New Jersey native Brad Parks has been nominated for the Shamus Award, one of the most prestigious honors in crime fiction.

Parks is one of five finalists in the “Best First Novel” category for his book, “Faces of the Gone,” which features the exploits of a Newark-based newspaper reporter. The Shamus is given annually by the Private Eye Writers of America, with the winner scheduled to be announced at a banquet to be held in San Francisco this October during Bouchercon, the world mystery convention. Past winners of the award, now in its 29th year, include Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly and Harlan Coben.

It is the second major award nomination of the summer for Parks, who was also nominated for the Nero Award, named after the legendary Nero Wolfe, in June.

A career journalist turned fiction author, Brad Parks worked at The Washington Post and The Star-Ledger as a sportswriter and news feature writer. His website is www.BradParksBooks.com. The next book in Parks’s series, “Eyes of the Innocent” is due out in February.