a couple of new Pariah web reviews

A couple of new web reviews for Pariah have just shown up.

On Bookgasm, Bruce Grossman say:

"Following up the critically acclaimed SMALL CRIMES, Dave Zeltserman had to prove that book was not some sort of fluke. PARIAH proves that CRIMES was no fluke, even surpassing that previous novel in leaps and bounds, to the point that Zeltserman should be considered the new king of Boston crime. In my eyes, the last writer who held that title was George V. Higgins."

You can read Bruce's complete review here.

The NerdOfNoir in his typical excitable entertaining flair, which involves dropping more than enough F-bombs in his review to get himself banned for life from Saturday Night Live, and drops maybe even more than I do in the book (well, maybe not, but I had 288 pages to deal with!) says the following over at BSC Review:

"If the major newspapers and critics have any balls at all, this will be on their top ten lists – and not in some sub-category like “Best Mystery Novel” or some condescending bullshit list like that. This is the real deal, dear readers. Go fucking get yourself a taste."

You can read the Nerd's complete review here.

Pariah, Chapter 1

My subversive South Boston mob crime novel, Pariah, is being released October 1st, and to celebrate that I've made the first chapter available on my web-site.

Keeping score: Book locations

With a total of 9 books either published or scheduled to be published, I thought I'd keep score of the locations where each book takes place. Below I've listed my books in the order they were written along with their US publication dates.

Fast Lane (2004): Denver, Colorado

Bad Thoughts (2007): Brookline, Cambridge and Boston.

Small Crimes (2008): fictional Bradley, Vermont

Outsourced (10/2010): numerous locations around Boston, primarily Lynn, MA and New Hampshire

Bad Karma (10/2009): Boulder, Colorado

Caretaker of Lorne Field (Summer, 2010): unnamed small New England town

Pariah (10/2009): primarily South Boston, Brighton, Newton, New York, Scotland, and especially New Hampshire

Essence (2011): New York

Killer (5/2010): primarily Waltham MA, but also Charlestown, Revere and Winthrop

Pariah at Harvard Bookstore

Pariah's a little less than two weeks away from it's release date, but nice to see an early (and prominent) display of it at Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge. I'd like to thank my friend, Frank Solensky, for sending me the picture.

Thanks, Bill

I'd like to thank Bill Crider for his recent review of Bad Karma, and yes, the book cover that he shows in the review is the real cover--the book cover amazon and other places are showing was an early+rejected cover.

Pariah at Harvard?

Pariah's not supposed to be out until Oct. 1st, but I heard from a friend that he saw Pariah being prominently displayed at the Harvard Bookstore in Cambridge, MA. If you see Pariah at your local bookstore, I'd appreciate letting me know! Thanks!

Three different shades of crime fiction

In a relatively short time period I've got three completely different types of crime fiction being released. Pariah, which is one month away (Oct. 1) goes several steps (miles??) further than Small Crimes, and is by far the most explosive and subversive crime fiction I've written. On the other extreme is my novella, Julius Katz, which appeared in the Sept./Oct. issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and while not exactly a cozy is on the opposite end of the hardboiled spectrum. Light, breezy, and some might (and have) even say charming. Then there's Bad Karma out Oct. 16th, which as a hardboiled PI, albeit with a new age twist, and can be thought of as solidly in the middle. This raises the question as to readers expectations. As readers do you expect the same level of crime fiction from your writers, or are you willing to accept books that range the crime fiction spectrum?

More Bad Thoughts

Bad Thoughts has been out almost 2 years, but it's nice to see reviews like this still popping up for it.

Booklist on Pariah

Kyle Nevin has just finished eight years in federal prison for bank robbery, and he knows that his one-time mentor, Red Mahoney, the South Boston crime boss, betrayed him to the feds. Kyle goes back to Southie, hell-bent on finding the fugitive Mahoney and killing him very slowly. But Southie has changed; his former criminal associates, even his little brother, Danny, have gone straight. Everyone is still terrified of Kyle, but few now see him as a hero or a local celebrity. Undeterred, Kyle drags his brother into his quest for revenge, and the body count quickly rises. As in Small Crimes (2008), Zeltserman’s fine debut, his protagonist is psychopathic, and obsession, hubris, and rage are the things that animate him. The often violent story is told quite matter-of-factly, and that serves to harden the edge of this dark novel. Zeltserman also patterns Mahoney on real-life Boston crime czar Whitey Bulger, who remains number 2 on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, right behind Osama Bin Laden. For readers looking for edgy crime fiction, Pariah fills the bill.
— Thomas Gaughan

Rafe McGregor looks at my "Bad" books

I'd like to thank Rafe McGregor for keeping an open mind though all the grim weirdness of Bad Thoughts, and his reviews of both Bad Karma and Bad Thoughts.