CrimeFest — and what I'll miss by being there
CrimeFest 2009 opens Thursday with an international galaxy of crime-fiction stars. I'll be there, too.Among those stars is Leighton Gage, author of the Inspector Mario Silva series set in Brazil. I've just started Buried Strangers, the second in the series, but that's enough to report on the opening chapters' deftly executed hook.
Amid brief reintroductions of character conflicts from the first novel, Blood of the Wicked, Gage portrays discovery of what appears a crime horrendous in its scale and barbarity. Any number of authors might have given us pounding hearts, breathless adjectives and appalled attempts to come to grips with the enormity of— but you've read that all before.
I will say no more except to suggest that Gage's severely understated execution of the scenes is one hell of an attention grabber.
Read the Detectives Beyond Borders interview with Leighton Gage here. And next year, read the third Mario Silva mystery, Dying Gasp.
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As CrimeFest gets under way Thursday in Bristol, England, one of America's greatest crime writers, Elmore Leonard, will be reading from his new novel, answering questions and signing books at the Free Library back in Philadelphia.© Peter Rozovsky 2009
Labels: conventions, Crimefest, CrimeFest 2009, Leighton Gage
posted by Peter Rozovsky at 2:03 AM
6 Comments:
Spoiled for choice, I'd say. Have a great time in Bristol, and say hello to Martin Edwards for me.
I shall try to remember to do so. He is a pleasant, highly agreeable chap.
I found out about the Leonard event this afternoon when I was at the library doing research. I wish Mr. Leonard could postpone his appearance for a few weeks, but the person I truly feel sorry for is Declan Burke. He worships at the altar of Elmore Leonard but is scheduled to appear on panels at CrimeFest. A last-minute cancellation and trans-Atlantic flight would be not at all comme il faut.
As I live and breathe, I can now pass out of the endless cycle of v-words into verification-word satori. My v-word: swine
Well, if you don't remember, it's alright--he's been talking about Bristol too, is all.
Declan will meet Elmore somewhere, I'll be bound, whether on this plane or some other. They are kindred souls.
Congratulations on 'swine'.What does this mean, though? Are you going to just turn off the word verificator, as Mr. McKinty has? It's hard to beat that one. But maybe you should just chop wood, carry water', as the advice after enlightenment goes.
My v word is 'ressent', which is either an extra level of resentment which in fact I'm unaware of feeling, or something sent, resent and sent once again. Perhaps by a snake. Again, no clue.
Elmore Leonard is a touchstone for a number of crime writers whose work I admire. Through them, I am finding my way to him.
OK, I'm a v-word bodhisattva.
I had swine myself a couple of weeks ago. I suspect the word verificator is not always random, and some words have a tendency to reoccur.
V-word: portio
I once had a v-word that was appropriate to either the comment I was posting, the blog where I was posting it, or both. That gave me brief pause about whether v-word generation was, in fact, random.
I hope you enjoyed your swine.
Seana wished me "Congratulations on 'swine'," -- a sentiment only rarely uttered, I suspect.
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