A few points of discussion.

[Spencer]

I read The Wolves of Fairmount Park a few weeks ago. Normally I don't discuss books with people, because I am the only person I know IRL that reads this genre. I think I am on call the weekend of the chat, so I thought I would bring up a few points.

First my perspective. I'm 31, and I've been reading crime fiction for about 3 years. Previous to that it was mostly sci-fi, cyberpunk, etc (think Neal Stephenson and William Gibson).

I started reading Lee Child based on a recommendation. Finished all of those, moved on to Lawrence Block, Andrew Vachss, Steig Larssen, then Henning Mankell. I've also been enjoying lots of Robert Crais lately.

For me, this had a very regional feel to it. The descriptions of the places in the novel were very detailed. I actually pulled up Google maps to get a better idea of where things were happening. Does anyone think this book would have benefited from a map?

Also, the descriptions of the drug use were scarily realistic. Reading this was kind of like the literature version of Requiem for a Dream. I pitied the characters for getting high like that, but you kind of understood why they did it based on how it made them feel.

I also liked how the detective had to use some dark sided characters to break the cases. I especially like how his big break that made him detective relied on info from a drug dealer.

Those are my only thoughts for now. Just taking a short break from the work day. I hope I can join the chat, but we'll have to wait and see.

[Fiona]

I always love a map in a book. I particularly enjoyed the maps provided by Charlie Huston in his Joe Pitt vampire series. I would stop reading and turn to the map and study it again and I found this helped me greatly to figure out the journey the character was making.

[Sabrina]

I think a map would have been great with this book. I would have loved to have been able study the layout of the city.

[Alison]

Spencer wrote: "Also, the descriptions of the drug use were scarily realistic. Reading this was kind of like the literature version of Requiem for a Dream."

Spencer, if you haven't already, I *highly* recommend reading the book Requiem was based on, also called Requiem for a Dream. Hubert Selby Jr., who also wrote Last Exit to Brooklyn, which I also recommend, wrote it.

Not only is it a heartbreaking and terrible (in a good way) story, but the writing is beautiful and it's astounding how accurately and perfectly the movie captures the feel of the prose on film.


Also, regarding maps:

I LOVE maps in books, and I think it's because I also come from a sci-fi/fantasy reading background. When an author is creating a world from whole cloth, I think publishers assume there ought to be a map, but when an author is working in the real world, maps are often overlooked. We added a map (based on the author's suggestion) to a book I worked on at Bleak House (Runoff, by Mark Coggins), and I thought it was a wonderful addition to the package. (Incidentally, commissioning a map is THE MOST FUN EVER and I hope I'll be able to do it again someday.)