Interviews
The Backlist: Alex Finlay and Polly Stewart Revisit ‘I Am Pilgrim,’ by Terry Hayes
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Everyone who has ever tried to write crime fiction understands the importance of pacing. It’s not enough to have a plot that sounds exciting on the jacket copy—getting the plot to move in a way that keeps the reader breathlessly turning pages is another matter altogether. When I first read Alex Finlay’s work, I understood…
How Max Marshall Wrote a College Fraternity Crime Epic
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Halfway through Among the Bros: A Fraternity Crime Story, investigative reporter Max Marshall recounts his meeting with a man who used to sell illegally sourced prescription drugs to fellow College of Charleston students. Describing a typical Saturday on campus, the former dealer spins a tale of drug-fueled debauchery that reads like a shooting script for…
My First Thriller: Joseph Finder
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Joe Finder must have thought he knew the secrets to selling a book. His first, a work of nonfiction, Red Carpet: The Connection Between the Kremlin and America’s Most Powerful Businessmen, had a hardcover run of 10,000. It sold out. Sounds like an early and smooth ride into the literary sunset. But there’s a catch. (There’s…
Elizabeth Hand on Playwriting, Haunted Houses, and Shirley Jackson
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This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. A Haunting on the Hill is now available from Mulholland Books. Olivia Rutigliano: I’m so excited because this is the first continuation of The Haunting of Hill House that has been sanctioned by the Shirley Jackson estate. I’m so interested in how you came to this…
Vanessa Lillie on Writing a Thriller That Explores Native American Issues and Environmental Injustice
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Vanessa Lillie says she’s “an impatient reader,” a trait that influences her writing: “I really like to create characters who are aggressively seeking justice, even when it puts their lives in danger.” This is a dead-on description of Syd Walker, the courageous protagonist of Lillie’s new novel. Blood Sisters follows Syd, a Cherokee woman and…
Dann McDorman on Exploring Literary Hijinks and Meta Mystery
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While mysteries can usually be trusted to compel the reader within the first chapter or even the first few pages, it’s rare for them to hook us from the first paragraph. But West Heart Kill, Dann McDorman’s clever debut, achieves this with intriguing tongue-in-cheek confidence. The book opens with the protagonist, detective Adam McAnnis, sitting…
James Reich on Indie Publishing, Taking Risks, and the Beauty of Melancholy
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In 2017, I read the novel Patricide, by D. Foy. It’s a brutal and challenging book, full of ungodly sorrow and heartbreak. It’s the kind of book you can’t read before bed because it’ll make sleep impossible. But it’s also a beautiful and tender piece of work. I was curious who would publish such a…