Six of my favorite hardboiled detective heroes:

Guest Post, By Sidney Williams:

(Thanks to Charles for letting me drop by and chat here a bit.)

I have a new hardboiled novel called Fool’s Run from the Gordian Knot mystery imprint on the horizon. It releases Nov. 22. That means of late, I’m getting asked about favorite fictional detectives.

If I’m pressed to pick a favorite, I have to say all of ‘em because I’ve read and enjoyed detective novels since I was in high school, and I’ve sampled for years.

All are influences of course, though I tried to make my hero, Si Reardon fresh and different. His adventure is a bit of a caper and a bit of mystery at the same time. It’s also a bit noir and a bit hardboiled as well. If you’re in the camp that draws a line, the noir protagonist’s usually an anti-hero. Si’s a bit of that and accepts a dirty job from my hopefully modern variation on a femme fatale. She’s a lawyer working as a “special counsel” who helps fix things, a bit on the dark side, confident and in control. Si’s journey leads him from darkness to a battle for survival.

I guess above all the hardboiled school is about an individual on a tough journey, a matter of quests and questions.

 So, favorites? Well, I can name a few, some you’ll expect, some that might not be as familiar.

Mitchell Tobin created by Tucker Coe (Donald E. Westlake)

Many tend to think of Donald E. Westlake as a comic caper writer because of his Dortmunder books, but he wrote a lot of hardboiled fiction along with the comic and not just as Richard Stark focusing on the thief Parker. Mitch Tobin’s a cop booted from the force because he was busy with an extramarital affair when he should have been on the job. As he works to repair his life and symbolically build a wall around his back yard, he gets roped into some powerful tales with interesting mystery plots, starting with Kind of Love, Kinds of Death. In that one, he’s hired by a mob boss. I discovered that book as a kid when it was reissued by Charter, and happily all the Tobin ebooks are readily available these days.

Matthew Scudder created by Lawrence Block

I read Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine as a kid as well. I first encountered Matt Scudder, another cop who’d left the force, in A Candle for the Bag Lady, a novella. In that tale, Scudder took it upon himself to solve the murder of the titular character. Responsible for a death on the job, Scudder drank and lit candles in Catholic churches, ever seeking rebirth. That story was a great introduction, and later I connected the dots between it and Block’s Writer’s Digest column and other work. The Scudder tales are a powerful character study as Scudder copes with alcoholism, and the tales are great hardboiled novels as well. The flashback entry When the Sacred Ginmill Closes is a standout.

Ed Noon created by Michael Avallone

Writer’s Digest—again—released an audio tape on mystery writing when I was young. It featured Michael Avallone who made mention of his TV tie-in work, and of course his hero Ed Noon. I had to scour used paperback shops to find early ones, but I got a kick out of Noon’s breezy voice. I like the early, traditional hardboiled Noons best including The Tall Dolores, but the spy-era books are fun too. Ed goes to work for the president. Avallone’s son, David, has reissued most of the novels as ebooks these days, usually nicely priced.

 Philip Marlowe created by Raymond Chandler

Of course Marlowe’s a favorite. I started with Farewell, My Lovely and followed Marlowe from there. The Marlowe tales, to me, are the ultimate in romanticized private eye fare. Chandler pretty much defined noir language and offered up a tough sleuth with a soul, and I loved what he was doing.

The Continental Op created by Dashiell Hammett

I read The Maltese Falcon early on in my reading life and when a TV miniseries happened along, I picked up The Dain Curse. That’s a later tale featuring Hammett’s unnamed operative from the Continental Detective Agency. I think he considered Dain a lesser entry. It’s interesting, but above all it was a gateway to the short stories in The Big Knockover including “The Gutting of Couffignal” in which The Op battles heavily robbers on an island that’s home to the very rich. Red Harverst came my way as well, and in later years, I’ve come to like Hammett more and more and to understand what he was doing with The Op’s gritty, pragmatic problem-solving.

 Lew Archer created by Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar)

Around the time I discovered Marlowe, I ran across The Drowning Pool by MacDonald in the tie-in edition with the Paul Newman film. Archer clicked with me the most of all the detective heroes. There’s something spiritual in Archer’s encounters with troubled family and reverberations from the past. I segued from The Drowning Pool to the later works, perhaps not fully appreciating the texture early on. But one summer, I devoured The Moving Target, The Goodbye Look, The Blue Hammer and the rest and waited for more that would sadly never come.

 I could go on and on, of course. I love the early Mac novels from Thomas B. Dewey, Kinsey Millhone from Sue Grafton, Spenser from Robert B. Parker and a host of newer heroes who’ve come down the pike, but I’ll stop here.

Since it’s a bit different of a different novel for me, there’s a Fool’s Run giveaway going on Goodreads. You might win a free signed copy and get to sample it for free.

 

Giveaway  Link: 

Visit Sid online at SidisAlive.com

Dark Hours, by Sidney Williams.

Dark Hours, by Sidney Williams. Crossroad Press. Hard copy Print. 183 Pages.

Dark Hours is a relatively short novel but packs a lot of tension and atmosphere into its space—and adds a good amount of action. I would classify it as a horror/thriller. It does a good job of combining the best attributes of both these genres.

Allison Rose is a student journalist at Pine College, a small school that has seen better days. An escaped killer is suspected of hiding out on the campus, where the woman he murdered once went to school. Allison is contacted by someone who claims to be the killer, and he wants to give her an exclusive interview of his side of the story.

But is it really the killer, or someone else playing a sick joke? Along the way to answering that question, we find out that everyone seems to have secrets in this game, and in a savage bout of cat and mouse played through the basement level of the college library, all those secrets get spilled while Allison struggles to survive against a dangerous and cunning foe.

I read Dark Hours in print form, as a hardback from CrossroadPress. It's a very nice physical package as well, with a dynamite cover. The author, Sidney Williams, has written numerous novels, most of which I’ve read, and many short stories as well. I’ve never read any of his work that I didn’t enjoy, and I highly recommend Dark Hours.

Announcement Deferred

I thought I was going to have a bit of a personal announcement to make today but my thinking was premature. And it turns out I won't even know if I'll be able to make the announcement until Monday. Oh well, never count your beer until you've opened the can and had the first sip. Nothing major anyway.

In writing news, I’m over 15,000 words into “Under the Ember Star,” and since I don’t expect it to go much over 25,000 I’d say I’m well into the middle of the work. That almost always means a bit of a slow down for me, and it has here. But I’m still making progress and I expect to finish it by the end of June. I’d like to have it done sooner.

I finished reading two books by friends in the past week. I’ve included my reviews below.

Midnight Eyes by Sidney Williams:

Midnight Eyes is a thriller set in Louisiana, an area of the country Williams knows well, having grown up there. A serial killer is working one of the small Louisiana towns and an embattled sheriff and his FBI profiler son have to solve the case before more die. Along the way they have to deal with their own shattered relationship. The writing here is very fine and the "killer" is definitely a bit different from what the reader starts out expecting. There are some nice twists and turns along the way, and a really exciting action sequence at the end. The characters are well drawn and seem very real, including the killer. Good stuff.

Midnight Eyes for the Nook

Longarm and the Arizona Flame by Tabor Evans (Really James Reasoner):

This is what they call an “Adult Western,” which means it has sex in it. The sex is relatively graphic but not pornographic. I’ve only read a few adult westerns, and almost always because I’ve known the author, as I know James Reasoner. The key thing for me is that when James writes one of these books the book works as a “western” first and foremost. This is a very good western, in fact, and I much enjoyed it. If you haven't read any of this type of book this would be a good introduction.

Arizona Flame at Barnes & Noble

I also read my first SF book by John Ringo, called Into the Looking Glass. I liked it a lot and have already picked up a few of his other books.
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Suddenly, I'm Popular

Well, some very good stuff is happening around the web for me today. And I just have to share.


Sidney Williams, one of my longest running friends in the writing biz, is starting up a podcasting series called Fear on Demand. His first "episode" is a horror story by me called "Thief of Eyes," and it's online now. You can find it from the link to Sid's site, which you should check out, or directly at Fear on Demand.

Also, David Cranmer has posted the next installment of his excellent webzine called Beat to a Pulp. It's a noirish story by me called "Whiskey, Guns, and Sin." You can check it out from David's blog page, or through the direct link to Beat to a Pulp.


Finally, Shauna Roberts, a friend of mine who used to live nearby in Louisiana, has been kind enough to award me the Prémio Dardos award. According to Shauna's post, here is the purpose of the award:

The Prémio Dardos is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web.

Thanks very much to Shauna. I really appreciate you thinking of me.


OK, enough about me. Enjoy your weekend!

Halloween Flash #3

OK, here is my third Halloween flash story. It's a revision of something I once posted on another blog in response to a prompt. I hope I was able to turn it into something appropriately Halloweeny. I've also reposted the links to all the other Halloween flash pieces just below my piece. We have new, additional pieces from Avery and Laughingwolf.


HEAVEN

The spaceship jarred as it landed. The computer had done its job, had brought me down safely from orbit. But I was weak, gasping for breath, mind drifting from lack of oxygen. The recycler had broken down. Even my space suit was nearly exhausted of air. But I managed to make it to the airlock.

I didn’t know this planet. Was the atmosphere breathable? I had no choice but to find out. The outer hatch opened under my hand. I staggered through, fell to hands and knees, slapped my helmet release.

A breath shuddered into my lungs. Warm. Languid. It fed me. My lungs filled with it; my body drank it like nectar. I coughed, then forced myself to my feet. The view froze me.

A low mist coiled thickly around my feet, as if I stood on a cloud. But up through the fog thrust metal trees, of copper, black iron, gleaming platinum. Their leaves chimed in a zephyr breeze. Above me, the sky was clear and golden, like melted butter.

And in the sky drifted a city of silver. I heard the belling of trumpets, and rising over the city’s needle spires came a flock of beings who swept toward me. They were white, blindingly white, with feathered wings.

For an instant I wondered if I had died aboard my ship, or if I lay dreaming with brain damaged from oxygen loss. But I’d always understood the difference between fantasy and reality, and the reality was that the creatures who dove toward me were angels.

They began to sing. My heart swelled with the beauty. I lifted my own voice to join theirs.

The angels swirled before me. Their luminous eyes were sharp, piercing. Their voices rose higher and higher.

My own voice faltered. I couldn’t match them. And I realized that their song was no song at all. No song at all.

At the sound of the angels’ laughter, my ears began to bleed.

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LINKS TO OTHER STORIES

TWO NEW ONES:

Problem Child, by Avery Debow.

lady jane, by Laughingwolf.


EARLIER ONES IN CASE YOU MISSED ‘EM:


Fat Man by Stewart Sternberg.

Twisted by Miladysa.

Having His Say by Sidney Williams.


The Empress of the Fescue, by Avery DeBow.


flight by Laughingwolf.
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Halloween Horror October

My Halloween Flash #3 is almost ready but I probably won't get it posted till tomorrow. Today is Lana's birthday and we're off to the big city's bright lights for some fun and games. Actually, we're going to the insectorium because we just don't get enough bugs around here.

However, so as not to leave you Jonesing for some flash fiction horrors, two new folks have entered the lists with their own wicked quickie tales. So check 'em out for some shudders. The links are:


Fat Man by Stewart Sternberg.

And:

Twisted by Miladysa.

And Sidney Williams, Avery DeBow, and Laughingwolf still have their tales up as well. The links are below.

Having His Say by Sidney.


The Empress of the Fescue, by Avery.


flight by Laughingwolf

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For Research Purposes

Sidney Williams has a great post today on using the internet for research to help you build your characters. It's called "The Web as Central Casting" and there's some bonus info on using photography sites. I've used internet name sites to help me with developing character names but hadn't thought of the ideas laid out in Sid's post.

Check it out.