Pariah, an early look

Small Crimes is only a couple of days away from its US release, and Pariah is still 3 and a half months from being released in the UK, but just got Serpent's Tail's brilliant cover for it and wanted to share it.

I can't tell you how excited I am about this book being published--not the least of which because each of the early readers I sent this to were every bit as enthusiastic about it as Ken Bruen and Cortright McMeel are in their shared thoughts for it below. This book may be a little too fierce and unconventional for most publishers, but fortunately there are still publishers out there like Serpent's Tail.

Ken Bruen on Pariah:

"PARIAH IS ALL I KNOW OF BLISS AND LAMENT. BLISS AT READING A SUPERB NOVEL AND LAMENT AT KNOWING THAT DAVE ZELTSERMAN HAS NOW RAISED THE BAR SO HIGH, WE'RE SCREWED. THIS IS THE PERFECT PITCH OF REALITY, HISTORY, CRIME, CELEBRITY, PLAGIARISM, AND SHEER ASTOUNDING WRITING. IT NEEDS A NEW WHOLE NEW GENRE NAME..........IT'S BEYOND MYSTERY, LITERATURE, A SOCIO/ECONOMIC TRACT, A SCATHING INSIGHT INTO THE NATURE OF CELEBRITY AND IN KYLE NEVIN WE HAVE THE DARKEST MOST ALLURING NOIR CHARACTER EVER TO COME DOWN THE SOUTH BOSTON PIKE OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN LITERATURE EITHER. I WANT MORE OF KYLE AND MORE OF THIS SUPERB SHOTGUN BLAST OF A NARRATIVE...........IF EVERY WRITER HAS ONE GREAT BOOK IN THEM THEN DAVE CAN REST EASY, HE HAS HIS AND IT'S TO OUR DELIGHT AND DEEPEST ENVY"

Cortright McMeel on Pariah:

"Mean like bad whiskey and sophisticated like good scotch, PARIAH is a rare find and a scorching read. This accomplished novel features a great blend of strong narrative voice and a realistic, multi-layered plot that lays bare the dark soul of South Boston's underworld. In Kyle Nevin, his main character, Zeltserman has a dark Celine creation that is as literary as he is noir. To my mind this novel provides the final word on the Southie's demise and does so more artfully than it's predecessors. Brimming with historical anecdote, rife with keen sociological insight, Zeltserman invests his novel with a veracity found mostly in non-fiction. However, this is a novel and a damn entertaining one, one that reminds us that reading the book truly is more informing and riveting than seeing the movie."

T minus 3

Three days (Oct. 1st) until Small Crimes is out in the US. I wrote Small Crimes in 2003, sold it to Serpent's Tail early in 2006 and now over 2 1/2 years later it will finally be available here. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. The book was published in the UK this past March, and so far the reviews from the London papers, UK web magazines, trades and web reviewers have all been good to exceptional, with some of the reviewers saying amazingly enthusiastic things about Small Crimes. I've also been hearing some really good things from mystery and independent bookstores that have so far read the book.

Serpent's Tail is a great publisher for Small Crimes, and I'm thrilled to be joining an amazing list of authors that they publish, but there are things that are tough being a US author published by a UK house. First, that 6 months additional wait while the book is first put out in the UK, made even more frustrating by being an ocean away and unable to do author events over there. Also, by the time the book is sent to the trades here, it's no longer an ARC but a final product, so at least for this printing we can't put on the cover "Deserves comparison with the best of James Ellroy, starred review, Publisher's Weekly" as we'd be able to do if this was a US publisher. Of course, there are also big advantages to being published by a UK house, namely, I'm being published also in the UK by a prestigious house that's well respected by readers and the London papers, which means my book's already coming over here with strong reviews from the London Times, Guardian and Sunday Express. Another big advantage, although this is more specifically related to Serpent's Tail, is that they have kind of a more old-fashioned way of looking at things in that they believe in quality more than "perceived commercial viability" and are willing to give books they publish the time to develop a readership.

Anyway, while I had to wait for what seemed like forever for this book, my next one, Pariah, will be hot on it's tail, and out in the UK this January.

"I got in the back...and shot him"

More on the John Connolly trial.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/09/18/i_got_in_the_back____and_shot_him/

Boston Globe article: Connolly 'just another member' of Bulger's gang

My South Boston mob book, Pariah, is still 4 months away from being released in the UK by Serpent's Tail, but in anticipation of that I'm going to start posting occasional articles here about Bulger and the mob. From today's Boston Globe, an article about ex-FBI agent John Connolly's ongoing murder trial for tipping Bulger off about an informant:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/09/prosecutor_conn.html

Forgotten books: Dead City by Shane Stevens

Originally published in '73 by Holt. the book was reprinted in '92 by Carroll & Graf, probably because Stephen King mentioned it in the afterword of his '89 The Dark Half, and this reprint carries the front cover blurb by King, "One of the finest novels ever written about the dark side of the American dream". In his "The Dark Half" afterword, King also says about Stevens' books, "I recommend them unreservedly...but only readers with strong stomachs and stronger nerves need apply." I haven't read Stevens other books yet, but it certainly applies to Dead City. This is a brutal, extremely violent book that looks at the dirtiest aspects of the mob business, and could've almost been a blueprint for the Sopranos. The book focuses mostly on three members of the Jersey City mob; Joe Zucco, a mob boss, Charlie Flowers, a depressed sort whose career has stalled out due to a failed hit and is mostly now doing strongarm stuff, and Harry Strega, a kid fresh out of the Vietnam war, who is trying to work his way up through Zucco's organization. This book pulls no punches as it shows how there is little loyalty, honor, and decency among these criminals. Anything goes, anything seems to be fair game, and there's a realism that makes you think Stevens must've have had friends in the mob, or at least hung around those who did. The ending is a kick in the face, as cruel an ending as I've come across, and a perfect metaphor for workers struggling for the American dream.

Small Crimes in the Blogosphere

Bruce Grossman over at Bookgasm feels Small Crimes should be a contender for book of the year. Nathan Cain concurs and writes his own review of Small Crimes over at Independent Crime. Earlier this summer Ed Gorman wrote about how he thought Small Crimes was one of the finest dark suspense novels he's read in the past several years. Recently Ed wrote about how Small Crimes is one of the best novels he's read in 2008 so far, as well as saying some nice things about my free short story anthology, Seven.

I'd like to thank Ed, Bruce Grossman and Nathan Cain for taking the time to read Small Crimes and for sharing their thoughts on it. It's extremely gratifying to see that people are enjoying the book and the impact it's having.

Latest members of the Degenerates Club

Thrilled to see Small Crimes join Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum as the latest members of Thuglit's Degenerates Book Club.

And speaking of Thuglit, their latest issue is fucking great, each story a strong one. Yeah, for short crime fiction, they're the best, it's that simple. Two in particular that I want to point out, "Mercy First, First Mercy" by David Harrison is a clever and intriguing view of an insane mind, and Overclocked by Lawrence Clayton is just brilliant, wickedly funny, and had me laughing outloud--and definitely the standout story of the issue, although for the author's sake, I hope it isn't as autobiographical as it sounds.

Anyway, a big thanks to Big Thug, Todd Robinson, for reading Small Crimes and adding it to his club, and even bigger thanks for putting out such a kickass crime fiction zine!

Seven, a crime fiction sampler

In anticipation of the US release of my first Serpent's Tail novel, Small Crimes, I'm making available free a new anthology of my crime fiction. Seven contains stories that originally appeared in Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, Hot Blood, Bullet and Futures, as well as one new original story. These are stories populated by con men, mobsters, and monsters, human or otherwise. To read more about Seven and to download the PDF file for it, click here.