Good People and other good thoughts from Marcus Sakey
Marcus Sakey has been busy. His first novel, The Blade Itself, came out in January of last year to wide acclaim, award nominations, and movie offers; his second, At the City's Edge was called "nothing short of brilliant" by the Chicago Tribune. His third, a character-driven thriller called Good People comes out this August, and the early buzz is louder than ever.Tell us about Good People.
It's about, well, good people, specifically a married couple that's been trying to have a baby. They haven't had any luck, and are being crushed by debt from fertility treatments, and that's straining their marriage and their hope.
Then their tenant, a recluse whose rent had been barely keeping them afloat, dies unexpectedly. And in his apartment they find almost four hundred thousand dollars in cash. It seems like the answer to a prayer, a fairy tale ending. But as they soon discover, fairy tales never come cheap...
I know you're familiar with Title Hell. Did you go through it on this one?
OH am I familiar. For my last book, I submitted over 200 titles before we settled on At the City's Edge. By that point I was ready to call it Untitled #2.
This time wasn't too bad. My original suggestion died, but you sort of expect that to happen. We went back and forth on a couple of options. But when my editor threw this one out, I just fell desperately in love. The only problem is that from now on I want to name all of my books Good People.
You've been nominated for some awards.I've been really fortunate. My first book, The Blade Itself, has been nominated for an Anthony, a Barry, a Crimespree, a Dilys, and it won a Strand Critic's Award for Best First. The blackmail materials helped, I think.
What's the most entertaining thing you've learned writing novels?
That it's a free pass to ask anyone anything. Being a writer is like being a photographer--you get to poke your nose into other worlds. For research purposes, I've ridden with homicide detective, spent a week with gang intelligence officers, gone shooting with Green Berets, toured the Manhattan morgue, learned to pick a lock, on and on.
I keep waiting, when I call and ask permission to do this kind of thing, for someone to say, "No, really, who the hell are you?" But so far everyone has been generous.
What was the best part of ThrillerFest this year?
Meeting a vice-president of publicity at Harper Collins and starting to beg, almost before she finished introducing herself, for an ARC of Dennis Lehane's new book. God bless her, she came through with it. Unfortunately, I started reading the moment I received it and finished two days later.
What have you read recently that knocked your socks off?
The Given Day, that Lehane novel I mentioned, was tremendous. I loved Sean Chercover's new one, Trigger City. Ken Bruen's forthcoming Once Were Cops might be his best ever, and that's saying something. I really loved Gregg Hurwitz's The Crime Writer.
What's your favorite sentence?
"Mr. Sakey, your table is ready."
Oh, you meant, like, from a book. Well, I can't go past a favorite du jour, because that stuff changes all the time. I reread a favorite novel recently, William Gibson's Neuromancer, and I love the first line from that: "The sky above the port was the color of television tuned to a dead channel." Evokes so much with so little.
If you had to be trapped on a desert island with three authors of your choice, who would you pick?
Can I have all the books I want instead of the authors? Gimme ocean breezes, clear water, and a stack of books taller than my head, and I'll be happy for a long, long time.
Contributing editor Tasha Alexander
attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an
English major in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her
time reading. Following graduation, she played nomad for several years,
eventually settling with her family in Tennessee. When not reading, she
can be found hard at work on her next book.
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For 2010, we’ll be back in the heart of New York in July with the ThrillerFest conference including CraftFest and AgentFest.
ThrillerFest V will be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
The dates will be July 7-10, 2010. Watch this space for important conference and hotel registration information.
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