December 6-12: “Who is the best antagonist of all time (other than Hannibal Lecter)?”

The villain — the person we all love to hate. Or do we? Some say it’s really the villain who drives the story.  If that’s true, who’s your favorite evil mastermind of all time, and why?  Raymond Benson, C.E. Lawrence, George Eby, Grant Blackwood, Hank Phillippi Ryan, and James Hayman answer the question and kick off another terrific Roundtable discussion.

Raymond Benson is the author of 23 published books.  He wrote six original James Bond novels, three film novelizations, and three short stories—all published worldwide.  Three 007 titles each are collected in the recent anthologies CHOICE OF WEAPONS and THE UNION TRILOGY.  His series of “rock ‘n’ roll thrillers” include DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE and A HARD DAY’S DEATH.  As “David Michaels” Raymond wrote two NY Times best-sellers in TOM CLANCY’S SPLINTER CELL series.  Raymond is also the author of two METAL GEAR SOLID novelizations and the recent HOMEFRONT—THE VOICE OF FREEDOM (co-written with John Milius).

C.E. Lawrence is the byline of a New York-based suspense writer, performer, composer and prize-winning playwright whose previous books have been praised as “lively. . .” (Publishers Weekly); “constantly absorbing. . .” (starred Kirkus Review); and “superbly crafted prose” (Boston Herald). Silent Screams and Silent Victim are the first two books in her Lee Campbell thriller series.  Silent Kills comes out later this year.  Her other work is published under the name of Carole Bugge.

George Ebey is the author of Broken Clock, Dimensions: Tales of Suspense, The Red Bag, and Widowfield. He is a graduate of Kent State University with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in writing. He lives with his wife, Gail, in Northeast Ohio. Visit his website at: www.georgeebey.com

Grant Blackwood, a U. S. Navy veteran, spent three years aboard a guided missile frigate as Operations Specialist and Pilot Rescue Swimmer. The author of the Briggs Tanner series — THE END OF ENEMIES, THE WALL OF NIGHT, and AN ECHO OF WAR — Grant lives in Colorado where he is at work on the third Fargo Adventure novel with Clive Cussler, following the first in the series, SPARTAN GOLD, and the second in the series, LOST EMPIRE. Grant’s short story, SACRIFICIAL LION, appeared in the acclaimed anthology THRILLER: STORIES TO KEEP YOU UP ALL NIGHT.

Award-winning investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan is on the air at Boston’s NBC affiliate. She’s won 26 EMMYs and dozens of other journalism honors.Her debut mystery, PRIME TIME, won the Agatha. FACE TIME is a BookSense Notable Book. AIR TIME was nominated for the AGATHA and ANTHONY.DRIVE TIME earned a Library Journal starred review. Hank’s 2009 short story On the House won the AGATHA, ANTHONY and MACAVITY.Hank’s on the board of NE SinC and national board of MWA. Her website is http://www.HankPhillippiRyan.com