Moments In Crime

The Music of Crime

Someone at the signing last night asked what I was listening to when I wrote Envy the Night (this in response to a comment I made about always having music on while I'm writing). I fumbled around a bit, because the first draft of Envy was written more than a year ago, and only a handful of songs stood out. So I thought I'd put up a list of what I'm listening to while writing the current book. Anybody have recommendations for me?

1) The Flobots -- Handlebars and Stand Up, off the album Fight With Tools

2) Reckless Kelly -- Ragged as the Road, Mirage, whole album Bulletproof is great

3) The Drive-by Truckers -- new album, Brighter Than Creation's Dark, is fantastic

4) My Morning Jacket -- Evil Urges

5) Fleet Foxes, self-titled album

6) James McMurtry, album "Just Us Kids

7) Jenn Cristy (conflict of interest noted; she's a friend, check out http://www.myspace.com/jenncristy

8) Steve Earle, Washington Square Serenade

9) Mason Jennings, album "Boneclouds," haven't gotten to the new one yet, but downloaded it recently.

10) Josh Ritter -- always, always, always on the playlist. Ditto the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

Envy is launched...

It's always a real pleasure to see a book that you've worked on for so long actually emerge in finished form, and yesterday was the official release of Envy the Night. I kicked things off as I usually do, at The Mystery Company in Carmel, IN. www.themysterycompany.com  Owned by Jim Huang, the store is a first-rate example of the many independent bookstores I've come to love since Tonight I Said Goodbye was published. The owners actually read and care about books, and they sell books because it is their passion. As an author, it is also a privilege to be in a store like that. The people you meet along the way, knowledgeable readers who are eager to talk books, also make for a great and often humbling experience. Last night I had a woman come to the signing from Lafayette, Indiana (a long drive, trust me) and another reader remembered a conversation we'd had about Lawrence Block and brought me a hardcover first-edition of Block's "When the Sacred Gin Mill Closes" which is a book I love. Obviously, it was a wonderful way to kick off the book release, and if I continue to see people like this along the road, it'll be a great month. Thanks to Jim and everyone who showed up.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

It has come to my attention that today is the birthday of novelist Dennis Lehane http://www.dennislehanebooks.com, whose age will remain unstated. (A hint -- double mine and subtract a few. A very few). It is also the birthday of Presidential candidate Barack Obama http://www.barackobama.com And, an anniversary (116 years) of the day "Lizzie Borden took an axe, and gave her mother forty whacks." I must take time now, as a good journalist, to point out that I draw no correlations between these three events. Nor do I assert Ms. Borden's guilt. She was never convicted of the crime, though it's been a case of endless speculation and inspiration for books both true crime and fiction, including Ed McBain's "Lizzie." Should you be hurting for last-minute summer vacation plans, you'll be relieved to know that the Borden house still exists and operates as a bed and breakfast. http://www.lizzie-borden.com/Rooms.aspx

A little about this book...

Minotaur has given me the opportunity to write a little on this blog because a book called Envy the Night will be released this week. (Minotaur has also given me the opportunity to publish said book. Ain't Minotaur swell?) While I intend to wander swiftly away from my own work to topics of greater interest (I'll teach them to try and let me help with promo!) it does seem important to get off the ground by explaining a little about the book and giving credit to some of those who played a central role.

Envy the Night is my first venture into third-person, multiple point-of-view writing after three first-person detective novels featuring Lincoln Perry including the, ahem, Shamus-nominated A Welcome Grave. (Just heard the news this weekend. Much appreciated. I vote for Reed Coleman). At the time I completed A Welcome Grave, my contract called for another Lincoln book, but when I expressed my desire to try something different the good folks at St. Martin's and Thomas Dunne were willing to support me, and that means a lot. The inspiration to try something quite different in terms of approach, though, came from the opportunity I had to take several writing workshops in Florida and Massachusetts. These programs (Writers in Paradise at Eckerd College in St. Pete, and the low-residency MFA program at Pine Manor College in Boston) were outstanding experiences for me, and I can't say enough about the quality of the faculty. I went to them to work with Dennis Lehane, who has been the consistent bar-raiser in crime fiction for about a decade, and while working with Dennis was an extraordinary experience that did not disappoint, the faculty as a whole provided so much insight and help. People like Roland Merullo, Sterling Watson, Tom Franklin and Laura Lippman are all wonderful writers and teachers and human beings, and if you're looking for a writing workshop to improve or jump-start your own work, I recommend you give these a look. www.writersinparadise.com or www.pmc.edu/mfa

Okay, with that mandatory plug out of the way, I'll leave you for now. But I'll be back soon enough, probably with a discussion of HBO's Generation Kill and maybe some book picks.

Blogging this Week: Michael Koryta

In this first stand-alone novel from the critically acclaimed Edgar Award-finalist, Michael Koryta fulfills his early promise with a dark and mature novel of a young man trying to escape his past.

It has been seven years since Frank Temple III joined the rest of the world in learning his father's bloody secret: The U.S. marshal maintained a covert career as a contract killer, a double-life that ended in suicide to avoid prosecution and prison.

The shocking revelation triggered years of anonymous drifting for Frank, time spent running from his legacy and struggling to believe that the father he’d loved so dearly was entirely in the wrong. After all, the victims hadn't been innocents. And Devin Matteson, the man who’d lured his father into the killing game only to later give him up to the FBI, is probably the darkest of the lot. Those are troubling thoughts, and Frank tries to stay away from them. But when an old family friend calls to say that Matteson is returning to the isolated Wisconsin lake that was once sacred ground for their families, it's a homecoming Frank knows he can't allow.

His arrival in town reveals a situation far from the expected, though.  While matteson is nowhere to be found, his old cabin is indeed occupied-- by a strange, beautiful woman and a nervous man with a gun.  When a pair of assassins from Miami arrive on their heels, Frank knows Matteson can’t be far behind. And while the wise move would be to call in the police and get out of town fast, that just doesn't feel right. After all, contract killer or not, Frank’s father was at heart a teacher. And his son excelled at the lessons.

Family secrets, mob hitmen, and a father’s shadowy legacy combine to make this Koryta’s most compelling thriller yet.

“Koryta is one of the best of the best, plain and simple.”
---Michael Connelly

“I’ve read the heir apparent. There is grit and determination in this writing; there is heart and character; the threat of violence first simmers, then boils over. The pulse quickens. This diabolical novel, laid out in simple but eloquent prose and pitch-perfect dialogue, heralds a changing of the guard. I have seen the future of ‘The Best Mystery Writer in America' and it's name is Michael Koryta." ---Ridley Pearson

“Superb writing and storytelling from Michael Koryta, one of crime fiction’s brightest young talents. Envy the Night represents his finest work to date."---George Pelecanos