Top Five(Six) Crime Novels

It's the summer. What better time for a list? I've been thinking about this lately because I'm thinking about the authors whose quality I strive for. So here you go.

In no particular order.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane: The ending of this book is what did it for me. Yeah, the twist you can see coming for at least a hundred pages, but the chapter after that is HAUNTING. It's stuck with me for over 4 years. I remember reading it on my couch in my parents' basement, finishing it and just sitting there creeped out. What a book.

Every Secret Thing by Laura Lippman: This book is a book that I was just enthralled by. I read this book while I was student teaching in Paterson, and just going out to my car on my lunch break. I would sit there--barely eating--and just fly through this book for 40 minutes a day. I couldn't put this book down. Some of the best characters I've ever read.

Severance Package by Duane Swierczynski: The fact that this book was pushed back until the summer of '08 is very disappointing. I read the book in manuscript form and was just taken with it. I remember waking up in the morning and not being able to wait to get to my computer to continue it. An action packed, horror filled, funny book, it's simply amazing. Once this book is released it should be at the top of your TBR list.

Mortal Stakes by Robert B. Parker: One of the best PI novels I've ever read. Before Hawk, before the Susan Silverman relationship really bubbled over, Spenser takes on a case of blackmail involving the Boston Red Sox. Again, the ending, showing Spenser ability to be brutal when he's left with no other options.

L. A. Requiem by Robert Crais: He's written better (and worse) books since, but this was the novel that showed me what could be done in a PI novel today. It didn't have to be the PI just talking to random odd characters and then solving the case. It could be a fast paced thriller and at the same time get into the hearts of it's characters and finally tear them apart. A brilliant, risky novel.

HONORABLE MENTION: The Drowning Pool by Ross MacDonald: The first Lew Archer book I'd ever read (I'd seen Harper) gave me a hint of what the PI novel was really all about. The creepy child and hint of incest. The few actions scenes... including the memorable scene where the book gets it's literal title (there's a metaphorical one too)... I raced through this one and immediately went out and read most of the rest of MacDonald's books.

Your favorites?

Writing Update

Just finished up the revisions on THE EVIL THAT MEN DO (formerly titled WHISPER TO THEIR SOULS.... current title is tenative.)... Then I saved it and packed it off to my editor.

It's a weird feeling being done... again. I gotten into the routine of packing up my laptop and going up to the local Borders to revise.

Now I guess it's time to start something new while I wait.

Wish me luck!

Just in case you forgot or are new to the site

THIS IS WHAT CAN HAPPEN ...

A hit and run. Simple as that. And suddenly harmless old Gerry Figuroa is lying dead on the asphalt. New Jersey cop turned private investigator Jackson Donne sure as hell doesn’t want to investigate his drinking buddy’s death, but he’s made a promise that leaves him no choice.

And before long, he's drawing uncomfortably close to a murderer.

Meanwhile, an apparently routine divorce case takes a dangerous turn, and sinister connections to Gerry's death start to emerge. Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, Donne learns that a bitter old enemy is mixed up in the whole mess. Bill Martin, his ex-Narcotics Department partner, has secrets to expose that could re-open the still-aching wounds of Donne's past. Permanently.

Donne would like nothing better than to crawl back into a bottle and forget he ever heard Gerry Figuroa’s name, but it’s too late for that. Now he’s in way too deep, tangled up in a plot whose tendrils reach deep into his town’s past—and his own.

... WHEN ONE MAN DIES

Updates

-I have a new post up at Killer Year.

-Two months until you can find out what happens WHEN ONE MAN DIES.

-Mary Reagan makes me look good at Thrillerfest.

-This may be old, but Cracked.com gives us The Lamest James Bond Scenes.

-I've been working on a blog post of my five favorite crime novels. It's coming soon. I know you're all drooling about it.

Oh yeah, piece of cake

Thanks to The House Next Door.

Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in

Back in the late nineties comic books went through a horrible transformation. This was when I was at the height of my collection. I was buying all sorts of comic books. (Coincidentally, it was high school and I was having trouble with women too, huh. Oh by the way, I was also in the marching band. I was so cool.)

Anyway, back to comics, in the nineties comics stopped being about the story. They were about gold platinum hologram colors and number 1s and cool artists drawing huge splash pages with little story. Superman died... okay at first that was kind of cool to an eighth grader, but at the same time, it was just some speechless monster who killed him... named Doomsday. I mean, really?

Then Batman had his back broken. It was a really, really long story, but it didn't feel like a long story. It felt like a marketing tool.

And then the absolute worst... Spider-man really got messed around with. First was the Maximum Carnage storyline, which wasn't really a story as much as a 12 issue fight with guest stars. Then came the clone saga. When it was revealed that the Spider-man I followed my whole life wasn't the real Spider-man, but a clone. And some wacko named Ben Reilly was the real Spider-man. And they were going to start a new series of Spider-man comics called "The Scarlet Spider" or something lame. That was when I checked out. I was done.


I'd peek in occasionally, see what was up by following websites (yes, I know Marvel eventually went back on it's Spider-man mistake). Once in a while I'd pick up a graphic novel or trade collection and see what was up (Kevin Smith's Daredevil was really cool)... but ultimately, the comic companies' lack of concentration on story and determination to appeal to the collector turned me off.

Now ten years later, it's seemed that has changed. It seems that Marvel--at least--has become focused on the writer again. Yes, they're still shaking things up, but the shake ups are natural evolutions of stories. They've hired Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, and Charlie Huston to write the stories. People who care about characters.

I read Civil War and I really like how that was told. It's a good starting point. Since then, three storylines have caught my eye.

The X-Men Endangered Species/Messiah Complex stuff that's going on. The New Avengers Skrull thing. And the upcoming Spider-man One More Day.



So I decided I'm giving these three books a shot. For now. But if they screw up and do something stupid... like make Mary Jane a Skrull to get them out of a sticky situation... or decide that Fin Fang Foom is the Messiah in the X-men stuff, I'm out. And I won't go back.

But it seems like Marvel has it's head on straight right now. And I'm interested in seeing what happens.

One Year Ago Today

I got an email from a certain Donna Guthrie saying, "Al just called me. He's on a train, but you just got an offer."

One year ago today I was tailgating at a Bon Jovi concert and agreed to a deal that would publish WHEN ONE MAN DIES.

One year ago today... I said the words, "PLAY LIVIN' ON A PRAYER!"

One year ago today... my friend responded "He played it three songs ago."

One year ago today... draw your own conclusions.

Countdown Added in the Sidebar

Go RU!

AWWWWWWWWW

Killer Year, Lee Child and M.J. Rose courtesy Jason Pinter.

A Young George W. Bush

Thrillerfest Wrap Up

Well it's all over but the shouting, the Grand Finale Brunch, and The Grand Finale signing. But you're going to have to go to other blog for that. I'll just give you the quick rundown.

Dave to James Siegel (after he mentioned how awful the movie version of Derailed was): "But at least you had Jennifer Aniston."

Siegel: "Yeah. She wasn't right for the part."

(uncomfortable silence ensues.)

-----

Panel One (The Avengers: PIs)

PJ Parrish: "This question is for Dave. You wake up with a naked, dead hooker in your bed. What do you do?"

Dave: "I got up this morning, got dressed and went to Thrillerfest."
*
PJ Parrish: "This question is for Tim [Maleeny]. If you could be any murder weapon in the world, what would you be."

Tim (this is not the exact quote): "Something odd like a toaster oven, or a bloody saxophone."

Dave: "How would the saxophone kill you? Tetanus?"

-------

Panel Two (The Red Hot Typewriter: The future of Thrillers)

CJ Lyons: "This question is for Dave..."

Dave: "The answer is boxers."
*
JT Ellison: "My serial killer is a reluctant serial killer."

Dave: "I think I dated her."

------

That was the panel fun. In other news, there was a photo shoot for the Killer Year Anthology. Meeting lots of cool people. Buying books. A dinner with Saint Christina. The Reds. And these pictures.




The Lobby of the Grand Hyatt from above.




Me, pre-PI panel.



The whole PI panel.

Thrillerfest: Day 1

Not much to report for half a day....

-The Cincy Reds are staying at the hotel. I saw Ken Griffey, Jr. twice.

-Talking to David Montgomery at the elevator bay. "Have you registered yet?" I ask. "No," he says. "Oh, I'll ride up with you." Elevator doors close. "Uh, I'm going to my room." D'oh.

-Spent lots of time in the bar and passed out business cards.

What to do During Summer Vacation

So, I'm flipping through the channels tonight and what do I find but the new Fox game show "Don't Forget the Lyrics." It was AWFUL. AWFUL. And somehow I'm drawn to it, I can't turn it off. Cheesey Wayne Brady-ness. Annoying party girl who is somehow making money on some stupid sing along crap. Overly excited people.

But I can't turn it off.

The day after the baseball All-Star Game is the worst TV day of the year.



And yet, somehow, I have the unGodly urge to set my TiVo for tomorrow night.

Off to Thrillerfest

Pictures, Panels, and Popcorn to come.

I Heart Publisher's Weekly

When One Man Dies Dave White.

Starred Review

Derringer Award–winner White’s engrossing, evocative debut novel will grab most readers from its opening sentences: “I’ve killed three men in my life. One the police know about, two that I’ve kept to myself.” New Jersey ex-cop Jackson Donne is about to use profits from his PI business to fund a bachelor’s degree when his closest friend, Korean War vet Gerry Figuroa, is killed in a hit-and-run. Reluctantly investigating the accident, Donne finds evidence that Figuroa may have been supplementing his actor’s income by manufacturing crystal meth, and soon suspicious ties appear to an apparently unrelated adultery and divorce case.White manages to make improbable plot twists seem plausible, and his choice to alternate Donne’s slightly unhinged first-person narration with the third-person perspective of New Brunswick Police Det. Bill Martin, Donne’s despicably corrupt former partner and nemesis, works surprisingly well. Fans of hard-hitting, uncompromising private investigators will hope that Donne ditches his college dreams and continues to pound the pavement. (Sept.)

Thrillerfest

Things I'm looking forward to:

The little name tags you have to wear that magically turn into "Mug Me" signs once you're fifty feet from the motel.

The Pre-Buzz ARC giveaway.

Commuting to the the city from Jersey... Ohhhh yeah, that is going to be the easiest and cheapest thing in the history of mankind.

Hanging out with friends.

Being on two panels.

Whatever weird events will happen because I'm in the city and whatever writer faux pas I'll make.

So all this should be entertaining, starting on Thursday.

Book Recommendation

Alex Barclay's Darkhouse. Reads like the family aspect of THE SOPRANOS with the dark serial killer story. A fast paced novel, but also quiet at the same time. The violence is shocking and brutal when it happens. And the ramifications of that violence ripple convincingly.

Interview Time

I have a Q&A up over at the Sons of Spade website.

I Gotta Say, it looks Right

Check out the trailer for Gone Baby, Gone here.

The Noir Thing

Yeah, I know, everyone's had their say. I should have had my say in the threads that are already up.

Here.

Here.

And that whole "Death of the PI" thing.

And most of these arguments seem to be centered around two things to me. Respecting the past and the current crop of novels can never be as good as those written before.

Screw it.

To me it sounds a lot like John Lithgow in FOOTLOOSE telling the kids they can't dance. Like how people reacted to rock and roll in the 50s. And then how the rock and roll fans reacted to rap in the 90s.

It also sounds like Bloom saying there will never be another Shakespeare.

Then why try? Why should we writers try to write something new?

People will say I haven't read the "classics." I argue that by saying I've read enough of the classics to know they don't speak to me. They don't implore me to keep reading the classics. Am I missing something that I'll like? Probably. But you know what, that's too bad.

I'm too caught up reading things that I'm enjoying.

The arguments in the articles above argue that current authors should respect the past and build and expand on it. Good, but that will still wreak of the old stuff.

No, I prefer the new writers to try something new. Whether that's overt violence bordering on comedy. Whether it's "torture porn" bordering on horror. Good for these authors to try something new. They're getting away from tradition, breaking free of it.

They're trying rap, they're trying to dance when people are saying they shouldn't.

And maybe, just maybe someone will come along... who is better than Hammet or Chandler or Cain or MacDonald.

But the pontificators are going to have to open their eyes to see it.

Because it's summer and you like beef jerky