Back in the Fifties, a cereal company began a promotion offering one square inch of Alaska in exchange for box tops. Box tops were an important currency then; since they had to be mailed to Michigan, it involved the assistance of a parent, usually mom. Like Donna Reed, Everymom swirled through the kitchen in crinoline [...]
Faith Whitney, the protagonist in THE RIFT ZONE, is an unusual character. She’s a smuggler as comfortable crossing the Iron Curtain as the average person is driving into Canada; her life on the knife-edge of east-west tension seems to suit her. Faith comes by her craft naturally; her mother is a fundamentalist Christian operating in [...]
One of the first things I noticed reading Gregg Hurwitz is his eye for detail. Whether he’s describing a weapon or a Quonset hut, Hurwitz gets after it; he manages to do this without drawing too much attention to the way he spreads this precise approach throughout his novel. THE PROGRAM is the first novel [...]
Before I get to my review of Hard Case’s debut originals, I wanted to mention the National Book Awards in advance of the dinner tonight. I’ll take a stab at choosing the winner, Lilly Tuck. Novels about Irish women in Paraguay are in short supply; and to the other finalists, congratulations, and I hope your [...]
There are two souls within me as Goethe once pointed out; this is true not only of people, but of entire communities. Publishing is no exception. The National Book Award nominations have ignited a discussion that exposes the duality of a business that wants to blend art and commerce without splattering the kitchen walls. I’d [...]
File this under the better late than never category of books released in August not read until October. The Wake-Up is published by Pantheon, an imprint of Random House; Sonny Mehta is the editor and Sonny was on the day he signed Robert Ferrigno. The Wake-Up tells the story of Frank Thorpe, an ex-Army ranger [...]
THE WATCHER IN THE PINE is the third novel in Rebecca Pawel’s series set in Spain during, and immediately after, the Spanish Civil War. Carlos Tejada has married Elena Fernandez, been promoted to lieutenant and given his first command within the Guardia Civil. Elena is pregnant and somewhat conflicted about her husband’s posting. The village [...]
Before I plunge into my review of Karin Slaughter’s new novel, I thought I’d exorcise a few demons about reviewing. A few months ago I tried an earlier work by this author called BLINDSIGHTED. I couldn’t get into it. At first I blamed Ms. Slaughter, then I wondered if I was simply in the wrong [...]
I think we’re all aware of the state of the thriller. Cartoon characters save the world from other cartoon characters; there’s sex, but not too much. Weapons systems, jargon, the future of mankind at stake; the dialogue typically forces the reader to the dark side, rooting for the villain. Chris Dickey’s novel THE SLEEPER is [...]
Terence is an author from the heartland whose work appears frequently in Ellery Queen magazine. His Hollywood historical KILL ME AGAIN is one I recommend to noir fans. Tell us about your background. I’m a former technical writer who traded writing computer manuals for crime fiction in 1991 when my first book, DEADSTICK, was nominated [...]