“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” Stephan Talty

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 SILENCE OF THE LAMBS by Thomas Harris. Never been topped.

What fictional character would you most like to have been?
Sam Spade in THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett or Travis McGee from the great crime series by John D. MacDonald.

Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
People Magazine.

Most satisfying writing moment?
When you only have forty minutes to write, but three clean pages come rolling out.

If you could recommend one Irish crime novel, what would it be?
THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST by Stuart Neville. Such a great concept, and beautifully executed.

What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
IN THE WOODS by Tana French.

Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst is that you have no one to gossip to all day. Best is freedom.

The pitch for your next book is …?
Abbie Kearney hunts down an escaped serial killer as he takes up where he left off.

Who are you reading right now?
GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. Masterpiece.

God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
Please don’t ask me that. Jesus. Read.

The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
Clean and vivid.

Stephan Talty’s BLACK IRISH is published by Headline.

Fade To Black

Born in New York, Stephan Talty’s roots extend all the way across the Atlantic to County Clare, from which fabulously exotic setting his parents hail. What has that to do with his debut novel, BLACK IRISH (Headline)? Erm, nowt. To wit:

Harvard-educated Detective Absalom ‘Abbie’ Kearney has returned to ‘The County’ - an Irish enclave in Buffalo, NY - to take care of her ageing father, legendary former cop John Kearney. In one of America’s most deprived and dilapidated cities, tensions run high and Abbie’s day job is never easy. But when it becomes apparent that a relentless and merciless killer has set to work, it’s about to get a lot harder. Faced with scenes of inconceivable violence, Abbie’s investigation takes her to the heart of this fiercely closed community. And the darkness she finds there will affect her life in ways she could never have imagined ...

  Someday soon I’m going to write a book on Irish-American crime writers, incorporating Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, James Lee Burke, George V. Higgins, Horace McCoy, et al. And now Stephan Talty. The starting point, of course, will be Raymond Chandler’s sojourn in Waterford. Or perhaps Liam O’Flaherty’s wanderings in the alleys of San Francisco? Hmmmm …