Hawthorne, N.J., appearance Oct. 3

On Friday, Oct. 3. at 6:30, I'll be at Well Read (New and Used) Books in Hawthorne, N.J., along with Eric Shonkwiler and Brian Mihok. I'll be talking crime fiction and signing copies of SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST, KINGS OF MIDNIGHT, COLD SHOT TO THE HEART and GONE 'TIL NOVEMBER.

The Star-Ledger Building: 1966-2014

Paid a last visit Wednesday night to the mostly-gutted and soon-to-be-vacated Star-Ledger office in Newark, where the paper's been since 1966 and where I worked for 13 years (1995-2008). The organization's been divided and dismantled, the staff decimated by layoffs, buyouts and attrition, and those remaining have been split up into smaller leased satellite offices in other cities. The building itself was sold to a developer and likely to be razed. Contrary to Thomas Wolfe, sometimes you have to go home again, if only to see that it's not there for you anymore.

(Above, stacked and discarded mailbox trays of former staffers.)
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UPDATE
And a final photo, taken by Helen Twelvetrees the week of Sept. 22.

BLADE RUNNER's biggest anachronism

Deckard reading a newspaper in 2019.

On Raymond Chandler - and Robert Altman's - THE LONG GOODBYE

Scott Montgomery, master bookseller at Mystery People, the mystery division of the great Austin, Texas, bookstore Book People, asked me for some thoughts on Raymond Chandler's 1953 novel THE LONG GOODBYE, as well as Robert Altman's 1973 film adaptation. You can read Scott's column here.

Hey, baby, it's the 4th of July!

Houdini is watching you

Forty years at The Stony Pony

For their summer issue, INSIDE JERSEY magazine asked me to write something about the 40th anniversary of Asbury Park's legendary nightclub The Stone Pony, where I spent more time and money (not to mention hearing and brain cells) over the years than I care to admit. It's now available on-line here.

Above: Steve Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen make an impromptu appearance at The Stone Pony in 1977.

Dashiell Hammett, the not-so-simple sorcerer

Dashiell Hammett, putting the whole writing biz in metaphorical - if somewhat cynical - perspective.

"In this nonsense you've learned you'll find the satisfaction a man has in doing what - however silly - he can do skillfully. There will be days when you find a pleasure in the thought of things you have done for your clients, though that will come only on optimistic days ... You'll have your skill, and your craftsman's pride in that skill, and the money it brings you, and presently you will be middle-aged and old. .,. But in the end you will become - as I hope - a simple-minded sorcerer with childish pride and faith in your utility."

From "Magic," collected in THE HUNTER AND OTHER STORIES, published by The Mysterious Press.

NPR interview

Got a chance to talk Crissa Stone, literary and real-life influences, journalism, SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST and much much more in this interview with NPR's Vick Mickunas. You can listen here.

The world according to Al Swearengen

One of DEADWOOD's finest moments. Words to live by from Al Swearengen.

Sam Fuller's introduction to journalism

For everyone who loved and left the newspaper business - by choice or otherwise - this late Valentine. Director Sam Fuller remembers his first visit to a newsroom, circa 1924. Sixty-one years later, I did the same, and felt much the same way.

Crime Thriller Hound's Best Books of the 21st Century

The U.K. website CRIME THRILLER HOUND picks SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST as its Best Book of 2013. Details here.

Sleuthfest 2014 schedule

I'll be keeping busy at Sleuthfest 2014 in Orlando, Fla., next month, with a full schedule of events over the four days.

– On Thursday 2/27 at 1:15, I'll be conducting a "Third Degree" workshop on "Good Bad Guys and Bad Good Guys: Giving Depth to Your Sterling Characters and Humanity To Your Nasty Ones."

– On Friday at 3:40, I'll join Twist Phelan, Jennifer McMahon,and Amanda Kyle Williams for the panel "What You Say Can Be Used Against You: Creating Smooth Dialogue."

– On Saturday at 11 a.m., I'll be back with Amanda for the panel "Urban or Rural Settings: Appraising the Merits of Each" along with Michael Sears and Lisa Unger, moderated by the fabulous Hank Phillippi Ryan.

– That same day, at 3:40, I'll be talking about "Why I Write About Him/Her/Them: Characters Who Monopolize Our Time," again with Lisa, as well as Jamie Mason and Guest of Honor Laura Lippman. Signings will follow each panel.

Registration and hotel info can be found here.

The Five Best Heist Films You've Never Seen

Everyone knows the classics of the genre, but over at the Criminal Element website, I offer some picks for five great under-seen and under-appreciated heist films, including the 1950 classic ARMORED CAR ROBBERY.

COLD SHOT TO THE HEART audio cover

Here's the cover art for Blackstone Audio's forthcoming unabridged audiobook of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART, the first Crissa Stone novel, read by the award-winning Coleen Marlo. Blackstone has also released an unabridged audio version of SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST, with KINGS OF MIDNIGHT to come later this year.
(Click on image to enlarge)

Anthony Lee's MARTIN QUINN reissued

Anthony Lee's NYC-set MARTIN QUINN is one of my favorite crime novels, the story of fatherless Irish-American street kid coming of age in a Russian mob family. Originally published in 2003, it was sadly out of print for many years. I was glad to hear a new edition was in the offing, and honored to be asked to write an introduction for it. You can find that edition, with a new cover and a slightly tweaked title (the book was briefly reprinted in 2005 as a trade paperback called THE FIX) here.
I've written about the book in the past, first in 2007 as an off-shoot of The Rap Sheet's "One Book Project," and then later as one of the titles in my list of "The Five Best Crime Novels You've Never Read." It's highly recommended, and it's great to have it back in print.

Signed copies of SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST

Signed first editions of SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST are now available by mail order from both The Mysterious Bookshop in N.Y.C. (pictured above) and The Poisoned Pen bookstore in Arizona.

SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST reviews - UPDATED

(Click on quotes to go to full review).
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"Another superior thriller — fast, tough and nasty – without a single extra sentence." – KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred review).

* "Lean, poetic prose ... For fans of noir, this is among the best of the current breed." – BOSTON GLOBE

* "You will want to read SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST at least three times: once quickly (you won’t be able to help doing so); once slowly, to savor it; and once simply to admire, line by line, how Stroby demonstrates how the job of writing noir crime fiction is fittingly and properly done." – BOOK REPORTER.COM

* "As taut and tension-filled as an aerial artist's tightrope." – DAVID MARSHALL JAMES

* "Continues the hot streak of this engaging series... SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST is a heist novel that breathes." – MYSTERY PEOPLE

* "Wallace Stroby knows how to move a story. Fast. ... At no point in the novel does Stroby give the reader a chance to wander off and wonder. You just keep turning pages." – THE STAR-LEDGER/NJ.COM

* "Stroby’s superb writing, scene-setting and characters take you into another world." – HEY, THERE'S A DEAD GUY IN THE LIVING ROOM

* "As the finale approaches, Stroby skillfully ratchets up the tension. We get taken down to the wire and then some. ... Like Elmore Leonard, he shows us how fragile the connection is between machismo and angst, bravado and dread." – OPEN LETTERS MONTHLY

* "The book is violent and often dark, and at times extremely touching .... The reader is sitting on pins and needles as the book hurtles toward its inevitable climax." – MYSTERY SCENE

* "One of the more compelling female criminals in mystery fiction... Stroby nails this taut, gripping contest between well-matched opponents." – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (starred review)

* "Violence permeates the action-filled pages replete with fascinating characters in this excellent novel." – RT BOOK REVIEWS (4 out of 4 stars)

* "This is why genre fiction can be good. This book feels real." – JEN A. MILLER

* "As the finale approaches, the writing style burns down to its hard essence ... The shootouts have been staged in many a gangster - and western - tale. But when they're done as skillfully as this, who cares?" – BOOKLIST

Mystery Scene magazine on SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST

Mystery Scene magazine finds SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST "violent and often dark, and at times extremely touching ... The reader is sitting on pins and needles as the book hurtles toward its inevitable climax." Read the full review here.

SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST audio cover art

Here's the very Bondian cover art for Blackstone Audio's forthcoming unabridged audiobook of SHOOT THE WOMAN FIRST, read by the award-winning Coleen Marlo. Blackstone will also release unabridged audio versions of COLD SHOT TO THE HEART and KINGS OF MIDNIGHT in 2014.
(Click on image to enlarge)