosts of Colors of the Dark podcast and sound fascinating (won’t someone please send a copy of None Shall Sleep to the hosts of this pod, I want them to read my book so baddd)
Black Flame – Gretchen Felker-Martin
DMV – Bentley Little
~recommended by Stephen King so I’ve gotta give it a try
Withered Hill – David Barnett
House of Bone and Rain – Gabino Iglesias
What I read on my summer holidays (limited selection)
What Stalks the Deep – T. Kingfisher (this author never lets me down)
Fiend – Alma Katsu (not my thing but I think others may dig it)
The Graveyard Apartment – Mariko Koike (genuinely creepy! I forget who recced this to me but thanks!)
Whalefall – Daniel Kraus (amazing. I think Kraus may be a literary genius, this would have been so tough to write omg)
February giveaway
I’m reinstituting the monthly giveaway! Here’s how it works: I select a random subscriber and give them something for free. It’s super easy to enter because if you’re a subscriber you’re already in the running!
loopytunezz, congratulations, you’ve won a signed copy of my WWII girl codebreakers book THE KILLING CODE - I’ll email you to arrange postage!
If you would like to participate in this kind of chaotic randomness, feel free to subscribe 😊
That’s it from me for this month. This newsletter is already longer than normal – that tends to happen first month back in the saddle (if you’re new here, don’t stress, I’m not usually only occasionally this long-winded lol). I’ll be blethering some more in the March newsletter, giving away another book, and talking more macabre-and/or-crimey stuff, which is all pretty standard for me.
If you’re getting ready to read NO ONE IS SAFE in digital, thank you for downloading! You’re in for a wild ride and I hope you enjoy it 😊 Perhaps you have family or friends who also like bloodthirsty thrillers? Please encourage them to grab a copy this month while the book is free/super cheap!
May your February be kind. Stay well! Stay safe and be good to yourself! Share that goodness if you can – we all need a little more goodness in the world 🖤
Until next time, happy reading, and all my best wishes for a healthy, productive, nourishing 2026!
xxEllie
OK you KNOW my theory about this Simon...I will have to try get the book and see if I am right! *She says as the TBR grows*.