Jerry,
I think you touch on the essence of keeping a series vital,
not giving in to the easy repetition of established patterns.
You, in particular, have done a good job of this by
continuing to come up with intriguing new plots, often in new
setting. (Plus you have stepped outside the series to give
yourself sme space.) On top of that, you've done a good job
of balancing character without it turning into a set of
hollow gimmicks. I think a lot of this has to do with your
establishing character through actions, not speeches (except
to Beth, of course). For instance, I remember Cuddy's
relationship with the homeless guy who trained him for the
marathon and his reluctant bonding with Nancy's sick cat as
well as I do many of the mysteries. This is not to downplay
the mysteries, though. I feel like I know every inch of that
road where the
"accident" occured in Only Good Lawyer.
So I guess I'm saying, thanks for some great books and thanks
for stopping by.
I do have a question for you, though. After the panel
discussion between George Pelecanos and SJ Rozan at the
Bouchercon, you picked up on a comment George had made about
a lot of the sensibility of noir growing from the
disillusionment held by the returning vets. If I recall
correctly, you brought up the question of whether or not that
was still the case, whether or not a military background
still fueled the hardboiled/noir outlook. I was wondering
what your own answer to that question would be. Is it
necessary to have been in a war to be affected by it? I know
that Vietnam cast a long shadow over me and affected the way
I see a lot of things, even though it was winding down enough
by the time I turned 18 that I was never forced to make a
decision about going.
Mark
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