ONE MAN'S PARADISE - Douglas Corleone

First Line: "They pawed at each other against the black backdrop of night, the restless Pacific waters purring at their feet."

New York attorney Kevin Corvelli made a mess of a high profile murder case that landed his client in jail. Amidst the humiliation of the loss, Kevin receives a phone call informing him the client was killed. And if things couldn't get any worse, his innocence is unveiled after he is killed. Kevin cared more about how he looked on camera than whether or not his client had actually been guilty, but the trauma of the case and the negative publicity send Kevin reeling all the way to Hawaii. He's looking to escape and start new, but he vows no more felony cases, no more high-profile cases. And he's certain he's found just the place he can keep his head down and make enough money to get by: sharing an office with Jake Harper. It was the perfect place, that is, until Jake Harper snowballed Kevin into the high-profile murder case, defending law student Joseph Gianforte. And that's only the beginning of the surprises for Kevin Corvelli. Welcome to Hawaii, Kevin.

ONE MAN'S PARADISE is Douglas Corleone's debut novel and he has a winner out of the gate. ONE MAN'S PARADISE is filled with eclectic characters, witty dialogue, and unexpected events in the Hawaiian Islands. Corleone sprinkles Hawaiian terms throughout the novel to augment the setting. But that also works to reinforce the protagonist's acclimation to his new home.

Corleone does an exceptional job of creating a cocky young man deeply scarred by his previous experience. Kevin doesn't become a cowering chicken, afraid of his own shadow. He retains a lot of his aggressive nature and attitude, but now he's a bit more gun shy, a little less sure of himself, and completely believable.

The supporting characters in this novel are superb. I enjoyed Jake but absolutely loved Flan, Kevin's unlicensed investigator. Flan is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of character. His rough edges make him an endearing sort. Also adding richness to the plot are Kevin's other clients, the gang members.

Corleone opted to narrate ONE MAN'S PARADISE in first person present. While some are critical of this point of view, Corleone uses it well and to his advantage with the suspense.

Corleone's humor is the final layer of fun in ONE MAN'S PARADISE. Since the narrative is told in Kevin's voice he's expressing disbelief at a new culture, he's mocking himself, he's noticing the absurd in everyday life. A scene I found especially entertaining was Kevin's efforts to kayak for the first time. It wasn't quite what he expected:

"In the midst of my great struggle, I am passed by a giant native sea turtle, half the size of my kayak, gliding effortlessly toward the Mokulua isles. I remember seeing a sign somewhere prohibiting riding these animals, and only now can I see how the temptation can arise."

ONE MAN'S PARADISE won the MWA/Minotaur Books First Crime Novel Award and it was certainly deserving. This is an entertaining debut to what I hope will be a great new series in crime fiction.

ONE MAN'S PARADISE is available from St. Martin's Minotaur in hardcover (ISBN: 978-0-312-61158-3).

Technorati Tags: Douglas Corleone, legal crime fiction, book review

Dead or Alive

Bouchercon 2010 is quickly approaching and this year I will be moderating a panel. OH. MY. GOD! The title of the panel is "Dead or Alive" and it will be held at 11:30 on Thursday morning. So, I hope if you are attending the Bouchercon by the Bay this year, you'll come lend some moral support. I'm equal parts excited and nervous.  I'm also going to need a volunteer to sit front and center and get the pictures to prove this event actually happens!

I have quite a bit to be excited about since my panel of authors is simply magnificent. I'm supposed to sit up there with them and act professional when what I'll really want to do is go all fan girl. But, I have been practicing my professional behavior and I think I can do this. ;-) I thought I'd share a little about them with you today.

People keep telling me that as the moderator I'm in charge. Can someone make sure they tell Brad Parks this? I'm just kidding. I'm thrilled to pieces to have the author of FACES OF THE GONE as part of the panel. A former journalist, Brad released his debut novel in 2009 and the sequel is due on bookshelves in early 2011. Brad is smart and funny. He's an exceptionally talented writer AND singer. I don't think we'll be doing any stage shows during this panel, but you never can tell. FACES OF THE GONE is also a Shamus Award nominee this year. We'll learn the outcome of those awards Friday night.

It's hard to read this blog and not know I think Hilary Davidson is amazingly talented. So, to say I'm over the moon that she is also on the "Dead or Alive" panel is no exaggeration at all. Hilary's fiction debut, THE DAMAGE DONE, is on bookstore shelves tomorrow! But of course she's been writing freelance, travel writing, short fiction, and gluten-free information for some time. Hilary will shed some light on the female writer/female protagonist vantage point for the panel.

Douglas Corleone is also a debut author this year. His novel, ONE MAN'S PARADISE, won the MWA/Minotaur First Crime Novel Award this year. You'll be hearing more about that book here when I catch up on my reviews! In the mean time, though, Doug is a former lawyer from New York, now living in Hawaii writing about a lawyer. If Doug is as humorous in person as he is in his writing, we're going to have to put he and Brad at separate ends of the table. They will most definitely find trouble if they're together.

And my final panelist is R.J. (Roger) Ellory. If you caught last week's audio book review of A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS, you know how amazing I think Roger's writing is. You'll be hearing a lot more about his books here in the future. I picked up a couple of his books as soon as I knew he would be on my panel and I will be forever grateful that he was included in the "Dead or Alive" panel. I am now addicted to Ellory's work. Roger is our veteran crime fiction author. The people in the U.K. may be a tad bit more aware of how wonderful he is, but we're going to work on fixing that on this side of the pond, o.k? His books are standalones and most definitely blow genre definition to smithereens. They don't fit neatly into any one package. There's crime going on, so he qualifies to be on our panel and that's all that's important.

This is such an eclectic group and I'm so excited about that. I think it is going to make for great discussion. So, as I said, I hope you'll join the fun if you're attending Bouchercon. The more the merrier. Come help me celebrate four wonderfully talented writers.  

The Return of "You've The Right to Six Words"

Back by popular demand, the six-word Wednesdays! I've been working on lining some great new authors up for another season of "You've the Right to Six Words." I'm aiming for 10 to 12 weeks and we'll see what happens. Throughout this season I'll be making every attempt to link the authors' book titles to independent book stores where you can purchase the books if you so choose. I'm in no way compensated for this, I just want to offer you an indie store that can provide you with the books. If you have an indie in your neighborhood, I encourage you to buy from them and support your local businesses. If you're like me and you don't have one close, the links can help you out. I'm also linking to the authors' websites and/or blogs. I've had so much fun perusing these sites and learning about the authors. If there's an author who catches your interest, I encourage you to check that author out further.

So let's start off Week One of Season Two with a bang, shall we?

I know many of you are going to like this first author because you were voting for his characters in the "World's Favorite Detective" tournament.

Our very first author for Season 2 of “You’ve the Right to Six Words” is a man who started a journalism career in the military. John Camp, whom we know better as John Sandford, earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in American Studies, but went on to pursue a career in journalism after a two-year stint in the U.S. Army. He worked for the Girardeau Southeast Missourian, The Miami Herald, and the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, where he would be a finalist for the Pulitzer in 1980 and win a Pulitzer in 1986. He left full-time journalism to pursue his novel writing in 1989, but his roots still pull him back on occasion to write book reviews, a series about being embedded in Iraq and even coverage of the Republican National Convention.

In 1989 John Camp prepared to release his first two novels, THE FOOL’S RUN (first of the Kidd series) and RULES OF PREY (first of the Prey series). Since they were to be published three months apart, his publisher asked him to publish RULES OF PREY under a pseudonym and thus, John Sandford was born. THE FOOL’S RUN would later be re-issued under the John Sandford name. Since 1989, he has published four novels in his Kidd series and three novels in his Virgil Flowers series (with number four, BAD BLOOD, due in September). But Sandford’s most popular series is the Lucas Davenport Prey novels, and yesterday, the 20th book in that series, STORM PREY, hit bookstores across the U.S. Sandford and Davenport are both taking the crime fiction community by storm.

A father, grandfather, journalist and novelist, John Sandford sums it all up with

Have gun (and laptop), will travel.

And the crime fiction genre, luckily, will never be the same.

From seasoned to debut. I'd like to introduce you to Douglas Corleone. Right out of the gate, Doug is earning awards. His debut novel, ONE MAN'S PARADISE won the Minotaur/MWA First Crime Novel Award. Doug's debut novel deals with a hotshot defense attorney, Kevin Corvelli, who loses big. It isn't until his client dies in jail that the client's innocence is discovered and Corvelli is disgraced. The case haunts Corvelli when an eerily similar case arises. Before ONE MAN'S PARADISE, Doug worked as a criminal defense attorney in New York. Today he's soaking up sun in Hawaii and working on the next novel. Douglas Corleone decided he'd

Rather write about law than practice.

Welcome to the crime fiction community, Doug.

And we'll finish off the first week with a man who's experienced a tremendous amount. His first novel being published last year seems like the icing on an amazing career. I, in no way, want to make it sound like he's at the end of his career, we all hope that Richard Lange has a much, much longer career writing crime fiction.

Richard went to film school at the University of Southern California, taught English in Barcelona and then worked in publishing. His short story "Bank of America" appeared in BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF 2004. 2007 brought about the publication of his collection of short stories DEAD BOYS. And last year Little Brown published his novel THIS WICKED WORLD.

If that doesn't sound like a polished enough resume, let's add his 2008 Rosenthal Family Foundation Award for Literature and his 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship. Last week THIS WICKED WORLD came out in paperback and Richard is hard at work on another collection of stories, a new novel, AND a screenplay for German director Matthias Glasner. See what I mean? There's no end to this career in site!

I absolutely love what Richard has to say about all this success:

My old life was good too.

Well, we're thrilled with whatever brought Richard Lange to the world of crime fiction.

As I've been working this past week to get everything in order to re-start this series, I'm once again astounded at the generosity of the authors participating. It is my honor to share these fun, creative and revealing tidbits they've contributed to this project.

Thanks everyone for coming back. I look forward to sharing more memoirs with you in the coming months, and I thank John, Doug and Richard for hangin' out here at Jen's Book Thoughts today.

Happy Reading!


Technorati Tags: You've the Right to Six Words, John Sandford, Douglas Corleone, Richard Lange