A Singular Joint Endeavour

Dana King is both a friend of this blog and a good friend of your humble correspondent, so I’m delighted to announce that he has just published GRIND JOINT (Stark House). I’m hopelessly compromised in terms of letting you know what I think of the book, of course, but suffice to say that Charlie Stella has penned the Introduction, during the course of which Charlie compares – very favourably – GRIND JOINT to the work of Elmore Leonard. Quoth the blurb elves:

A new casino is opening in the rural town of Penns River, Pennsylvania but just where the money is coming from no one really knows. Is it Daniel Hecker, bringing hope to a mill town after years of plant closings? Or is the town’s salvation really an opening for Mike ‘The Hook’ Mannarino’s Pittsburgh mob to move part of their action down state? Or could it be someone even worse? When the body of a drug dealer is dumped on the casino steps shortly before its grand opening, Detectives Ben Doc Dougherty and Willie Grabek have to survive their department’s own inner turmoil and figure out not only who is behind the murder, but what it means to whoever is behind the operation itself. Between the cops, the mob, and the ex-spook in charge of casino security Daniel Rollison, a man with more secrets than anyone will ever know, Grind Joint is a mesmerizing mix of betrayal, police action, small town politics, sudden violence and the lives of the people of a town just trying to look after itself.

  To order your copy, clickety-click here …

Suffrage, Little Children

It’s all about democracy on Crime Always Pays today, as Ireland heads to the polling booths to vote on our next President, and a couple of constitutional amendments, the latter being far more important than the former, in my humble opinion. Far more important than either, of course, is the public vote in the Irish Book Awards, for which ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL has been short-listed, so anyone who isn’t Irish today, but feels like voting for something, or against something, should clickety-click on this link and exercise their suffrage.
  Incidentally, I’ve had a complaint or two - two, to be precise, both of them from Ms Witch - that the voting process isn’t as straightforward as it should be. Anyone else have a problem with the system?
  Anyway, and while I’m on the subject of ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL, I was very pleased indeed to read the inimitable Charlie Stella’s verdict on said tome during the week. The full piece can be found here, but the gist runneth thusly:

“ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL is an absolutely wonderful read, start to finish. Declan Burke has penned the most original work of cross-genre fiction I’ve read in a long time. Literary, socially conscious, journalistically cynical … an absolute must-read.” - Charlie Stella

  I thank you kindly, Mr Stella. Oh, and if you’re even remotely interested in hearing my witterings on a variety of random subjects, Tony Black hosts a Q&A with yours truly over at Pulp Pusher. Why not drop on over and say hello to Tony? He’s Scottish, after all, and that can get a bit lonely at times.
  Right, that’s me away to vote. See you on the other side …

“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?”: Charlie Stella

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE by George V Higgins.

What fictional character would you most like to have been?
The supposedly well-hung Santino Corleone.

Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
If only Glee were a book ...

Most satisfying writing moment?
First sale.

The best Irish crime novel is …?
Ken Bruen’s THE DRAMATIST.

What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
The same (DRAMATIST).

Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst = money.
Best = fans (all 16 of them).

The pitch for your next book is …?
A retired organized crime cop drops his wife off at an arts and crafts weeklong program on an island off the coast of New England (Star Island, where I’m doing my MFA actually) and spots someone he knows is in the witness protection program. The retired cop is unhappy at home and thinking maybe he should sell the rat back to the mob and enjoy his last few years on planet earth with gusto.

Who are you reading right now?
David Carroll, ALBERT CAMUS THE ALGERIAN

God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
Read.

The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Honest, humorous, ugly.

Charlie Stella’s JOHNNY PORNO is published by Stark House.

Stella: Reassuringly Expansive*

Charlie Stella (right), and especially JOHNNY PORNO, remains one of the glaring gaps in my reading over the last few years, not least because he appears to be something of an American Ken Bruen, beloved by his peers as a writers’ writer. That’s something I’m going to have to remedy in short order, because Charlie, unprompted, has gone the extra mile on behalf of EIGHTBALL BOOGIE. To wit:

“Clever writing is something I enjoy. So is smart writing. Add some black humor to the mix, dialogue that smacks you with a smile and a genuine sense that the author knows well the surroundings/history, etc., of which he (or she) writes and you have a perfect storm of terrific reading. Harry Rigby is a “research consultant” (clever in itself) ... a self-loather of the first ilk, but one with a sense of justice balanced by pragmatism; you do what you can when you can do it. He’s got a particularly nasty brother he hasn’t seen in four years, a wife who doesn’t love him/nor he her, but they share a son they both love dearly. Trouble brews when the wife of a prominent politician offs herself (except she didn’t -- it look more like murder) ... one of Harry’s few friends has the pictures ... there’s the beautiful Kate (brother, did I want a date with her--proving I have some of this self-loathing thing in me as well because her comebacks rival Rigby’s) ... treachery abounds and it’s Christmas, for fucks sake. No spoilers here, but this is terrific writing that shouldn’t be missed; something my compassionate friend Doc will thoroughly enjoy for sure (his being a Jack Taylor fan and all).
  “Harry Rigby, the ultimate anti-hero, fights his own demons (including a death wish except for protecting his son) and some of the corrupt and powerful in and around his home town when murder comes a knockin’ at Christmas ... nothing short of brilliant writing is the highlight of EIGHTBALL BOOGIE ... absolutely brilliant writing.” - Charlie Stella

  Funnily enough, I’d been chatting with someone else a couple of days ago about EIGHTBALL, and saying that it makes the classic first novel mistake of throwing the kitchen sink (and the rest) at it, in the hope of making a decent impression. Then I got home to find Charlie’s take on it waiting for me. Just goes to show, there’s no second-guessing how someone’s going to read your book …
  Anyway, bless your cotton socks, Charlie Stella.
  If you’d like to take a punt on Harry Rigby, the Kindle version of EIGHTBALL BOOGIE can be found here on Amazon US, here on Amazon UK, and here on Amazon Germany. And hey, if you like it, don’t be shy about letting me know. Such are the tiny triumphs that make this writer’s life worth living …

  * If you haven’t seen the ‘reassuringly expensive’ Stella beer ads of recent times, feel free to ignore this headline.