Mark Rubinstein's Blog, page 22

Why I Write Crime-Thriller Fiction

I'm occasionally asked why I write crime-thriller novels.

They say write what you know, but I prefer to write what I love. And they always say, write the kind of book you would love to read. So, I write crime-thriller fiction.

But as a psychiatrist and novelist, I think there's more than that when it comes to crime thriller fiction.

While the range of human emotions and experiences can be tapped in any genre, there's something about crime novels—something elemental about villains and victims—that makes them so compelling.

Partly, I think crime novels are so popular and gripping because they describe events that could actually occur. They describe experiences could happen to any of us. The chance of being transported to another planet, or of having some paranormal experience is quite remote. Sci-fi and dystopian novels truck in pure fantasy, which is fine, but these events don't seem to be within the realm of possibility (at least for now).

However, you could very well be the victim if some thug's violent intentions, or become the target of extortion, or death threats. Any of us could unwittingly run afoul of the law, or become embroiled in some criminal enterprise while unaware aware of the snake pit into which we've fallen. These events can actually happen. One look at a newspaper or the evening news makes that very clear.

In other words, crime novels tap into the prospect of the possible which makes them so compelling and frightening. These things could actually occur.

But more than fear or the possibility of evil drives the popularity of these novels.

Greed, lust, avarice, revenge, cowardice, nobility—all run rampant in crime and thriller novels. Yet, it's vicarious, so the tension, anxiety, and outright fear occur to someone else—not to us. We can live it through a character's experiences, not our own. That makes it tolerable—even enjoyable. We can pull back from the tension or horror anytime we want.

Of course, there's the page-turning, heart-racing element of suspense. Will this brilliant and bold bad guy (who we admire, despite his crimes) really get away, or be brought to justice? (Think of The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth). Will this flawed detective or FBI agent prevail, despite his or her shortcomings? Will a thriller novel's protagonist survive the horrendous experiences described in the book?

Many characters in thriller fiction are larger-than-life. (Think of Jack Reacher in any Lee Child novel). If they're well-developed, they draw the reader inexorably into their spheres. The reader is "there" amidst the danger, pulse-pounding exploits, or the nerve-racking chase to a rocket-driven conclusion.

Think of the power of Vito Corleone in The Godfather, or the tenaciousness of Harry Bosch in Michael Connelly's novels. Consider the stealth and patience of Barry Eisler's John Rain, a master assassin; or the characters in virtually any novel written by the Dickens of Detroit, Elmore Leonard. How about the cunning brilliance of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter? (He's even in Wikipedia).

John Rain and Hannibal Lecter raise another point about crime fiction. Some villains are portrayed so richly, are so complex, and are so brilliant and out of the ordinary, they fascinate us. Who among us isn’t mesmerized by the exploits of Vito Corleone, or his son, Michael? Who can resist admiring John Rain—master assassin—for his skills, cunning, and despite his profession, his ethics? How many of us would admit—however secretly—admiring the incredible skill and tenacity of The Jackal in Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal? What is the psychology of our fascination with these characters? Is it because they can and will do things we wouldn’t dare do ourselves? Are their exploits those which we only dare fantasize about? Do we play out our own evil fantasies vicariously, by reading about them? It’s safe to do in the comfort of an armchair.

Whether the characters are heroes or villains, we love some, hate others, and even fear some of them. The most memorable have become American icons. Think of Vito Corleone, in The Godfather. Or Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs.

Maybe it all boils down to basics -- the good versus evil dichotomy of human existence. There’s good and evil in each of us—maybe more evil than we care to admit to ourselves.

I just love crime thriller novels. I love reading them and writing them.

WHICH HERO AND VILLAIN DO YOU FIND MOST MEMORABLE? Tell us by commenting on the blog below or on our Facebook page and you’ll be entered to win a a copy of MAD DOG JUSTICE! (U.S. entrants only, please.)

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

The Burning Room -- Free Preview -- The First 8 Chapters by Michael Connelly

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of the book and interviewed Michael Connelly for the Huffington Post about The Burning Room (article forthcoming).

That being said, I must report The Burning Room is another five-star police procedural involving Harry Bosch, one of my favorite detectives of all time.

An interesting situation is central to the novel: a man dies from what appeared to have been an accidental/random shooting 10 years earlier. The shooting occurred in a public place, and was considered to have been random--that is, no specific malevolence was involved. But now that the man is dead, the cold case is viewed as having involved murder. Harry, on the cusp of retirement, is assigned the case, and is also tasked with mentoring a young women detective, Lucy Soto, as they investigate the case. Turns out, there may be far deeper implications in this scenario than was thought over the ten years between the shooting and the victim's eventual death.

Once again, Michael Connelly delivers a mesmerizing detective story with layer-upon-layer of excellent detail and suspense. A solid five-star novel from the writer who created my favorite fictional character of all time, Mickey Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer).

Mark Rubinstein
Author of Mad Dog House, Mad Dog Justice and Love Gone Mad



View all my reviews

Paris Match: A Talk with Stuart Woods

Stuart Woods is the bestselling author of 57 novels, including the Stone Barrington and Holly Barker series. In fact, he’s had 41 consecutive New York Times bestsellers.

In Paris Match, Stone Barrington goes to Paris to take care of some business matters. While in France, his life is endangered by an old enemy who stalks him relentlessly.

This is your fourth novel this year. How do you remain so prolific?
I suppose my writing life has evolved into a system that works for me. I write in an improvisational way. I begin with a scene. The next day, I reread it and make small corrections. That catapults me into the next chapter, and I keep writing a chapter a day until I’m done. When I get about fifty chapters into the story, I start looking for a way to get out of the corner I’ve painted myself into. So far, I’ve always found a way out.

So you’re not a writer who outlines the plot?
I gave up outlining a long time ago. It seems to me that going by the seat of my pants is a more interesting way to write a novel. If I can’t figure out what’s happening, then I don’t think the reader can, and that’s very important to me. There’s that old adage, ‘No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.’

What are the sources for your ideas?
I don’t really know. It can involve almost anything. It can be a story in a newspaper. I’m using drones in my next book because drones have been in the news lately. I’ve never had any trouble coming up with ideas. I can go online, or use any thoughts or fantasies for ideas. All of them combine in my imagination and are rich sources for me. The world is filled with ideas. They grow like weeds, and it’s just a matter of doing some weeding.

You mentioned drones. How do you keep your novels so contemporary?
My novels are not technologically oriented, except when it comes to airplanes. Then, I just use the airplane I’m flying myself. Stone has an iPhone and airplane as well as some nice cars, but there’s nothing terribly advanced in the novels when it comes to technology.

You have homes in New York City, Florida and Maine, pilot and own a Cessna Citation M2, and are an avid sailor. How do you find time to write?
Well, if you’re only working an hour a day, it’s not that tough. We spent a month in Paris last year, and I managed to write twenty-five chapters there. Wherever I go, I take the laptop and I do some work. A day’s work for me is from eleven in the morning until twelve noon. I keep a fairly rigid writing schedule. Someone once said, ‘You should think like an artist and work like a farmer.’ With my schedule, it takes me about two months to write a novel. If you add it up, I’m working about eight months a year.

How much of Stone Barrington’s life mirrors the life of Stuart Woods?
Well, there are a few similarities. We once shared a tailor. I think Stone and I share fantasies more than anything else. His life is quite different from mine, except in small ways. Flying airplanes is the biggest similarity between Stone and me.

He’s quite a ladies’ man.
It would be pretty dull if he wasn’t. (Laughter). I was a confirmed bachelor for quite a while. I didn’t get married until I was forty-seven. I think I was still too young for it at the time. (More laughter).

Having penned so many novels, what about writing has surprised you?
I was surprised that things actually turned out the way I’d planned them. The biggest surprise for me has been my success. Everybody has dreams and I managed to make most of mine come true.

My first novel wasn’t published until I was forty-three. By then, my contemporaries had well-established careers. I was a straggler. On the other hand, I was having an awfully good time before I stopped straggling, and before I got married. I lived in various places and did things I could never have done if I had been married.

And you’ve incorporated those things into your novel writing?
Yes, a lot of them have found their way into my novels. I also wrote a memoir, Blue Water, Green Skipper, about my sailing adventures. I began writing it while I was living in Ireland, and finished it when I got back to the United States. That was before I began writing novels.

What do you love about writing?
I love the freedom. I like not having a boss. I like being able to pick up and travel somewhere, if that’s what I want to do. Or, even move somewhere, if I want to. I don’t have to worry about finding a job. My work is portable. It moves as easily as I do.

If you could have dinner with any five people, living or dead, who would they be?
For a start, I would have Mark Twain. I wouldn’t have to do much talking if he were my guest. Jack Kennedy would be very interesting. It would be great to talk with Clark Gable, and David Niven, too. He was a wonderful raconteur. Eleanor Roosevelt would be at the table. Of course, I wouldn’t be doing much talking; I’d be listening and learning. Afterwards, I’d probably write about them.

Do you watch much television?
I do. My wife and I watch television on a fairly regular basis. We really love the Roosevelt series. I saw the first two seasons of Breaking Bad and it wore me out. One of these days, I’ll catch up. We’re big fans of the series, Ray Donovan. I think Jon Voigt is tremendous. Mickey Donovan is probably the best character he’s ever played. And we finally caught up on House of Cards.

What’s next for Stuart Woods?
Another Stone Barrington novel will be coming. Part of my deal with the publisher is that all my novels will be Stone Barrington novels. However, I’ve tricked them by bringing my characters from the Holly Barker series into Stone’s novels. My wife and I are spending a month in different countries. This year, it’s Rome; and Stone will be going with us. I’m just going to keep writing as long as I can think and move my fingers, and just hope people will keep reading.

Congratulations on writing Paris Match, another Stone Barrington novel that will surely shoot to the top of the bestseller lists.

Review of "Mad Dog Justice"

Mad Dog Justice Reviewed By Lois Henderson of Bookpleasures.com
By Lois Henderson
Published Today
General Fiction

Reviewer Lois Henderson: Lois has a MA General Linguistics, BA (English) Honors, Higher Education Diploma, Higher Diploma in Library and Information Science - indexer of more than 130 books; editor of dozens of theses and study manuals at university and college level.

Publisher: Thunder Lake Press
ISBN: 978-0-9856268-0-8

Just as thrilling as its predecessor, Mad Dog House, at the hands of noted physician and psychiatrist Mark Rubinstein, comes Mad Dog Justice, a tale of running from the recrimination that follows on the heels of the murder of a loan shark, whose untimely end one might have thought was inevitable. However, when it is the so-called “good guys” that perpetrate what could be called “street justice” is the crime involved any less heinous and devastating for those who are left behind? Not, it seems, when it involves the uprooting of entire families and the disruption of the workplace. When does order become reduced to mayhem, and when does law, or, at least, taking the law into one’s own hands, become disorder and chaos?

As one might expect from such a professional practitioner of the arts, the questions surrounding ethics that lie at the heart of Mad Dog Justice make it far more intriguing than a mere thriller or everyday detective story. Though the pulse does quicken and the blood and sweat do pour forth, this novel is much more than a quick read. The tension of the plot does sweep one onwards and away from the mundanity of everyday existence, but there is a depth to this work on which one can dwell for some time.

Who to trust, and who to distrust, and whether trust is possible at all in a world that is torn apart by violence is a core issue of Mad Dog Justice. In one of the few places in the book where the philosophical depth underlying the psyche of the leading protagonist is shown, the uncertainty of the daily stresses that flummox us all is revealed: “…when it comes to people and money and greed, you never know. When money is at stake, plenty of people lose their sanity. They no longer act rationally. You just can’t know what drives people to do what they do in this world.” And who better than a psychiatrist and medical professional to tell us that?

This work should appeal to all those who enjoy a great escapist read, with the haunting anxiety that besets the lead characters being disturbing enough to make one’s flesh crawl. You’ll no doubt heave a sigh of relief at the end of the book, but then be itching for more of the same. Mad Dog Justice is an intoxicating read that will have you hankering for more…guaranteed!

No, I Won't Use an e-Reader

Let me begin by saying I love books, whether electronic or paper. I'll read on my Kindle or a "regular" book. Frankly, I'll read on whatever's available. I just love reading and being transported to another world beyond my own. It's pleasurable to share the domain the writer has created. It's a realm to which I bring my own thoughts, feelings and fantasies, all of which no doubt, color my reading experience. It's the act of taking in the writer's creation that's so meaningful, not the medium by which it's delivered.

I've heard many people refuse to consider using an e-reader. There seems to be an impenetrable wall of resistance to even the notion of trying one. It's the usual mantra about loving the "feel" and "smell" of paper; or the pleasure derived from holding a real book in hand; or perhaps, it's the physical act of turning pages; or the heft of the book itself.

I too, love the sensory elements of reading a paper book, but that hasn't precluded me from using an e-reader. After all, one medium doesn't rule out the other.

Why do some people refuse -- absolutely reject -- the idea?

It's not that they're knuckle-draggers or technophobes because they often have smart phones, iPods, computers and Skype. And, I've noticed the repudiation of e-readers isn't limited to older people. I know plenty of people under forty, who despite being completely comfortable with the technology of our times, want absolutely nothing to do with reading devices.

So, what exactly causes them to spurn this one technology?

I've thought about it as a psychiatrist, writer and avid reader.

Maybe it's because reading is something cultivated over the course of a lifetime, often beginning in childhood. Many book-lovers were read to as children -- by a parent, babysitter or other adult. It was, for most of us, a very special thing.

"Read me a story" is something most of us can remember asking, if we think back to our earliest formative years. "Being read to" is an experience which becomes embedded in our psyches as a distinct and unique childhood pleasure. It's loaded with meaning, and is suffused with memories of nestling on Mommy's or Daddy's lap; the look of the book with its bright, colorful illustrations; or the feel of the paper while we helped turn the pages. The physical book itself became the symbol housing the powerful emotional satisfaction of having parental attention bestowed upon us, with all its attendant meanings.

The book encapsulated a deep sense of pleasure, safety, wonder, satisfaction, and above all, love. These early experiences linger with us, and can have enormous emotional resonance.

On a pre-conscious level, perhaps some of us refuse to even try an e-reader because our minds view it as a renunciation of one of life's earliest pleasures.

It's merely my theory, but when I reflect upon how readily other technologies are embraced, none of them carry the primal significance of a "book in the hand."

Coming Soon: a new novella, “Return to Sandara”

Coming November 3rd, “Return to Sandara” When two brothers, Luke, two years out of college, and Gabe, entering his last year of college, go to Spain’s Costa Brava for the summer, they anticipate sun, surf and women. They have no idea of what awaits them. The world is a dangerous and unpredictable place.

Raymond Khoury’s Opinion of “Mad Dog Justice”

Raymond Khoury is one of the biggest names in the thriller universe. His Sean Reilly series has sold millions of books all over the world. He summed up his thoughts about “Mad Dog Justice.” Here’s what he had to say:

“Damage” A Talk with Felix Francis

Felix Francis is the son of the late Dick Francis, who was the bestselling author of more than 40 mystery novels. Felix studied physics and electronics at London University and taught advanced level physics for 17 years. Over a number of years, Felix assisted Dick with both the research and writing of his novels. Mary Francis, Dick’s wife, did much of the editing, until her death in 2000, when Felix took over. Dick Francis drew on Felix’s experience as a physicist, and on his prowe[image error]ss as an in...

"Damage" A Talk with Felix Francis

Felix Francis is the son of the late Dick Francis, who was the bestselling author of more than 40 mystery novels. Felix studied physics and electronics at London University and taught advanced level physics for 17 years. Over a number of years, Felix assisted Dick with both the research and writing of his novels. Mary Francis, Dick’s wife, did much of the editing, until her death in 2000, when Felix took over. Dick Francis drew on Felix’s experience as a physicist, and on his prowess as an international marksman.

By 2005, Felix assumed a greater role and co-authored four novels with his father. Following Dick Francis’s death in 2010, Felix wrote four novels set in the world of horseracing. His latest, Damage, involves undercover investigator Jeff Hinkley, who must solve the mystery of who is trying to topple the entire world of horseracing.

You’ve gone from physics to fiction. How did you make this seemingly incongruous transition?
I really wanted to be a pilot but had hip trouble and couldn’t fly for the RAF. So, I went into teaching as a stopgap measure until I found what I wanted to do with my life. I loved it and spent seventeen years teaching physics. I was head of a science department at a school in the UK. My parents had moved to America and were living in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I went on vacation to visit them with my wife and young son. My mother asked me if I would help my father prepare his taxes. I then spent the next five years of my vacations going there and helping my father with his tax preparations. I did more and more looking after both my father’s and mother’s affairs.

It became very difficult because of my teaching and other obligations, and I told my father so. He simply asked if I would give up my day job and work for him full-time. I said, ‘You don’t pay me for what I do’ and he replied, ‘I’ll pay you twice what you’re getting now.’ I thought about it for two seconds and gave up my teaching career to work for my parents on a full-time basis. I also gave up working with an expedition company leading expeditions around the world. I never regretted my choices for a second.

I worked for my parents doing everything from changing light bulbs to investment management. My mother died in 2000 and my father retired. I continued looking after him, and he wasn’t in the best of health for the last five years of his life. In 2005, my father’s literary agent invited me to lunch. He said, ‘We have a problem. No one is reading the backlist of Dick’s books.’ They weren’t available in bookshops. Of course, nowadays, with Kindle, you can buy backlisted books again, but back then, you couldn’t buy any backlisted Dick Francis books.

The agent said, ‘We need a new Dick Francis novel.’ I told him, ‘You’re not going to get one because my mother and father used to work on them together.’ My mother had died, and my father was ninety-five years old. The agent wanted my permission to recruit a crime writer to pen another Dick Francis book.

I heard myself saying to him, ‘Before you ask anyone else to write one, I would like to have a go at it.’ He didn’t roll his eyes and ask why I thought an ex-physics teacher could write a Dick Francis novel. Instead, he said, ‘Okay, I’ll give you two months to write two chapters.’ So I wrote two chapters, sent them in and he said two things to me: first, ‘You’d better speak to your father’ and secondly, ‘You’d better go on and finish this book.’

I went to my father who initially wasn’t terribly excited, but when he read the two chapters of Under Orders, he became enthusiastic. The novel came out as a Dick Francis novel in 2006. It was only designed to get people to read the backlisted books, but it shot to the bestseller lists in the UK and America.

The next thing I knew, I was writing another book, and then another, and Damage is the latest one. So, I’ve been a full-time writer for the last nine years. When my father was alive, we’d discuss the plots. He’d give me pointers and direction, and the books had both our names on the covers. Crossfire, which has both our names on the cover, was less than half-finished when he died.

Of course, I miss him in very many ways, and one of those ways is that I don’t have him to discuss plots with today. If it hadn’t been for that lunch with the agent, I’d never have thought about writing. And now, it seems like the most natural thing in the world.

You once said, ‘The production of a Dick Francis novel has always been a mixture of inspiration, perspiration and teamwork.’ Tell us about that.
My mother and father used to refer to it as the family business. My mother said it was a cottage industry without the cottage. All the Dick Francis books have been a family effort. That includes my own. My father wrote a book about a physics teacher—Twice Shy—and that was me. He wrote another about someone running a racehorse transport business, and that was my brother. In Gamble, I used my cousin’s son, a financial advisor, to do my research. My brother was involved in horseracing, and he’s the first one to read an early draft of a new novel.

My father had the ideas for the novels. My mother was a great believer in the rhythm of sentences. She did all the editing. She was very important in working on the flow of the novels. I’ve always believed that good literature should flow like cream off a spoon. It shouldn’t get stuck in your throat like barbed wire. Family teamwork was very important in all the books.

There are scenes in Damage where your background in physics and technical matters is quite evident. How much research is involved in your writing?
I do quite a lot of research. Even though it’s fiction, you’ve got to have your facts straight. I talk to friends and tap their expertise whenever I can. In Damage, a great deal of information about how undercover operations work was gleaned from a friend of mine, a former policeman. He read the completed manuscript and checked for any police procedural mistakes. I use the Internet frequently. I do as much as I can to mold the story into an interesting tale. I don’t try to teach my readers anything; and you don’t need to know a thing about horseracing to enjoy them, but by reading one of the novels, a reader might learn something about the sport.

Tell us how you plot a mystery story.
If I knew that, I’d do it. (Laughter). I write in the first person, which means, by definition, the book contains a continuous timeline. The story is seen through the experiences of a single character, in this book, Jeff Hinkley. The traditional detective/murder mystery is usually a third person narrative. You know, you get twelve people in a house. Someone gets murdered and the police arrive. I can’t do it through the eyes of the investigator because he can’t be there before the murder. I write in the first person because it’s what my father did and it’s what the readers expect.

As for plotting the story, I have only a conception of how the book will begin when I start writing. I do know my main character will prevail in the end. But I don’t know who’s going to be the bad guy. I don’t even know where or when he’s going to appear. I don’t plot out the entire book. I begin the novel because I have a good idea for a start. I set up the mystery. Then, I begin thinking about how I’m going to solve it. People sometimes say, ‘Oh, I knew who did it from the moment he arrived on the scene.’ I don’t see how that’s possible, because it’s more than I knew when I introduced the character while writing the manuscript. When I begin a book, I start by creating characters and setting out their story lines. The second half of the book involves bringing the characters together and tying things up so the mystery is resolved.

So it really is for you, as well as for the reader, a process of discovery.
Completely. Absolutely. There will be things in a novel that I hadn’t even thought about when I began writing it. It really boils down to setting up the beginning of the novel in which my character realizes there’s something he’s going to have to investigate.

Jeff Hinkley is an interesting character in Damages. Will he be the protagonist of another novel?
Yes, he will be. I haven’t had a recurring character before this. My publishers have said how much they really like him and want me to use him again.

What, if anything, has surprised you about writing?
The most surprising thing is that I discovered I can do it. Equally surprising is that I’m able to put a considerable amount of emotion into the writing, and in my characters. Writing in the first person makes it easier to include emotion. I’m not afraid to say that when I write certain passages, they make me cry. If they don’t make me cry, how could I expect them to make anyone else cry? Emotion is so important in a novel because above all, you want the reader to feel something for or about the character. I’ve discovered the ability to make both readers and myself cry.

What do you love most about being an author?
I love having finished the book. (Laughter). I love when it’s published and people read it. I don’t write for myself. I write because I want people to read the book. I really enjoy when I’m more than half way through a novel and things are going well. But there’s nothing better than people coming up to me and saying how much they loved the book. I have the best job in the world, but I have bad days—lots of them. I go through terrible self-doubt as to whether the book is any good. I love when I can send it off and feel confident about the book’s worth.

I just love those moments when I suddenly have an idea, or where the problem in the mystery opens up to me. It can come to me by asking myself questions. I can even ask the wrong question which may lead me to the right answer. In fact, that can happen quite frequently—the wrong question opening a door, leading to the solution to the mystery. I just love that kind of moment in the creative process. It’s one of those Eureka moments. And I love it.

Congratulations on writing Damage, a beautifully plotted and engaging mystery novel set in the fascinating world of horseracing.

The Golem of Hollywood: A Talk with Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman has written 43 books. Thirty seven of them have been novels; all have been bestsellers. Twenty nine of the novels have featured Alex Delaware, a child psychologist who is a consultant to the LAPD.

Jesse Kellerman, Jonathan’s son, has written five novels. Two of them have been international bestsellers. He is also an award-winning playwright. Jonathan and Jesse have co-authored The Golem of Hollywood, a crime nov[image error]el

with elements of myth and the supernatural.

In The Golem of Hol...