Michael Connelly, an all time favorite of mine. I met him at
the Killer Nashville mystery writers conference this past
August, where he was the guest of honor. On eof the things
that he talked about during his keynote interview was how he
likes to trickle out information during the course of a book.
He cited a scene from THE_BLACK_ICE where Bosch sees a
firefighting helicopter and it brings him back to Viet Nam,
it's one paragraph in the book, but it's another layer in the
Bosch character. But Bosch's character is usually the only
one that usually gets built upon.
I've just started reading McCarthy. I started with THE_ROAD
because of the Pulitzer Prize buzz, which is strange, because
I NEVER do that. Shamus or Edgar, maybe, but not Pulitzer. I
think that helped me when it came to NO_COUNTRY_FOR_OLD_MEN
because it acclimated me to the unique prosaic style. The
Coen Bros. did a wonderful job with that movie. It could have
easily come off as a slasher (well, shoot em up) flick, but
every scene was beautifully shot and spot on with the book. I
would hate to see what Tarantino or Rodriguez would do to
it.
Bruen's prose reminds me of McCarthy's. I've long toyed with
experimental style in my own works, so I don't find either
off-putting in that regard. I think maybe it's the
hyper-short chapters (Bruen), as opposed to the dearth of
punctuation (McCarthy), that makes him a quick and easy read.
I read THE_KILLING_OF_THE_TINKERS and THE_DRAMATIST in one 24
hour period. THE_DRAMATIST had the saddest ending of a book
I've read in a long time. But that's a discussion for another
day.
In regards to Chuck Palahniuk, I've only been able to get
through FIGHT_CLUB. I've tried CHOKE and SURVIVOR but it's a
fight I can't win.
I've been off of Elmore Leonard for a few years. When I was
younger I gobbled everything he'd written, but now I'm four
or five books behind.
James Lee Burke is another who builds tension nicely. Dave
Robicheaux is edgy and almost unlikable at some points, his
own worst enemy, you might say (what new-fangled hard-boiled
character isn't?). But the prose and description are
beautiful. His Clete Purcel is the Cajun cousin of Block's
Mick Ballou character.
The list goes on and on...
--- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "jacquesdebierue"
<jacquesdebierue@...> wrote:
>
> --- In
rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Patrick King
<abrasax93@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > --- terry bowman <foolesgold@>
wrote:
> > > For me, this is the essence of suspense.
Who is the
> > > best current
> > > writer in this regard? Who spins out the
best web of
> > > suspense this
> > > side of Spiderman?
> >
******************************************************
> > Elmore Leonard. He may be the best who's ever
lived.
> >
>
> I think that for suspense, Michael Connelly has to
rank very high, and
> not just among his contemporaries. Here's a guy who,
from his first
> book, seems to have all the technical tricks under
his belt, including
> how to create unbearable suspense. I don't rank him
as high in other
> aspects (characterization, for example), but for
suspense, he's just
> plain great. I am not saying that suspense is the
most important
> ingredient for a great hardboiled or noir novel, but
it's a necessary
> ingredient... or else ZZZZZZZZ.
>
> Best,
>
> mrt
>
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