Bruce DeSilva's Blog, page 37

Keller Returns in Lawrence Block’s New Crime Novel

Keller, Lawrence Block’s hit man anti-hero, was last seen five years ago, fleeing from a false accusation that he’d assassinated a political figure. Now he’s back in the author’s new crime novel, Hit Me.

You can read my Associated Press review of the novel here.

Who’s Reading “Cliff Walk” Now? New York Times Best-Selling Author Steve Berry

Steve Berry is one of the best thriller writers in the business, so I’m pleased to post this photo of him reading my most recent Mulligan crime novel, Cliff Walk.

My first Mulligan novel, Rogue Island, won the Edgar Award and the Macavity Award and was a finalist for the Shamus, Anthony, and Barry Awards. Most reviewers say Cliff Walk is even better. You can purchase the novels here.

The third novel in the series, Providence Rag, will be published in hardcover and e-book editions by Forge in March of 2014.

You can learn more about Steve Berry and his work here.

My Review of Tim Hallinan’s New Crime Novel, “Little Elvises”

Crashed, the first novel in veteran crime novelist Timothy Hallinan’s new Junior Bender series, was great fun. The new one, Little Elvises, is even better with outrageous characters, heightened suspense and an intricate plot.

You can read my Associated Press review of the novel here.

You can buy Tim’s books here.

And can learn more about him and his work here.

The Brazil Edition of Rogue Island

My Edgar Award-winning first crime novel, Rogue Island, has been translated into ten foreign languages; and here, just in, is the cover of the Brazil edition, which is, of course, in Portuguese.

For those of you who do your reading in English, you can find the book and its sequel, Cliff Walk, here.  The hardboiled novels follow the adventures of Liam Mulligan, an investigative reporter at a dying newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island. The third Mulligan novel, Providence Rag, will probably be published late this year.

Who’s Reading “Cliff Walk” Now? It’s Novelist Thomas H. Cook.

Thomas H. Cook, author of some of the best literary crime fiction since Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, has long been one of my favorite writers, so I’m thrilled that he’s reading my most recent hardboiled Mulligan novel, Cliff Walk.

Tom is also a generous friend and colleague. In September of 2011, when we were both at the huge Bouchercon crime fiction conference in St. Louis, I took Tom to lunch and spent a couple of hours brainstorming about the plot of a book I was thinking of writing. Tom listened carefully, asked thought-provoking questions, and made several suggestions that eventually found their way into Providence Rag, which will probably be published sometime late this year. Every writer should have friends like that.

If you haven’t read Tom’s work, I recommend starting with Red Leaves, but you can’t go wrong with any of his novels. To learn more about Tom, check out the essay I wrote about him for thenervousbreakdown.com.  You can purchase his work here.

Cliff Walk is the second novel in my series featuring Liam Mulligan, an investigative reporter for a dying newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island, The first, Rogue Island, won the Edgar Award and the Shamus Award and was a finalist for the Shamus, Anthony, and Barry Awards. You can purchase the Mulligan novels here.

The Korean Edition of “Rogue Island.”

My Edgar Award-winning first crime novel, Rogue Island, has been translated into ten foreign languages; and here, just in, is the cover of the Korean edition.

For those of you who do your reading in English, you can find the book and its sequel, Cliff Walk, here.  The hardboiled novels follow the adventures of Liam Mulligan, an investigative reporter at a dying newspaper in Providence, Rhode Island. The third Mulligan novel, Providence Rag, will probably be published late next year.

A Dog Steals the Show in Robert Crais’ New Novel, “Suspect.”

Robert Crais’ new novel, Suspect, marks the return of LAPD police officer Scott James, but the most appealing character in the book is the cop’s new partner, an 85-pound German Shepherd named Maggie.

Crais even writes some chapters from Maggie’s point of view. That would be risky for most writers, but Crais pulls it off brilliantly.  You can find my Associated Press review of the novel here.

New Date For The End Of The World

The Mayan date for the end of the world was wrong. For those of you who missed the news, the world did not end on Dec. 21, 2012. But there’s a new date for the end of the world, and this time it’s the real thing.

I can prove it.

The reason the Mayan prediction was wrong is that it was never meant to be a prediction. The Mayan calendar on which so many people based their fears this year was carved into a huge block of stone. That calendar expired on Dec. 21, 2012 only because the Mayan stone carver ran out of room for more dates.

But today’s calendars are done on paper. Since you can add as much paper as  you want, there’s no danger of running out of room.

Carol and Donald

So I was deeply alarmed today when the annual courtesy calendar from Carol and Donald Ashworth, the realtors who sold us our house four years ago, arrived in the mail.  I quickly flipped through it and discovered to my horror that it ends abruptly on December 31 in the year of our Lord 2013.

So there you have it.  The world will end on Dec. 31, 2013. Carol and Donald say so.

There can be no doubt.

A Modest Proposal For Solving America’s Mass Murder Problem

So the National Rifle Association’s solution to our epidemic of mass murder by gun is to put an armed guard in every public school. My liberal friends are going to be surprised by this, but I say GREAT! Let’s do it!

I know what you’re thinking: but, Bruce, there were TWO armed guards at Columbine High School, and 15 kids got shot to pieces anyway. Well sure. Because two was obviously not enough! What we need is an armed guard in every classroom!

Let’s see . . . America has approximately 130,000 elementary and secondary schools, each with, conservatively, 30 classrooms on average. That means we’ll need . . . (calculating). . . 3.9 million armed guards.  That might sound like a lot to the uninformed, but the fact is that it’s only about three times the number of active-duty men and women serving in the U.S. armed forces.

But wait a minute! Only a small percentage of mass murders by firearm happen in schools. They also happen in shopping malls, post offices, houses of worship, office buildings, wedding receptions, parking lots, theaters . . .

So? Let’s put armed guards in all those places, too! This would not only keep us safe but would be the greatest jobs program in history!

But, Bruce, you say. That would cost cost hundreds billions of dollars a year! Who will pay for all this?

Why, the answer couldn’t be more obvious! Since people running around with guns are the reason we need millions of armed guards with guns, the people running around with guns should foot the bill. We could collect the money simply by adding a surcharge to the sale of every gun and bullet. I’ll bet the responsible gun owner pictured at right is ready to do his part.

Better yet, let’s have the surcharge cover all the societal costs of guns: the funeral and medical expenses for the 100,000 Americans killed or injured annually by guns, the added cost of police protection required because so many people have guns, the wages families lose because of gun deaths, and so on. If we do that, each of the 10-to-14 million guns sold annually in the United States would, by my rough calculation, cost more than million dollars apiece.

But what the hey! Conservatives are sure to support my proposal. After all, they believe that all of us should pull our own weight, right? At least that’s what they keep telling us. They don’t want gun owners to be moochers or freeloaders, do they? Of course they don’t!

But Bruce, you ask, what if gun buyers resist paying this surcharge? What would we do, then? Why, the answer is obvious! We’ll simply deputize all of our anti-gun citizens and arm them with guns! The answer to every problem, always, is more guns! If you don’t believe me, just ask the NRA and it’s spokesman, John Wayne Gacey LaPierre.

Of course, my plan, as brilliant as it is, won’t stop all mass murders by gun. There was a mass murder at Fort Hood, remember, and from what I hear there were already a lot of guns there.

Who’s Reading “Cliff Walk” Now? It’s FOX New’s Chris Wallace!

Chris Wallace of FOX News

I ran into Chris Wallace at the National Press Club’s book fair in Washington, D.C. last month.

Cliff Walk is the second crime novel in my hardboiled series featuring Liam Mulligan, an investigative reporter at a dying Providence, Rhode Island, newspaper. The first, Rogue Island, won both the Edgar Award and the MaCavity Award and was a finalist for the Shamus, Anthony, and Barry Awards. Reviewers say Cliff Walk is even better. You can purchase the Mulligan novels here.