Behind the Scenes: “He had me at ‘Rats’.”

 Today, with release just ONE MONTH away, I share one of my own “behind the scenes” experiences with “SMELLY” KELLY AND HIS SUPER SENSES.

Once I had gotten a whiff of the life of James Kelly, the first subway leak detective who had an extraordinary nose, I had to know more. I found only three sources: a New York Times article, a New Yorker magazine article, and a chapter in The World Beneath the City by Robert Daley. 

As soon as I read the opening of that chapter, I was all in on attempting a...