Saturday, June 02, 2018

Where dreams are found and lost

This album came out 40 years ago today. I bought it that day on the way to a high school graduation party in Lincroft, N.J. Immediately put it on the turntable in my friend’s finished basement, and played it all the way through twice.
When I left for college a few months later, it was the the record I brought with me to remind myself of home. My life was changing quickly, and these songs of loss and anger and triumph were the perfect companion. They still are. I don’t think I could articulate what they’ve meant to me over the years, personally, artistically and emotionally.

Friday, April 20, 2018

Noir @ the Bar in Asbury Park April 29



The Noir@theBar crime-fiction reading series returns to Asbury Park Sunday April 29, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Capitoline basement complex on Cookman Avenue.

I'll be joining a stellar group of writers, including Jen Conley, Scott Adlerberg, Jay Butkowski, Angel Luis Colon, Alex Segura, Thomas Pluck, Lee Matthew Goldberg and Dave White. Music by members of the surf/noir band Black Flamingos.

I'll be reading from a brand new unpublished Crissa Stone short story that will be featured next year in the anthology AT HOME IN THE DARK, edited by the legendary Lawrence Block.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Booklist on SOME DIE NAMELESS

The always-nervous-making first review. BOOKLIST on SOME DIE NAMELESS, out in July from Mulholland Books & Mulholland UK. (click on image to zoom in).

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Early praise for SOME DIE NAMELESS


Megan Abbott, Ace Atkins, Reed Farrel Coleman and others on the new novel, SOME DIE NAMELESS. It's out from Mulholland Books/Little, Brown in July but is available for pre-order HERE.

"Wallace Stroby’s SOME DIE NAMELESS manages that rare feat: it thrusts the reader headlong into a story so muscular and breakneck we can barely catch our breath, while also offering rich, damaged characters and a haunted, mournful tone that deepens everything, that lingers with us long after we reach the final page.”

– MEGAN ABBOTT, author of GIVE ME YOUR HAND


"SOME DIE NAMELESS is a superbly entertaining thriller full of hard truths about what happens when the shadow world is exposed to the light. Stroby's subtle, straightforward style is pitch perfect."

– REED FARREL COLEMAN, New York Times bestselling author of WHAT YOU BREAK


"SOME DIE NAMELESS is noir for modern times. The heroes are classic, but the bad guys are completely a 21st Century product. Greedy and reckless, they have no fear of the truth or those seeking justice. A boat bum Army vet and a jaded newspaper reporter are the perfect duo to take them down. A lean, mean story and a hell of a ride.”

– ACE ATKINS, New York Times bestselling author of THE SINNERS and ROBERT B. PARKER’S OLD BLACK MAGIC


"Wallace Stroby's writing is all muscle, with not an ounce of fat. SOME DIE NAMELESS is propulsive and intelligent, populated by the very best kind of characters: authentic, complicated human beings who are capable of surprising both the reader and themselves."

- LOU BERNEY, author of the bestselling THE LONG AND FARAWAY GONE


"Wallace Stroby is the real thing, a writer who channels two of the best Raymonds – Chandler and Carver – with his tough, lean prose and 'dirty' realism," in a high-voltage story of murder and corruption."

- JONATHAN SANTLOFER, author of the bestselling THE DEATH ARTIST


"Wallace Stroby is a master of propulsive narrative and stunning action sequences. If you love supercharged suspense, strap in for a ride with his newest creation, Ray Devlin, the haunted ex-mercenary who is the heart and soul of SOME DIE NAMELESS."

- TED TALLY, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS


"With surgically precise prose, Wallace Stroby has created a story as fast, emotionally engaging, as richly detailed and riveting as any novel I've read in years. I would have consumed SOME DIE NAMELESS in a single sitting except I had to keep getting up and walking around the room to catch my breath. I've been a Stroby fan for a while, but this novel is by far his most ambitious and his most impressive. From the first scene to the last, this book never slows down or disappoints. A deeply satisfying read."

– JAMES W. HALL, author of WHEN THEY COME FOR YOU


"With SOME DIE NAMELESS Wallace Stroby has achieved the rare feat of combining the complexity and tension of a whodunit mystery with the suspense and action of one of the most dynamic thrillers in years. Stroby’s taut prose and authentic characters keep the twists and turns coming, culminating in an explosive ending that kept me thinking about the book long after I finished it.”

– PAUL GUYOT, executive producer NCIS: NEW ORLEANS


"Stroby, already a crime fiction luminary, is channeling his inner Elmore Leonard more and more these days, and this time he's headed to Leonard's old stomping grounds, a Florida populated by rogues, reporters, and mercenaries. Expect quality thrills and action."

- LITHUB

Sunday, March 11, 2018

In praise of proofreaders

From the final type corrections on my new novel SOME DIE NAMELESS, out in July from Mulholland Books and Mulholland U.K. This, folks, is why copy editors don't get paid enough.