They Said WHAT?

It's the last day of January already. I'm having a hard time believing that January 2010 is already over. Where did it go?

I'd like to first send out some thanks today. All the folks who have commented here, on Facebook or sent me emails about the new blog look. Thank you so much for the kind words. And those of you who have found glitches for me, thank you for that also! I'm ecstatic that so many of you have said it is easier to read and navigate. That makes it worth all the effort to change. You know it's so darned easy to stay status quo and just go day to day. But, this change was completely worth the effort.

Also, I'd like to thank all the folks who sent me such nice emails this week about my post on Robert Crais' event in Dayton. First of all, it's such a blast to be able to talk about him with you guys. I love talking to other Craisies. And I also love hearing from some of the lurkers. It's nice knowing you're out there. Thank you for sharing my love of RC with me! I was surprised at how many people on Twitter said they were reading him for the first time because I had been tweeting about him. Warms my heart. And actually I was surprised. I thought for sure everyone already knew about his supreme wonderfulness. So, thank you all!

Today's post is a new project I'd like to try this year. The last Sunday of each month, I'll round up great lines/segments from books I've read in the month. This month's will have a couple from December, too, but after this it will be books I've read in that month. There are so many times when I read a great line and think, "man, I want to tell everyone about this." And then ultimately I forget because my memory is pathetic. And this will be my effort to remember. It's my goal to document them now. They might be lines that made me laugh or ones that jolted me with an incredible use of language or ones that really made me think. Overall, they are lines that stood out to me and elicited a "wow" response.

I hope you enjoy this. AND, if you have some great lines that you loved from your reading and would like me to include them. Send them my way. This can be a collaborative post. That would be fun! So here's the first "Great Lines" post of 2010:

From Kelli Stanley's CITY OF DRAGONS:

“ ‘The Chinese say whoever learns without thought is lost. But whoever thinks without learning is in great danger.’”

From Sean Chercover's TRIGGER CITY:

“A kid in a police uniform strode toward me, his hand held up like a traffic cop.

‘You can’t park there.’ Blond wisps of hair sprouted from his upper lip, petitioning for a promotion to the rank of mustache.”

From Marcus Sakey's GOOD PEOPLE:

“Even braced for it, the roar of the first shot hit like a thousand volts, kicking every cell into life, adrenaline pounding fast and hard. People didn’t realize how loud the things were, like God clapping his hands.”

From Walter Mosley's THE LONG FALL:

"Throwing a punch is the yang of a boxer's life. The yin is being able to avoid getting hit. I'm pretty good at the yang part."

"A person with no books is inconsequential in a modern setting, but a peasant who reads is a prince in waiting."

"If anyone was an example of having too much on the ball it was my son. He would track down Satan and then try to brace him for a bad loan."

From Craig McDonald's PRINT THE LEGEND:

"Hector didn't know if he would go in this direction in life, not just yet, but the opening line of a story or novel suddenly occurred to him: When you start sleeping with women younger than your cigarette lighter, you know you've turned a sorry corner."

From Steve Hockensmith's HOLMES ON THE RANGE:

"You can follow a trail without even knowing you're on it. You can start out just ambling, maybe get to thinking you're lost - but you're headed somewhere all the same. You just don't know it till you get there."

And my last one is from Robert Crais' THE FIRST RULE, but it's a bit difficult to take this out of context and have it mean much. I'll preface it by saying the male body is a murderer named "Moon" who Joe Pike has been looking for and this is the scene where he finds him:

"The dog's face and chest were matted with blood, and its feet were red boots. A second male body was half on a couch and half on the floor. The flesh on the second man's left forearm had been partially eaten, but his right forearm was intact. The numbers tattooed there were easy to read.

187
187
187
187
187

One for each of the people he put in the ground.

Pike said, 'Good night, Moon.'"

So there's my January roundup. Hope you enjoyed these lines. Maybe they even tempted you to read one of these books if you haven't already. They were all wonderful reads. Hope you had a January filled with great books and I hope your February finds you with even more.

Happy Reading!

The 2010 Make-Over

Dun da da dun! Yes! You have reached Jen's Book Thoughts. After much work behind the scenes, this is the brand new look for 2010 (and probably well beyond). I felt it was time for a change and wanted something a little cleaner, and a little more geared toward crime fiction.

I have a number of people to thank for their help and input on this undertaking. First and foremost, my good friend Michael over at Lazy Thoughts From a Boomer. I wouldn't have even known where to start without his guidance. He also provided a great deal of feedback as I was testing different ideas out.

Pop Culture Nerd would not let me settle when I was getting tired of going back and forth on different elements. For that I am extremely grateful.

My test viewers included Michael, PCN, Kaye Barley, Naomi Johnson, Tom Schreck, Sophie Littlefield, Rebecca Cantrell, and Kelli Stanley. Thanks so much for your input everyone. Decision-making is never my strong suit, so having your opinions was extremely helpful.

And most of all, I have to thank Hilary Davidson who linked me up with Lyman Feero. Lyman is the stunningly talented person who designed my header. I was literally giving up hope on finding the header that I envisioned, and then Lyman sent this beauty. It was as though he could see exactly what I was envisioning inside my head. I am so indebted to Hilary and Lyman for making this happen. Thank you both so, so much!

I'm still ironing out a few wrinkles here and there, so if you find anything hinky, let me know. But overall, I'm pretty happy with the new look.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on any elements. I discovered that everyone doesn't see the blog exactly the same. There's some color differentiation from computer to computer, so please let me know if the colors clash horribly on your computer. And let me know what you think overall.

I hope you like it, and if you aren't already registered, I hope you'll sign up for the blog updates. You can do that down in the bottom left corner.

As always, thanks for stopping by to share books with me and HAPPY READING!!

GOOD PEOPLE - Marcus Sakey

FIRST LINE: "The smile was famous."

Tom and Anna Reed are trying desperately to have a baby. They've tried everything to have a child of their own. Now they are up to their eyeballs in debt from the medical interventions and the stress is wearing on their marriage.

Meanwhile, their renter in the other half of their duplex dies while making instant coffee. The kettle on the stove starts a grease fire and in the process of extinguishing the fire, Tom and Anna discover the man has stashed $370,000 throughout his kitchen: in cookie boxes, flour sacks, crackers. The man doesn't seem to have any family or friends and the Reeds think this money could be the answer to all their problems, so they discreetly stash the money before the police show up to investigate the man's death. What Tom and Anna quickly discover, however, is that the money isn't the answer to their prayers, it's their worst nightmare.

If GOOD PEOPLE doesn't make you seriously consider your own ethics, there isn't much that will. Listening to this book, I could only hope that I would never covet ANYTHING enough to steal and deceive, but I don't know. The society we live in values wealth and prosperity. And we're often convinced that we NEED things when really we do not. GOOD PEOPLE is not only a heart-pounding, page-turning, thriller; it's a reminder to appreciate what we have instead of taking it for granted.

What completely astounds me about Sakey's writing is the attention to seemingly minor details. Those seemingly minor details speak oceans. After Tom and Anna encountered an especially traumatic event, Tom is replacing a heating vent cover:

"A final twist, and the cover was in place. For a moment he badly wanted to unscrew it, take it off, and then put it back on again. To repeat the process all day long."

Those three sentences say more about Tom's state than anything either character can express in dialogue. These kinds of details infuse GOOD PEOPLE with a realism that connects the reader to the action. These aren't superheros or secret agents; they are you and me and "Everyman" who has covers on their heating vents. The attention to detail takes GOOD PEOPLE from a great thriller to an amazing thriller.

If you haven't connected with a Marcus Sakey thriller, they receive my highest recommendation. I suggest you check one out. I checked out GOOD PEOPLE on audio book from Brilliance. It's read by two individuals: Joyce Bean and Dan John Miller. I have always appreciated audio books where a male and female read together. It's far less distracting when the male voices aren't especially effeminate or the females don't sound like men in drag. I did, however, wonder if Joyce's reading didn't contribute to my frustration with Anna. And when I say that I don't mean I was frustrated with how she was created or characterized, but rather I was frustrated with ANNA. She was so alive to me that I had arguments with her in my car as I listened. And I believe more than anything that I was most afraid that I could end up that blind and selfish if put in similar circumstances. So, I do think Joyce Bean perfectly blended with the concept Sakey was trying to portray through this character. It's powerful.

GOOD PEOPLE is available from Dutton in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-525-95084-4), from ONYX in mass market paperback (ISBN: 978-0-451-41274-4) and from Brilliance on audio (ISBN: 978-1-423-36688-1)

TRIGGER CITY - Sean Chercover

FIRST LINE: "Facts are not truth."

Ray Dudgeon has returned to Chicago but is still suffering from physical injuries as well as some mental/emotional trauma. He has a shoulder in need of surgery and can't get through the night without vivid nightmares. The money situation isn't great and he's looking for a buyer for his Shelby. So, when retired Colonel Isaac Richmond offers Ray a job investigating the murder of his daughter, a murder that the Chicago Police have sufficiently closed, he has a difficult time passing up the job.

Joan Richmond was murdered by a colleague, Steven Zhang, who subsequently committed suicide. These facts are not in question. Richmond, however, wants to hire Ray to find the "truth of Joan's death." When Ray begins to investigate the life and death of Joan Richmond, he finds some oddities. And as he agitates those oddities, disturbing elements begin to appear. And suddenly a routine investigation has turned into a shapeless evil Ray can't identify but has to battle, not only for his own safety but the safety of all those around him.

TRIGGER CITY is the second Ray Dudgeon novel from Sean Chercover and it is explosive! The plot of this novel not only kept me engaged but caught me completely off guard on more than one occasion. The twists were exquisitely placed and utterly believable. Plots like TRIGGER CITY'S convince the most stringent "Doubting Thomas" of government conspiracies. The pace of the novel is quick and intense. At times Chercover would let up slightly for the reader to catch his/her breath, but not for long.

Ray Dudgeon takes on a new dimension in TRIGGER CITY, and for me, he truly came alive. Dudgeon is a hard-ass Chicago P.I., but he's also human and his vulnerability was more translucent in this novel. Ray taking on the role of mentor to Vince helps to bring some of that vulnerability to the forefront but so does Ray's relationship to the deceased Joan Richmond.

For the most part TRIGGER CITY is a dark, dramatic novel, but every so often Chercover comes out with a great line. The dry humor catches you off guard and that makes it all the more funny. He also peppers the plot with music references, and I found those songs playing in my head long after I'd stopped reading.

TRIGGER CITY is the epitome of great, modern crime fiction. It has taken its spot in the canon and is required reading in the School of Noir.

One of Chercover's greatest writing strengths, and believe me he has many, is dialogue. Having listened to TRIGGER CITY on audio book, read by Joe Barrett, that gift with dialogue comes through vividly. Never did it sound forced or awkward, just smooth and natural. Barrett's sound, pacing and interpretation were engaging; they brought Chercover's words to life. It is an excellent audio production.

TRIGGER CITY is available from William Morrow in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-06-112869-1), Harper mass market paperback (ISBN: 978-0-06-112870-7) , or from Audible on audio book.

An Evening With My Idol - Robert Crais

**WARNING: Long fan-girl post with a ridiculous number of pictures. Read at your own risk!**

As you know, I drove to Dayton, Ohio, Sunday for Robert Crais' event at Books & Co. I'm going to try to recap this evening for you, but I'm sure I won't come even close to illustrating the wonderfulness of this day. But, let's give it a go!

The drive to Dayton was about 3 1/2 hours. My wonderful friend Michael provided me with the L.A. REQUIEM audiobook from Recorded Books so I could listen to it while I drove. 3 1/2 hours literally FLEW by. I left early enough so that I could meet Christine for lunch beforehand, and we ate at this adorable English pub across the street from the bookstore, where I was SOOOO tempted to order Bangers and Mash...but, it isn't conducive to the diet, so I had to be content with just seeing it on the menu. Anyway, here's Christine and I at the pub.


It was fabulous to meet Christine; she's a regular here at the blog, has her own blog and I'm looking forward to meeting up with her again in San Francisco later this year.

We went across the street to Books & Co. about an hour before the event was set to begin. Wanted to get good seats and we were meeting Naomi and Carolyn at the store. Naomi and Carolyn beat us there, though and had front-row seats. We were directly behind them on the aisle, so no complaints whatsoever. While we waited, we got our Pike on:


And just a few minutes after 6, Robert Crais made his entrance! He was greeted with a standing ovation and an audience full of red arrows!



RC started off his presentation sharing some emails with the crowd. This kind of thing makes you think twice about what you might be emailing authors or other celebrities! ;) Some people aren't afraid, that's for sure. Many took issue with RC on his use of "bring" for "take" or "take" for "bring." You can see a video of RC reading these emails over at Naomi's blog.

People have named their pets after him. One woman sent RC a picture of her dog, "Crais." The owner lives in Manhattan and walks around with "Crais" the dog; everytime she sees a celebrity she runs over and forces them to have their picture taken with him. There was a picture of "Crais" the dog with Rick Springfield; a picture of "Crais" the dog with Olivia Newton John. RC thought this wouldn't be so bad, but he knows these celebrities think he's putting her up to it. Another person sent RC a picture of his/her cat sleeping on his book.


***UPDATE**** Hey everyone! I received an e-mail from Crais the Dog's owner, Penny! Guess what? Crais has a cat sibling named Harlan (yep, after Harlan Coben)! And another cat sibling named Olivia (after Olivia Newton-John). They all actually live in New Jersey, but Rick Springfield is Crais' Godfather. AND Rick drew an cartoonized picture of Crais the Dog that Penny the Mom had tattooed on her leg! Crais the dog can't claim any other celebrity pictures, though. Just Rick Springfield and Olivia Newton John. But who would complain about that? Thanks for writing Penny!

RC finds some of his mail disturbing. He received an email with the subject: "Elvis Cole's grooming." The author of this email said she dreamed Elvis hired her as his assistant, and one of her duties was doing Elvis' laundry where she found "undies with skid marks." My first thought was "why in God's name would someone send an e-mail like that?" And almost immediately after thinking that, RC says, "someone typed this up and sent it."


After the e-mail fun, RC launched into some discussion about THE FIRST RULE. This is his sixteenth book total, the 13th in Elvis Cole series. RC doesn't differentiate Joe's books from Elvis'; as far as he's concerned they are all the same series. In the last few books he's really getting into who the characters are - I would say this has been ever since L.A. REQUIEM. Joe is a very visual character and has the iconic image with sunglasses and the red arrows. The arrows suggest the true nature of his character. "Never back up; never give ground." This was the philosophy he established when he was young and needed to find a way to survive. "Control and dominate the environment to survive." If you have not read L.A. REQUIEM, first DO SO! But those who have, know that we really learn these facts about Joe in that novel.

After he spoke in general about Joe, RC gave some of the background story leading up to THE FIRST RULE and then read a couple of brief excerpts. One of those excerpts was near the beginning when Joe has snuck into Frank's house and is on the phone when the police go by outside. I love his reading for Joe. While I've enjoyed the audio books I've listened to of the Elvis series, Joe's voice never seemed exactly right to me. The readers often did a decent job with Elvis, but Joe's voice was never quite right. But I thought RC's Joe was the closest to what I imagined in my head. He was dramatic and animated as he read, and that was fun. It makes me all the more interested in getting his audiobook reading of THE FIRST RULE. If you do not know, he is the narrator for this audiobook. I am on the waiting list at my library to get it.


After his reading, RC opened the floor up for Q&A and the first question was "Does Joe Pike have a kid somewhere?" With a rather startled expression, RC looked around as though one might pop out from behind a book shelf somewhere. But his response was, "I guess you'll have to read every one of my books from now on to find out."


Another question was about future plans for Carol Starkey or John Chen. Would there be any books featuring either of these two characters. RC plays with notions for Carol Starkey, and with her now in Robbery/Homicide, he's opened the door for another feature with her, but if that happens it won't be for at least 4 to 5 books. He doesn't feel John Chen couldn't carry his own book, but he receives tons of emails saying "please let John Chen get a girlfriend."


And of course the inevitable question came out, "Will Lucy come back?" RC posed to the audience, "How many people want Lucy to come back?" He pointed out how the no's are so vehement whenever he asks that question. And then he said at an event in La Jolla someone popped up during Q&A and yelled, "Kill Lucy!" while another woman on the other side of the room jumped up and yelled "No!" A cat fight at the author event! The next, as many of you have probably heard, is another Joe Pike, and following that one is the next Elvis Cole, and Lucy will indeed appear in that book.


Another audience member asked how difficult this book was for him to write emotionally and he said it was great fun for him to write, but through some of the scenes he was "blubbering like a baby."

A woman in the audience wanted to know if RC has Joe's whole life already all mapped out and created; does he know everything there is to know about Joe? And his response is that he knows a lot, but part of the fun is making up the details along the way. The core elements he's known since the beginning, but as he delves deeper, he's making up fresh details. Along with the readers RC is learning more about the characters. Ultimately, though, he always want Joe to be enigmatic; too much Joe is not a good thing and he has to carefully walk a fine line.

Another member of the audience wanted to know if RC ever considered writing a younger Joe Pike, a novel out of sequence? And he's thought about it for both Joe and Elvis, but he doesn't have plans to do either now; as series progresses, maybe.

RC brought up that he wrote the scene of how Elvis and Joe met for THE LAST DETECTIVE, but once the plot was complete, the scene didn't fit, so it was cut (I feel its pain!). Scenes that have been cut are saved in a file for possible future use. And so something like their meeting could possibly evolve into a future plot line.

RC would love to write another Max Holman book, but there isn't one in the works at this time; he's playing with the idea of bringing Max into Elvis' world, though.

When asked what was the hardest book for him to write and what was the easiest, he replied that L.A. REQUIEM was possibly his most difficult book to write, primarily because it was so different from anything he'd ever written before. I many have mentioned this on here before because I heard him say this in an interview, but he feared L.A. REQUIEM would kill his career and be considered one of the worst books ever written. When he finished it, he told his agent if the editor didn't want to publish it, that was o.k., he just hoped they wouldn't want to end his contract. L.A. REQUIEM took RC about 14 months to write. Earlier books shorter, so in that sense those were easier; they weren't as complex as the later books. DEMOLITION ANGEL was fairly easy because once he met and started Carol, he fell in love with her and every day writing was a pleasure. DEMOLITION ANGEL was also a research-intensive book. But for him it was "like a drunk falling down stairs: once he slipped, he just rolled."

Someone who obviously never read even RC's book jacket asked if he lived in the area that he writes about. Of course, we know he's been an Angeleno for quite some time. But RC says he explores L.A. in the middle of the night because it's the only time traffic is o.k. Looks for settings during this time, always looking for new settings so he doesn't use the same ones over and over again.

This wrapped up the Q&A session, and RC took his place of honor at the signing table. He is truly one of the most generous writers when it comes to book signing. He makes an effort to talk to each person that comes up, and aside from the two book dealers at the very end, he didn't put stipulations on numbers. When he personalizes, he actually "personalizes." There isn't a set phrase to write for each book.


The highlight for me, however, was when I was standing in the vicinity of the signing table to get Christine's picture with RC. She wasn't up to the front of the line yet, but he looked up from what he was signing, looked at me and said, "I know YOU! L.A. Festival of the Book. Jen, right?" You could have knocked me over with a feather. My idol remembered ME, after meeting me once for less than five minutes. It was thrilling!


I brought RC buckeyes, and he graciously signed my books, my copy of his L.A. Times interview with Megan Abbott, as well as some special items that may make an appearance here on the blog before too long. Keep your eyes peeled.


And of course we had to get a shot of the socks!


It was a magical evening and I am still smiling from the event. Robert Crais is a great writer, he's a witty entertainer, and he's a genuinely great guy. I'm erecting his pedestal as we speak! ;)

For those who stuck it out and read this entire post, I thank you for letting me re-live this very special evening. It's one I will not ever forget. Hopefully the whole post is coherent as I'm starting to see double from looking at this screen for so long. Happy Reading!

Holy Wow! What a Week

Well if this hasn't been a weeks of ups and downs, I don't know what is.

Of course, the major down was the loss of Robert B. Parker, a man who influenced the genre in monumental ways. An additional tribute link includes Ali Karim's write-up of Dennis Lehane's hat tip to the Spenser creator. And Sarah Weinman has an extensive listing of folks who have posted their thoughts on this great loss to the crime fiction world.

But this week was also full of many "ups". Numerous award nominations were announced this week. You can see the Edgar nominations here. David Thompson of Busted Flush Press passed along a fun tidbit about this year's Edgar nominations, and it deals with 3s.

John Hart -- Three straight books up for Edgar!
THE KING OF LIES -- Edgar Award winner for Best First Novel (2007)
DOWN RIVER -- Edgar Award winner for Best Novel (2008)
THE LAST CHILD -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Novel (2010)
(He didn't have a book out in 2008.)

Megan Abbott -- Three straight nominations in years she's been eligible!
DIE A LITTLE -- Edgar Award nominee for Best First Novel (2006)
QUEENPIN -- Edgar Award winner for Best Paperback Original (2008)
BURY ME DEEP -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Paperback Original (2010)
(She had no books in 2007 or 2008, but two in 2007.)

Busted Flush Press -- Three straight Short Story nominations!
Bill Crider's "Cranked" from DAMN NEAR DEAD -- Edgar Award nominee for Best
Short Story(2007)
Daniel Woodrell's "Uncle" from A HELL OF A WOMAN -- Edgar Award nominee for Best Short Story (2008)
Ace Atkins's "Last Fair Deal Gone Down", an original short story published for the first time in Busted Flush
Press's reprint of Atkins's first novel, CROSSROAD BLUES -- Edgar Award nominee
for Best Short Story (2010)
(BFP didn't have an original story out in 2008.)

So, do you suppose this would be considered the Edgar tri-fecta? I have to send special shout-out congrats to Sophie Littlefield (YAY Sophie!!), Megan Abbott (Go girl!), Busted Flush Press (Keep that good stuff comin', David!), and also Otto Penzler (Thrilled to see THE LINE-UP on the nomination list).

In addition to the Edgars, there were the Dilys Award nominations. You can see those nominations on Janet Rudolph's blog, if you haven't checked them out already. And special cheers for two of my all-around favorite crime fiction writers here: Craig Johnson and Louise Penny. Both books are truly deserving of the nominations!

And finally, we have the Left Coast Crime Award nominations. Again, you can check that list on Janet Rudolph's blog if you haven't seen it already. These folks know about good crime fiction, too. Gregg Hurwitz's TRUST NO ONE is nominated for the Panik Award for L.A. Noir, and Tasha Alexander and Rebecca Cantrell are both nominated for the Bruce Alexander Award for Historical Mystery. Congrats to these fantastic writers as well.

If you don't already know, Pop Culture Nerd has moved her blog. She's now housed in a fancy new look at http://popculturenerd.com/ My link is incorrect in my blog roll right now. I'm preparing to shift over to my own fancy new look at the end of the month, so I will update it at that time. In the meantime, you can subscribe to her blog so as not to miss out on any of the fun!

Timothy Hallinan has started a series on his blog called Plotting vs. Pantsing. He's recruited authors to write about whether they plan out their plots ahead of time or write as they go. I know several of the writers contributing to this series, so I'll be following along to see what they have to say. Stephen Jay Schwartz is the first in the series line-up.

On Thursday I had the great pleasure of meeting blogger Jenn from Jenn's Book Shelves. She was in Cleveland for work and we were able to meet up and have dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company. We talked about blogging and crime fiction, and it was a wonderful time! She's a wonderful person. I wish we lived closer and could do that on a regular basis! What fun! If you've never seen her blog, I encourage you to jump over and take a look.


And before I finish up with some blog awards, I wanted to share this link to Dave White's blog where he's talking about L.A. Requiem. He summed up quite a few of my sentiments in regard to this magnificent work of crime fiction. In addition to reading Dave's blog post, I've been listening to Ken Bruen's THE DRAMATIST on audio, and today there was a segment where Bruen cited LAR. It's all the pomp and circumstance leading up to Sunday for me! Now I've got to be off to finish packing my things for Dayton - camera, extra batteries, books to be signed - one can never be too prepared for a Robert Crais event, especially since I can't turn around and come back home easily if I forget anything!

And to wrap up today's ridiculously long post, I was recognized this week by two bloggers/friends that I admire greatly, so I need to mention those recognitions, as they mean a lot to me. First the awesome le0pard13 over at Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer (a.k.a. Michael) nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you so much Michael! Most of you don't know how much I rely on Michael for audio book info, tech support, and general all-around friendship. He's just an amazingly wonderful friend and he's an incredible blogger. His site is a source of great entertainment for me, so being recognized by him truly is special to me. I've mentioned before that Lesa from Lesa's Book Critiques is who I consider to be my blogging mentor. I often look to her for advice and recommendations. Lesa also use to live in my neck of the woods so we often fondly share Ohio stories. She created a fun award, called the "Lesa's Bald-Faced Liar, whoops, I meant to say 'Creative Writer' Award."


With both of these awards the requirements have you acknowledge where they came from and link to the person's blog. I've done that. Kreativ Blogger Award wants you to list 7 things people wouldn't know about you. And the Bald-Faced Liar, whoops Creative Writer Award wants you list a number of lies with at least one true fact hidden in. So, I'll kind of combine them. There are some truths in this list and some falses. You can guess in the comments which are which. Although some of you who read here regularly probably aren't going to have trouble figuring these items out.

1. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Baldwin-Wallace College with a degree in Journalism and Education.

2. My first job (outside of babysitting) was selling shoes for Endicott Johnson.

3. In high school I dated the captain of the football team.

4. I have never traveled outside the Continental United States and do not own a passport.

5. My dog was named after my favorite baseball player.

6. I learned to crochet from my grandmother when I was in high school.

7. I can curl my tongue.

8. The very first car that I bought and paid for myself was a 1989 Ford Escort.

9. A teacher from my elementary school was the runner up for the teacher in space program that sent Christa McAuliff on the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986.

10. One of my goals is to learn sign language.

Alright, post your guesses in the comments. Which of these statements are true?

When I return, I will be recapping my visit with Robert Crais in Dayton. It probably won't be until Tuesday since the event got bumped back to 6p.m. I won't be getting home until very late Sunday night. But rest assured I will be sharing my experience and pictures. I'm meeting up with (at the very least) Christine and Naomi. If you're going to be there, let me know so we can meet and say "hi."

Oh, one quick last reminder. I swear this is the last item. Remember that I'm still taking bloggers for the "Detectives Around the World" theme week, that will take place in April. I have a detailed .pdf for anyone who might be interested. E-mail me and I'll send it your way. If you know of other bloggers who aren't involved, encourage them to check it out. The more the merrier! It'll be fun; it isn't a huge commitment, but there are lots of prizes involved. Reconnect with a detective you've been wanting to read again; check out a new detective you've been meaning to read but haven't yet. And if you haven't been a reader of crime fiction in the past, ask (myself or another participant) and we'll be more than happy to make recommendations for you.

Have a great weekend and happy reading!

THE DAWN PATROL - Don Winslow

FIRST LINE: "The marine layer wraps a soft silver blanket over the coast."

Boone Daniels is a private investigator by trade, a surfer by choice. He only works when it's absolutely necessary and finances dictate, despite the huge surf preparing to hit the Southern California Pacific Beach, Boone needs to take the case that has arrived at his front door. Petra Hall is a beautiful attorney with a sexy accent and she needs to hire Boone to find a missing prostitute set to testify in an insurance case. However, it doesn't take long for Boone and Petra to discover that much more lies behind that insurance case, enough to warrant murder.

Don Winslow has an amazing knack for writing P.I. fiction. His characters are diverse and quirky and humorous. And the relationships between the characters work to solicit empathy from the reader. At the same time those relationships create conflict for the reader. The tough decisions the characters encounter transfer to the reader. Winslow's antagonists almost drip with "ick" because they are so realistic.

The plot of THE DAWN PATROL exerts the power of the "big wave" set to hit the Pacific Coast. Just when Winslow lets the reader up for air, the next round of action comes roaring in, often catching the reader off guard. But there's no need to worry because being immersed in THE DAWN PATROL is a thrilling experience and well worth the ride.

Winslow's an old hand with the sharp humor. With THE DAWN PATROL however, Winslow drives the reader through a gamut of emotions.

The only minor element I find myself noticing is Winslow's tendency to loosen the plot with maybe more detail than is essential. I felt this in CALIFORNIA FIRE AND LIFE, and I felt it in THE DAWN PATROL, but probably not to the same extent. It's not anything that would ever keep me from reading his books but I do think the plot could have been tighter without sacrificing any of the greatness.

I listened to THE DAWN PATROL on audio book, courtesy of my friend Le0pard13. And it is a great narration, read by Ray Porter from Blackstone Audio. Porter does an exquisite job picking up on the nuances that heighten Winslow's humor as well as his more somber tones. The dialects are well done and consistently well transitioned. There isn't much that can throw a listener off more than a reader who neglects to transition out of a dialect when reading dialogue. In this audio of THE DAWN PATROL it would be crystal clear who was talking even without cues such as "he said"/"she said". This is an outstanding audio.

THE DAWN PATROL is available from Knopf in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0307266200), from Vintage in trade paper (ISBN:978-0307278913), and Blackstone Audio on CD (ISBN: 978-1433214899).

CITY OF DRAGONS - Kelli Stanley

FIRST LINE: "Miranda didn't hear the sound he made when his face hit the sidewalk."

Miranda Corbie is a former prostitute turned female private investigator in 1940 San Francisco when a young man falls dead at her feet in the midst of a Rice Bowl Party. The cops are trying to sweep his murder quietly under the carpet; no one will care about a Japanese boy after all. But Miranda does and she's determined to find out who killed Eddie Takahashi. Meanwhile Helen Winters wants to hire Miranda to find her step-daughter Phyllis, who she believes is responsible for her husband's murder. Phyllis is missing and Helen wants her found and institutionalized. As Miranda uncovers clues in both cases, more questions arise and Miranda's own life is endangered. Life as a young, single, female PI seeking the truth in 1940 San Francisco may turn out to be shorter than Miranda anticipated.

The setting of CITY OF DRAGONS comes alive, taking on a character role, at page one. Stanley evokes every human sense to transport the reader into a pre-war San Francisco.

"A trombone slide squealed from somewhere on Market, but was drowned out by a streetcar clang and the irritated horn of a car before she could figure out the song."

"The fog was creeping down from the Mark Hopkins and the Fairmont and exclusive set on Nob Hill. It flowed sinuously over Stockton and Clay, past the GOLDEN STAR RADIO SIGN, drowning out the yellow neon in a sea of thick white haze, heading for the piers. A foghorn belched, the low hum filling one of the few silences in the heart of Chinatown. Real fog was an event, not just a shapeless cloud of moisture. As alive as the dragons of Chinatown and the ghosts of gold rush San Francisco."

"San Francisco yawned and stretched, waking to Monday morning with a hangover. Chinatown shutters squealed open on rusty hinges, the streets shut off now, self-contained, the cotton-candy smell evaporated, the carnival gone on a dilapidated coach car to smaller, more simple places.

Old women swept chicken bones and popcorn and cigarette butts from foyers. Incense burned, sending curling waves of smoke drifting down to the Bay, to tickle the noses of businessmen on the ferry to Oakland."

In addition to the sense-stimulating imagery, Stanley makes effective use of song references throughout the novel to create a more palpable atmosphere and tone.

Tensions are mounting between Chinese-Americans and Japanese-Americans; corruption is running rampant. And Miranda Corbie is far from the typical private investigator of that era. As a point of contrast, Miranda's office is hidden in the corner of her building next to the famous Pinkertons. Not only is she having to overcome the stigma of being a former prostitute but she also has to battle the gender bias of the time period:

"The boys club. They loved her and hated her, used her and ignored her, tried to forget she existed, tried to keep her where they thought she belonged. One or two hoping he'd be the one."

Miranda's past, has made her wise and hardened to the ways of the world, but not immune to the dangers and the violence of the corner she's chosen to make a life in. She's not helpless, but she also isn't superwoman. She's a real woman on a mission. Beauty assists her, but her past hinders her. All of these complexities contribute to the plot conflicts and almost work to illustrate Miranda as the personification of the city; Stanley blends character, plot and setting so that the lines are almost indistinguishable, lost maybe in San Francisco's fog. No matter where the lines have gone, the melding of the novel elements creates a seamless read; chapters flowing one right after the other.

Readers, too, will find themselves enveloped by a fog, the fog Stanley masterminds in the pages of CITY OF DRAGONS, a fog that carries the reader out of the present and squarely into a time gone by. The "City of Dragons" is deceptive and dazzling and dangerous. Just try to resist its temptations.

CITY OF ANGELS will be available February 2, 2010 from St. Martin's Minotaur (ISBN: 978-0-312-60360-1). And if you're interested in the song references I mentioned in this review, you can see a listing of the music used in CITY OF DRAGONS here.

Robert B. Parker - One of the Greats

This week I had promised myself I would get caught up on my reviews. I'd write at least one each night after work and get back on track. But sometimes life happens; it gets in the way. This time death happened, and it's time to step back and pay tribute, reviews can wait until tomorrow.

I don't know that there is much I can say that hasn't been said - very well - already. Dave White was extremely eloquent in his tribute and fond words peppered Twitter, among them this and this. Robert B. Parker influenced the crime fiction genre in monumental ways. I grew up watching Spenser for Hire on television and didn't know until later in life that it was based on Parker's series. It was love at first word when I did finally discover them. I haven't made my way through the entire series yet, because I discovered it late. Now I will relish every book, every chapter, every sentence even more - if that is possible.

I also know that because of his influence on the genre, he will live on. Yes, his books will be his legacy, but echos of his style will live through other writers who have been drawn into the genre because of his work. I think he can be extremely proud of ALL that he has accomplished and left behind.

Robert B. Parker died sitting at his desk, working on his next novel. How perfect an end, too soon though it was. The crime fiction world mourns you today, Robert B. Parker. We salute you and thank you. May you rest in peace.

HOLMES ON THE RANGE - Steve Hockensmith

FIRST LINE: "There are two things you can't escape out here in the West: dust and death."

Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer are ranch hands and they are brothers. Big Red is educated and can read; Old Red is a genius, but cannot. "Old Red" relies on his younger brother to read him Sherlock Holmes stories from Harper's Weekly because Old Red worships Sherlock Homes. "Some folks get religion. Gustav got Sherlock Holmes." When the brothers are offered a job at the Bar VR cattle ranch, they jump at the chance for employment but find far more than they bargained for when they unearth a possible murder. But Old Red sees an opportunity to put his deducifyin' skills to work, determined to solve the case.

HOLMES ON THE RANGE is the first book by Steve Hockensmith in the Holmes on the Range series featuring the Amlingmeyer brothers. It is a unique blend of comedy, western and mystery.

Written in first person, HOLMES ON THE RANGE follows in the format of Sherlock Holmes. Otto Amlingmeyer, a.k.a. "Big Red", is the educated narrator. Gustav Amlingmeyer, a.k.a. "Old Red", is the uneducated brother with a keen sense of logic and observation. And the book is fiction, in the same fictional world as Sherlock Holmes, so Sherlock Holmes exists and is a real person living in London, while the Amlingmeyer brothers read about him in Montana. This allows Hockensmith to weave subtle elements of the original Holmes tales into his book.

More than Sherlock Holmes comes to life in HOLMES ON THE RANGE, though. Through his colorful descriptions and dialogue, Hockensmith gives the Amlingmeyer brothers spunk and flaws and all-around dimension:

"My brother squinted at me as if trying to figure out why such a featherlight thing as my head doesn't go drifting off my shoulders with the slightest breeze."

Another detail that helps to bring the characters to life in this novel is Hockensmith's use of dialect, word choice and idioms:

"Usually when Old Red gets bossy with me - which is only about a hundred times a day - I repay his piss with vinegar. But my brother got no sass from me now, as
fetching tools sounded a hell of a lot more appetizing than separating innards from earth."

"Now when a herd gets spooked, there's no figuring which way that avalanche of beef will tumble, which is why so many punchers pass through the pearly gates looking like strawberry jam."

And the plot plays out just as a Doyle Holmes novel would. Hockensmith gives the reader the clues; can you deducify and solve the puzzle? HOLMES ON THE RANGE is witty, smart, and downright fun.

HOLMES ON THE RANGE is published by St. Martin's Minotaur and is available in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0312347802) and trade paper (ISBN: 978-0312358044) HOLMES ON THE RANGE is available on audio book from Tantor Media (ISBN: 978-1400102259).

What Would YOU Like to See Nominated?

Alafair Burke put this short video together on what MWA folks would like to see nominated this year for the Edgar Awards. I think it's an intriguing question, so I'll throw it out for all of you as well. Check out the video and then let me know in the comments what you'd like to see nominated this year:


I have to be honest and say I don't know where the cut-off dates are for this year's nominations, but I think Craig Johnson is long overdue for recognition here and would like to see THE DARK HORSE get a nod. I also think TELL NO ONE (Gregg Hurwitz), THE BRUTAL TELLING (Louise Penny) and TOWER (Coleman/Bruen) are deserving. I'm listening to THE LONG FALL during my workouts and it's another powerful book. Also, I've said this repeatedly, Timothy Hallinan's amazing. BREATHING WATER is the best of the Poke Rafferty series and I don't know how this series is being kept such a secret. I think this year will be a challenge; there was a lot of great stuff out there.

Best first novel. I'll be disappointed if Sophie Littlefield and Brad Parks are overlooked here.

And I'm not much in the prognostication department, but THE FIRST RULE and PRINT THE LEGEND will be hard pressed to find contenders in my reading for next year!

I'd also like to see S.J. Rozan's short story "Night Court" from THE PROSECUTION RESTS get a nod in the short story category. It's magnificent.

O.k., your turn! Whatda think?

Craig's Having a Birthday! Yes...It is so.

That's right! Today is Craig Johnson's birthday. On Facebook he asked for no cards but for everyone to raise a glass in his honor today. So, for Craig Johnson, ya'll!

Happy Birthday Craig! Also this weekend, Craig is out in the big city being inducted onto the MWA board. In addition, Alafair Burke will take the president's seat for the New York chapter in 2010. Hail to the Chief!

I'm very excited about all of the bloggers who have signed up for "Detectives Around the World" so far. We're really going to have a selection from around the world, too! You all are really motivating me on this project. If you would like to learn more about the details of participating, please e-mail me and I'll send you the information. Please pass the word along to other bloggers you know. It doesn't have to be exclusive to book bloggers. Anyone who wants to participate is welcome! We are going to celebrate detectives for a week in April; what could be better than that?

If you haven't already seen them, you really should check out Michael's pictures from Robert Crais's book launch at Book Soup in California. They will make you smile. Folks in my neck of the woods, remember that RC is going to be in Dayton a week from Sunday (the 24th). If you're going, drop me a note and let me know, so I look for you. I can't wait!

That about does it for me today, I think. Have a wonderful weekend. If you're lucky enough to have Monday off, enjoy the long weekend. If you're like me and it's just a regular weekend, make the most of the days you've got! :) And don't forget to say a little prayer or send some good thoughts to the folks in Haiti. Rich or poor, everyone should be able to spare a few of those.

Happy Reading!

THE DARK HORSE - Craig Johnson

FIRST LINE: "It was the third week of a high-plains October, and an unseasonably extended summer had baked the color from the landscape and had turned the rusted girders of the old bridge a thinned-out, tired brown."

THE DARK HORSE finds Sheriff Walt Longmire in Absalom, Wyoming under cover. When Mary Barsad is brought to the Absaroka jail after murdering her husband, Walt questions her guilt. Mary confessed to the murder, but Walt isn't convinced; he wants to learn for himself what the facts of the case are, so he heads to Powder Junction disguised as an insurance inspector and finds an entire town full of folks with motives to kill Mary's husband, the despicable Wade Barsad.

THE DARK HORSE is Craig Johnson's fifth dance with the characters of Absaroka County, and he hasn't lost one iota of quality in those characters, in the plotting, in the dialogue, nothing. Johnson sets the leisurely pace of small town Wyoming and a sheriff on the verge of retirement. But the slower pace doesn't mean less adventure, and it definitely doesn't mean the book is easy to put down. What it does create is a richer setting and characters that penetrate your soul.

The dialogue is undoubtedly one of my favorite elements of a Craig Johnson novel. The turns of phrase and colorful idioms create not only humor in his characters, but also warmth.

"I started to climb into the driver's seat but stopped when he called out to me again. 'Hey youngster, I didn't catch your name.'

I paused for only a second, continuing to look down the valley at the small town. 'I didn't throw it.'"

It's that warmth that makes readers care about and want to befriend Walt, Henry, Vic, Ruby, Poncho, and especially Dog.

"By the time I got there, I discovered that Dog's idea of 'stay' was
disinterestedly springing a few western cottontails from the brush. He wandered back in my direction when I called him, marking each stand of sage as he came, and finally rested his muscled behind on my foot. I ruffled his ears, my hand stretching a full octave across his massive head. I peeled some fur back to look at the bullet furrow across his thick skull. 'Is that your idea of stay?' He smiled up at me, revealing rows of teeth that shone in the evening moonlight."

Another characteristic of the Walt Longmire novels I admire is Johnson's ability to find exactly the right balance. Every book is meticulously packed with adventure, mystery, intimacy, friendship and humor. What the Longmire novels lack in eye-rolling moments or "Oh-come-on" moments, they more than make up for in "I-know-that-feeling" moments. And if you haven't discovered the feeling in your own life experiences, you walk away from the books convinced you now have. Craig Johnson will often tell the stories of people asking for the phone numbers of Vic or Walt. And it's this perfect balance in his writing that creates the mirage. Certainly these people MUST exist. They are simply too real not to exist.

THE DARK HORSE is what Craig Johnson calls his "high plains noir" novel. I call it another astonishing work that blurs the genre lines. Part literary, part crime fiction, part western, all exemplary.

As I've done with the previous four Walt Longmire books, I listened to the audio book in addition to reading the print version. And once again it was read by my favorite narrator, George Guidall. George not only creates a voice that is perfect for the veteran sheriff, he also nails the nuances Johnson layers throughout the novel. He enhances the humor, Vic's and Henry's sarcasm, and especially the sentimentality. Guidall's pitch, tone and pacing are equally responsible for bringing these books to life. As I believe every crime fiction fan should experience a James Lee Burke novel narrated by Mark Hammer, I also believe every crime fiction fan should experience a Craig Johnson novel narrated by George Guidall. And you have not fully lived until you hear George Guidall sing "Ruby" or "Cattle Call" as Walt Longmire.

THE DARK HORSE is available from Viking Penguin in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-670-02087-4). A trade paper version will be available in May of 2010. The audio book is published by Recorded Books.

Call for Bloggers

Today I'm putting out the call for bloggers as I announce the first ever theme week on Jen's Book Thoughts.

In mid-April I will be hosting a theme week entitled "Detectives Around the World." If you are a blogger and think you might like to participate, please send me your e-mail and I'll forward the participation information along to you. And feel free to pass the word along to your blogger friends who might be interested. There will be no limit on the number of blogs participating, but detective choices are on first come-first serve basis. The more, the merrier! Let's celebrate literary detectives everywhere!

Even if you're not a blogger, you'll have opportunities to take part in the festivities, so be on the look-out for more to come.

Havin' A Party! With Games!

Yes, it's here! It's here! Jen's Book Thoughts second anniversary AND the release of Robert Crais' THE FIRST RULE. So we have double the reason to party today.

First, as promised, I have winners in the Steve Hockensmith autographed books giveaway. Darcy O. is the winner of ON THE WRONG TRACK and Vicki W. is the winner of HOLMES ON THE RANGE. I have contacted both winners to get mailing information. Congratulations to you both.

Don't you love these dancing lemons? They cracked me up. And since they have better rhythm than I do, I thought I'd include them in the celebration today. I did try Pop Culture Nerd's suggestion of running naked through the snow. But since it's so darned cold, I moved fast...so fast that the image only resulted in a streak (pun intended) across the picture.

A few little factoids about Jen's Book Thoughts over the last two years. This post is post number 554. As of this writing there have been in excess of 32,100 unique visitors (of which, just under 5,000 visited in Year One), and those unique visitors have translated into many new book friends. I hope you will all stick around for Year Three. You are, after all, my motivation!

Year Three will see, God willing, a second season of 6-word memoirs, another Bouchercon and L.A. Times Festival of Books. More reviews, interviews, giveaways and other fun book stuff. I may even pop in some reviews of movies and TV. We'll see. I'm also working hard on a theme week for later this year. I have no intention of resting on my laurels. This is just too much fun! So again, I hope you'll stick around and join me for Year Three. Let's make it a great year of sharing books.

Alright. Let's talk about party requirements here. We have dancing lemons, hopping beagles. You are each required to join me in toast. Hold your glasses up to your monitors...I'm toasting you from my end of the blog-o-sphere, "here's to another great year with crime fiction and friends!"

And what's a party without games? We have a game in honor of R.C.'s book launch today. We waited over a year for this one, so it's cause for celebration, right? Oh, who am I kidding, we wouldn't have to wait a year to have cause for celebration. But this game is in his honor. And the inspiration came from Pop Culture Nerd. We were discussing "degrees of separation" between R.C. and well...everyone. So, today we're going to play Six Degrees of Robert Crais. I hope you all will play along with me. Here are the rules:

1. Pop Culture Nerd is starting off the game by giving me a name that would be recognizable to most people. I have to connect this person to R.C. in six degrees or less (but not any more).

2. I throw another name out that would be recognizable to most people (in other words, I can't pick my sister's ex-boyfriend from seventh grade).

3. The first person to comment and play the game, needs to connect the name I gave to R.C. in six degrees or less then come up with the name for the NEXT commenter. And so on as long as the comments go.

4. All connections must be real and verifiable. So, no, "I dreamed that..."

So let's see how well we can do with The Six Degrees of Robert Crais! Pop Culture Nerd's name is:

Kevin Bacon

Wasn't that nice of her? She gave me an easy one. I don't need six degrees, so here goes:

1. Kevin Bacon was the movie A FEW GOOD MEN with Demi Moore.
2. Demi Moore was married to and had three children with Bruce Willis
3. Bruce Willis played the role of Jeff Talley in the film version of Robert
   Crais' standalone HOSTAGE.

At first I had a name that would be kind of challenging. Not impossible, just challenging, but I'm going to be just as generous (maybe even more so) and choose the person I always thought would make a good Max Holman,

MARK HARMON

So now it's your turn. In the comments section, connect Mark Harmon to Robert Crais in six degrees or less and then contributed the next name. The names don't have to be Hollywood names, just names that would be recognizable by most people.

And thank you all for helping make this a FANTASTIC Year Two for Jen's Book Thoughts! Happy Reading!

Sunday Odds and Ends

Well, despite the fact that I abhor snow, and we've been getting plenty of it, January is off to a great start for me. I hope that's true for you, too.

Today I thought I'd do a little round-up of various things I've seen on the web this week. But first I wanted to remind you that time is running out to enter my blogiversary contest to win one of two signed books from Steve Hockensmith's Holmes on the Range series. You can enter here.

Speaking of blogiversary, it will be two years ago on Tuesday that I started Jen's Book Thoughts. Do you know what else is Tuesday? Yep! The release of THE FIRST RULE. Coincidence? I don't think so! Thanks R.C. and Putnam for helping to celebrate my blog's birthday. And R.C.'s visit to Ohio is closing in. Two weeks from today! Can't wait!! If you're going to be in Dayton to see R.C., make sure you drop me a note and let me know so we can make a point of meeting and saying "hi."

I was over the moon to see some authors scheduled at Mystery Lovers Book Shop. You can see their entire line-up here. I've already got my spot for Jo Nesbø's and Alafair Burke's events in March. And I'm also planning to attend the Festival in May. I have it from a good source that Brad Parks is scheduled to be at the festival this year.

Speaking of Brad Parks. The scoundrel put my reputation through a blender this week in his interview with Pop Culture Nerd.

I went back and forth this week with Tom Schreck about the need for sidekicks to have sex. You can weigh in on the topic here.

The folks over at the Criminal Minds blog are growing in number. Have you been there lately? Stop over and wish the new contributors a warm welcome. And some changes are going on over at The Outfit.

And today, Lesa Holstine has posted her first video production to her blog. She's highlighting some cozy mysteries from Penguin, and she did a fantastic job.

I still have three reviews from books I read in 2009 that I need to finish to have last year totally wrapped up. I'd love to get those done this week. Then I have four others that I've finished reading so far this year. Geez, already starting off the year behind! I'm also doing a lot of behind the scenes prep work for some things to come, so if I'm a little sparse, that's what I'm doing.

Hope you have a wonderful (warm) week filled with great reading!

Shedding Some Light on James Thompson

Not long ago, I reviewed the American debut by James Thompson. This week was the release date for SNOW ANGELS, an amazing noir novel set in Finland. I was fortunate enough to be able to ask Jim some questions, and he had fabulous responses. We talk in depth, so I won't take up too much time with chatter. Let's just jump right in and meet this new sensation in the American crime fiction world, James Thompson!

Q. Jim, you’re an American who has lived in Finland for the last 11 years. What originally took you to Finland and what made you decide to call it home?

Jim: Back in the 90s, I met a Finnish girl in the States. We were together there for a couple years and decided to try life here in Finland. A big incentive was that education here is free, if you can pass the entrance exams, which is a competition. For instance, I earned a Master’s degree in English philology at the University of Helsinki. The year I tested for admittance, the department accepted about fifteen percent of applicants. Anyhow—the girl and I parted ways, but by then my life was here: friends, work, school, etc, and so I just stayed. Like you say, at a certain point Finland became home. I’ve been here almost twelve years now, and that much time in a place changes a person. I’m comfortable here. My wife, Annukka, is a Finn. Culturally, I feel more Finnish than anything else. I’ve noticed that most foreigners aren’t happy in Finland, but somehow the culture suits my personality. It wasn’t so much that I made a conscious decision to call Finland home, I just never left. Karma. Sometimes life just works in unanticipated ways.

Q. You’ve held many jobs in the past, but was writing fiction always your ultimate goal? What was the factor (or factors) that ultimately led you to say, “I want to be a writer”?

Jim: No, it didn’t go that way. I didn’t start trying to write fiction until I was about thirty. I’ve always been an avid reader. At that point I was reading a book every day or two, and got pissed off because most books, even highly touted ones, disappointed me. I had no grandiose ideas about becoming a published author, I just decided to try to write a book I would like to read. My first discovery was that I had no clue how to write. I kept writing, throwing away text. Writing, throwing it away, trying to teach myself the craft. I was a compulsive writer from the beginning, and it became part of my daily routine. After about ten years, I started to feel like I was getting pretty good at it. Then I decided I would like to try to write for a living and started showing my work to other people. In the end, I did very little toward getting published. I was working in a bar and met my Finnish publisher. He asked to see some work and signed me within weeks. My U.S. agent, Nat Sobel, found me through a mutual acquaintance. He requested SNOW ANGELS, read it, and offered to represent me four days later. Within weeks, he had sold the book and its sequel into several countries. At present, I think it’s scheduled for publication in thirteen countries.

Q. Then from there, what drew you to crime fiction? What’s the allure that holds you in this genre?

Jim: I’ve loved thrillers and crime novels since I was a child, and as I mentioned above, I try to write the kinds of stories that I would like to read myself. On a deeper level, I think I’m compelled by the desire to explore my inner relationship to the world, and writing for me is a form of self-therapy. Over time, I’ve discovered that like most writers, I’m driven by certain themes. Many of them deal with the dark side of human nature. Because of this, the crime genre suits my thematic needs better than any other. I would say that the genre chose me, not the other way around. I’ve spent much of my life living at night, working in bars and nightclubs. I spent all those years watching people—often at their worst, drunk and/or drugged up—listening to them yap and tell stories. I’m certain that experience has colored my worldview. I just write about life as I know it, call ‘em as I see ‘em.

Q. Are there any people, writers or otherwise, that you would say influenced the style you’ve developed?

Jim: I’ve read so many thousands of books that more than anything, I would call it a cumulative effect. My all time favorite writer is probably Graham Greene, because of the sense of melancholy that pervades his work, and I think also mine. I suppose I learned how to convey that sense from him more than from anyone else.

Not too many current thriller or crime writers excite me a whole lot. Right now I’m enjoying the sci fi pulp noire work of Richard Morgan’s ALTERED CARBON trilogy. I really like a lot of work from the 60s and 70s and even before, back in the good old days when men were men, sheep were sheep, and protagonists were sociopaths. Probably because of that influence, I can’t write a ‘good’ good guy to save my life. Here’s a list of writers I like off the top of my head.

Thriller writers:
Early John LeCarré (THE SPY WHO CAME
IN FROM THE COLD is a masterpiece).
Early Frederick Forsyth (THE DAY OF THE
JACKAL is probably the greatest procedural ever written).
Early Trevanian
Arturo Pérez-Reverte is cool
Umberto Eco
James Clavell
early works by blockbuster thriller writers like Ken Follett and Jack Higgins

Crime:
Arthur Conan Doyle
Dashiell Hammett
Raymond Chandler
Mickey Spillane
Eric Ambler
Jim Thomson (the other one)
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (The Komissario Beck series is maybe the high point of
Nordic crime writing)
James Ellroy (the Underworld USA series is maybe the high point of modern crime writing)

Horror:
Stephen King
Peter Straub
H.P. Lovecraft
E.A. Poe

Childhood favorites:
The Hardy Boys series
Charles Dickens
Alexandre Dumas
Robert Louis Stevenson
Daniel Defoe

So-called literature:
Dante
William Shakespeare
William Butler Yeats (I’m a Yeats scholar. My specialty is occult influences in his work)
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
James Joyce (mostly earlier work)
Mika Waltari

I also read many books about history and religion.

Q. In SNOW ANGELS, we see Detective Vaara’s American wife adjusting to life in Finland. Does her character embody a lot of what you dealt with when you were first living in Finland?

Jim: Yeah, a lot of it was like that for me. Moving to a new culture is an interesting experience. At first, everything is new, there’s a sense of wonder and elation. Then, for me, after about nine months, reality set in. Because I didn’t speak Finnish—I’ve got a pretty good language head, but Finnish is a brutally difficult, nearly incomprehensible language—I didn’t understand what was being said around me, and so didn’t necessarily understand what was happening either. Since I couldn’t read Finnish, I was functionally illiterate. Things I once took for granted became problems. Reading a newspaper was impossible. Going to the grocery store was potentially humiliating, because I might not understand what was in a package. It undermined my confidence and made me feel like a child. People seemed silent, laconic and inscrutable. I often wasn’t certain if people liked me or hated me or were indifferent because I couldn’t read their facial expressions. I went through a period of depression. I wrote like a madman during that time as a way of coping. It started to get better for me, as I became more accustomed to the language, after about three or four years. I got used to the people, learned to speak passable Finnish and started thinking in it more and more over time. Now Finns often tell me they find me silent, laconic and inscrutable, so I suppose I’ve acclimated to the point of over-compensation.

Q. Kaamos seems as though it would be a difficult environment in which to acclimate. What were ways you dealt with it, and is it something you feel you’re comfortable with now or is it still difficult. It appears from SNOW ANGELS that it affects people no matter how long they’ve lived with it.

Jim: I dealt with kaamos like many Finns, by becoming depressed and neurotic for a few months out of the year. And I still do. Nothing has changed. I’m not at all comfortable with it at all. In fact, I dread it. Kaamos depression results from the effect of darkness on brain chemistry. Some people say vitamin D helps, some say daylight lamps help. Some booze. Some just suffer. Kaamos affects some people much more than others. A few people don’t feel it at all. It doesn’t matter whether you’re born in the North or not. It doesn’t get better with time. Some older Finns have told me it just gets worse.

Q. SNOW ANGELS deals with a rather gruesome murder, which Vaara initially begins to investigate as a possible serial murder. You talk then about how rare this is in Finland. In your research on this, did you find a hypothesis for why that is? Later we learn that murder and suicide, in general, are not so rare in Finland, but the serial murder is.

Jim: I checked this out but found no definitive answers. First, let’s define it. Serial murder may be the result of several things. For instance, professional killers are serial murders, but usually when we think of the term, we’re considering killers with aberrant psycho-sexual motivations. The U.S. has far and away the world’s highest rate of serial murder. The Nordic countries have among the lowest in the Western world. It probably exists, but I haven’t seen research exploring the reasons behind the differences. I suspect though, that it has something to do with cultural sexual repression or the lack thereof, and the causes behind it that lead to or inhibit the desire to kill for sexual pleasure.

Q. Another element of the Finnish culture that you bring out in SNOW ANGELS is the silence; people don’t talk about what they are feeling or experiencing. Does that aspect of the culture create any challenges for you as a writer? Or for that matter, are there any aspects of the culture that as an American you find it challenging to accurately depict in your writing? Do you have people who come back and say, “That’s not the way this would happen…”?

Jim: After twelve years in Finland, it’s not challenging because I’m an American, but sometimes it is because of the degree of silence. People do express themselves, but since so much goes unsaid, it’s important to understand people well enough to discern underlining meanings behind what is said. And it’s not like no one ever speaks. Like everywhere, some people are more talkative than others. Also, people tend to jabber when they’re drunk, so they’re not always quiet. Because of the difficulty, I chose to write the Vaara series in the first person present, in order to give a window to the world through the narrowly focused eyes of a relatively normal Finnish man as events happen. It seemed the best solution to the dilemma.

No, I haven’t received criticism from Finns about misrepresenting the Finnish mindset or culture. Quite the opposite. Some people have thanked me for vocalizing what other Finnish writers (I’m still an American citizen but considered a Finnish writer) have been reticent to say out loud. Because I’m a foreigner, my outlook is somewhat different from a born and bred Finn, and occasionally someone will say, ‘Wow, I never thought of that, but it’s true.’

I sometimes receive criticism and have even made Finnish readers angry because I explore themes that Finns consider clichés about themselves: alcoholism, murder, depression, suicide. To which I always ask: ‘Did I say anything that wasn’t true?’ The answer is always no. So I say something like: ‘I’m a noir crime writer. Do you expect me to write warm stories about wholesome people to read aloud to the family in front of a cozy fireplace? Someone else can write those stories, but that’s not me.’ That doesn’t leave much room for response. Like in most societies, some Finns just have certain things they prefer remain un-discussed, particularly with outsiders.

Q. When you research for one of your novels, is it primarily Internet or book research or do you do field research as well? If so, can you tell us about a time that was especially fun or memorable for you?

Jim: All of the above. I enjoy all of it and spend a massive amount of time doing research. I don’t delve too deeply into the science behind criminology though. It bores me. I’ve educated myself about the practical aspects, which I find fun. It’s easy to learn; there’s a massive amount of information by and for professionals on the internet.

Several people have generously given me their time and acted as consultants. These days, I lean more toward field research and spend quite a bit of time with Finnish experts in their fields. A longtime member of the Helsinki homicide unit. Two notable historians. A criminal profiler. Some others. A couple weeks ago, one of the historians and I went to a public sauna to talk about the book I’m writing now. We drank some vodka, sat outside in the snow wearing towels when we got too hot, played some chess. That’s a pretty normal Finnish evening for a couple of guys hanging around, but I really enjoy that type of thing. Last summer, I spent an hour walking around the Russian Embassy in Helsinki, taking pictures of it for research for a book I’m thinking about writing. I thought for sure they would arrest me, but nobody said a word. Try that in New York and see what happens.

Q. Going back to the gruesome murder that SNOW ANGELS centers on, was this based on anything factual? Where did this idea emerge from?

Jim: No, nothing factual. I got this mental picture of a murder in a snowfield on a reindeer farm. Made the victim female so I cold discuss feminist issues. Made her black so I could dicuss racism. Made her a Somali Muslim because Somali immigrants are such a sensitive issue here and so I could compare and contrast religious beliefs. Made her a movie star to increase pressure on Kari Vaari to solve the crime. Made the crime heinous to create fear and horror, psychological pressure, among characters in the story. Like any good writer, I just kept asking myself what would raise the stakes.

Q. Do you have a process for writing? Do you outline or do you just follow where your characters lead you? And has a character ever surprised you – just took you in a direction you never intended to go?

Jim: I spend months on outlines, refining plots, developing characters, searching for weaknesses and ways to improve stories. Basically, just making sure I can take the story from A to Z without it sagging. For me, an outline is just a composite articulation of the final product. Much of the time working on an outline is spent daydreaming. Much is spent in research, the mother of creativity. Characters continually change as the story develops. I resist the urge to write first draft text until I can see the story and hear the dialogue in my head like a movie. But still, even after all that time working on the outline, when I begin writing manuscript text, the story keeps changing. Right now, I’m finishing the manuscript for DEAD OF WINTER, the second book in the Vaara series, and the story is still changing, going in radical directions that shock me. I won’t even talk about it with anyone else right now.

Q. And speaking of characters, SNOW ANGELS is filled with very rich characters. Even as an outsider, from a completely different culture, I found myself connecting with your characters. How do these characters come to life in your books? Do they have living counterparts that you base the characters on? Are they solely from your imagination?

Jim: I wouldn’t say that I’m from a completely different culture. I grew up in Eastern Kentucky, and culturally, it bears certain similarities to the area in the Arctic Circle SNOW takes place in. For instance, certain religious fundamentalist groups in KY bear strong similarities to Finnish Laestadians. And I think, wherever we’re from, the human condition dictates that we can relate to people from other societies to at least a certain extent.

It’s also that working in bars and nightclubs thing again. I’ve met many thousands of people, and they’ve given me an immense store of material to work from in creating characters. None of my characters have living counterparts, but I’ve invented very little. I just take a trait from here, an experience from there, and so on. Kari Vaara is an easy character for me to write. He’s a fictional character and so his views are his own, sometimes contrary to mine, but his inner voice is basically mine.

Q. I’ve spoken with several authors publishing in the United States who later have their works published in other countries and have to make changes to titles or references in the books. Did you have to do that same thing in reverse? The title didn’t change, but did any other elements of SNOW ANGELS have to be edited for American publication?

Jim: Very little. At least in my mind, I write for a Nordic audience, as I’m not in tune with American culture anymore. You’d be surprised at how much and how quickly culture and language change. After only a little more than a decade, when I watch American TV, for instance Conan O’Brian, I often don’t understand references to people or slang terms used. But I digress. In the U.S. version, I changed little things that I didn’t think worth explaining. An example: U.S. police use black and yellow crime scene tape. In Finland, it’s blue and white, and is written as such in the Finnish version. I wrote black and yellow for the international version of the book. The version released by my U.S. publisher serves as the master copy for publishers in all other countries besides Finland. Each publisher/country decides titles and phrasing of translations, etc. In Finland though, I work on these things and have final say about the translations myself. The concept you’re discussing, at its worst, is called localization. The manipulation of a text for each country/language/culture. It sucks, I hate it, and if asked, would refuse to take part in it. Same with corporate authorship. Makes me want to puke.

Q. So, SNOW ANGELS was the first Detective Vaara novel, and the second, DEAD OF WINTER, is already scheduled to be released in the United States in 2011. First, can you tell us a little about DEAD OF WINTER? And are there plans for any non-Detective Vaara books to make their way to the States? And how about you? Will you be making your way here to promote your Detective Vaara series?

Jim: DEAD OF WINTER—well, I won’t say too much. Kari and his wife Kate move to Helsinki. Kari takes a slot in Helsinki homicide. The main crime involves a murdered woman tortured by a prolonged lashing with a riding crop. The novel delves into the histories of the Finnish Civil War and WWII and their glorification at the expense of the truth, exposes facets of history that I think most Finns are unaware of, and even if they were aware of them, would prefer not to know. Some serious historical and cultural myth busting.

I play no part in business dealings concerning my work. I’ve learned that I’m happier if I don’t ask. I prefer to let other, more qualified people, think about those things for me. I know of no plans to have my novels previously released in Finland published in the States. No one has asked me about a U.S. book tour. I don’t like public speaking—it makes me nervous—so that’s fine with me. I’m going to try to go to the States next fall, but just to deer hunt on my Dad’s farm.

Many, many thanks to Jim for taking the time to chat with me. I hope you all enjoyed learning about Jim and Finland as much as I did. I'll be looking forward to the arrival of DEAD OF WINTER next year. In the meantime, you can check out SNOW ANGELS here or here.