For anyone who eagerly awaits the next installment of a thriller series immediately after finishing the latest one, I recommend THE LINEUP: THE WORLD’S GREATEST CRIME WRITERS TELL THE INSIDE STORY OF THEIR GREATEST DETECTIVES.
Otto Penzler’s collection is unique, and not only because it genesis lay in a fundraising project for his Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. It offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creation of 21 series characters, in the words of those who brought them into this world. Whether you’re someone who leans toward Harry Bosch, John Rebus or Bob Lee Swagger, there’s something here for you.
Obviously, you’ll be drawn to those whose stories you already follow. Lee Child discusses how termination from his lucrative TV job forced him to write the first Jack Reacher novel, KILLING FLOOR, using what he gleaned from years of soap-opera work to craft his ex-military cop longhand on legal pads.
In a back-and-forth conversation, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Rhyme recall how their after-hours tour of a museum sparked THE RELIC, and how the idea of the albino Agent Pendergast was presented jokingly, yet stuck. I feel like I’ve read David Morrell’s entry before, probably because he again praises Stirling Silliphant, but it’s still interesting to read his reaction to watching his FIRST BLOOD hero Rambo become neutered in Sylvester Stallone’s movie adaptation, only to be pleasantly surprised to see his true intentions realized decades later with 2008′s RAMBO.
It’s more than a little bittersweet to read Robert B. Parker’s take on Boston P.I. Spenser, of course, but surprising to see Jeffery Deaver detail Lincoln Rhyme’s genesis in a short story, rather than a nonfiction piece. Ridley Pearson does this somewhat, making his Lou Boldt character the subject of a Q&A.
With contributions from Jonathan and Faye Kellerman, Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, Laura Lippman, Anne Perry, Ken Bruen and more, THE LINEUP contains piece after piece as entertaining as the authors’ novels. —Rod Lott
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF PULPS edited by Otto Penzler
• DEAD MAN’S HAND: CRIME FICTION AT THE POKER TABLE edited by Otto Penzler
• MURDER AT THE FOUL LINE edited by Otto Penzler
• MURDER IN THE ROUGH edited by Otto Penzler
• PULP FICTION: THE CRIMEFIGHTERS edited by Otto Penzler
• THE VAMPIRE ARCHIVES: THE MOST COMPLETE VOLUME OF VAMPIRE TALES EVER PUBLISHED edited by Otto Penzler
Related posts:
- Dead Man’s Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table
- At the Scene of the Crime: Forensic Mysteries from Today’s Best Writers
- Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer
- The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps
- Killer Year: Stories to Die for … from the Hottest New Crime Writers
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice review. I definitely have to pick up the book.
Spenser was, of course, a Boston P.I., rather than a Windy City gumshoe.
Thanks for pointing that out! I always confuse that, but it’s because the person I know who loves those Spenser novels lives in Chicago.