Chance to bookmark festival coming to Hartlepool next month

An Arts Council-backed festival is set to come to Hartlepool as part of a northern tour.
Hartlepool Central LibraryHartlepool Central Library
Hartlepool Central Library

The Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival is coming to Hartlepool Central Library on Friday, June 8, with its 10th annual Big Read.

The Big Read, supported by The Arts Council, aims to encourage crime fiction fans, and entice reluctant readers, to read and discuss the same book.

Mari HannahMari Hannah
Mari Hannah
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It aims to be the North’s biggest book club and offers opportunities for social meet-ups, making new friends and meeting like-minds.

Acclaimed author and Reader in Residence at the Festival, Mari Hannah, will be discussing one of the genre’s most prolific writers, James Patterson, and his most successful book, Along Came a Spider.

Everyone who attends a Big Read event will receive a free copy of Along Came a Spider, thanks to Patterson’s publisher, Penguin Random House UK.

Mari Hannah is author of the Kate Daniels series, the Ryan & O’Neil thrillers, and the Stone & Oliver series of police procedurals.

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Patterson’s books have sold in excess of 325 million copies. The author holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers. For the past eleven years in a row, James Patterson has been the most borrowed author in UK libraries.

Mari said: “What some of you may not know about philanthropist James Patterson is how much he cares about reading, how much he gives back, donating books and offering financial support to independent bookshops, ensuring that his reading legacy lives on. 
“I can’t stress enough that the Big Read campaign is for everyone, a chance to explore the world through crime fiction in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.”

Along Came a Spider was adapted to the big screen, starring Morgan Freeman as forensic psychologist, Alex Cross.

Mari added: “Whether you are an avid or reluctant reader, a library member or not, you are very welcome to join in the discussion, or just sit back and listen to one writer’s amazing journey and, of course, meet his fictional hero, Alex Cross.”

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Chairman of 2018’s Festival, Lee Child, said: “No one gets this big without amazing natural storytelling talent – which is what Jim has, in spades. The Alex Cross series proves it.”

To request a free copy of the book, contact [email protected] for further details. Join the conversation online at #BigRead2018