David Kessler's "Mercy" is in the shops

Tomorrow I will be going to Waterstones in Sutton to do a reading from my new thriller Mercy. I fear that there will not be all that many people there, despite a bit of publicity in the local paper, as we are doing it in on a winter evening. It might have been better if we had arranged it for Thursday, which is late shopping day... or Friday when young people like to go out in the evening.

However what's done is done and however many or few people come, I will do my reading, sign the copies of the books and hope that everyone one of those customers who buys the book will read it and then recommend it to half a dozen other people.

The books is available in W H Smith, Waterstones and all good bookshops. It is not yet available in the supermarkets. As I have said elsewhere, in this commercial Christmas period, I can't hope to compete with the likes of such literary luminaries Katie Price and Martine McCutcheon. Suffice it to say that there is a chance that I will be in the supermarkets after Christmas, for the New Year promotions.

I've also decided to advertise the book myself. The major publishers generally will only advertise the books of their bestselling authors. This is perfectly reasonable. The market for books as a whole is elastic, and the major publishers reason that if they advertise their mid-list writers then they would simply be competing against themselves. This is less true of the smaller publishers. But the smaller publishers are at a disadvantage in other respects.

But whilst the publishers have many writers, I have only one ME, and if I do not make it, I get no comfort (or support in my old age) from the knowledge that other writers have. So tomorrow morning, I will take the plunge and commit just over £3000 to advertising my book Mercy.

And I sure hope it pays off...

Mercy is a brilliant thriller

I suppose it's rather conceited saying that about my own book, but my latest thriller Mercy  due to be published by HarperCollins UK on 26 November - is really something special. And I can say for the first time after ten years in the doldrums that I am really optimistic.

It is about a lawyer's race against time to save his client from death by lethal injection. But that doesn't begin to give you any idea of the twists and turns in the story, culminating in a dazzling surprise at the end. And even then there are more surprises to come - right up to the last line. It's what O'Henry used to call "the sting in the tail."

The story begins with the governor of California (not Arnold Schwarzenegger) offering the lawyer clemency for his condemned client if the client reveals where he buried the body. This offer has been made at the instigation of the dying mother of the victim.

But there's just one problem: the condemned man still claims to be innocent. And even when offered a lifeline, he stands by his original position that the dead girl isn't really dead and that she framed him. But is he telling the truth?

Alex Sedaka has only 15 hours in which to find out.

And you have till the 26th of November before you can find out...