The Next Big Thing: The Interloper

I was tagged last Wednesday by my friend and fellow Top Suspense author, Libby Hellmann for this--

What is the working title of your next book?

THE INTERLOPER

Where did the idea come from?

I had this preposterous  idea for a government conspiracy thriller that I just couldn't let go of, and this led to me writing the novella  THE HUNTED, which led me to wanting to write a series of novellas where some would be part of the same conspiracy idea with a Spillane/Destroyer feel, while others would be pure crime heist with more of a Richard Stark/Parker feel and others a mix of the two. So the next one up was THE DAME. And that led me to wanting to write a 3rd, THE INTERLOPER, and wanting to see if I could package the three of them as a novel.

What genre best defines your book?

men's action, crime, conspiracy, thriller

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Dan Willis -- Clive Owen

The Dame -- Milas Kunis

Martin Luce -- Jeremy Renner

 What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Shadowy government agency, hitmen, double-crosses, and crime heists gone very bad.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

The first two novellas have been self-published, but my agent is now shopping all 3 as a book.

How long did it take you to write the first draft?

6 months.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The first part, THE HUNTED, will remind readers of both The Destroyer books and Mickey Spillane. THE DAME and THE INTERLOPER parts will remind readers of Richard Stark books, such as The Seventh.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Partly my love of the Richard Stark Parker books, partly wanting to do a similar series, and partly having this preposterous conspiracy idea I couldn't let go of.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

The first part, THE HUNTED has a shocker of a secret, and the 2nd and 3rd parts are for readers who love violent crime heists novels.

Now for the tags: 
Look for their posts next week and consider trying…their Next Big Thing!
  
Howard Shrier, Paul D. Marks and Jason Stuart

  

My book covers: Pariah (Fanucci Editore)

My Italian publisher, Fanucci Editore, was originally going to publish Pariah as a standalone novel, but they decided instead to publish all three of my 'man out of prison' books in a single volume under their new TimeCrime imprint. The artwork they used for the cover was the artwork they were going to use for Pariah. While Serpent's Tail and PulpMaster made Kyle Nevin (rightfully) more demonic on their covers, Fanucci went more for a bad ass look, which is still fitting.

It's possible there's a fiercer and more ruthless first-person narrator in a crime novel than Kyle, but if there is, I haven't come across the book yet.

My book covers: Pariah (PulpMaster)

My German publisher for Pariah, PulpMaster, create very distinctive paintings for their covers, all modern pieces of art that could be hung in galleries, and their cover for Pariah is no different. What they've done with Kyle Nevin, is make him part man and part demon, which is extremely apt!

My book covers: Pariah

Serpent's Tail did a fantastic job with this cover for Pariah. An ominous Kyle Nevin in the shadows with the cabin beginning to erupt in flames. This cover not only captures the darkness and explosiveness of the book, but it was a great choice using Red Mahoney's cabin, which in the book was a place of evil and abomination.

Washington Post's review of Pariah

The Bookbag's review

Boston Globe's review

My book covers: Bad Karma

Next up is Bad Karma, which beat Pariah to publication by a month. My publisher's original cover wasn't very good, but they were willing to work with me to come up with this cover. Unfortunately the earlier rejected cover got submitted to Amazon and stayed up there until recently.

This cover still doesn't really work for the book, which is a hardboiled and somewhat new agey PI novel set in Boulder, Colorado dealing with cults, gangsters, and evil yoga studios. But at least the mountains being shown are the Flatirons, and the image superimposed in the right upper corner is the Hindu god Kali, who is related to karma.

At some point I'm going to put Bad Karma back up as an ebook, but with a new title and a cover more relating to the cult aspect of the book.

My book covers: Small Crimes (Fanucci Editore)

The Italian edition of Small Crimes went in a very different direction  for its cover than  the US and French editions. This cover is straight from a scene from late in the book.

My book covers: Small Crimes (Rivages)

The French edition for Small Crimes went for a similar design as the Serpent's Tail cover, but even darker and more noirish.

My book covers: Small Crimes

I like what Serpent's Tail came up. The overall look is attractive and the nighttime shot and the police lights flashing gives an indication of darkness and crime. Serpent's Tail is a UK publisher so I can't hold it against them that this looks a lot more like California than a small Vermont town. Of course, I think it would've made the cover even better if Serpent's added how the book made both NPR's and Washington Post's best of the year lists.

My book covers: Bad Thoughts

My publisher for my second book, Bad Thoughts, came up with a cover which, being kind, wasn't very good, but they agreed to let me provide my own artwork. My friend (and my wife's cousin) Laurie Pzena is an extremely talented painter, graphic artist and photographer, and I asked her if she could come up with a cover, suggesting taking a photo at a cemetery, and what she came up with for Bad Thoughts I think is great. My publisher ended up darkening it, changing the color and font, but I always liked her version better, so  when I put Bad Thoughts out as an ebook I went back to her original version for the cover.

While there are no scenes in a cemetery, Laurie's photo expresses the grim nature of the book and that it's horror, even though the description and first 50 or so pages might make it seem like it's a police procedural.

My book covers: Fast Lane (Meridiano Zero)

Meridiano Zero's cover for Fast Lane went in a different direction by focusing on the detective angle as opposed to the psycho noir aspect of the book, although this black and white photo still has a noirish feel.

Interestingly, I sold the Italian rights for Fast Lane about a year before selling the US rights to Point Blank Press.