Live at the Heartbreak Lounge

Meeting Dutch

2012-01-25T03:28:00.003-05:00

I'm not much of an autograph guy, but I'm inordinately pleased by this. One of my writing heroes, still going strong at 86. No other American crime novelist has had a career like his.

In the mail today ....

2012-01-12T01:36:00.002-05:00

Coming soon from St. Martin's/Minotaur and available for pre-order now.

In Suspense

2012-01-06T14:41:00.004-05:00

From the latest issue of Suspense Magazine:

COLD SHOT TO THE HEART by Wallace Stroby

Readers are introduced to an extremely strong lady by the name of Crissa Stone, who is working on building her retirement nest egg. Crissa is a criminal of the first degree and is ‘in demand’ for various robberies. The one thing she’s not interested in is bloodshed.

Crissa never works close to New York, to keep on her toes and ahead of the police by not working with the same people, and to plan her jobs very carefully. Crissa received this education from the man she loved who is now in jail. He will soon be free, so Crissa is doing absolutely everything she can to get money so they can go on a vacation. She needs something quick and lucrative and hears about an illegal card game with a huge amount of money on the table.

On the other side of the coin is Eddie Santiago, known to everyone in the world of crime as ‘Eddie the Saint.’ After spending five years in prison, he has been released and is upset. Eddie took the blame for a crime in order to save his boss, and now figures that the boss owes him. Unlike Crissa, Eddie wants to disappear with the cash and spend his retirement in a nice, balmy place where no one will ever bother him again, and doesn’t care how much blood must be shed in order to attain it.

The robbery goes bad when a member of Crissa’s crew shoots someone who knows Eddie’s boss. Eddie is persistent and knows he will get a larger payday if he can bring his boss the bad guys. What he doesn’t expect is Crissa’s relentlessness when it comes to keeping the cash.

Don’t expect “happily ever after” because it’s not going to happen. But readers who like stories that move super-fast, with characters that have the charm, wit, and skill to become imbedded in their minds long after the book has been read, will love this novel.

Reviewed by Amy Lignor, author of “Tallent & Lowery - 13,” for Suspense Magazine

Music to my ears

2012-01-06T04:41:00.002-05:00

"Wallace Stroby doesn’t write books. He conducts literary symphonies, using Occam’s Razor for a baton ..."
Spinetingler Magazine's Garrett Kenyon picks COLD SHOT TO THE HEART as the Best Crime Novel of 2011.

Honored to be there ...

2012-01-01T04:56:00.000-05:00

COLD SHOT TO THE HEART finds itself in some very good company on the list of the best crime novels of the year over at the Barnes & Noble Ransom Notes blog.

Coverage

2011-12-31T04:50:00.000-05:00

The Rap Sheet likes the hardcover dust jacket of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART, and names it one of the best book covers of 2011.

Lovers in the Cold on Nook

2011-12-30T12:10:00.005-05:00

My short story "Lovers in the Cold" is now available for Nook as well. This is another of the songs that inspired it, an unreleased outtake from Bruce Springsteen's 1975 "Born to Run" album that forms sort of a sequel to his "Meeting Across the River". Musically, the song eventually morphed in "Thunder Road."

Lovers in the Cold

2011-12-25T18:27:00.004-05:00

My holiday-themed, Springsteen-inspired short story LOVERS IN THE COLD is now available for the first time on Kindle. An earlier version of it appeared in the now-out-of-print 2005 anthology MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER: Stories Inspired by the Haunting Bruce Springsteen Song." The editors of that anthology asked a number of crime novelists to submit short stories in some way connected to the song. which appears on Springsteen's 1975 album "Born to Run." The New York Times wrote about the collection in 2005.

Season's greetings ...

2011-12-25T04:28:00.002-05:00

... from the real Jersey Shore. And best wishes to all in the New Year.

Off the Block

2011-12-21T18:42:00.007-05:00

Over at the Pulp Pusher website. the legendary Lawrence Block offers his best-of picks for 2011:

BookReporter.com's Best of 2011

2011-12-20T19:08:00.000-05:00

The reviewers at BookReporter.com pick their favorite novels of 2011, including COLD SHOT TO THE HEART.

Evil ways

2011-12-19T19:20:00.000-05:00

COLD SHOT TO THE HEART gets an honorable mention in Jedidiah Ayre's "2011: The Year in Villains" column at the Ransom Notes blog.

More best of 2011

2011-12-02T00:25:00.003-05:00

Flattered to be in such excellent company on this list of the best crime/suspense novels of 2011, as chosen by the editors of Murder, Mystery and Mayhem.

COLD SHOT paperback on sale now

2011-11-23T13:27:00.004-05:00

The trade paperback edition of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART (with a new cover) is on-sale today, online and at your finer brick & mortar stores.
In the meantime, Amazon is still offering a limited-time discount on the hardcover version, priced lower than the paperback.

Ten best crime novels of 2011, Texas-style

2011-11-22T13:24:00.004-05:00

Scott Montgomery, the mystery meister of Austin's great BookPeople store, offers his rundown of the 10 Best Crime Novels of 2011. I'm honored to be part of a list that also includes George Pelecanos, Duane Swierczynski, Reed Farrel Coleman, Megan Abbott, Ace Atkins and others.

The Goddesses get dark

2011-11-18T18:15:00.002-05:00

The Library Goddesses of the Garden State offer their "literary noir" picks here, putting me in the excellent company of Megan Abbott, James W. Hall, Jason Starr and others.

COLD SHOT discount

2011-11-10T16:01:00.003-05:00

In preparation for the trade paperback release of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART, Amazon is offering a special discount on the hardcover edition this month, at a price lower than the trade PB.

Shopkeeping

2011-11-06T14:28:00.004-05:00

Amos Oz on the writing life:
"I sit by my desk and wait. In the kibbutz I felt very guilty. On my free day, on my writing day I felt very guilty because I would work for the whole morning and produce six sentences and then I'd share the table for lunch in the communal dining hall with people who milked 500 cows or plowed 500 acres and I'd say 'Look at me, I've only produced six sentences.'

But then I taught myself to think of myself as a shopkeeper, my job is to open the joint and sit and wait for customers. If I have customers it's a good day. If I don't have customers I'm still doing my job by just sitting there and waiting"

KINGS OF MIDNIGHT: The short version

2011-10-21T07:34:00.004-04:00

This is early jacket copy for KINGS OF MIDNIGHT, out in April from St. Martin's/Minotaur:

“Crime fiction’s best bad girl ever”* is back in Wallace Stroby’s new thriller, KINGS OF MIDNIGHT. Crissa Stone, the cool-headed professional thief from Stroby’s acclaimed COLD SHOT TO THE HEART, is looking for one more big score, enough to bribe her lover’s way out of prison and reclaim the young daughter she once gave up. Benny Roth is an old-school wiseguy, still on the run after the bloody fallout from the 1978 Lufthansa heist, in which six armed men walked out of Kennedy Airport with some $8 million in untraceable cash. That money’s been missing all these years, but now Benny thinks he knows where it is, and Crissa may be just the person to help him get it ... if a murderous gang boss with a score to settle doesn’t get there first.

* Kirkus Reviews

King Curtis: Beyond the pale

2011-10-12T01:58:00.005-04:00

I was first introduced to King Curtis' sublime version of this Procol Harum tune by Jim Fusilli, on a long drive home from a lackluster book-signing event in upstate N.Y. in 2006. Hearing this track, recorded live at the Fillmore West in 1971, was almost worth the trip.

B'Con Pt. 2: So many films, so little time

2011-10-08T01:55:00.004-04:00

For me, one of the highlights of BoucherCon 2011 in St. Louis was my Friday panel "Shadows Rising: Films for Crime Fiction Readers." With my stellar panelmates Megan Abbott, David Corbett, Todd Ritter and Russel McLean, and ably moderated by Crimespree Magazine's Jeremy Lynch, we talked about some of the crime films we found most essential and interesting (and in some cases, overrated) broken down into eras.

The discussion sometimes grew heated, and at least one audience member roundly - and loudly - booed one of my choices. Time ran short though, and we barely got through half of our picks before the hour-long panel came to a close. Some of my panelmates have already posted their personal lists elsewhere. Here's my complete list, divided by era, with top choices first, and annotated where appropriate. Feel free to boo me.

THE CLASSICS (Pre-1945):

THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931)/ DEAD END (1937):
Crime in a social context: Prohibition and the Depression, and how American gangsters are made. Career-making performances for James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, respectively.
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941): Dashiell Hammett’s world view invades popular culture. An obvious pick, but any film you can easily name multiple characters from 70 years after its release deserves to be included.

COLD WAR CRIME (1946-1965):
THE KILLING (1956): The heist as a complex machine, slowly breaking down. Stanley Kubrick plays with time, directing a cast of noir veterans in a script co-written by Jim Thompson, based on a novel ("Clean Break") by Lionel White.

RIFIFI (1955): Influenced by American gangster dramas, this brilliant French heist film (directed by a blacklisted American from a French novel) went on to influence a generation of crime novelists (Donald E. Westlake, etc.) and filmmakers (Stanley Kubrick), who in turn influenced more French films, etc., etc.
KISS ME, DEADLY (1955): Atom-age noir: Thuggish detective Mike Hammer chases the “Great Whatsit” and nearly unleashes the Apocalypse. The best Mickey Spillane adaptation ever, and the one he disliked the most.

REVOLUTION (1965-1980):

GET CARTER (1971): Brit gangster Jack Carter (Michael Caine’s greatest performance) comes home to Newcastle to avenge his brother’s death. An almost perfect film, without a single false note.
MEAN STREETS (1973): DEAD END, ‘70s style. Smalltime hoods in Little Italy make choices that seal their fates.
ROLLING THUNDER (1977): Vietnam vet returns to a world he doesn’t understand, hits the vengeance trail with a sawed-off shotgun and a sharpened hook for a right hand. Half arthouse, half grindhouse.

REACTION: Reagan, Glasnost and the Tech Boom (1980s & 1990s):

GOODFELLAS (1990): The greatest film about workaday gangsters ever made. Brutal, funny, invigorating, exhausting.

AT CLOSE RANGE (1986): Crime as a family affair. Sean Penn and Christopher Walken give two of their best performances as father and son criminals who come to a violent parting of the ways.
THIEF (1981): Michael Mann’s first look at the inner life of the high-end professional criminal, vastly superior to his later HEAT.

THE REIGN OF TERROR (2000 to present):
ZODIAC (2007): Real-life noir, scrupulously faithful to the facts of the case. It gets under your skin in a way few movies do, not immediately, but stealthily and insidiously. A puzzle without an answer, a door without a key, an obsession with no release.

THE PUSHER Trilogy (1996-2005): Three films about the Danish drug trade, following different characters in the same environment, hot-wired and supercharged by “Drive” director Nicholas Winding Refn.
GOMORRAH (2008): The real Godfathers. A multi-storyline crime epic, based on a nonfiction book, about how organized crime corrupts nearly every strata of Italian society.

SACRED COW YOU WOULD MOST LIKE TO GORE:
THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995): Half-smart, and nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is. Doesn’t play fair narratively. A piffle of a film, hanging on a single fine performance by Kevin Spacey (this is what got me booed).

LITTLE KNOWN FILM WORTH SEEKING OUT:
ONE FALSE MOVE (1992): Flawless blend of character and action in Arkansas-set crime story about a trio of killers coming home one last time, and a local sheriff who’s in way over his head.

BoucherCon memories, Pt. 1

2011-09-20T22:48:00.002-04:00

Where I'll be at B'Con

2011-09-13T15:01:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow kicks off BoucherCon 2011 in St. Louis, and I'll be appearing on two panels and haunting a few others.
On Thursday at 4 p.m, at 4 pm, I'll be moderating "I Got the Right to Sing the Blues," a panel on pop music in crime fiction, with panelists (and sometime musicians) R.J. Ellory, Mark Billingham, Rochelle Staab, Bryan Gilmer and Jonathan Hayes.
On Friday at 1 p.m., I'll take part in "Shadows Rising: Movies for the Crime Fiction Fan," moderated by Crimespree Magazine's Jeremy Lynch and featuring an all-star panel of Megan Abbott, David Corbett, Russel McLean and Todd Ritter.

Talking trash with George Pelecanos, Pt. 2

2011-09-12T14:39:00.003-04:00

Part Two of my conversation with George Pelecanos at the Mulholland Books site, including his picks for the five best crime films of the 1970s.

Talking trash with George Pelecanos

2011-08-29T21:29:00.002-04:00

Today over at the Mulholland Books site, my conversation with George Pelecanos about his new book, THE CUT, masculinity in crime fiction, the films of Sam Peckinpah and lots of other topics.

KINGS OF MIDNIGHT cover

2011-08-16T22:11:00.005-04:00

Early cover art for the new book, KINGS OF MIDNIGHT, to be published by St. Martin's/Minotaur in April 2011, but available for pre-order now. It's a sequel to COLD SHOT TO THE HEART. More details soon.

From Asbury Park to St. Louis

2011-08-14T17:35:00.005-04:00

As part of this year's BoucherCon World Mystery Convention in St. Louis next month, I've put together a "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.!" basket for the convention's Charity Auction, this year benefiting the St. Louis County Library System. Any attendees can bid. Contents are:

- Signed first edition hardcovers of my first two novels THE BARBED-WIRE KISS (St. Martin’s Press, 2003) and THE HEARTBREAK LOUNGE (St. Martin’s Press, 2005), both set at the Jersey Shore.

- A signed copy of “MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER: Stories Inspired By the Haunting Bruce Springsteen Song,” (Bloomsbury 2005), containing my Shore-set short story “Lovers in the Cold” (also featuring stories by David Corbett, Eddie Muller and others).

- An authentic t-shirt from the one and only Stone Pony. Brand-new, black, XL (comes with authentic Stony Pony merchandise bag).

- An autographed copy of the new updated edition of ROCK & ROLL TOUR OF THE JERSEY SHORE, an exhaustive guide and map to the places Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Jon Bon Jovi and others made famous (and not so famous) at the Jersey Shore. Signed by authors Stan Goldstein and Jean Mikle (and me). The definitive book on Shore rock ‘n’ roll history.

- “MORE GREETINGS FROM ASBURY PARK: The B’Con 2011 Mix.” A one-of-a-kind personal mix CD gathering 16 classic tracks and lost gems from the Jersey Shore music scene, past and present. Compiled, mixed and mastered exclusively for Bouchercon 2011. All songs copyright their respective artists.

7.) “LOST TRACKS: Springsteen Rarities 1975-2005.” A one-of-a-kind personal mix CD featuring 17 rare Springsteen recordings. Compiled, mixed and mastered exclusively for Bouchercon 2011. All songs copyright Bruce Springsteen.

8.) Two vintage Asbury Park postcards.

9.) Handmade Palace Amusements bookmark featuring the iconic ”Tillie” face.

10.) Authentic Salt Water Taffy from Asbury Park’s Criterion Candies.

Kirkus' Best of 2011

2011-08-05T13:12:00.003-04:00

More excellent company to be in: COLD SHOT TO THE HEART makes Kirkus Reviews' list of the best crime novels of 2011 (so far).

The Golden Age of Movie Tie-Ins. Pt. 4

2011-08-03T14:26:00.003-04:00

The Man With No Name Edition (Part 1):

(Click on the "Movie Tie-Ins" tag at the bottom of this post for Parts 1-3)

Good company

2011-07-29T00:33:00.003-04:00

MysteryPeople, the crime fiction division of the great Austin, Texas, bookstore BookPeople, picks its 10 best novels of the year (so far).

The Golden Age of Movie Tie-Ins. Pt. 3

2011-07-16T21:31:00.010-04:00

Paul Schrader Edition

Lois Lane's secret life

2011-07-09T14:27:00.002-04:00

Because some things are better out of context: A panel from DC Comics' LOIS LANE, Issue 14, Jan. 1960.

The Golden Age of Movie Tie-Ins. Pt. 2

2011-07-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

Men with Guns Edition:

Bigger than before

2011-07-04T14:30:00.003-04:00

The new - and much more literal - cover for the Thorndike Press Large Print edition of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART.

Clarence Clemons: 1942-2011

2011-06-19T14:55:00.003-04:00

Talking about Clarence Clemons today, over at Salon.com.

The Golden Age of Movie Tie-Ins

2011-06-15T05:05:00.010-04:00

Recently I've been going through some boxes of books, and have uncovered my collection of 1970s' movie tie-ins and novelizations, many of which I'd forgotten about, and all of which are out-of-print. Thought I'd post some covers. More to come.

Under the influences

2011-06-07T05:11:00.001-04:00

Talking about Donald E. Westlake, Lawrence Block, Dan J. Marlowe and other influences, over at Ed Gorman's blog.

N.J. noir

2011-06-03T04:53:00.004-04:00

A New Jersey-centric profile/intvw. conducted by veteran Philadelphia journalist and author Mary Walton.

Show me the mummy!

2011-06-01T18:57:00.001-04:00

Airing my Guilty Pleasures over at the Crimespree Magazine site.

Greetings from Asbury Park (and Paramus)

2011-05-30T19:51:00.004-04:00

Two New Jersey appearances coming up: Saturday June 4 at Words! bookstore on Cookman Avenue in beautiful downtown Asbury Park, from 7 to 9 p.m. as part of the city's First Saturday festival. All the stores in the business district will be open late and free parking is available.
On Sunday June 12, I'll be part of the BOOKSNJ festival at the Paramus Public Library in Paramus from 1 to 5 p.m., along with Mary Higgins Clark, Chris Grabenstein, Brad Parks and many others. At 1 p.m., fellow St. Martin's author Todd Ritter and I will be hosting a panel on "A Female Heroine from a Male Perspective."

True confessions

2011-05-11T17:56:00.000-04:00

A new Q&A up at Todd Ritter's blog, in which I cop to many personal details previously uncopped to.

Writing what he knew

2011-05-05T15:03:00.005-04:00

Talking about Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op stories with Ace Atkins, Megan Abbott and Scott Montgomery, over at the new Black Lizard blog.

Pittsburgh noir

2011-05-05T01:08:00.011-04:00

Forbes Ave. & Bouquet St., 1 a.m., 5/3/11. Late-night dining after the Festival of Mystery.

My desk 4/22/11

2011-04-25T17:19:00.000-04:00

Everything is relevant

Talking COLD SHOT in Brick City

2011-04-23T18:33:00.004-04:00

My interview on Newark jazz station WBGO-FM 88.3 with WBGO Journal host Andrew Meyer is now archived and available for instant listening.

Criminals and poets

2011-04-20T00:33:00.008-04:00

I was surprised – and a little alarmed – when Gerald So asked me to contribute to Issue Three of his poetry anthology THE LINEUP last year. I hadn’t written any poems since college, and hadn’t much felt the urge to in the intervening years. But poet and musician Jim Carroll, whom I’d admired greatly, had recently died at age 60, and I’d been thinking a lot about his work. Gerald’s invitation seemed to come at the right time, even if it was out of the blue. The result was “Independence Day, 1976,” my first published poem in 25 years.

To say it sprang out of nowhere wouldn’t be accurate though. A few years back, I’d played with the idea of a novel set on Manhattan’s Lower East Side during the mid-’70s, when the punk scene was emerging just as New York’s crime rate was soaring. I’d been listening to Television’s 1977 album MARQUEE MOON a lot, and was intrigued by the idea of those two environments – a burgeoning artistic scene and an increasingly drug-addled criminal world – intersecting at a particular place and time. I was also recalling Carroll’s THE BASKETBALL DIARIES, a harrowing memoir about his days as a teenage heroin addict in late-’60s Manhattan.

That novel never got written – I had a setting and a few characters, but not much else. However, the idea stayed with me. Years later, when Gerald requested a poem for THE LINEUP, I knew immediately what it would be. Turning some of those abandoned concepts into a poem allowed me to convey a mood outside the strict confines of narrative. It let me be evocative rather than descriptive, ambiguous rather than specific, the total antithesis of my novels. Being in the anthology also put me in the company of writers whom I considered to be real poets – James Sallis, Reed Farrel Coleman, James W. Hall and David Hernandez among them.

I was reminded of all this while reading Issue Four of THE LINEUP, just released to coincide with National Poetry Month. Mary Christine Delea’s “Leaving Long Island” also evokes the mid-’70s, when New Yorkers lived in fear of an unknown killer who preyed upon young women in parked cars, a stranger who stepped from the shadows to open fire on them with a .44 revolver, for no reason other than that they were pretty and had long brown hair. Conjuring up the brutality of another era, Coleman’s “Slider, Part 7” is a chilling glimpse of mass murder in World War II Europe.

At the other end of the spectrum, David Corbett’s lyrical “Bargain” is a moving ballad of love, loss and hope. Jeanne Dickey’s “An Elegy for Susan Atkins” is told from the point of view of a Manson family member who died in prison in 2009. H. Palmer Hall’s “Suburban Blues” and Charles Harper Webb’s “Prayer for the Man Who Mugged My Father, 72” both give voice to the victims of crime, the latter with a white-hot anger at its arrogance and destructive nature.

The other poems in this collection hit equally hard. They come at their subject matters from a variety of angles, but the best of them are as evocative, as complex and as emotionally challenging as any prose. These poems use words precisely and effectively – like a weapon.

"Independence Day, 1976"

2011-04-19T20:13:00.008-04:00

This is the poem I wrote for Gerald So's poetry anthology THE LINEUP, Volume 3, published last year:

Independence Day, 1976

The fireworks over the Hudson
Light up the graffiti here on East Thirteenth.
We huddle in the doorway,
Watching, nodding, waking

You looked like Kansas when you got off that bus
I could see the fields in your eyes,
Smell the wind in your hair.

You were so brave and lost,
When I took your hand you said
There was nowhere you wouldn’t go
Except home.

On my mattress on the floor,
Windows open to the heat,
WIth the sirens our lullaby,
Your trembling fingers touched
The vein that ran from my heart.

I showed you how to do it,
To take the slow bullet
Like warm love inside you.

Sweet steel and a smile
And the sirens fade

Into this wilderness of tears
You came falling like an angel
Now we go down dreaming
together

– For Jim Carroll

Radio Free Newark

2011-04-13T16:10:00.004-04:00

On Friday (4/15) at 7:30 p.m. ET, I'll be guesting on Newark jazz station WBGO-FM, talking with WBGO Journal host Andrew Meyer about crime fiction and novels vs. reality. In the NY/NJ area, you can listen in at 88.3 FM or stream it online at http://www.wbgo.org/news everywhere else.

Last chance for the Hammett/HANDLE challenge

2011-04-11T02:25:00.005-04:00

Tonight (Monday 4/11) at midnight Central Time is the deadline for entering the Hammett/HANDLE challenge I'm hosting over at the Violent World of Parker site. Find the Dashiell Hammett reference in Donald E. Westlake's 1966 "Richard Stark" novel THE HANDLE (also reprinted as RUN LETHAL, above) and you're eligible to win a signed copy of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER. Full details are here.

Tabloid talk

2011-03-25T01:24:00.003-04:00

Talking crime fiction, newspapers, organized crime and "Jersey Shore," as part of PRX's "Poets of the Tabloid Murder" radio show (free registration required).

The Hammett/HANDLE challenge and giveaway

2011-03-23T00:03:00.006-04:00

Think you know your Dashiell Hammett and your Richard Stark? I'm hosting a trivia contest and giveaway this week over at the Violent World of Parker site (devoted to the works of Donald E. Westlake, aka "Richard Stark"). Answer the trivia question (it pertains to the eighth Stark novel, THE HANDLE) and you could win a new signed trade paperback edition of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER. Details here.

New review

2011-03-20T04:50:00.002-04:00

The inimitable Elizabeth A. White offers her verdict on COLD SHOT TO THE HEART, in a syndicated review.

More on COLD SHOT

2011-03-06T02:12:00.004-05:00

Ali MacGraw, Donald Westlake, Lawrence Block, Sam Peckinpah and more... Talking COLD SHOT today over at Patti Abbott's site, as part of her "How I Came to Write This Book" series.

SUSPENSE review

2011-03-04T18:54:00.007-05:00

SUSPENSE MAGAZINE reviews the trade paperback edition of GTN:

GONE ‘TIL NOVEMBER by Wallace Stroby

Sara Cross has problems. She is a single mother and her six-year-old son is battling Leukemia. She is one of the best deputies her small Florida town has ever seen.

Sara is the first responder to the scene when a shooting occurs and when she shows up,her ex — a fellow deputy — has shot a young, black man and his story is self defense and it seems that the evidence supports his story. Initially, Sara believes Billy’s story, but the more she investigates the more questions she has.

Mikey-Mike is a New Jersey drug dealer who is having issues. His product is getting a name for being weak. He doesn’t trust his hired man, Morgan, and his money has come up missing. He sends Morgan to Florida to find the missing money and what happened to the carrier. True to form, not only does Mikey send Morgan, but also a couple of thugs to make sure the job gets done.

Morgan has his own agenda and problems he has to deal with. The other thugs definitely don’t blend in to the quiet Florida community well and Sara is caught right in the middle of it all.

Fast-paced and exciting, this book will keep you entertained the whole way through. Characters so life-like, you will feel intense emotions toward each one of them!

Reviewed by Ashley Wintters for Suspense Magazine

Pulped

2011-02-26T01:53:00.003-05:00

What do Mickey Spillane, Richard Thompson, Cornell Woolrich and Philip Glass all have in common? I cite them all in this Q&A with Cullen Gallagher over at his great Pulp Serenade site.

My dinner with the boys

2011-02-24T15:18:00.002-05:00

I guest blog at the excellent Mulholland Books site today, talking about my 2008 dinner with some N.J. mobsters, and the genesis of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART.

COLD SHOT weekend

2011-02-23T01:58:00.001-05:00

(Click to enlarge)

Are they talking about hot tubs?

2011-02-17T21:17:00.000-05:00

Snapped off a coffee shop menu in South Fla.

The sounds of Asbury Park, 1967

2011-02-16T19:48:00.004-05:00

The Asbury Park music scene, circa 1967. A summer's worth of shows at Convention Hall.

With a tip of the hat to Stan Goldstein.

NY Times News Service review

2011-02-16T19:27:00.003-05:00

Another syndicated review, this one from the New York Times News Service, via the Dayton (Oh.) Daily News.

Some warm words for COLD SHOT

2011-02-10T01:24:00.004-05:00

Two new and noteworthy reviews out today. One from the inestimable Oline H. Cogdill, written for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, but syndicated elsewhere as well.
Another very long - and thoughtful - one, from the Chicago Cultural magazine, The Week Behind.

What I'm reading ...

2011-02-09T14:06:00.002-05:00

Today, over at Campaign for the American Reader, I get to talk about the new novel by one of my favorite authors, Tom McGuane.

Random Readings, Vol. 10

2011-02-07T19:00:00.016-05:00

This installment of Random Readings is a meditation on manhood, from Helen Eustis' 1953 novel THE FOOL KILLER, about a young orphan boy roaming the post-Civil War American South, and the strange companion he picks up along the way. (It was filmed in 1965 with Anthony Perkins and Edward Albert). In this passage, the boy, George Mellish, having witnessed an attempted-murder-turned-suicide, gets some post-traumatic-stress counseling from a benevolent father figure who's taken him in:

"Well, George," says he, "looks like here's a case where they ain't nothing for it but to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and start in to be a man ...

"I don't reckon nobody could give you an exact recipe, but I'll tell you the best I know. Seems to me like you got to look at the facts and look at em straight, but not go play-acting off in this direction and that, making out things is worse than they are when they're bad enough to begin with. You seen some dreadful things happen ... Ain't no wonder if you don't know what to make of em ... Only this much I do know: ain't no use laying here turning yourself inside out over your fault, his fault, t'other one's fault; and it ain't no use brooding over dreadfulness, neither. You got to think of them good times ... and try your level best to put the awful ones out of your mind. Enjoy the good and stand up to the bad - that's the best I can tell you how to be a man."

– From THE FOOL KILLER

by Helen Eustis (1953)

Tuning up THE MECHANIC

2011-02-04T16:44:00.010-05:00

More memories of my misspent '70s youth: I play film critic over at the Rap Sheet today, with a look at the new version of the 1972 Charles Bronson film THE MECHANIC. It goes well with a splash or two - or ten - of Mandom.

Meanwhile, on Page 69 ...

2011-02-03T15:53:00.001-05:00

COLD SHOT TO THE HEART undergoes the Page 69 test over at Campaign for the American Reader.

Random Readings, Vol. 9

2011-02-01T22:58:00.001-05:00

"But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes."

– Robert Frost, "Two Tramps in Mud Time"

COLD SHOT ARC giveaway & Stark contest

2011-02-01T02:36:00.004-05:00

Trent Reynolds is giving away an Advance Reading Copy of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART over at his Violent World of Parker site. All you have to do is e-mail him at the site address (available on the contest page) with the subject “Cold Shot giveaway.” He'll pick a winner at random.

He's also offering a signed first edition of the long out-of-print hardback of my first novel, THE BARBED-WIRE KISS, for sharp-eyed readers of COLD SHOT (and fans of Richard Stark). Contest details on the same page.

COLD SHOT NYC launch party

2011-01-27T17:08:00.000-05:00

Weather be damned, tomorrow (1/28) night's launch party for COLD SHOT TO THE HEART is still on at New York’s historic Mysterious Bookshop from 6:30 to 8 p.m. (COLD SHOT is also MB's hard-boiled book club pick for Feb. Reviews can be found here. Beer, wine and refreshments will be served, and festivities will continue afterward at the Raccoon Lodge, directly across the street. The Mysterious Bookshop is located at 58 Warren St. in Tribeca, just a block from the Chambers Street subway station (1,2,3, A,C,E) and a short walk north of the WTC PATH station (map below). (212) 587-1011.

ROLLING THUNDER review (w/apologies to B. Dylan)

2011-01-25T17:14:00.003-05:00

Some thoughts on the 1977 neo-noir ROLLING THUNDER, Vietnam films and Bruce Springsteen over at Steve-O's Noir of the Week site (and yes, I actually own the poster above).

New COLD SHOT reviews

2011-01-24T00:50:00.002-05:00

Some more reviews, just out this week:

Bookreporter.com

Pop Culture Nerd

Barnes & Noble "Ransom Notes"

Book Brahmin

2011-01-23T01:10:00.002-05:00

Shelf Awareness gave me a chance to play Book Brahmin this week, and plug some excellent works by Reed Farrell Coleman, David Corbett and others.

COLD SHOT interview

2011-01-20T00:44:00.002-05:00

Trent Reynolds gives me a bruising over at his Violent World of Parker website.

Calling all psychopaths

2011-01-19T01:04:00.004-05:00

Tonight (1/19) I'll be appearing at the New York Public Library's Mid-Manhattan Branch at 6:30 for a Mystery Writers of America panel titled "Without Conscience: Why Psychopaths Make Such Interesting Characters." Joining me will be authors Katia Lief, Alice Loweecey, Jonathan Maberry, Wendy Corsi Staub and moderator Anthony Rainone. Copies of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART will be available, courtesy of the Mysterious Bookshop. The library is located at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, and the event will be held on the Sixth Floor (212) 340-0837.

Out today

2011-01-18T01:33:00.005-05:00

My fourth novel, COLD SHOT TO THE HEART, is in stores today (1/18), and available on-line and in both Kindle and Nook versions.

The reviews below were just posted this weekend:

^ NEWARK STAR-LEDGER/NEWHOUSE NEWSPAPERS

^ MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL

^ VIOLENT WORLD OF PARKER.COM

^ Yahoo's SHINE MAGAZINE

^ And my thoughts on Dashiell Hammett's THE GLASS KEY, over at MYSTERY SCENE

GTN trade paperback & new review

2011-01-04T14:33:00.003-05:00

The trade paperback edition of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER goes on-sale today. To mark it, barnesandnoble.com is offering a limited-time 37% off sale ($9.37, regular $14.99) if you order on-line.

Also today, Elizabeth A. White makes GTN her first review of 2011, over at her book review blog, Musings of an All-Purpose Monkey.

Happy 2011 everyone

2010-12-31T16:03:00.002-05:00

Courtesy of Otis Redding and Carla Thomas, the greatest New Year's song ever:

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-19T14:40:00.001-05:00

Kirkus Best of 2010

2010-12-15T02:09:00.002-05:00

Kirkus Reviews has named GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER one of the best books of 2010. Here's a link to their original review.

"15 Songs" - The Covers

2010-12-14T03:28:00.003-05:00

Here's a sneak peek at the custom individual covers for the five random CD mixes I'll be sending out this week as part of the "15 Songs" giveaway contest. Deadline to enter is this Thursday (12/16) at 5 p.m. To be eligible, just stop by my official FaceBook page and post the title and artist of the first album you ever bought. I'll pick at least seven (and maybe more) winners at random.

GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER trade paperback

2010-12-12T13:19:00.005-05:00

The trade paperback edition of GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER - with a slightly tweaked cover (click above for larger view) - will be published by St. Martins/Minotaur Jan. 4, 2011. It's already available as a pre-order via Barnes & Noble, and will likely show up on Amazon and other sites before long as well. And, of course, the Kindle and Nook versions remain available.

The "15 Songs" giveaway

2010-12-09T16:05:00.001-05:00

My friends know me as an inveterate mix-tape maker and frustrated DJ. I've put together mix tapes and CDs for more than three decades for friends and acquaintances, sometimes thematically assembled to mark certain events (weddings, birthdays, etc), or holidays (I made an Xmas music compilation for seven years). I even compiled a CD to mark the publication of my novel GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER.

A recent FaceBook exchange with author David Corbett got me thinking about this "15 Song" chain e-mail making the rounds. The rules of the game are simple: "(1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer. (2) Go to SHUFFLE mode. (3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up - title and artist. First rule - be honest! Don't keep shuffling forward for "cooler" songs. This is a 'getting to know you' exercise. NO editing/cheating, please."

So here's the idea: Go to my official FaceBook page and Like/Join it (if you haven't already), then post the title and artist of the first album you ever bought. In return, five respondents will get a free personal mix CD from me of 15 random songs automatically generated by the "Shuffle"function of my iTunes library, with a unique cover and complete track listing. In keeping with the spirit of it, the five winners will be chosen at random as well, and each will get a separately generated mix. In this case, iTunes will play DJ, and I'll adhere to the rules above. Everyone's eligible.

The selections will be suitably eclectic. However, be advised I have a huge CD collection. There are more than 4,000 songs in my iTunes library at the moment, and I'll be adding more this week. The selections may range anywhere from rare live Springsteen to Tom Waits outtakes to Ennio Morricone and Philip Glass film music, Wynonie Harris jump blues, Charlie Haden jazz and surf guitar instrumentals. In short, they could be anything. But I guarantee it'll be a fun listen.

I'll choose the winners next Thursday (12/16) at 5 p.m., burn the discs that day and mail them out shortly afterward in time for the holidays. Happy listening.

The Kirkus review

2010-11-16T17:44:00.007-05:00

(Click for larger image)

RT Reviews review

2010-11-16T02:59:00.004-05:00

RT Reviews (formerly Romantic Times) reviews the very unromantic COLD SHOT TO THE HEART:

TOWER raffle/Bad Thanksgiving contest

2010-11-14T19:52:00.003-05:00

I'm raffling off a brand-new copy of Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman's brilliant (and Anthony-Award-winning) crime novel TOWER over at the official FaceBook page. Just join the page (if you haven't already) and list the *worst* place you ever spent Thanksgiving. I'll choose a winner at random this Friday (11/19) at 5 p.m.

UPDATE: Some of the responses so far have been so good - in a painful kind of way - that I'm also going to add a signed first-edition of the long out-of-print hardcover of THE HEARTBREAK LOUNGE to the mix.

RED BAKER review - 7/22/85

2010-11-14T18:14:00.002-05:00

From the vaults, one of the first things I ever published: A review of RED BAKER by Robert Ward. From the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, July 22, 1985 (click for larger - hopefully readable - image).

Publishers Weekly weighs in

2010-11-08T17:57:00.004-05:00

(Click for larger image)

Panic in Philly

2010-10-29T18:45:00.003-04:00

Next Saturday (11/6) at 4:40 p.m. I'll be joining David Corbett for a panel discussion on "Reality & Noir: The Everyday Quality of Evil" as part of NoirCon 2010 at Philadelphia's Society Hill Playhouse. Other attendees include George Pelecanos, Laura Lippman, Daniel Woodrell, Megan Abbott, Reed Farrel Coleman and many, many others.

(extra points to anyone who gets the allusion in this post title)

First review

2010-10-27T00:56:00.001-04:00

Wednesday night in New Brunswick

2010-10-25T20:34:00.006-04:00

For all MWA members: I'll be guesting at the NJ-NY Chapter meeting this Wed. - Oct. 27 - at 6 p.m. at Tumulty's, 361 George St., in New Brunswick, talking about books, newspapers and other dying art forms. Dinner included. Cash bar. (732) 890-3581 or cariagehouse@earthlink.net for details. I'll also be giving away books, including a brand new ARC of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART. All of this just blocks from my alma mater (or one of them anyway, I had a checkered college career).

Alias Simon Quinn

2010-10-20T21:15:00.016-04:00

In addition to being one of the great (and best-selling) thriller writers of the last 30 years, Martin Cruz Smith, as it turns out, is also a good sport.

I moderated a panel he was on at the BoucherCon World Mystery Convention in San Francisco last week (along with fellow panelists Andrew Klavan and Joseph Finder), and though we talked at length about his classic GORKY PARK and many other books (the most recent being THREE STATIONS), I also asked Smith about a paperback men's adventure series he had pseudonymously written in the early '70s.

Titled THE INQUISITOR, and written under the pen name "Simon Quinn," it followed the exploits of Francis Xavier Killy, a spy/assassin who works for the Vatican, the twist being that he's required to do penance every time he kills someone. Though obviously written quickly while Smith worked on other projects, the books were fun, and very well done, head and shoulders above most of the similar series of the time. They also had some great titles: THE LAST TIME I SAW HELL; HIS EMINENCE, DEATH; THE MIDAS COFFIN.

Smith seemed slightly surprised - and amused - at the end of the panel, when I actually produced my battered, somewhat dog-eared copy of the first book in the series, 1974's THE DEVIL IN KANSAS. However, he graciously signed it (below), though preferring to stay with his nom de plume.

Charles Ardai of Hard Case Crime has been after Smith for years to let him republish THE MIDAS COFFIN, one of the best of the series (so far, he's declined). After the panel, I went as far as to jokingly suggest he should write a new one, tied to the recent scandals in the Catholic Church. He just laughed.

Almost a book

2010-10-09T15:23:00.005-04:00

Out from St. Martin's/Minotaur Jan. 18.

It took a while ...

2010-10-08T02:42:00.002-04:00

... but yes, finally, I'm tweeting.

@wallacestroby

A trio of heavyweights

2010-09-28T17:54:00.014-04:00

For those attending BoucherCon in San Francisco next month, I'll be moderating "A Collection of Eagles," an all-star panel of best-selling thriller writers Sat. Oct. 16 at 4:30 p.m. (room to be determined). Joining me will be (clockwise from top left) Martin Cruz Smith, Joseph Finder and Andrew Klavan. It'll be a rare chance for readers and fans to interact with three of the most seasoned pros in the business.

Green fields, blue skies, Spitfires

2010-09-20T18:24:00.033-04:00

Some pictures from the Battle of Britain airshow at Duxford airfield in the U.K. Sept. 5, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. Photos by me, video by someone else (click on photos for larger images).

The flightline: 16 Spitfires, wingtip to wingtip. All flew.

The Spits up close.

Four of the last six airworthy Hurricanes in the world. A fifth, from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, did a flyby.

A Hurricane up close.

Hurricane pilot and staff member.

Sally-B, Europe's only airworthy B-17, seen in the film "Memphis Belle."

Sally-B in the air.

"Ferocious Frankie," one of two flying P-51 Mustangs at the show.

The other side: German Messerschmitt 109s, with modifications.

Rare two-seater Spitfire trainers.

Spitfire taxiing.

Spitfires in formation. The 16 took off in groups of four, then joined up to circle the airfield.

Spits in formation.

On the horizon: NYC Public Library 1/19/2011

2010-09-20T15:38:00.003-04:00

New cover art

2010-09-17T21:18:00.002-04:00

Due out Jan. 18, barring the unforeseen.

Writers on Writing #1

2010-09-13T19:32:00.002-04:00

"Again, I say, one dreams in fire and works in clay."
- Arthur Machen
From "Precious Balms" (1924)

From the vaults, new old Bruce

2010-08-26T23:38:00.004-04:00

And speaking of "Darkness on the Edge of Town" outtakes. Here's one, just previewed today, that's not only unreleased and unheard, but never even rumored about up until now. It's one of 21 outtakes on the new Darkness box set out in Nov., which will also include the original recordings of "Fire" and "Because the Night."

Mayhem at Moonstone

2010-08-22T14:52:00.011-04:00

This Saturday, Aug. 28, Dennis Tafoya and I will be appearing at the Moonstone Mystery Bookstore in historic Flemington, N.J., from 2 to 4 pm. Dennis is a terrific writer and his WOLVES OF FAIRMOUNT PARK, though only his second book, is one of the best-reviewed crime novels of the year. His first, DOPE THIEF, was called "an impressive debut" by the hard-to-please Kirkus Reviews,and Publishers Weekly deemed him "a writer to watch." We'll be signing books and dispensing CDs, baked goods and bad advice. Stop by and say hello.

Elvis - The Way It Might Have Been

2010-08-16T16:25:00.004-04:00

Two songs that would have revitalized Elvis Presley's career - and probably saved his life - if he had recorded them.

Springsteen reportedly did try to get a demo of "Fire" to Elvis's people, but nothing came of it (it was originally written for his "Darkness on the Edge of Town" sessions, but left off that album, as was "Because the Night," later covered by Patti Smith.) Neo-rockabilly singer Robert Gordon recorded "Fire" in 1978 for his album "Fresh Fish Special" (another Elvis reference) and the Pointer Sisters had a huge hit single with it later that same year.