Last week the International Thriller Writers revealed the 2011 Thriller Awards nominees. For your reading pleasure, we’ve included the nominees below–complete with free samples of all the novels.

If you want more books, we made similar literary mixtapes linking to free samples of the Hugo Award nominees, the Best Cookbooks of 2010, the 2011 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction nominees, the National Book Critics Circle Award finalists, the 2011 Edgar Awards finalists, the 2011 ALA Youth Media Awards winners, the 2011 Book Critics Circle Awards finalists, the Best Translated Books longlist, the Believer Book Awards shortlist, and the Best Books of 2010.

2011 THRILLERMASTER AWARD: R.L. Stine
2011 SILVER BULLET AWARD: Karin Slaughter
2011 TRUE THRILL AWARD: Joe McGinniss


Best Hard Cover Novel:
Michael Connelly – THE REVERSAL (Little Brown)
Jeffery Deaver – EDGE: A NOVEL (Simon & Schuster)
Brian Freeman – THE BURYING PLACE (Minatour)
Mo Hayder – SKIN (Grove)
John Sanford – BAD BLOOD (Putnam)

Best Paperback Original:
Robert Gregory Browne – DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN (St. Martin’s)
Max Allan Collins and Matthew Clemens – YOU CAN’T STOP ME (Pinnacle)
J.T. Ellison – THE COLD ROOM (Mira)
Shane Gericke – TORN APART (Pinnacle)
Jon Trace – THE VENICE CONSPIRACY (Hachette Digital) (no excerpt available)


Best First Novel:
Carla Buckley – THE THINGS THAT KEEP US HERE (Random House)
Paul Doiron – THE POACHER’S SON (Minatour)
Reece Hirsch – THE INSIDER (Berkley)
Thomas Kaufman – DRINK THE TEA (Minatour)
Chevy Stevens – STILL MISSING (St. Martin’s)


Best Short Story:
Mike Carey – “Second Wind” (THE NEW DEAD, St. Martin’s)
Michael Connelly – “Blue on Black” (Strand Magazine)
Richard Helms – “The Gods for Vengeance Cry” (Dell Magazine)
Harley Jane Kozak – “Madeeda” (Crimes By Midnight)
Nicolas Kaufman – “Chasing the Dragon” (ChiZine Magazine)
Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins – “Long Time Dead” (Strand Magazine)