INTERGNAT TROLLS

Hi folks,

Today, I happened upon a posting in the comments section of an Amazon review I’d recently given on Dana King’s book GRIND JOINT. It’s by a guy who for some reason doesn’t use his name but goes by “Mr. Wizard”. Normally, I ignore the trolls who seem to populate the Intergnat, but felt I had to say something about this as it challenges my integrity. And, my integrity is important to me, which is one reason I don’t hide behind some chickenshit alias…

Here’s what the Wiz (who lives in Monterrey, California, which explains a lot…) said:

MrWizard says:

This perhaps would be a more persuasive review except that the reviewer has posted 44 similar superlatives, none rated less than 5 stars, since 2009. Apparently there's not a book he's read for which he has not had the same exuberant praise.

First, to provide some context, I read an average of three and a half novels per week. Each and every week. That means that since 2009 I’ve read approximately 800 novels. In my house are literally thousands of novels and my Kindle is packed full. I buy novels, but I also receive novels from friends and publishers to read, sometimes to review or blurb. Forty-four reviews for approximately 800 novels read seems about right to me and that’s because of my personal review philosophy.

Which is, I won’t write a review unless I think it truly is worth five stars.

Whether that’s a good philosophy or not is open for debate. It’s just my personal philosophy.

See, I’m a writer, which means I kind of know what goes into writing a novel and then finding an agent and then finding a publisher and then finding readers. It’s hard, boobie. There’s just an awful lot of blood, sweat and tears (and luck!) involved. It’s actually a wonder there are as many books published (legitimately—I’m not talking about self-publishing) as there are.

With my first novel, I suffered 85 rejections. That’s in the pre-Intergnat days when one had to send the mss via snail mail and provide postage not only for sending the work but for the return postage. At a time—for me, anyway—in which we didn’t know where the rent or food money was going to come from, most weeks, and could ill-afford the money spent on postage. And wait weeks and months for a reply. And, when it did find a publisher, it was only because of the advice literary agent Mary Evans gave me and the rare good fortune it had in landing on the desk of a person who wasn’t going to even read it before sticking in the rejection slip, but whose secretary had spilled her coffee and was preparing a new cup and she decided to read a page or two while waiting on her java. Those are the kinds of things that are behind many books that find their way into print. Not to mention I’d spent a year and a half writing and rewriting it…

So, yeah, when I pick up a book, I know I don’t know the history of that book, but I do know that it most likely wasn’t whipped out in a day and a half and there was probably more than a bit of sacrifice behind it.

Sorry, but I’m not going to be the guy who takes a few hours to read it and then slap a two- or three-star rating on it. I just won’t publish a review that I don’t think is deserving of a five-star rating. This guy—Mr. Wizard—seems to be like more than one person among us—he judges others’ lives by his own. I venture a guess that he reads about 44 books in five years and reviews every single one. Which is what he seems to think that I’ve done. Sorry, panther-breath—that’s not even a third of a year’s reading for moi.

In fact, there are a bunch of writers who I know and whose books I’ve read that I haven’t reviewed publicly. Sometimes, that’s because I don’t feel I could honestly give them a five-star review. Not always—often I do think it deserves such a rating, but if I reviewed every single book I read I wouldn’t have much time for reading other books and that’s how I’d rather spend my time. In fact, when I find an author I like, I usually end up reading every single book he or she has published, but I usually only review one book. It’s just a time thing.

There are several writers who’ve asked me to review their books and I read them and told them (in private) that I wouldn’t put my name on it—that it simply wasn’t that good. That’s not something I enjoy doing and I’m pretty sure they didn’t enjoy hearing. But, it’s that integrity thing. And, more than one of them wrote another book and asked me to review it and that book was great and I gave them a review. A five-star review. They’d earned it.

Reviews are a funny animal. My idea of the perfect and best-written book of all time is THE STRANGER by Albert Camus. Recently, I went to Amazon and read a few of the reviews for it. One (well, more than one!) reviewer gave it three stars. Three stars! I looked up this reviewer’s history and saw she’d reviewed books like FIFTY SHADES OF CRAP and James Patterson novels and gave them five stars. That kind of illustrates the literary acumen of some reviewers perfectly. I don’t have any problem with her giving five stars to FIFTY SHADES, but I do kind of have an issue with giving a book of true genius three stars. But then, as my old pappy used to say: “Consider the source.”

Which might have been the trigger for Mr. Wiz’s comments. I kind of dissed those kinds of books in my review of Dana’s book. Perhaps he feels those are examples of good literature… Who knows? The only thing I know is that as a rule, someone who doesn’t have the trouser beans to use his real name behind his comments is what we used to call, in the days before political correctness—a chickenshit. (My apologies to chickens everywhere…)

Am I pissed? Well… yeah. Mostly, I’d just like to meet Mr. Wiz and whiz on him…

Rant over… but one last thing. If I review a book on this blog or anywhere and give it five stars, I’ve not only read a pile of books I didn’t review, but that it absolutely was a five-star read for me.

You can count on it.

Blue skies,

Les

P.S. I'm aware that the common wisdom is to simply ignore these kinds of assholes but sometimes they're just so much of a punk that it's hard to. And, I'm not commenting on a bad review he gave me, but to his challenging my integrity, so hope that counts for something.

Dana King freebies!

Hi folks,

Awhile back, I posted a review of Dana King’s novel, GRIND JOINT, which I loved. Recently nominated for a Shamus award, Dana King is making all four of his e-books available for free on Kindle from June 25 – 29. A Small Sacrifice is the nominated book, the story of private detective Nick Forte and what happens when he tries to clear a man’s name and discovers why it had been muddied in the first place. The other freebies include two books from Dana’s Penns River series, set in an economically depressed Western Pennsylvania town: Worst Enemies, and Grind Joint; as well as Wild Bill, the story of how an FBI investigation into Chicago’s organized crime goes awry when a mob war breaks out.

Here’s my review of GRIND JOINT, as originally posted:

I read tons and tons of books. Last count, I’m averaging 3 ½ novels a week. That’s a lot. The truly great ones I try to provide reviews for. At last count, I’m about 15 books behind. Here’s one I read several weeks ago and just re-read it. For the third time. That kind of tells you how I liked it, I think. But, if that wasn’t a bit enough clue, here are some other thoughts I had about it:

GRIND JOINT by Dana King

One of the best novels I’ve read this year. Period. I’d read three of King’s novels previous to this one and waited and waited for it to become available on Kindle and finally I went ahead and bought the paperback copy, simply because I couldn’t wait any longer. (Note: get the other three—they’re as good as this one is.)

I’m glad I did. Not so much because I finally got to read it—that’s a for-sure plus—but because I’ve now got a physical copy. That’s important because there are dozens and dozens of techniques I want to steal for my own writing and to pass on to my writing students and this just makes it easier to bookmark and make the theft and get out before I’m caught.

In some of the reviews I’d read of GRIND JOINT, it was often mentioned that King was bringing back to life the subgenre of mafia crime books. I guess I’m out of touch—I never realized it had died. Well, if it had, this definitely gave the genre new life. And, if it hasn’t, this is pumping steroids into it. Make room at the table, Mario Puzo…

Reviews very often aren’t about the book itself so much as they are about the reviewer. Some see that as a negative. Not this reviewer. Sure, the plot is complex and sound. Sure, the characters are entirely interesting and plausible. Sure, the world it contains is realistic and well-drawn. But, I read differently than someone who’s not a writer and is just looking for a great way to kill some time. GRIND JOINT does that for sure, but what impressed me more than anything is that I consciously looked for weak places—places I could set it down easily and go and do something else. Well, very few books are capable to achieving that kind of effect on me… but this one did. It’s simply Grade A, Top Quality, Sterling Silver. 24-Carat Can’t-Put-It-Down. Trust me on this. Better: Don’t trust me. Grab a copy and see if I’m not right. I couldn’t find a single page anywhere in it that didn’t grab and hold my interest. Not a single page.

If you like an insider’s look at the criminal world and are intrigued at stories that reveal how people “in the life” think and what drives their actions, this is the book for you. If you enjoy stories that draw back the curtain on the seamy side of town as well as on the good side of the tracks, this is the book for you. If you get your adrenaline going when you encounter tales where you see behind the curtain, this is the book for you.

If you prefer novels about vampires and fifty ways to make your eyeballs bleed and your trouser worm get exercise, and characters that are 6’8”, Hollywood-blond, can bench-press Buicks, go 24 hours without sleep, food or water, and can defeat 9,000 ninjas in warehouses (why are these guys always in warehouses?), and only need a toothbrush and a micro chip inside them that draws bad guys to their vicinity like six-year-olds to chicken nuggets to make their lives complete, then this probably isn’t the book for you.

On the other hand, if you’re like one reviewer who said she finished reading this book “on a gurney in an emergency room with crying kids, a car accident victim and a loud drunk” keeping her company, and she “barely noticed them,” then, yeah, this is your kind of book.

It’s exactly like that.

Here’s a short description of the four free books:

A Small Sacrifice. Nominated for a Shamus Award for Best Indie PI Novel, it’s the story of Chicago investigator Nick Forte, who is asked to clear the name of a man who has been publicly vilified as the murderer of his young son. Forte learns, while Doug Mitchell might not be guilty, he’s no innocent, and the circumstances place Forte and his family in jeopardy.

Grind Joint. Named by The LA Review of Books as one of the fifteen best noir reads of 2013, Grind Joint is the story of what happens in a small, economically depressed Pennsylvania town when someone gets the bright idea of solving their financial woes by building a low-roller casino. The local cops find themselves up against more than they bargained for when the Russian mob takes an interest. A Small Sacrifice’s Nick Forte plays a supporting but pivotal role.

Worst Enemies. The first of the Penns River books, the story of what can happen when someone takes the scenario of Strangers on a Train way too seriously. Detectives Ben Dougherty and Willie Grabek have to solve two murders organized by a person who is close to both victims, yet operates at some distance.

Wild Bill. A standalone tale of FBI Special Agent Willard “Wild Bill” Hickox, who’s ready to retire but wants to put the cherry on his career by bringing down Chicago’s Number One crime boss. When a gang war re-arranges all the players, Will must choose between duty, experience, and a combination of the two if he is to ride off into the sunset as planned.

Blue skies,

Les

Review of Dana King's GRIND JOINT

Hi folks,

I read tons and tons of books. Last count, I’m averaging 3 ½ novels a week. That’s a lot. The truly great ones I try to provide reviews for. At last count, I’m about 15 books behind. Here’s one I read several weeks ago and just re-read it. For the third time. That kind of tells you how I liked it, I think. But, if that wasn’t a big enough clue, here are some other thoughts I had about it:

GRIND JOINT by Dana King

One of the best novels I’ve read this year. Period. I’d read three of King’s novels previous to this one and waited and waited for it to become available on Kindle and finally I went ahead and bought the paperback copy, simply because I couldn’t wait any longer. (Note: get the other three—they’re as good as this one is.)

I’m glad I did. Not so much because I finally got to read it—that’s a for-sure plus—but because I’ve now got a physical copy. That’s important because there are dozens and dozens of techniques I want to steal for my own writing and to pass on to my writing students and this just makes it easier to bookmark and make the theft and get out before I’m caught.

In some of the reviews I’d read of GRIND JOINT, it was often mentioned that King was bringing back to life the subgenre of mafia crime books. I guess I’m out of touch—I never realized it had died. Well, if it had, this definitely gave the genre new life. And, if it hasn’t, this is pumping steroids into it. Make room at the table, Mario Puzo…

Reviews very often aren’t about the book itself so much as they are about the reviewer. Some see that as a negative. Not this reviewer. Sure, the plot is complex and sound and tight. Sure, the characters are entirely interesting and plausible. Sure, the world it contains is realistic and well-drawn. All "reviewery" things. But, I read differently than someone who’s not a writer and is just looking for a great way to kill some time. GRIND JOINT does that for sure, but what impressed me more than anything is that I consciously looked for weak places—places I could set it down easily and go and do something else. Well, very few books are capable to achieving that kind of deep hypnosis upon me… but this one did. It’s simply Grade A, Top Quality, Sterling Silver. 24-Carat Can’t-Put-It-Down. Trust me on this. Better: Don’t trust me. Grab a copy and see if I’m not right. I couldn’t find a single page anywhere in it that didn’t grab and hold my interest. Not a single page. This guy's a writer's writer.

If you like an insider’s look at the criminal world and are intrigued at stories that reveal how people “in the life” think and what drives their actions, this is the book for you. If you enjoy stories that draw back the curtain on the seamy side of town as well as on the good side of the tracks (which aren't much different), this is the book for you. If you get your adrenaline going when you encounter a protagonist you want to hang with and have beers with, this is the book for you.

If you prefer novels about vampires and fifty ways to make your eyeballs bleed and your trouser worm get exercise, and characters that are 6’8”, Hollywood-blond, can bench-press Buicks, go 24 hours without sleep, food or water, and can defeat 9,000 ninjas in warehouses (why are these guys always in warehouses?), and only need a toothbrush and a micro chip inside them that draws bad guys to their vicinity like six-year-olds to chicken nuggets to make their lives complete... then this probably isn’t the book for you.

One reviewer said she finished reading this book “on a gurney in an emergency room with crying kids, a car accident victim and a loud drunk” keeping her company, and she “barely noticed them,” then, yeah, this is your kind of book.

It’s exactly like that.

Blue skies,

Les

Dana King's review of THE BITCH and words from Ken Bruen

Hi folks,

The reviews keep coming in and I'm stoked. Here's one that one of my favorite writers, Dana King, just published on his blog, One Bite at a Time.

One Bite at a Time 

A humble writer, with much to be humble about

2013 was a good year. Kudos for Grind Joint included:

Woody Haut named it one of the fifteen best noir reads in the LA Review of books.

Spinetingler Magazine cited it as among the best crime fiction of 2013

Nick Forte’s debut, A Small Sacrifice, was named runner-up by the Sons of Spade web site.

Thanks to everyone who helped to make 2013 such a great year here at OBAAT, from posters to interviewees to commenters.

Monday, January 27, 2014

The Bitch, by Les Edgerton

 

True noir is hard to find. By “true noir,” I mean the classic story of a person who is not necessarily bad, but can be nudged in that direction, either through opportunity, or forced by events. This person makes decisions that go sour, though the options at the time ranged from bad to worse; the die was cast with the first unfortunate choice. The stories are engrossing because readers can’t help but wonder what they would do in the same situation, and are relieved at the end because they didn’t have to do it.

 

Today we have plenty of neo-noir and “thrillers.” Too much neo-noir consists of bad people reveling in their own depravity. Bad things happen, and they’re often okay with it. The “protagonist” may, or may not, face consequences. Readers rarely empathize, because the reader would never be in circumstances remotely similar; too many unconscionable decisions were made in the backstory. The stories are often more schadenfreude than noir.

Modern thrillers often have protagonists with noir potential, but the opportunity is lost when the protagonist invariably chooses the option most likely to make the situation worse at every opportunity. Readers wonder what they would do for a while, until—if you’re like me—they start to root against the protagonist because he/she’s too dumb to be allowed to reproduce.

 

The Bitch is true noir.

 

Jake is a two-time loser. Another felony conviction will mark him a habitual criminal, which carries an automatic life sentence. (The “bitch” referred to in the title.) He learned to cut hair in prison and found he had a talent for it. He’s gone straight, married a woman who accepts his past and loves him for his present and future, and whose family has done the same. Jake and Paris have saved enough money to open their own shop in a few weeks; Paris is pregnant.

 

Enter Walker Joy, Jake’s old cellmate. Walker saved Jake’s life once in the joint, and he’s calling in the marker. Walker has not gone straight, lost some diamonds, and needs the help of master burglar Jake to make things right. Jake is torn, and doesn’t have as many options as he at first thinks.

 

What happens next put me in mind of the classic A Simple Plan. Decisions are forced on Jake that continue to escalate the situation. He chooses as best he can from limited options, all foul. Every decision is framed by the fact he can never cut his losses and turn himself in; The Bitch looms. Only his conscience acts as a governor on his behavior; the law’s position is set in stone, no matter what else he does.

 

Les Edgerton has written a story that is effective on multiple levels. Time and again the reader will see a new crisis and realize almost simultaneously with Jake what has to be done, cringing as it happens, not knowing what else could be done and still avoid The Bitch, which will cost him Paris and his child forever.

 

As if the engrossing personal situation isn’t enough, Edgerton weaves social commentary into the story without ever preaching about it. Habitual Offender laws have become commonplace, society’s way of dealing with people who just don’t seem to get the message. I had no problem with them—when properly applied—until I read The Bitch and realized a two-time loser has no reason not to go all the way once an act worthy of Strike Three has been committed. He’s already getting the maximum sentence; anything else he does to evade capture is without risk.

The Bitch is a fascinating story of how close any of us might be to the edge, where a single event could change our lives forever for the worse. True, few of us are twice-convicted felons, but it’s only the scale of Jake’s misfortune that differs. We’re all one phone call--chance meeting, lost job, medical emergency, car crash, random act of violence—away from a situation where every option is a bad one, and the most likely favorable outcome is to slow the rate at which your life circles the toilet while hoping for a miracle.

Read The Bitch. If it doesn’t affect you on multiple levels, read it again. You weren’t paying attention the first time.

Thanks, Dana! He made a prescient observation when he compared it to Scott Smith's A SIMPLE PLAN. That's how this novel came to be, actually. Some years ago, my then-agent Jimmy Vines asked me to write a novel along the lines of Smith's book and this was the result. I'm so glad he didn't ask me to write one along the lines of LITTLE WOMEN... That would have been difficult...

If the folks here are looking for some great noir and/or thrillers, check out any of Dana's books--they're superb!

Blue skies,

Les

P.S. This morning, along with seeing this review, I received an email from the great Ken Bruen who had just read THE BITCH and THE RAPIST and, while I hadn't asked him for a blurb--I sent him these two books (via an intro from mutual buddy Larry DeVore) and simply because I just wanted to get on his radar because I respect him so much as a writer--here's what he wrote:

Dear Les

              Thank you so much for the books and the superb novels.

You sure have lived the life and have a nice light touch in describing it.

I loved the novels.

Here is my blurb

 

Les Edgerton is the reincarnation of our beloved Eddie Bunker.

The writing is as tough and tender as Bunker with that wonderful sense of dry humour that underpins even the most violent of scenes.

This guy can write and like a focused Bukowski.

Make no mistake, here is the real deal.

The books cry out for movie deals.

 

Warmest wishes

Ken

 

If you catch me this morning, you'll see me with a grin from ear to ear that I can't wipe off!