A crime writer finds himself entangled in his own gruesome mystery in this fast-paced psychological thriller.
Drew Danner, a crime novelist with...
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Mar 28, 2009
Brendan
rated it: 
The eponymous protagonist finds himself in a hospital, amnesia clouding his memory, homicide detectives claiming he’d murdered his former fiance. One murder trial later, he’s out and finds himself framed for another murder. This guy just can’t catch a break.
* Hurwitz oscillates between fairly prosaic descriptions of the narrative and Chandler-esque musings on Los Angeles and its denizens. The sequence about the folks stuck waiting in line at nightclubs is particularly sharp — More...
* Hurwitz oscillates between fairly prosaic descriptions of the narrative and Chandler-esque musings on Los Angeles and its denizens. The sequence about the folks stuck waiting in line at nightclubs is particularly sharp — More...
Sep 07, 2009
Ben
rated it: 
I love me a heightened, creative story that doesn't drown from banal dialog, foreclosed characters and bankrupt descriptions. Hurwitz delivered.
Enter 14 year old Junior Delgado mid-book. The hip gangsta tagger spiked my attention. Enter a few characters; one whose face was carved up, an insider dealing with personal tragedy, wealthy gangsta bros, sticky detectives, as well as uncomfortable social situations, and you have a formulaic story; not quite exceptional but marketable. Some w More...
Enter 14 year old Junior Delgado mid-book. The hip gangsta tagger spiked my attention. Enter a few characters; one whose face was carved up, an insider dealing with personal tragedy, wealthy gangsta bros, sticky detectives, as well as uncomfortable social situations, and you have a formulaic story; not quite exceptional but marketable. Some w More...
Aug 24, 2011
Brian
rated it:
Drew Danner is a crime novelist in Los Angeles. He finds himself in the hospital with a scar on his head and no memory of how he got there. He is told that he was found convulsing over his former fiancee's body with a knife in his hand. He isn't sure if he is guilty of the murder or not. He is found not-guilty on account of temporary insanity (the scar on his head was the result of the removal of a brain tumor). Once he is free, he is accused of yet another murder. He knows for a fact that
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Dec 08, 2007
Anna
rated it: 
So Len brought this home to me and I thought it might be kind of trashy, but it's like a meta-crime novel, a novel of the fantastic, in which to solve the crime he has to write the story. It's way fun. I do not vouch for anything else he's written, as this appears to be a major departure.
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Jan 02, 2010
Sarah Funke
rated it:
Books with plot! Who knew? Really loved this contemporary take on hard-boiled LA fiction, which kept me up late, guessing (wrong) till the final moments. 300 pages and plenty of checkmarks, most for nostalgic humor ("He looked like someone Fat Albert had sat on") and meta-remarks ("A coyote trotted down the slope ahead of me, an escapee from a moir novel") but some for short bits and occasional paragraphs that suggest a thoughtful, incisive mind at work observing and assessin
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Feb 12, 2008
Veralene
rated it:
Good spin on this suspense plot. The suspect of the crime(s) is a crime writer. I think you'll figure out the ending, but it still holds your attention. The crime writer writing The Crime Writer also takes a few jabs at his profession.
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Jun 02, 2011
Michael
rated it: 
Something just didn't click for me with this one. I've enjoyed other Hurwitz books and it won't stop me from picking him up again, but I just couldn't engage with this one.
It bothered me too. The book has an intriguing set up and drops you right into the action, but I think both of them might be part of the problem. I never got a sense for the protagonist (or the relationship with his fiancee) or why I should care about his plight. The initial crises is over and he's free within the More...
It bothered me too. The book has an intriguing set up and drops you right into the action, but I think both of them might be part of the problem. I never got a sense for the protagonist (or the relationship with his fiancee) or why I should care about his plight. The initial crises is over and he's free within the More...
Apr 11, 2009
Robert
rated it:
Overall this is a really good mystery about a crime writer who doesn’t remember if he killed his ex-fiancée. He’s acquitted by reason of temporary insanity and tries to find out the truth about what happened – until another murder occurs and all fingers point toward him. The downfall, in my opinion, is the fact that the main character is a writer, and that while written in the first person … well, it’s a little too over written in some places. This tries too hard at times to be a L.A. noir novel
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Sep 26, 2011
Carol
rated it:
Language! A good twist ending!!!! A crime story writer wakes up at his exgirlfrieds house covered in her blood and the knife that killed her with his finger prints on it. He had a brain tumor that 'exploded' at the crime scene and when he wakes up from the operation he wonders did he do it???? His tial ends in finding him not guilty by reason of insanity caused by the tumor. But Drew is not satisfied, he has to know whether he killed the girl or not. Great story about his unearthing clues that l
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Aug 23, 2010
Kat
rated it:
I was really, really, really impressed with this novel--moreso than the other couple of his I've read, which I was really impressed with also. Unlike the goofy and/or faux-hardboiled humor of a lot of thriller and crime writers, Hurwitz actually makes me laugh out loud, on top of writing very compelling plots. This one would have five stars if I hadn't started to unravel the plot for myself a little too soon, though. Anyway, I think Hurwitz is a lot more generationally on target for a reader lik
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May 19, 2010
Maddy
rated it:
PROTAGONIST: Drew Danner, author
SETTING: Los Angeles
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 4.5
I'm assuming that many of the readers of this site read more than their fair share of mysteries over the course of the year. I'm also pretty sure that, like me, many of you have grown tired of the over-used formulas employed by many authors. Each part of the genre is subject to its own kind of clichés. With the recent popularity of thrillers, there is a whole new set of abuses occurring More...
SETTING: Los Angeles
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 4.5
I'm assuming that many of the readers of this site read more than their fair share of mysteries over the course of the year. I'm also pretty sure that, like me, many of you have grown tired of the over-used formulas employed by many authors. Each part of the genre is subject to its own kind of clichés. With the recent popularity of thrillers, there is a whole new set of abuses occurring More...
Sep 08, 2010
Cindy
rated it:
Drew Danner wakes up in a hospital with a surgeon and a cop next to his bed. The surgeon wants to tell him about the brain tumor they just removed. The cop wants to tell him that Drew just murdered his ex-fiance.
The tumor is definite enough. He takes it home from the hospital in a jar. And his fiancee is definitely dead. But Drew can't remember anything about that night and has no idea if he killed her or not. But he's arrested, sent for trial, convicted, and then acquitted on ground More...
The tumor is definite enough. He takes it home from the hospital in a jar. And his fiancee is definitely dead. But Drew can't remember anything about that night and has no idea if he killed her or not. But he's arrested, sent for trial, convicted, and then acquitted on ground More...
Jul 05, 2008
The Crime Writer, by Gregg Hurwitz. Narrated by Scott Brick, produced by BBC audiobooks America, and downloaded from audible.com.
Drew Danner was a writer of crime fiction who had ha some success. Then one day he awoke in a hospital bed hooked up to various instruments and with a bandage on his head. A cop was sitting in the chair by his bed. First he was told that he had had an operation to remove a brain tumor. The tumor was suspended in liquid in a jar sitting by his bed. Nex More...
Drew Danner was a writer of crime fiction who had ha some success. Then one day he awoke in a hospital bed hooked up to various instruments and with a bandage on his head. A cop was sitting in the chair by his bed. First he was told that he had had an operation to remove a brain tumor. The tumor was suspended in liquid in a jar sitting by his bed. Nex More...
Mar 01, 2008
Jen
rated it:
The Crime Writer is a book within a book. The actual novel is being told in the first person by a writer who is writing the same story. The story of an author who wakes up to find himself in the hospital after a grand mal seizure caused by a brain tumor. During the time period he can't remember, he was found next to his ex-fiance who was stabbed to death. The author, Drew Danner, doesn't believe he killed his ex-fiance, but he can't be absolutely sure, so he goes in search of answers.
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Aug 18, 2009
Ben
rated it:
i don't usually read modern crime but i liked this. it started out kinda confusing, disorienting... and another "i have amnesia and can't remember if i killed anyone" story... but then the inventiveness of the storytelling kicked in and it got really good. there were moments where i just sat there saying "damn, how'd he come up with this?" and kept imagining the diagrams and charts and graphs he must have had in order to figure the whole thing out. or maybe i'm just an idiot,
Sep 16, 2011
Gregory
rated it:
I was enthralled by The Crime Writer. From the opening sentence until the conclusion Hurwitz had me. The characters were all great, antagonist, protagonist and everyone in between. They are pitch perfect, his cast of friends including disgraced Dodger Chic Bales, and his editor Preston are wonderful side kicks, friends, and voices of reason. I recommend this book to just about anyone. Most especially fans of character driven thrillers.
Apr 27, 2011
Paul
rated it:
This was an easy and thrilling read.Took me just 5 days to read.A writer who becomes involved in his
own crime drama.Great idea that was skillfully executed by Greg Hurwitz.
This is the second book of his I've read,the first was TRUST NO ONE.
For those who enjoys a good mystery/thriller this one is a damn fine novel.
My rating is 4.5 stars.
own crime drama.Great idea that was skillfully executed by Greg Hurwitz.
This is the second book of his I've read,the first was TRUST NO ONE.
For those who enjoys a good mystery/thriller this one is a damn fine novel.
My rating is 4.5 stars.
Mar 30, 2010
Jennie
rated it:
I know I read this, but it didn't stick with me in any way...reviews and descriptions bring it back a bit...enough to know I read this (as well as a note to myself that I did, in fact, read this a few years ago). I might have liked it more, but here's the thing...I can't remember exactly how it ended. Nice.
Apr 14, 2011
Veronica Marie
rated it:
I know... you've probably heard the phrase "a real page turner" a thousand times, right? One of those little marketing buzzwords to get people to buy a particular book...
Well... THE CRIME WRITER is more than deserving of that rather shop-worn phrase. Gregg Hurwitz has written an amazing, captivating story here... one that has more twists and turns than an alpine trail... and, if you want to know anymore... get the book! You won't be disappointed... I PROMISE!!
Well... THE CRIME WRITER is more than deserving of that rather shop-worn phrase. Gregg Hurwitz has written an amazing, captivating story here... one that has more twists and turns than an alpine trail... and, if you want to know anymore... get the book! You won't be disappointed... I PROMISE!!
May 26, 2010
Chuck
rated it:
A Las Angeles novelist is accused of murdering his ex finance. He is acquitted on an insanity plea due to a brain tumor. After the tumor is removed he is a free man. He then begins his own investigation into her murder. It's a pretty good story though it has some unlikely occurrences.
Oct 01, 2011
Susan
rated it:
I nearly gave up on this book early on. I wasn't sure where the author was going, but once I got past the first 2-3 chapters things started moving along. I'm glad I stayed with the book. Since there isn't a 3.5 rating, I gave it a 4.
Narration by Scott Brick was good.
Narration by Scott Brick was good.
Jan 20, 2011
Kendall
rated it:
Wonderful writing, a crime writer trying to solve a murder he committed after suffering a seizure due to a brain tumor, but too much to swallow by one plot element. Excellent LA travelogue, witty dialogue, certainly a page turner, just lacking plausibility.
Mar 08, 2010
Laura
rated it:
A very solid thriller.
I liked getting into the mind of Drew Danner, the Crime Writer of the title. The fact that his mind was damaged (physically, due to the removal of a tumor) made it all the more interesting, since even he didn't know if he committed the crime he was accused of.
I liked getting into the mind of Drew Danner, the Crime Writer of the title. The fact that his mind was damaged (physically, due to the removal of a tumor) made it all the more interesting, since even he didn't know if he committed the crime he was accused of.
Dec 06, 2007
Lake
rated it:
The Crime Writer by Gregg Hurwitz
Did crime writer Drew Danner kill his ex-girlfriend? A lot of people seem to think so, including a jury of his peers. But he can’t remember doing it – he has amnesia, probably resulting from the brain tumor-induced grand mal seizure he is having when police find him with the body. Danner avoids going to jail (he was found guilty by reason of mental defect), but is framed within days for the murder of a second woman. Cleared of that charge by More...
Did crime writer Drew Danner kill his ex-girlfriend? A lot of people seem to think so, including a jury of his peers. But he can’t remember doing it – he has amnesia, probably resulting from the brain tumor-induced grand mal seizure he is having when police find him with the body. Danner avoids going to jail (he was found guilty by reason of mental defect), but is framed within days for the murder of a second woman. Cleared of that charge by More...
Jan 02, 2011
Walter
rated it:
Usually books with a writer as the protagonist scare me off. I’m not a fan of investigative reporters etc.
This book rang true. A mystery writer accused of murder. Great plotting good characters. What’s not to like.
This book rang true. A mystery writer accused of murder. Great plotting good characters. What’s not to like.
Oct 10, 2010
Bart
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 20, 2010
Tammy
rated it:
An everyday guy who gets stuck in a scene he'd find hard to dream up. Terrifying to put yourself in his shoes, but great to take the journey to the end with him.
Apr 05, 2010
Greg
rated it:
Overall, very well done but I had the killer down to three early on, then down to one before the end with only the motive to determine. The novel would have been stronger without the charaters of Caroline and Junior, who were colorful, but in a way wrong for novels and more fitting for movies.
Sep 07, 2011
Becky
rated it:
Another well crafted thriller. Again with violence and language. Characterization is well-done. I was engaged all the way through.
Apr 11, 2010
Skip
rated it:
Good psychological thriller, where Drew Danner (a crime writer) awakens with his murdered ex-girlfriend's bllod all over him and no memory of what happened. He works diligently to remember and solve the mystery.
