Crime Fiction Dossier

Post-9/11 books

In the comments section to a post below, writer Patti Abbott writes:

I've been reading Second Hand by Micahel Zadoorian, a book written around 2000 and set in Detroit. I wonder if a case can be make that novels written pre-9/11 have a completely different feel to them. This is leisurely and the angst in it manageable rather than apocalyptic. Do you see a difference?

I've been thinking about it, and I can't say that I've seen any major differences between the books I've read that were written before and after 9/11. Obviously there are some subject matter differences (in some books, at least), but in terms of themes, style, etc., I can't point to anything.

I think the differences between individual authors and books are so great that it's difficult to generalize much in terms of how books overall might have changed. I'm sure that some authors have changed, or some books have changed, but I haven't seen any widespread differences in the genre as a whole.

It's an interesting subject to think about, though.

So, what are you reading?

I just started Power Play by Joseph Finder last night. About 15 minutes before that, I finished Beyond Reach by Karin Slaughter.

I've been on an excellent streak of good books lately.

Can you identify this book?

A reader writes in, asking if we can help identify a book she read:

The book is unusual in that it makes use of a lot of first person journal entries, the killer's being among them.  There are also journal entries from one of the main characters, a high school English teacher who is having her students do a lot of journal writing.  The story revolves around who is killing young women.  One is a local high school student, very popular, etc.  Another is a young runaway.  The third to be victim is the daughter of the teacher.

Ring any bells?

More thoughts on the publishing industry

Another day, another link to M.J. Rose's excellent blog. Today the thoughts are my own. As part of a series Rose is running on the business of writing and publishing, I muse on the topic of "Challenging tradition."

Thoughts on publishing from Simon Lipskar

Simon Lipskar, one of the smartest (and nicest) people in this business, has some very interesting things to say over on M.J. Rose's blog.

The general topic of his post is "what should I do to support my book?" and his answers make for valuable reading.

Book of the Week: "Los Angeles Noir" (ed. Denise Hamilton)

The latest entry in Akashic Books' globe-spanning "city noir" series finally reaches L.A., the home of the genre. The marquee story is by Michael Connelly (and it's a good one), but readers will also find excellent stories from Robert Ferrigno, Naomi Hirahara, Gary Phillips, Christopher Rice and editor Denise Hamilton. Next to the top-notch Baltimore Noir, this is probably the best book in the series.

Latest Chicago Sun-Times column

My latest column ran this morning in the Chicago Sun-Times. It contains reviews of the following books:

Dean Koontz - The Good Guy
Jeffery Deaver - The Sleeping Doll
Mary Higgins Clark - I Heard That Song Before
Kate White - Lethally Blond
Barry Eisler - Requiem for an Assassin

Book of the Week: Brett Battles' "The Cleaner"

Brett Battles’ first novel introduces one of the most interesting new protagonists in the thriller genre. Quinn, a covert operative who specializes in making problems go away, has the potential to make this series a long and successful one. With a blazing first half, interesting characters and solid prose, The Cleaner is an entertaining and effective spy novel that heralds good things for Battles' career.

Review of Richard Bachman's (Stephen King's) "Blaze"

My latest standalone review ran in the Chicago Sun-Times today. The book is Stephen King's Blaze, written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman.

I've never read any of the other Bachman books, but I enjoyed this one.

Novels about assassins

I wrote this up for another website and thought I'd share it here as well. Obviously it's not an exhaustive list, but these are some of my favorites.

Lawrence Block -- Hit Man, Hit List, Hit Parade
Barry Eisler -- Rain Fall, Hard Rain, Rain Storm, etc. (6 books in the John Rain series)
Frederick Forsyth -- The Day of the Jackal
Geoffrey Household -- Rogue Male
Robert Ludlum -- The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Matarese Circle, The Matarese Countdown
David Morrell -- The Brotherhood of the Rose, The Fraternity of the Stone, The League of Night and Fog
Warren Murphy & Molly Cochran -- Grandmaster
Thomas Perry -- The Butcher's Boy, Sleeping Dogs
Daniel Silva -- The Kill Artist, The English Assassin, The Confessor, etc. (7 books in the Gabriel Allon series so far)
Trevanian -- The Eiger Sanction, The Loo Sanction, Shibumi

What are some of your favorites?

(Considering that my novel also features an assassin as the protagonist, this is clearly a topic that I enjoy too much.)