There is a truly wonderful feeling that all serious readers know. The discovery of a new author. And better still is the discovery that somehow, up till now, this author has escaped your attention and he or she has a few books all ready and waiting for you. I love this feeling and my eyes light up when I see the list of the books I can add to my 'must have' list. There is, of course, a downside as well. My list is very long at this time and author John Lutz isn't helping me either. He has a seriously impressive 42 other books, and far too many short stories to even begin to count, that have just been added to my list. Oh well, I wasn't doing anything for the next year anyway.
Of course many of you will wonder how such a prolific author can have escaped my attention. Good question. Especially when you consider John Lutz has received an Edgar Award and the Shamus Award twice, and his novel Single White Female was the basis for the 1992 film starring Bridget Fonda. Well, somehow, it did escape my notice, but no longer. John sent me the proof of his latest work and I put it straight onto my Kindle and began reading. My plans for the day went to hell and I spent the day reading.
As well as many stand alone novels, John Lutz has two other main series with Fred Carver, a Florida based PI injured by a bullet and forced to walk with a cane. He is defined by his cynicism and the pain he lives with. As with many of John's main characters Carver is an ex policeman and has suffered divorce and the loss of his children. Alo Nudger also suffers for his craft with an acidic stomach which forced his retirement from the force. Both serials are well established and ran to ten books in each series. It is no surprise then that Frank Quinn, the main character in his new novel 'Mister X', is also an ex police officer or that the series is running at its fifth instalment and shows no signs of running out of steam.
Quinn was dumped from the force by a conspiracy within a department rife with corruption. Although this is the fifth book it is not essential to have read the other four, though you may want to when you finish this one. The characters are well established but you will lose nothing by joining them for the first time as Lutz oozes confidence in the way he draws his characters. There is a history to this series but any important details are covered unobtrusively and the reader will feel like they have known these characters for ages in no time. We are not restricted to the main characters in this book either. Lutz ensures we get into the heads of the victims and the protagonist as well and the switching between view points is handled with great skill and attention to detail.
I loved the way Lutz handled the 'cold case' of the Carver. Five years have passed since the serial killer known as 'The Carver' confounded police and then disappeared. His last victim's twin has come into money and hires Quinn to find her sister's killer. Nothing is as it seems though. The fact that the police failed to solve the case originally make them less than supportive and the trail is so cold that even the oppressive heat of New York in summer is not enough to thaw it out. However, it isn't long before the killings begin again.
There is a great scene where a young woman comes to New York to begin her life. The scene is handled well and you just know she will be the next victim but are powerless to do anything. There are a lot of false trails in this novel so don't smile knowingly to yourself half way through and think you have solved it, I admit I thought I had it solved only to be so far from right that I was in the wrong state.
The book has an emphasis on the procedural. There are no sudden inspirations here, just good, solid investigative work. You really get a feeling of the hard slog that running a cold case must require. Despite the fact that the main cast are no longer part of the police force you get the feeling that the force will always be part of them.
Characters are a huge part of this novel. The main cast are thoroughly drawn and relationships, petty jealousies and hidden feelings abound to make these characters live and you will find yourself cheering and cringing in equal measure as circumstances change. It's not just the main cast that make this novel though. The Police Commissioner, Renz, is also a wonderful character. Easily as clever as our intrepid hero, Quinn, it is wonderful to see the two spar. "The thing to remember is that," Renz tells Quinn, "like in most games, they take turns" This is from a beautifully crafted scene where Renz manages to side-step nicely from one of Quinn's strategies.
There is a really good interview on John's site which asks many of the questions that most people would want answered, http://www.johnlutzonline.com/about There was no point in rehashing this with similar questions for this article so I posed a few different ones to John and you can see from the answers below how the man's quick wit has made him so successful in such a crowded market.
I see that a number of your titles are out or coming out on Kindle and other ebook formats, and many of them are very attractively priced. What are your thoughts of this technology? Do you prefer the feel of a book or does it bother you?
I think if we look ahead five years we'll see e-books dominating the market. Price will be the determining factor. There will be a tipping point, brought about in part by cheap, maybe even free, dedicated e-readers. The people now saying they would rather read a real book than an e-book will be saying they would rather read something on their e-book than on their phone.
Personally I prefer books, but I didn't grow up with an I-phone grafted to one of my hands.
How do you feel that ebooks will impact on the magazine short story market?
Not exactly the same situation as with books. Magazines seem to be more adaptable to be read online, as most stories are read in one sitting. Ideal for bus rides and subway stops. I suppose magazines will remain print-on-paper for a while, then will be mostly online. Meanwhile, new short fiction Internet mags might grow in number and influence. The real question is about rights, when virtually everything published anywhere will almost immediately be on the Internet and in the wind.
This is your third major series. You are hard on your main characters, giving them huge obstacles to overcome in life; Carver has his leg, Nudger his stomach. Do you like making their lives difficult?
I do. I think something that incapacitates them makes them immediate underdogs and gains reader sympathy.
With the success of the Quinn novels will we see a revitalisation of the older series?
That isn't the plan, but I would never say never. I do get requests, especially for Nudger, poor star-crossed schlemiel that he is.
How do you write? Do you have a ritual, do you plan out every detail or do you see where the story leads?
I work up a free-flowing synopsis rather than an outline. I think firm outlines cause us to close mental doors. Before I begin to write, I do know where the story is going. I often even have an idea what the last line will be, but then I usually change it. I see the synopsis as more of a road map that will keep me from meandering, than something writ in stone and confining.
If you were given one paragraph to convince people to buy your novel what would it say?
Trust me.
In between work and writing do you have any time to read? Who do you enjoy most?
I have a kind of eclectic reading list, including nonfiction, but I do read a lot of crime novels, mostly thrillers. I think there are some terrific thriller writers operating today, among them some who haven't been in the game all that long. I won't name names, because those I leave out would know so many ways to exact revenge for having been excluded.
I will name some deceased writers whose work I've been rereading and very much enjoying. Writers like Eric Ambler, Lawrence Sanders, Ross Macdonald, Patricia Highsmith. Also, I've always loved to write - and read - short stories. Rereading people like Flannery O'Connor and Stanley Ellin can remind you of the value of craftsmanship and artistry in fiction. Every word a jewel in a setting.
What's next?
Another Frank Quinn novel, to be published next year.
Who's going to win the world series?
The Phillies. As inexorably as e-books
I finished Mister X quicker than I do most novels. The chapters are well constructed and none run too long that you feel ready to put the book away after a marathon session. The pace and the urge to find out what is going to happen next push you to finish just one more chapter. There are more than enough false trails to confuse a bloodhound and I eagerly await the next book in the series. Until then I most certainly will be buying the other four books in the series, all of which are very attractively priced on kindle.
Mister X is released on September 28th in both paperback and ebook formats so, by the time you read this, it should be available. Do yourself a favour and buy it, you won't be disappointed.
Derek Gunn lives in Dublin, Ireland with his wife and three children and is the author of four novels. His post-apocalyptic thriller series, Vampire Apocalypse, has been widely praised on both sides of the Atlantic. Derek's first book is currently in active development as a major movie. Graphic novel rights to Derek's VAMPIRE APOCALYPSE series have been picked up by a US indie publisher - the first graphic novel is due out in 2011.
