Ed Gorman's Blog, page 33

Fresh Meat: Elimination by Ed Gorman TERRIE FARLEY MORAN

Fresh Meat: Elimination by Ed GormanTERRIE FARLEY MORAN from Criminal ElementElimination by Ed Gorman is the final political thriller in the Dev Conrad series where the investigator must figure out who tried to kill a Congress member running for re-election (available July 1, 2015).It seems possible that my lifelong interest in the American political process is what drew me to read Sleeping Dogs, the first in the political mystery series featuring Dev Conrad, a seasoned political consultant with a background as an investigator for the U. S. Army.But I freely admit that the appeal for me was the author’s name:  Ed Gorman . I’d been a Gorman groupie for years, and the thought of a new series written by the master of mystery, horror, and westerns had me running to the nearest bookstore. Every few years over the past decade, a new Dev Conrad book would be released, bringing the combined allure of politics and murder. I relished each one.Still, many of my favorite series have come to an end and this one is no exception. I must confess that I had more than one tear in my eye when I finished reading Elimination, the final mystery in the Dev Conrad series.When the story opens, Dev’s political consulting firm is engaged in securing the re-election of Congress Member Jessica Bradshaw. Her opponent, Michael Dorsey, and his supporters are far to the right of Bradshaw’s positions, and the fight promised to be a strenuous one. Dev fears the worst right before a scheduled debate between the two candidates.

We’d heard rumors that men (and maybe women) with guns would show up that night to protest against the appearance of our congresswoman, who had apparently just returned from ‘Islamia’ where she’d learned how to implement Sharia law and had helped to plan the ultimate invasion of Islamists on the red, white and blue soil of the USA.

Sure enough, before the auditorium was full, before the debate even had a chance to begin, the trouble started. But trouble is something Dev Conrad takes in stride. He only hopes that there will be no real damage done:

I heard the shouting before I was able to see, far down the wide central lane, what was going on. A pair of men toting AK-47s were walking fast toward the building. They were being pursued by another pair of men, these two happening to be police officers.Let the drama begin.

Once the police had the men and their guns well in hand, Dev turned his focus on the audience and the debate. He was pleased with the performance of his candidate, but her opponent’s behavior irritated Dev to no end, and he defined it with deep political cynicism.

The son of a bitch never managed to answer a question straight on; in boxing that was called slipping a punch. In politics that was called making your case.

With his candidate coming out of the debate looking like a winner, Dev takes a few hours off for drinks with a campaign colleague but his respite doesn’t last too long—someone has taken a shot at Congress Member Bradshaw. Rumors quickly circulate that the shooting was a set-up, a plan to round up sympathy for the candidate.Then the weapon is found in the car of a campaign intern, a kid who Dev believes couldn’t possibly have anything to do with any political chicanery. Dev plunges in; ready to use his finely hones skills, both political and investigative to find out what is really going on.This is politics so nothing is as it seems, and no person is exactly who he pretends to be. Through it all, the one person you can count on to be true to his own personal code of ethics is Dev.Elimination is Ed Gorman at his finest. The writing is sharp, the tone is witty, and the people are exactly what they should be—political beings who we can’t quite like and can’t quite hate. Dev Conrad leaves us on an extremely high note.With a tear and a smile I say goodbye to Dev Conrad. But we have a new cycle of Presidential election politics staring us in the face, so I am sure that I will speculate “what would Dev think” more than once between now and November 2016. See more coverage of new releases in our Fresh Meat series. To learn more or order a copy, visit:

HACKED

YES I HAVE BEEN HACKED AGAIN AND MY COMPUTER IS IN WORSE SHAPE THAN IT WAS AFTER THE FIRST HACK. SORRY I CAN'T RESPOND PERSONALLY TO ALL OF YOU WHO E MAILED ME.

Stark House-Stranger At Home

Forgotten Books: Stranger At Home--NOW AVAILABLE IN A SNAZZY PB FORMAT FROM STARK HOUSEWay back in the Fifties I read one half of an Ace Double mystery novel called Stranger At Home. I really took to it. The writing was swift, dramatic, elegant. Supposedly it was written by the actor George Sanders. But even in my early teens, clueless as I was, I just assumed he hadn't written it. I'd read here and there about "ghosted" books.

The real writer turned out to be Leigh Brackett. I've mentioned this novel before because it's a fine whodunit set in the Hwood of the late Forties. For its time it's a blunt novel. Not even the protagonist Michael Vickers is much of a hero. The story centers on Vickers returning from the dead--one of his three friends (or maybe all of them) pushed him off the boat they were sailing on). Drunk, he nearly drowned. But he survived to return a few years later to find out what had happened to him that drunken night. He doesn't have amnesia, he just can't recall the moment he was pushed off the boat.

For years there were rumors that Brackett had farmed the book out but I don't think so. The writing is purely hers. Those sweeping sentences, those atmospherics, those bitter unhappy people. You find them in her science fantasy, her westerns, her mysteries. If there's an influence here it's Raymond Chandler, one of her idols. The difference is that Vickers, unlike Philip Marlowe, doesn't observe everything at one remove. He goes through the novel trying to find the culprit--and learning in the process what an arrogant ruthless bastard he was to those around him.

The book opens on a party scene that I'd out up against any party scene I've encountered in fiction sin a long time. Brackett must have known a lot of drunks because she gets them down just right.

Even though it was work for hire this is a book that belongs on the Brackett shelf. It's one of her finest novels.POSTED BY ED GORMAN AT 2:39 PM 1 COMMENT: LINKS TO THIS POST 

Gravetapping: GRAVES' RETREAT / NIGHT OF SHADOWS by Ed Gorman

GRAVES' RETREAT / NIGHT OF SHADOWS by Ed Gorman






































from Ben Boulden on Gravetapping 


I don’t write as much about Stark House Press 
as I should. 
It is a fantastic publisher that specializes 
in reprinting great novels from the 
paperback golden age—by Harry Whittington,  
Clifton Adams, Gil Brewer, Day Keene, etc.
—great novels from the more recent past— 
by Bill Pronzini, Robert J. Randisi, Ed Gorman
—and even a handful of original titles—
by Charlie Stella, Dana King, Jada M. Davis.
Stark House’s most recent release is a double novel featuring two superb historical mysteries—both were originally marketed as Westerns, but “historical mystery” is a much better fit—titled Graves’ Retreat and Night of Shadows. The setting, for both, is Cedar Rapids, Iowa of the late-Nineteenth century, and it is described with an admiring and sentimental hand—“[A] place the mayor called, with monotonous determination, 
‘the Chicago of Iowa.’”

Graves’ Retreat was originally published in 1989 by the long gone Doubleday Western imprint Double D. The year is 1884. Baseball is fashionable across the country, and Cedar Rapids is no different. It has a municipal team providing thrills and trying to keep up with the frequent rule changes—“It was not an easy game to play 
because the rules kept changing. 
It was those goddamn Easterners.”The star is a young pitcher and bank teller named Les Graves. Les is building a good life, and would rather keep his past secret. His brother, T. Z., is a professional thief, and a few years earlier Les helped T. Z. rob a bank. Now T. Z. has found Les in Cedar Rapids and wants help robbing Les’ employer. To make matters worse Cedar Rapids is playing the best baseball team in the Midwest—Sterling, Illinois—on July 4th, and Les has a history of nerves. A history that kept him out of the big leagues.Graves’ Retreat is everything one expects from an Ed Gorman crime novel—clever, appealing, human, and sharp. The story is awash with blackmail, cold-blooded murder, and romance. Les isn’t a typical, larger-than-life, protagonist. He is scared and lost. He fears losing his Cedar Rapids life, his brother, and terrified of losing to Sterling. There are moments when the outcome, and Les’ role in it, are in doubt, and the climax is unexpected. The prose is Ed Gorman’s usual literate, tender, and tough style. My favorite line is the description of a Sterling pitcher named Fitzsimmons—“He had a shanty-Irish face, which 
meant he managed to 
look innocent and mean at the same 
time, and he had a smile he must 
have practiced as often as he did his fast ball.”Night of Shadows was originally published in 1990 by Double D. The year is 1894. The Cedar Rapids constabulary is expecting the arrival of an aging former lawman and gunfighter named Stephen Fuller. Fuller is visiting a dying childhood friend, and to avoid any trouble the police chief wants his visit short. A young police matron—“Matrons were not, strictly speaking, 
constables. True, matrons carried badges. 
 True, matrons had the power to arrest. 
True, matrons were summoned to impose 
law and order during times of emergency. 
But they rarely worked outside the jail and 
even more rarely participated in the 
apprehension of criminals.”—named Anna Tolan convinces the boss she is both capable and the best choice to escort Fuller around town. Anna’s job is to keep him out of trouble, but it doesn’t go smoothly. Fuller—an alcoholic and drunken storyteller of the highest order—wanders into a bar, having lost Anna, and finds neck deep trouble. He is the only suspect in the murder of a man who called him a liar (and threw whiskey in his face). He bolts the scene, leaving Anna, who is the only person in town that believes his innocence, to find the real killer, and clear his name.Night of Shadows is something special. It is a police procedural featuring blackmail and murder, but it also has an unexpected element for a Western. A psychopath with a mother complex. It is reminiscent of Robert Bloch’s novel Psycho, and, as Mr. Gorman explains in the Introduction, it is an homage; and one Mr. Bloch approved. It is important to understand it isn’t Psycho set in Nineteenth century Iowa. Instead, it is a procedural with an investigation, which is performed in a manner that fits the era, and the story of a young woman performing what was then a male-only job.

The novel’s center is Anna. She is bright and capable. A student of the famous French detective Goron’s methods—careful crime scene examination, interrogation—which she uses to solve the crime. It is also sentimental, tender, and very human. The descriptions of Cedar Rapids are perceptive and bright. Fuller, his life and addictions, is drawn with a tenderness that avoids pity and engenders understanding.

The Case of the Perry Mason Substitutes

The Case of the Perry Mason Substitutes









from the great http://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com


With 271 cases over nine seasons, it’s safe to say that Perry Mason was television’s most successful attorney. I’m not even counting Perry’s court appearances in the “revival” made-for-TV movies nor the 1973-74  New Perry Mason TV series (with Monte Markham taking over for Raymond Burr). Yet, out of those 271 cases on the original series, six of them were won by lawyers other than Perry!

Raymond Burr did not appear in four consecutive episodes in the 1962-63 season and was missing in two more during the 1964-65 season. (Note that some of these episodes included brief scenes of Perry talking with other lawyers from his hospital bed—scenes that Burr filmed before his hiatus.) The reason given for his first absence was “minor surgery.” Some sources, such as Raymond Burr: A Film, Radio, and Television Biography, state that the surgery was to remove intestinal polyps. Other sources (e.g., Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows) maintain that this explanation has never been confirmed. Burr’s absences during the 1964-65 season were attributed to infected teeth (according to Associated Press columnist Cynthia Lowry) and an unspecified illness. Fatigue may have played a role as well, since Burr averaged almost 30 episodes during each of the show’s nine years. A full season order these days for a prime time series is 24 episodes.

Here are the six Perry Mason episodes without Raymond Burr:

The Case of Constant Doyle(Season 6 Episode 16)– Bette Davis plays Constant (not Constance) Doyle, a recently widowed attorney who defends a young man (Michael Parks) accused of breaking into a factory and assaulting a night watchman.

The Case of the Libelous Locket (S6 E17) – Law school professor Edward Lindley (Michael Rennie) takes on the case of student Janie Norland (Patricia Manning), who thinks she killed someone, gets blackmailed, and then is arrested for a real murder. Professor Lindley’s attitude toward trial attorneys must have amused Perry: “Someone once said, if you could cross a parrot with a jackass, you’d have the perfect trial lawyer.” This episode also guest-starred Patrice Wymore, Errol Flynn’s widow.

The Case of the Two-Faced Turn-a-bout (S6 E18)- Hugh O'Brian stars as playboy lawyer Bruce Jason, who defends a political refugee in a homicide case brimming with international intrigue. Interestingly, O’Brien also plays another character in this episode (no spoilers here!).

The Case of the Surplus Suitor(S6 E19) – Corporate lawyer Sherman Hatfield (Walter Pidgeon) defends an indecisive young woman (Joyce Bulifant), who is accused of murdering her wealthy uncle. Alas, this subpar outing wastes Pidgeon’s talents.

The Case of the Bullied Bowler (S8 E7)- Paul Drake takes a (well-earned) vacation and visits the town of Tesoro with attorney friend Joe Kelly (Mike Connors). A powerful woman tries to close the bowling alley owned by Paul’s friend Bill Jaris. When a health inspector is murdered, Bill becomes the prime suspect. The Perry Masonproducers were impressed with Connors. When Raymond Burr hesitated on returning for season 9, Connors was allegedly considered as a replacement attorney. Of course, he later found TV fame in his own long-running private eye series Mannix (1967-75).

The Case of the Thermal Thief (S8 E16) -  Only recently returning to law practice, Ken Kramer (Barry Sullivan) gets involved in a complex case involving a stolen necklace and the death of a wealthy yachtsman four years earlier. Sullivan does a fine job in an above-average episode—he should have gotten his own lawyer show! It’s interesting to note that Kramer doesn't get a courtroom confession at the episode’s climax; it takes place offscreen.

Posted by Rick29 at 6:05 AM 2 comments 
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Labels: barry sullivan, bette davis, hugh o'brien, mike connors, perry mason, raymond burr, rick29 (author), walter pidgeonReactions: MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2015

The Chizmar-Gorman Writing Team

Ed Here: Rich and I have written a number of pieces together. I think this is the best one yet. Thanks to publisher Paul Fry for producing such a beautiful book.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Great Read!By LikwidReader on June 23, 2015I just finished reading this book and must say that these two writers make a great team. The story that is laid out in this book almost immediately put me in there with the characters. After reading the overview I thought I knew the kind of story I was in for but what I got was much better than I could have imagined.
BROTHERSEd Gorman & Richard Chizmar


Out now!

Wraparound cover art © by Ben Baldwin

Chet and Michael are brothers. They are also police officers. What they are not is friends.

Their mother died when they were young. Their only parent was an absent cop father who preferred women and scotch to raising them. So Chet being older had to raise Michael.

Chet was the quiet responsible one; Michael was the handsome wild one who came to resent Chet’s rules and regulations.

Michael still resents them especially when Chet tries to break up the affair his younger married brother is having on the side. Neither man is willing to back down. Neither man is a stranger to violence.

Then Chet decides to pay a late night visit to the woman he calls his brother’s whore. . . .


© Ed Gorman & Richard Chizmar

Introduction by Ed Gorman
Afterword by Richard Chizmar
Title Details:
Publisher: Short, Scary Tales Publications
Subject: Noir
Release Date: May 31, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-909640-22-1, Trade Hardcover Edition, First Edition,
5.5 x 8.5 inches, 68 pages, £12.95

ISBN: 978-1-909640-23-8, Trade Paperback Edition, First Edition,
5.5 x 8.5 inches, 68 pages, £6.95


Available from SST Publications Directly:

Trade Hardcover Edition
Our Price: £12.95
+ Shipping & Handling:

The Consciousness Plague on special sale for $3.99

The  Consciousness Plague on special sale for $3.99
Event for Paul Levinson

Date:June 22, 2015    03:00AM -- June 29, 2015    03:00AMRSVP by:June 29, 2015    02:59AM Venue:online, USType:otherWebsite:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FEYVELG/
ref=nosim/?tag=dexter2a-20Added by:PauldescriptionThe Consciousness Plague on special sale for $3.99
 (list price $7.99)
 for just a few days http://www.amazon.com/dp
/B00FEYVELG/r...

"more nearly reaches the heights of Isaac Asimov's
classic SF
mysteries than those of most other genre hands
who attempt them manage to do these days" -
 Roland Green, Booklist

"Levinson's intelligent blend of police
procedural and
speculative fiction should appeal to fans of
mystery and
science fiction" - Library Journal

"Intriguing speculation, solid sleuthing, and agreeably
baffling suspects" - Kirkus

"A satisfying blend of murder mystery, police procedure
, and science fiction" - Orlando Sentinel

"D'Amato [is] ... an earnest Everyman, operating on a shoeshine and a hunch" - Paul Di Filippo, SFWeekly

"Quincy would be proud!" - SciFiDimensions

"Highly enjoyable" - New England
 Science Fiction Association
Members' Reviews

Levinson "infuses his mysteries with
cutting edge forensics and his science fiction
with philosophical meaning" - Kojo Nnamdi, NPR

"A little bit mystery, a little bit sci-fi
and a whole lot of
 inquisitive character
development kept me glued to
The Consciousness Plague from
beginning to end.
For those interested in medicine
, serial killers and
mysteries you'll find this book a
quick read and you'll wish
 it didn't have to end so soon." - scrink

Gravetapping and Ben Boulden--Ron Faust THE LONG COUNT

Ben Boulden:The outcry is significant, and the local government seizes his passport pending an investigation stranding Racine in Quitasol. The U. S. Embassy is unwilling to help, and Racine is certain if he could speak directly to the ambassador he would have his passport back in a matter of hours. When he finally gets his audience the meeting is interrupted by terrorists who kidnap Racine, the ambassador, and three others. The terrorists’ goal is to ransom the ambassador back to the State Department; which means the remaining hostages are extra baggage.
The Long Count is a sparse, well-plotted gem. It is written in first person with a rich, literate prose—seemingly simple, but its simplicity is deceiving. Jim Racine is one of Mr. Faust’s most likable protagonists; many are cold, almost unapproachable, but Racine is well-defined with high intentions. It is also a novel of ideas. There is a late scene where the ambassador and a terrorist are arguing their political differences; the ambassador turns to Racine—
“‘Racine,’ the ambassador said contemptuously. ‘Haven’t you anything to say for your country?’
“‘You aren’t talking about my country,’ I said. ‘You’re repeating slogans.’”   
The ideas tendered are very much of the novel’s era. It was originally published in 1979, and its major themes are communism, capitalism, and the United States role—both politically and economically—in South America. There is no clear “ideas” victor, but everything is encased in a brilliant adventure story.
Interestingly, the word “quitasol,” used as the name of the city where everything begins, is Spanish for “parasol.” I haven’t worked out the connection between parasol, and the story, but I bet there is one. 
The Long Count is Ron Faust’s fourth published novel. It was originally published as a paperback original by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1979, and it is currently available as a trade paperback and ebook from Turner Publishing.You are subscribed to email updates from Gravetapping
To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.Email delivery powered by GoogleGoogle Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States

The Brendan DuBois interview-BLOOD FOAM

Pro-File with Brendan Dubois

1. Tell us about your current novel/collection.
My great publisher Pegasus Books has released my 17thnovel, BLOOD FOAM, which is the ninth novel in my Lewis Cole mystery series.  The first novel in the series, DEAD SAND, was published in 1994.  It’s both hard to believe and it’s also gratifying that I’m still writing about Lewis Cole, and haven’t gotten tired of him yet.
In BLOOD FOAM, Lewis is asked by his friend and former lover, newspaper editor Paula Quinn, to track down her missing fiancé, Mark Spencer, the lawyer for their local town.  He’s been gone for four days, isn’t home, hasn’t shown up for work, and hasn’t answered his emails or phone.
Lewis doesn’t like Mark Spencer, but he still has feelings for his old girlfriend, and he agrees to see what he can do.  Soon, one little fact that doesn’t make sense brings him to a violent confrontation when Lewis and Paula realize they are no longer chasing down leads, but are being chased by very violent men with a deadly agenda.
I think it’s my best Lewis Cole mystery yet, but then again, I always say that.
Here’s a couple of recent reviews:
"Series fans will enjoy the ride." -- Publisher's Weekly

"DuBois' thrillers starring Lewis Cole can be picked up at any point in the series, but fans who have been reading them from the start will really appreciate how DuBois' characters keep getting back up after being tossed around by life. This ninth installment featuring Cole, a retired research analyst for the Department of Defense, shows him in a very vulnerable position: his historic New Hampshire home has been gutted by arson, he's run out of money, he's sleeping in his car, and all the while, a tropical storm is surging up the Atlantic coast. Enter his former lover and still good friend, a local newspaper writer, who seeks Cole's help in finding her fiance, a very Steady Eddie guy, a lawyer and town council member, who has unaccountably disappeared. Cole finds an ordinary but overlooked piece of data that cracks open the lawyer’s previous life. As Cole and his friend hunt for the fiance, they suddenly become the hunted. DuBois gives us scene upon scene of incredible tension, relieved by Cole's mordant wit, and building to a truly gasp-inducing climax. This story arc started in the seventh Cole thriller, DEADLY COVE (2011). The characters who were wounded and torn apart by violence in that mystery are still coping with the aftereffects here. DuBois gives the reader both exquisite suspense and deeply realized characters." -- Booklist (Starred review)


2. Can you give a sense of what you're working on now?
A month ago, I finished the first draft of the next Lewis Cole novel, STORM CELL, which will be the tenth novel in my series.  It’s currently with my first readers, and I hope to get it out to my publisher in a few weeks.
In January 2016, one of my oldest childhood dreams will come true when my first true science fiction novel, DARK VICTORY, will be published by Baen Books.  It’s a tale of an alien invasion of earth, and how ten years later, the battle goes on, mostly fought by teenagers.  It was a thrill to write and a greater thrill to have it get published.
Also in 2016, Midnight Ink will publish a stand-alone thriller, NIGHT ROAD, which takes place in the upper reaches of the New Hampshire border with Canada, involving drug smugglers, Homeland Security, motorcycle gangs, and an ex-serviceman seeking to regain his life and honor.
There’s another novel, a massive thriller, that’s with a major publishing house at this moment, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will have a happy conclusion.
I’m also working on a number of short stories, along with doing some self-publishing of my earlier works.  I’m also in the process of releasing an alternative history novel I published some years back, AMERIKAN EAGLE, which was released under a pen name.  This novel takes place in 1943, ten years after the assassination of FDR, where Huey Long is president of the United States, and is slowly turning the country towards fascism.  I’m hoping that fans of mine who might have missed this book when it first came out will give it a chance this time around.
I’ve also found an unusual second career of appearing on game shows.  In late 2012 I became a “Jeopardy!” game show champion, and this past year, I was also a winner on the trivia game show “The Chase.”   It’s a lot of fun and usually means a free trip to LA.
3. What is the greatest pleasure of a writing career?
The same answer from the last time I had the pleasure to appear on your blog, Ed.  To have the best job in the world, in which I set my own hours and pace, and get paid for storytelling, and to meet fans and writers from all over the world.

4. What is the greatest DISpleasure?
Editors who take months to make a decision, who won’t reply to your phone messages or emails.  Agents who act as gatekeepers and editorial reviewers, overlooking their primary job to assist writers in their careers.  Agents who also don’t reply to emails or phone messages.
Royalty statements that make no sense.  And pay scales, for the most part, that haven’t even come close to the realities of today’s economy.
5. If you have one piece of advice for the publishing world, what is it?
Beats the heck out of me.  Publishing is changing so fast and furious I doubt any advice I give will still be revelant.

6. Are there two or three forgotten mystery writers you'd like to see in print again?
John D. MacDonald, of course.  And it seems like Ed McBain --- Ed freakin’ McBain! --- has fallen into the memory hole.  Tony Kenrick and Edwin Corley, two great thriller writers from the 1970’s also come to mind.  Richard Hoyt wrote some great Cold War thrillers during the time.  And if there’s any justice, Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake will still be revered in the years to come.

7. Tell us about selling your first novel. Most writers never forget that moment.
I was working at my corporate communications job at utility in New Hampshire when my agent called in the summer of 1991, saying that my first Lewis Cole novel, DEAD SAND (and my fourth novel in actuality) had been purchased by Pocket Books.  I had to admit tears came to my eyes; ever since I was twelve, I wanted to be an author, and now, 20 years later, my dream had come true.
But you know what?  Each subsequent sale has also been a joy.  Each book is a miracle, and each book sale is a miracle times two.
















1. Tell us about your current novel/collection.
My great publisher Pegasus Books has released my 17thnovel, BLOOD FOAM, which is the ninth novel in my Lewis Cole mystery series.  The first novel in the series, DEAD SAND, was published in 1994.  It’s both hard to believe and it’s also gratifying that I’m still writing about Lewis Cole, and haven’t gotten tired of him yet.
In BLOOD FOAM, Lewis is asked by his friend and former lover, newspaper editor Paula Quinn, to track down her missing fiancé, Mark Spencer, the lawyer for their local town.  He’s been gone for four days, isn’t home, hasn’t shown up for work, and hasn’t answered his emails or phone.
Lewis doesn’t like Mark Spencer, but he still has feelings for his old girlfriend, and he agrees to see what he can do.  Soon, one little fact that doesn’t make sense brings him to a violent confrontation when Lewis and Paula realize they are no longer chasing down leads, but are being chased by very violent men with a deadly agenda.
I think it’s my best Lewis Cole mystery yet, but then again, I always say that.
Here’s a couple of recent reviews:
"Series fans will enjoy the ride." -- Publisher's Weekly

"DuBois' thrillers starring Lewis Cole can be picked up at any point in the series, but fans who have been reading them from the start will really appreciate how DuBois' characters keep getting back up after being tossed around by life. This ninth installment featuring Cole, a retired research analyst for the Department of Defense, shows him in a very vulnerable position: his historic New Hampshire home has been gutted by arson, he's run out of money, he's sleeping in his car, and all the while, a tropical storm is surging up the Atlantic coast. Enter his former lover and still good friend, a local newspaper writer, who seeks Cole's help in finding her fiance, a very Steady Eddie guy, a lawyer and town council member, who has unaccountably disappeared. Cole finds an ordinary but overlooked piece of data that cracks open the lawyer’s previous life. As Cole and his friend hunt for the fiance, they suddenly become the hunted. DuBois gives us scene upon scene of incredible tension, relieved by Cole's mordant wit, and building to a truly gasp-inducing climax. This story arc started in the seventh Cole thriller, DEADLY COVE (2011). The characters who were wounded and torn apart by violence in that mystery are still coping with the aftereffects here. DuBois gives the reader both exquisite suspense and deeply realized characters." -- Booklist (Starred review)


2. Can you give a sense of what you're working on now?
A month ago, I finished the first draft of the next Lewis Cole novel, STORM CELL, which will be the tenth novel in my series.  It’s currently with my first readers, and I hope to get it out to my publisher in a few weeks.
In January 2016, one of my oldest childhood dreams will come true when my first true science fiction novel, DARK VICTORY, will be published by Baen Books.  It’s a tale of an alien invasion of earth, and how ten years later, the battle goes on, mostly fought by teenagers.  It was a thrill to write and a greater thrill to have it get published.
Also in 2016, Midnight Ink will publish a stand-alone thriller, NIGHT ROAD, which takes place in the upper reaches of the New Hampshire border with Canada, involving drug smugglers, Homeland Security, motorcycle gangs, and an ex-serviceman seeking to regain his life and honor.
There’s another novel, a massive thriller, that’s with a major publishing house at this moment, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will have a happy conclusion.
I’m also working on a number of short stories, along with doing some self-publishing of my earlier works.  I’m also in the process of releasing an alternative history novel I published some years back, AMERIKAN EAGLE, which was released under a pen name.  This novel takes place in 1943, ten years after the assassination of FDR, where Huey Long is president of the United States, and is slowly turning the country towards fascism.  I’m hoping that fans of mine who might have missed this book when it first came out will give it a chance this time around.
I’ve also found an unusual second career of appearing on game shows.  In late 2012 I became a “Jeopardy!” game show champion, and this past year, I was also a winner on the trivia game show “The Chase.”   It’s a lot of fun and usually means a free trip to LA.
3. What is the greatest pleasure of a writing career?
The same answer from the last time I had the pleasure to appear on your blog, Ed.  To have the best job in the world, in which I set my own hours and pace, and get paid for storytelling, and to meet fans and writers from all over the world.

4. What is the greatest DISpleasure?
Editors who take months to make a decision, who won’t reply to your phone messages or emails.  Agents who act as gatekeepers and editorial reviewers, overlooking their primary job to assist writers in their careers.  Agents who also don’t reply to emails or phone messages.
Royalty statements that make no sense.  And pay scales, for the most part, that haven’t even come close to the realities of today’s economy.
5. If you have one piece of advice for the publishing world, what is it?
Beats the heck out of me.  Publishing is changing so fast and furious I doubt any advice I give will still be revelant.

6. Are there two or three forgotten mystery writers you'd like to see in print again?
John D. MacDonald, of course.  And it seems like Ed McBain --- Ed freakin’ McBain! --- has fallen into the memory hole.  Tony Kenrick and Edwin Corley, two great thriller writers from the 1970’s also come to mind.  Richard Hoyt wrote some great Cold War thrillers during the time.  And if there’s any justice, Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake will still be revered in the years to come.

7. Tell us about selling your first novel. Most writers never forget that moment.
I was working at my corporate communications job at utility in New Hampshire when my agent called in the summer of 1991, saying that my first Lewis Cole novel, DEAD SAND (and my fourth novel in actuality) had been purchased by Pocket Books.  I had to admit tears came to my eyes; ever since I was twelve, I wanted to be an author, and now, 20 years later, my dream had come true.
But you know what?  Each subsequent sale has also been a joy.  Each book is a miracle, and each book sale is a miracle times two.
IBTERVIEW 

The New Bill Pronzini Novel-INTERVIEW

The latest in MWA Grand Master Bill Pronzini’s critically-acclaimed Nameless Detective SeriesVIXENBill Pronzini“This is a typical Nameless mystery: engrossing, tightly plotted and thought provoking. Pronzini is one of the modern masters of the Dashiell Hammett–style hard-boiled detective story, and his appeal to old-school crime fiction readers remains high.”—Booklist
Bill Pronzini has been nominated for, or won, every prize offered to crime fiction writers and he continues to show his skill with America’s longest-running detective series. The Nameless Detective faces a dangerous femme fatale in the latest from the master of mystery: VIXEN (Forge Hardcover; June 23, 2015; $24.99). Nameless is hired by Cory Beckett, a beautiful young woman, to find her missing brother, Kenneth. It appears that he has fled San Francisco in a drug-induced panic to avoid the charge of stealing a necklace from his employer’s wife. But when the agency finds and questions the missing brother Cory Beckett’s motives come into question and the case takes on darkly sinister complexities.As Nameless and his agency follow the mystery through a series of shocking twists and turns Cory is revealed as a deadly, designing woman who will stop at nothing. But the detectives do not realize until the end how devilish Cory Beckett really is, a femme fatale who has brought something new to the species—new, and terrible.Mystery readers will find a fresh take in every masterful contribution from Pronzini, and VIXEN continues the trend with another addictive tale. Follow Booklist’s advice and “Never, ever miss a Nameless case.” 
Praise for Bill Pronzini
“There is no living writer whose work more faithfully embodies the spirit of classic private-eye fiction than Bill Pronzini. It is classy, classy noir storytelling.”—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Pronzini is a pro at PI fiction: he never cheats on the reader, respecting the conventions of the hard-boiled detective stories and puzzle mysteries he employs so well.”—Library Journal
“Pronzini constructs his sturdy plot with top-quality materials.”— The New York Times Book Review  on Nightcrawlers
“One of the best in the mystery-suspense field” —The Washington Post Book World 
“«There isn’t a significant award for crime fiction that Pronzini hasn’t won, and this is a fine example of his work. His core of protagonists continues to evolve, his plotting is always masterful, and his shifting narrative viewpoints add additional context to the work.”— Booklist, Starred Review on Nemesis
“«Can doing first-rate work as consistently as Pronzini really be as effortless as he makes it seem?”—Kirkus, Starred Review on Camouflage 
BILL PRONZINI has been nominated for, or won, every prize offered to crime fiction writers, including the 2008 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. It is no wonder, then, that Detroit Free Press said of him, "It's always nice to see masters at work. Pronzini's clear style seamlessly weaves [storylines] together, turning them into a quick, compelling read." He lives and writes in California, with his wife, the crime novelist Marcia Muller.                                                       THE INTERVIEW

1.     There is a rumor that the Nameless series may be coming to an end. Any truth to that?
Vixen may or may not be the last Nameless novel.  Depends on several factors.  In any event, one more Nameless book will definitely be published next year:  Zigzag, a collection of two original novellas and two short stories.


2.     Where were you in the series when you realized that Nameless was to become the most important element of your career?
I’ve been writing Nameless short stories since 1967, novels since 1971, so the series has always been the major focus of my career.


3.     Many private detective series pay little serious attention to the cities they're set in. Was it a conscious decision to make San Francisco a key aspect of many of the books?
I believe a strong sense of place is an important component in fiction, and thus strive to make the settings in my novels as accurate and cinematic as I can.  A character, in effect, as well developed as the human ones.  I’ve lived in San Francisco and environs for most of my life, know them well; the city and other northern California locales lend themselves perfectly to the series because of their geographical, ethnic, and historical diversity.


4.     Is it fair to say that the Nameless novels are also a kind of spiritual autobiography of one William John Pronzini?
I like to think of the series as a sort of ongoing biography of a man who happens to be a detective.  As to it being a spiritual autobiography… well, to some extent, yes.  Nameless’s ethnicity, likes, dislikes, opinions, attitudes, etc. are all pretty much mine.  But he’s an all-around better person – the kind of man I aspire to be, you might say.


5.     As Edward Grainger pointed out in his excellent review of your great new novel Vixen, the Nameless novels have kept their vitality and modernity yet a few reviewers called them "retro." I mean this sincerely--I've never been able to decipher what they mean by that. You deal with contemporary themes in contemporary settings and in classic private detective style. So do ninety per cent of all other p.i. writers. But why are yours supposedly "retro?"
I suppose it’s because my books mostly deal with crime on a small, personal scale, as did the early PI novels.  No serial killer bloodbaths, no Mafia or Russian mobsters and hitmen, no drug wars, no international terrorism, etc.  They have relatively little on-stage violence, focus on character interaction as much as on plot.  What interests me are the effects of crime on Nameless, those close to him, and the often flawed individuals he comes in contact with.


6.     Any regrets about the Nameless books? Cases you never got to writing, cases you wish you hadn't written, cases you still plan to write.
My only real regret is that some of the novels – hell, most of them – didn’t turn out better than they are.  Every time I have occasion to look at one of the early titles, I find myself itching to rewrite it.


7.     Of all the memorable, timeless characters who've appeared in your books two of your finest and most enduring. Kerry certainly puts the lie to the charge of the Nameless books being "retro."  The relationship between Kerry and Nameless is as modern as chick lit. You obviously take the opportunity to comment on love in contemporary society through their enduring love, their occasional frustration and even moments of alienation.

One of PI fiction’s tropes is that the protagonist remain unmarried, a perpetual loner; if he falls in love, then something is supposed to happen to break up the relationship so he can get laid by a different woman next time out.  I never bought into that, any more than I did the bottle of bourbon in the desk drawer or the .45 in a shoulder holster.  When Nameless meets Kerry in Hoodwink, they were so right together it was inevitable their relationship lead to a permanent commitment.  He believes in true love and all its benefits.  So do I.  And so do a fair number of readers, otherwise the series wouldn’t have lasted as long as it has.


8.     The other character who has stayed with me is Eberhart, the former cop who became a partner in the Nameless agency. He is one of the most complicated and believable figures in the entire history of private eye fiction. Exasperating, endearing, trustworthy, duplicitous, arrogant, self-loathing...in many respects he is the neurotic version of Everyman. He was pretty much a standard cop figure when we first meet him in the early books but in the artful way you enrich him in later books he became a heartbreaking figure. Did you consciously develop him into this great sad dramatic figure?
As you say, Eberhardt was pretty much a standard cop figure in the early books.  The decision to deepen his character was intentional, but the ways in which he developed and changed weren’t; he just sort of evolved naturally – an example of what writers mean when we say that a character takes on a life of his own without any conscious intent on our part, his fate determined by who he is and who he becomes.


9.     I think your new Nameless novel VIXEN is among your finest depictions of the kind of people who are in crime news virtually every day. No no we say people can't really be like that but just this week we have a prison worker who not only helped two dangerous prisoners escape but also allegedly wanted them to murder her husband. VIXEN has that kind of shock value and that's definitely a part of its significance and page-turning quality. Tell us about it.

Vixen is my take on the classic femme fatale, as viewed from investigators’ points of view rather than (except for one necessary scene) her victim’s.  Cory Beckett is no Brigid O’Shaugnessy or Matty Walker, certainly, but still a pretty vicious specimen with a couple of twists I felt were at least somewhat original to the breed.  


Thank you very much, Bill.