The Tears and Triumphs of a New Author

                                                                                          Chapter 3

             I have my characters, Walt, Maggie, Mary, Willie and the Professor.

            Now I need a plot, a storyline that will keep the reader involved from cover to cover.

            I know I want to make people laugh.

            The world is full of sadness and tragedy. When I read a novel, watch a TV show or go to the movies, I want my escape to make me feel good.

             In real life, I always try to find the funny side of things and I believe there is an element of humor in almost everything that happens to us.

           In my family there is a contest between my son’s father-in-law and me as to who does the goofiest things as we enter our dotage. I was briefly in second place when Jim left his teeth on the counter and a mouse ran off with them. I’m usually in first place if that tells you anything.

           I also love mysteries. Along with funny stuff, I enjoy immersing myself in a good who-done-it that makes me think and reason.

           In addition to hundreds of  crime dramas on TV, I have read and enjoyed Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch series and Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole series. Both are engaging mysteries with a touch of humor.

           I am not into graphic blood and guts and I don’t need gratuitous sex scenes. For me, when I read a story I appreciate it when the author lets me fill in the blanks with my own imagination.

           With these things in mind, it’s no coincidence that Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series is a favorite. They combine just the right amount of mystery and humor to keep me reading, laughing and thinking.

So now I know the style that I want to achieve.

         I want to write a story about senior citizens who are a long way from being “over-the-hill”, who encounter mysteries in their lives and solve them as only an old-timer can.

         And along the way, explore the humorous side of aging and the challenges of the Golden Years.

        I can’t wait to get started.

Robert Crais’ new novel will be The First Rule due out in early January. It’s a Joe Pike Novel. For those of you who don’t know, Joe Pike is the partner of Robert Crais’ series detective, Elvis Cole. Now, I’m a big fan of the Elvis Cole novel because of Cole’s humor (not to mention his name). Pike is more serious and so are the novels that feature him—L.A. Requiem and The Watchmen. This doesn’t mean the Joe Pike novels are poor books (they aren’t), they’re just different. I do enjoy getting a different perspective on Pike and Cole that comes from having a different viewpoint character.

In The First Rule, Frank and Cindy Meyer seem like a normal couple. They appear to have the ideal life. Then one day a professional robbery crew breaks into their home and kills them.

Enter Joe Pike. Meyer had been a professional mercenary who worked with and became friends with Pike years before. And Pike remembers his friends.

The Meyers weren’t the first victims of the robbery crew, but the other victims had been criminals with large amounts of drugs and/or cash in their homes. While the police believe Frank Meyer must have also been a criminal, Pike doesn’t. He and Pike set out to clear Meyer and stop the robbery crew.

It promises to be another great adventure and suspense-filled mystery with Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.

Photo © Pop Culture Nerd

Last week, author Robert Crais unveiled excerpts from his hotly anticipated novel, The First Rule, at the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego, California. The pub date is vaguely scheduled for January or February 2010. (UPDATE: At Crais’s site, it now says January 12, 2010.) But wait! Stop banging your head against your desk, please! Crais let me tape his reading to share with those who couldn’t attend.

Since this is a Joe Pike novel, I’ll be Pike-like and keep the setup brief. Somebody murdered a friend and former colleague of Pike’s. HUGE mistake. With Elvis Cole’s help, Pike goes hunting, ready to unleash some serious hurt on the perpetrators. Yay!

Crais read three different passages, one in each video. Afterwards, check out the teaser Q & A I did with him about The First Rule. (UPDATE: Win an ARC and read my longer interview here.)

Watch, read, then let me know your thoughts!

PCN: My mother taught me the first rule is to always wear clean underwear in case I get in an accident. What does the first rule in your title refer to?

Robert Crais: The meaning is in the eye of the beholder, so take your pick: The East European organized crime gang sets operate under eighteen written rules called the Vorovskoy Zakon—which means the thieves’ code—the first rule of which says they’re not supposed to have a family. But the title, The First Rule, might also be interpreted from Joe Pike’s point of view, which suggests his first rule is that you take care of the people you love, and everything that implies. And if that’s the case, then the first rule for the rest of us is pretty simple: Don’t piss off Joe Pike.

PCN: In the excerpt, you mentioned how Pike’s walls are empty. Why isn’t Elvis on there?

RC: Elvis is in Joe’s heart.

PCN: What’s on your walls?

RC: I have more people in my life than Joe has. My walls are filled with pictures of my family, my friends, cool things that have happened along the way. Art. A couple of human heads. The usual.

PCN: You seem to take pop culture cues for your author photos. For The Two Minute Rule, it was the Brokeback look, and you’ve got an Agent Smith, Matrix thing going on with the last two books. What do you have in mind for the next one? Lederhosen a la Brüno?

RC: I was going for the lederhosen look until Brüno swiped it. Fashion is such a bitch, I’ve decided to pass on clothes. We’re going with a nude shot.

Look who's nerdy--me & Crais, WITH clothes

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Titolo: Attraverso il fuoco

Autore: Robert Crais

Trama: Nella lunga estate calda di Los Angeles, con un’afa insopportabile e gli incendi all’ordine del giorno, le sirene di polizia e vigili del fuoco scandiscono la colonna sonora delle giornate. Durante l’evacuazione del sobborgo di Lookout Mountain viene ritrovato il cadavere di un uomo, con una pistola ancora stretta in mano. Ai suoi piedi, un album con sette fotografie: sette donne barbaramente uccise, al ritmo di una all’anno. L’album s’intitola “I miei ricordi felici” il cadavere è quello di Lionel Byrd, conosciuto nel quartiere come una persona sgradevole e inquietante. Per la task force della polizia, guidata dall’ambizioso e autoritario Thomas Marx, il caso è chiaro: il serial killer Byrd si è suicidato e quelle foto valgono una confessione. Per l’investigatore privato Elvis Cole è un duro colpo; era stato lui, tre anni prima, a scagionare Byrd dall’accusa di aver ucciso la quinta donna di quella macabra serie. Le nuove indagini, tuttavia, non stabiliscono in modo definitivo la colpevolezza di Byrd. Nonostante diversi agenti lo trattino come un complice dell’assassino, Cole non riesce a convincersi di aver sbagliato. Con l’aiuto del fedele Joe Pike, Cole decide di indagare per conto proprio, ricorrendo ai suoi numerosi contatti nei vari uffici di polizia. Andrà a fondo nelle storie delle donne uccise, incontrerà il dolore dei familiari, cercherà di orientarsi fra le incongruenze e le reticenze di Marx e dei suoi uomini, scoprendo una storia che nessuno ha interesse a rivelare.

Letto da: Paolo

Opinione: Io sono di parte, visto che i libri di Robert Crais e le indagini di Elvis Cole rientrano nei libri che compro ad occhi chiusi; finora non mi hanno mai deluso.

Consigliato: SI

It has been almost two weeks since I finished Robert Crais’ classic The Monkey’s Raincoat, a detective story that’s halfway between a mystery and a crime novel. Immediately upon finishing, I was sucked into KSR’s Red Mars, perhaps justifying the delay here, but more on that in another post.

Elvis Cole, our narrator and hero in this awesome series, provides the kind of storytelling that you expect from an L.A. crime tale. Elvis is tough, quirky, quite funny, and good with the ladies, notching both demure housewives and bitchy society girls on his bedpost in just 197 pages. His partner, a crazy killer who made me think of a philosophical (and sociopathic) Michael Chiklis, is totally absent from the first half of the book, and then when he shows up he steals the show like his first box of condoms. These guys may not go through any catharses in the book, but their client does, and that’s good enough for me in terms of character arc.

Raincoat has everything you’d expect from an L.A. crime novel — murder, sex, drugs, dangerous minorities(^1), and of course, Hollywood. I haven’t read many mysteries in my time, but I had so much fun with this book, I’m a little shocked I haven’t read more. After all, Chinatown, Usual Suspects, and Memento are some of my favorite movies.

My favorite thing about the book is that it’s so 80’s. From the fashion to the movies to the cultural references — it’s quite amazing how some of these hold up remarkably well (Star Wars, Magnum P.I.) and other go RIGHT over my head. I guess that’s the danger. If you’re going to make a pop culture reference your book, make sure it’s something that will still be topical in 30 years. Most likely, it won’t be.

Check out the book. This has me thirsting to write crime and noir and most of all, mysteries. To some degree, I think every book should be a mystery, even if the end result is not to find out that the butler did it. Ambiguity adds layers to every story. I’m going to take that to heart.

One last thought: The absolute coolest scene in this book is when our hero, in the middle of a fist fight, throws cognac on some punk and lights him on fire.  Awesome.

(^1): There is a heavy known simply as “The Eskimo.” I’ll leave it at that.

Three years ago Lionel “Lonnie” Byrd had dodged a bullet. Charged in the murder of a young prostitute, Byrd had been released from custody thanks to legwork by The World’s Greatest Detective, Elvis Cole. Just a couple of nights ago, though, a self-administered bullet had proved un-dodgeable. And on the table between Byrd’s rigid hands, spread out before his sightless eyes, lay the evidence that Cole must’ve been wrong. A scrapbook filled with grisly Polaroids clearly placed the dead man at the scene of Yvonne Burdett’s murder… and six other murders, too. It sure looked as if Cole’s detective work had set a serial killer free to continue practicing his nasty hobby, a little fact the LAPD detectives on the Byrd task force seem disinclined to let him forget. Ever.

If you’re The World’s Greatest Detective (WGD), though, you’re probably unaccustomed to second-guessing yourself. Naturally, Cole opens his own investigation; and, naturally, it soon becomes clear that there is something decidedly rotten in the state of Denmark. A few of the details of Byrd’s alleged suicide don’t quite add up; and certain cops on the case seem to have done some remarkably sloppy detective work. Then, too, the task force’s rush to judgment seems even more rushed than would be usual for a media-frenzied case. What – or, perhaps more to the point, who – is a deputy chief who’s personally running the investigation’s task force hiding? It definitely looks as if Cole, the ultimate outsider, has his work cut out for him this time.

With his usual sidekick Joe Pike and his new sidekick Carol Starkey both along for the ride, it seems that Elvis Cole might be able to spend eternity Chasing Darkness without worrying about his back. Regardless of the strength of his partnership with Pike or his newfound mutual-respect-society relationship with Starkey, there remains the issue of that three-year-old case hanging over his head. Did Cole bungle the investigation like some of the cops are saying? Or is he really the WGD and had it right all along? The Hawaiian-shirted LA detective with the cherry ‘66 ‘Vette and the ever-insouciant attitude does not, apparently, take the hint of failure well. In the usual manner of “outsider” private eyes with an “insider” past, Cole gets out there and detects rings around the so-called professionals on the case, even though his office ends up trashed and Pike has to pull his chestnuts out of the fire a time or two.

Fans of Elvis Cole creator Robert Crais get their money’s worth in Chasing Darkness, although the more ninja-loving among them will likely lament the paucity of appearances by Pike. That’s even though in his few pages, Pike might have as much dialogue as in all previous Cole novels combined. Much of Pike’s usual column-inch allotment has been passed instead to newly-minted homicide dick Carol Starkey (formerly of LAPD’s bomb squad, see Demolition Angel); a trend that began with The Forgotten Man. In Cole’s latest case, however, it doesn’t matter that Crais swaps Pike’s blank stares and tattooed delts for Starkey’s wisecracks and chain-smoking: he’s concentrated on spinning out a plot that might give new meaning to “convoluted.”

Filled with the usual motley assortment of wackos and incompetent cops and given several whiplash-inducing plot twists; in lesser hands Chasing Darkness might well have seemed contrived. The manner in which Crais has built a plot sans illogical leaps and without a single visit from her highness, the Coincidence Fairy, is part of the skill and control that separate the merely average mystery writer from the good ones. Robert Crais is one of the good ones, and Chasing Darkness is the latest evidence.

: : : :

Buy Chasing Darkness at amazon.com

I first discovered author Robert Crais while browsing for a book at an airport somewhere.  I picked up Sunset Express and discovered the love of my life, Elvis Cole.  I’ve been catching up on this series ever since.

Chasing Darkness is the latest Elvis Cole novel and I didn’t think it was one of his best offerings.  I devoured it anyway!  Cole is one of those private eyes who wants to know the truth and will do just about anything to discover it.  In this offering he believes a suspect he cleared several years ago is being unjustly charged with crimes he couldn’t have possibly committed.

The book has a surprise ending, so it will keep you reading right to the end.  I give this one a B, because I love me some Elvis!

So after the long haul through Stephenson’s ‘The System of the World’ I wanted some quick and rewarding reading and having recently picked up the latest Robert Crais, ‘The Watchman’ I decided reading two of my favourite authors simultaneously was a treat not to be missed.

The Watchman concentrates on the second, almost literally ’silent’ partner of Crais’ detective duo, Joe Pike. He of very few words, a smile which never extends beyond a twitch to the corner of the mouth, aviator sunglasses even at night and those forward facing red arrows tattooed on his deltoids. That Joe Pike.

Other than making Pike the focus, instead of wise-cracking Elvis Cole, this is a traditional Crais book. This one is mostly about protecting a witness from mobsters trying to kill her. Pike is as laconic as ever, although having deliberately pushed Pike to the forefront Crais explores a little more of his character and his history, as well as softening him a little in allowing him a friendship with the young woman he is protecting. There is action and tension from page one, Cole is as funny as Pike is ruthless, and as ever they are both deadly to those opposing them or threatening the innocent.

The only problem with Crais’ books are that they are far too easy to read and this one was no exception, I consumed it in two days. A shift in style without changing genres seemed like an interesting move. For a while my partner has been reading a series of crime books set not just in the Cotswolds but in a fictiional Cotswold village a few minutes drive from our home.

‘Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death’ by M.C. Beaton (a resident of nearby Blockley) is a light-hearted crime story in the tradition of Miss Marple.

Beaton updates Christie’s slightly stilted period style whilst retaining the village stereotypes and adding her own nice observations of the locality, its residents and the tourists who visit us in our golden hued villages.

Initially her lead, the titular Agatha Raisin, a successful Marketing company entrepreneur, selling up and taking early retirement to the idealised Cotswolds she remembers from a childhood visit, is anything but likeable.

Having established her in her new home Beaton sets up a series of village encounters designed to demonstrate how out of place she is, culminating in her attempt to ingratiate herself with the village by entering a London bought quiche into the village baking competition.

This is a very easy read, made all the more enjoyable as our village and many we know well are mentioned frequently, the whole thing is faintly ridiculous, but then so are the plots of many murder mysteries.

I shot through this in a day-and-a-half and there are a good number in the series, so I hope they remain fun and diverting.

Robert Crais has been writing excellent crime novels for twenty years now. Most of them have featured Elvis Cole and his sidekick, Joe Pike, a former cop, former marine and former mercenary who plays the really hard guy who often as not gets Elvis out of trouble and generally watches his back. But this book concentrates on Joe, and its Elvis who is the support player.

This story has Joe Pike returning a favour by taking on bodyguard duties for Larkin Barkley, a Paris Hilton-style heiress rich girl, who saw too much at a car accident and is now targeted, by someone. The action is about how Joe, with help from Elvis and others, decides to take the action to the pursuers, to find out who they are and why they are targeting Larkin. Needless to say there are plenty of plot twists, lots of shootings and bodies, and justice is done in the end without much recourse to the legal system. Also, the inevitable happens and Joe falls for the girl – well that was so predictable that it doesn’t really reveal anything you couldn’t have guessed up front.

The narrative is interspersed with flashbacks to Joe Pike’s past as a boy growing up in a violent household, as a rookie cop (origin of the favour he’s returning in this book), as a Marine and as a mercenary – all of them violent. But Joe is not really mean, he has a code and he sticks to it. What I get out of this is that this book is intended as an explanation of Joe Pike and the kind of character that he is – the plot is simply the backdrop for Joe’s story. This means that the balance between biography and crime is tilting towards the former, possibly to the detriment of the book, but at least you’ll have a better awareness of what makes Joe tick when he appears in future Robert Crais novels.

As always, the writing is crisp, and we can accept the combination of forensics, street awareness, deduction and human understanding that keep driving the story forwards. The characteristic humour is there – not necessarily through Pike, who seems a bit bereft in that direction, but Elvis contributes his bit, as does criminalist John Chen.

The Watchman by Robert Crais, published by Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster), (2007), ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-6169-9, ISBN-10: 1-4165-6169-2

Other books by Robert Crais:

Elvis Cole and Joe Pike – The Monkey’s Raincoat (1987), Stalking the Angel (1989), Lullaby Town (1992), Free Fall (1993), Voodoo River (1995), Sunset Express (1996), Indigo Slam (1997), L.A. Requiem (1999), The Last Detective (2003), The Forgotten Man (2005)

Other – Demolition Angel (2000), Hostage (2001), The Two-Minute Rule (2006)

Have just finished Alan Moore’s ‘From Hell’ which I had never read in it’s entirety before.  Picked this up from Gosh comics very recently. Think this must be a new edition, a black bound hardback with a glaring splash of red blood on the cover, and signed by the man himself !

Have also recently been reading ‘Rifles – Six Years with Wellington’s Legendary Sharpshooters’ by Mark Urban (the real story of the division behind Bernard Cornwell’s ‘Sharpe’ adventures);

Strange Affair by Peter Robinson (A DCI Alan Banks book);

 ’Stalking the Angel’ by Robert Crais (yet another re-reading of this second novel in the PI Elvis Cole & Joe Pike series);

and have just started ‘One Step Behind’ by Henning Mankell, the fifth of his gripping Inspector Wallander detective series.

Graphic novel wise I’ve moved from the stark black & white mystery of Moore’s Jack the Ripper to the colourful action filled Ms.Marvel vol.1 trade-paperback;

Somewhere inbetween these I’ve also taken in via single issues of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Season Eight issue 10, Hulk issue 1 and Lucha Libre issue 3 (based on Muttpop vinyl toy characters)…

A fairly eclectic mix