Books & writing – Page 17 – Pop Culture Nerd

Deep Thoughts from Dave Barry

Since I’ve been waiting six years for humor columnist Dave Barry to write another novel for adults—2001’s Big Trouble and 2003’s Tricky Business were hilarious—I occasionally Google him to see what he’s doing besides co-writing the Starcatcher books for young readers with Ridley Pearson.

I found him on Twitter where his tweets rocked me with laughter. Here’s someone who knows how to use this social platform to entertain, not provide inane chatter about the burrito he had for lunch like many others do. If you’ve never read Barry, you might be inclined to check out his past work if you happen to stumble upon his tweets.

Want to test this theory? Scroll through the small sampling below (plus the rest here if you have time) then tell me whether you’d like to check out his books. Warning: Do not consume liquids while reading or they might exit through the wrong cavity.

Some of Barry’s tweets:

The hair-dryer tag says “WARN CHILDREN OF THE RISK OF DEATH BY ELECTRIC SHOCK!” But how often? Daily? And which children?
I just acquired a follower named “AssScratcher.” It is difficult to describe my feelings about this.
You know how to get captured terrorists to talk? Put them in a “spinning” class. They wouldn’t last 10 minutes. I know I don’t.
TODAY’S TIP: If you have a dog, make sure the door is closed FIRMLY when you go to the bathroom. Never mind why I am telling you this.
There is nothing quite like a flight to LaGuardia. Except maybe the last chopper out of Saigon.
What should be the penalty for drivers who don’t go when the light turns green? Today I am thinking: Death.
I just got a spam email with the subject line: “Read or you’re gay.”
To people who make moving ads that block the view of websites: Not only will we not buy from you, but we want shrews to eat your liver.
Driving to Disney World for a soccer tournament. On Memorial Day Weekend. Hope the turnpike service plazas sell heroin.
You know who is always fantastically stupid? The person in line directly ahead of you.
Overheard just now in doctor’s waiting room: “Can you give me a urine sample?” “Here?” “Well not RIGHT here.”
There should be some kind of Nintendo DS system for cows, because they have a LOT of spare time.
New York City Update: I just watched an extremely determined woman somehow park an SUV in a space the length of a cocker spaniel.
I am still not totally convinced that olives are not the eyeballs of very large frogs.
What I need is a search engine that, no matter what I type in, comes back with GO BACK TO WORK.

10 Comments

Kick Some Ass, Get a Scholarship

England’s The Guardian reports that thriller writer Lee Child has established several scholarships named after his fictional hero Jack Reacher for students going to Sheffield University, Child’s alma mater.

I think this is the coolest thing. Not only is it incredibly generous of Child to do this, can you imagine saying “I’m going to university on a full Reacher scholarship?” Do you have to get straight As to qualify or can you just kick some bullies’ asses? Either way, you’re making the school a better place.

If you could go/could have gone to college on a scholarship named after a fictional character, who would it be? I would’ve hustled for a Wonder Woman [“I got through Ivy League via the Justice League”], James Bond [“My GPA was four-point-double 0”] or Sherlock Holmes [“Professor Moriarty from Criminology hated me”] scholarship.

12 Comments

Book Buffet

Since my TBR book pile was getting so big it threatened to become a fire hazard, I decided to lock myself in until I’d made a dent in it. Well, that didn’t last long since I ended up going to the beach, eating pizza, surfing the Internet, and watching an old episode of Family Feud where Richard Dawson said “name a beverage that comes in a can” and someone said “wine” then his brother said “milk.”

But I did manage to finish four books and here’s a rundown:

New Tricks by David Rosenfelt

This is the seventh in the Andy Carpenter legal thriller series and if you aren’t reading these books already, please check them out pronto. If you don’t like them, you can come to my house and sic attack dogs on me. I can say this without fear (and making secret plans to move) because I think you’ll enjoy Rosenfelt’s ability to combine laugh-out-loud humor with deadly plots.

Carpenter is a wealthy defense attorney who only takes on cases he’s passionate about and since he’s a dog lover, sometimes his clients have four legs. This time, he’s got two clients—one dog, one human. He represents Waggy (the dog) after Waggy’s owner, a DNA expert, is murdered and his wife and son fight for custody of the puppy. When the owner’s wife is also killed and his son is charged with both murders, Carpenter decides to represent him, too.

Carpenter discovers the murdered scientist had been working on some scary, world-changing stuff and the investigation causes harm to seemingly everyone Carpenter comes across, including someone close to him. Rosenfelt manages to inject humor into Carpenter’s darkest hours without making it seem inappropriate. He never loses sight of the lawyer’s heart when it comes to relationships with his girlfriend, Laurie; his investigative team and his beloved golden retriever, Tara (she’s cool, not cutesy). Waggy is a winning addition to this eclectic bunch and I hope he’ll wreak more havoc in future installments. Nerd verdict: Funny but deadly Tricks.

Ravens by George Dawes Green

A couple of grifters named Shaw and Romeo are driving to Florida when they stop at a convenience store in Brunswick, Georgia and find out a local family, the Boatwrights, had just won $318 million in the lottery. Shaw hatches a plan to take them hostage and make them give half their winnings to him and Romeo. Things don’t work out the way anyone planned.

I had mixed feelings about this book. Green’s prose is deft and witty and his characters are well-defined. The situation is ripe with potential for suspense. Problem is, I couldn’t find anyone to really root for. We get glimpses of decency in Shaw and Romeo but ultimately, they’re delusional and sad. The Boatwrights are not very sympathetic, either. The dad is cowardly, the mom is a vapid drunk and the son is a video game addict whose big mouth got everyone in trouble in the first place. Only the daughter, Tara, shows any spunk but mostly, the family just accepts the hostage situation with no real plan to outsmart the bad guys. There’s a lot of sitting and driving around without much happening. This might be realistic (I wouldn’t fight a crazed gunman in my house, either) but it impedes the narrative’s forward movement.

This book is more a psychological study and a be-careful-what-you-wish-for warning. It’s almost as if the characters are slapped down for dreaming too big. Or maybe Green is saying it’s okay to aim high, just don’t plan on getting there overnight. After all, it did take him fourteen years to produce this novel. Nerd verdict: Ravens doesn’t quite take flight.

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

To lighten things up after a couple thrillers, I reached for Kinsella’s latest. She’s pretty reliable for making me chuckle with her Shopaholic series so even though I’m not big on ghost stories, I didn’t let that stop me here. The story revolves around Lara, a modern girl struggling to run her own company after her business partner deserts her. She’s also desperate to get back together with her “perfect” boyfriend who recently dumped her without explanation.

Into her life comes Sadie, the spirit of her great aunt who recently died at 105 but whose apparition appears to be in her twenties. Before she can move on, Sadie demands that Lara help her find a missing necklace that she’d owned almost all her life. Lara reluctantly agrees, if only to get rid of the pesky ghost. Along the way, Sadie teaches her a thing or two about passion, dignity and living life on your own terms.

Though the plot gets a little too incredulous at times, the book is fun, escapist fare. Sadie starts out shrill but she quickly grows on you. As her past is revealed, we realize her life was more substantial than it seemed at first. The bond she eventually forms with Lara is surprisingly poignant and my eyes got a little moist in the end, something I never expected to happen with a Kinsella novel.

I have to be nitpicky and mention something which made me cringe, though it’s not Kinsella’s doing. Referring to Sadie’s lack of concern for Lara’s problems, the following sentence appears on the dust jacket: “Sadie, however, could care less.” Arghh! I know it’s hard to catch every typo and grammatical error buried within a book’s hundreds of pages, but this is on the jacket right inside the front cover. And it’s copied verbatim on Amazon! Please, someone, change it to “couldn’t care less” for the next printing. Nerd verdict: Girl has some substance.

Holly’s Inbox by Holly Denham

I kind of cheated when I picked up this book because I knew it would be a fast read. I also knew that once I removed the 665-page tome from the pile, I’d be able to see my windows again.

The story is crafted entirely out of e-mails, 99.5% of which are from Holly’s inbox (towards the end, we get to read a few from a couple of her co-workers). She’s the new receptionist at a London bank, starting over after some implied recent trouble. Though this view into Holly’s world is limited, she comes across as multidimensional: loving towards her family though they frustrate her, protective of her co-receptionist though the woman is obviously hiding something, patient with her promiscuous friend, and flirtatious with an exec in the company. She’s also been devastated by someone/something in her past and trying really hard to prevent it from happening again.

Though I’m not a snoop—you could leave your diary open on your front stoop and I wouldn’t read it out of fear you’ve got some weird fetish I don’t want to know about—I found scrolling through Holly’s e-mails addictive. The pages fly by when there’s not a lot of exposition but this is still a well-rounded story with fleshed-out characters. Holly’s combination of strength, vulnerability and sense of humor make her a charming lead and Denham’s writing is cheeky and breezy. Wait, make that Bill Surie‘s writing because the author is actually a man using a pseudonym! I’d have to go back to Arthur Golden and Memoirs of a Geisha to come up with another male who wrote from a female POV so convincingly. (No, he’s not gay; read his NY Post interview here.) Luckily, Surie says he’ll continue to write as a woman and Holly is expected back in a sequel. Nerd verdict: Check out Inbox‘s contents.

11 Comments

Review: Stieg Larsson's THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

When I read the first book in Stieg Larsson’s Millenium trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (see my review here), I finished it in a two-and-a-half-day marathon. I beat my own record when I swallowed Fire in 34 hours minus 6.5 hours for sleep.

The books’ heroine, Lisbeth Salander, might appreciate these details since she’s some kind of mathematical savant who enjoys working with numbers. But that’s only one of her talents. She’s also a genius computer hacker, boxer, and master of disguise, a skill which, in this latest adventure, helps her elude a massive police manhunt after she becomes the prime suspect in a triple murder. The only person who believes in her innocence is Mikael Blomkvist, the journalist from Tattoo whom she helped crack a case. He comes to her aid this time by hunting down clues which might lead to the real killer(s).

As the investigation progresses, details from Salander’s past slowly come to light, specifically about incidents she calls “All the Evil.” I was already captivated by her in the first book though she was maddeningly opaque at times, behaving in ways I couldn’t understand. After much of her attitude and unique code of ethics are explained in this book, I’m more deeply drawn to her, though pity is not amongst the emotions I feel since Salander would never want that from anyone.

As with Tattoo, you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck here. This book is a thriller, police procedural, exposé on sex trafficking, and psychological study. The exploration of Salander’s psyche makes Fire an even more compelling book than Tattoo, The Empire Strikes Back to Tattoo’s Star Wars in more ways than one. Unlike Star Wars, though, the bad guys in Larsson’s books tend to be one-note evil (even Vader was cool to Luke in the end). I’m talking super nasty, the most depraved bastards you could possibly imagine with no recognizable human traits. Then again, that makes it much more fun and satisfying when they have to face Salander’s wrath. This girl doesn’t just play with it; she’s on fire.

Nerd verdict: Raging hot Fire

Want a copy of this book plus some dragon tattoos? Enter my giveaway here.

6 Comments

Exclusive First Look at Robert Crais's FIRST RULE

Photo © Pop Culture Nerd

Last week, author Robert Crais unveiled excerpts from his hotly anticipated novel, The First Rule, at the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego, California. The pub date is vaguely scheduled for January or February 2010. (UPDATE: At Crais’s site, it now says January 12, 2010.) But wait! Stop banging your head against your desk, please! Crais let me tape his reading to share with those who couldn’t attend.

Since this is a Joe Pike novel, I’ll be Pike-like and keep the setup brief. Somebody murdered a friend and former colleague of Pike’s. HUGE mistake. With Elvis Cole’s help, Pike goes hunting, ready to unleash some serious hurt on the perpetrators. Yay!

Crais read three different passages, one in each video. Afterwards, check out the teaser Q & A I did with him about The First Rule. (UPDATE: Win an ARC and read my longer interview here.)

Watch, read, then let me know your thoughts!

PCN: My mother taught me the first rule is to always wear clean underwear in case I get in an accident. What does the first rule in your title refer to?

Robert Crais: The meaning is in the eye of the beholder, so take your pick: The East European organized crime gang sets operate under eighteen written rules called the Vorovskoy Zakon—which means the thieves’ code—the first rule of which says they’re not supposed to have a family. But the title, The First Rule, might also be interpreted from Joe Pike’s point of view, which suggests his first rule is that you take care of the people you love, and everything that implies. And if that’s the case, then the first rule for the rest of us is pretty simple: Don’t piss off Joe Pike.

PCN: In the excerpt, you mentioned how Pike’s walls are empty. Why isn’t Elvis on there?

RC: Elvis is in Joe’s heart.

PCN: What’s on your walls?

RC: I have more people in my life than Joe has. My walls are filled with pictures of my family, my friends, cool things that have happened along the way. Art. A couple of human heads. The usual.

PCN: You seem to take pop culture cues for your author photos. For The Two Minute Rule, it was the Brokeback look, and you’ve got an Agent Smith, Matrix thing going on with the last two books. What do you have in mind for the next one? Lederhosen a la Brüno?

RC: I was going for the lederhosen look until Brüno swiped it. Fashion is such a bitch, I’ve decided to pass on clothes. We’re going with a nude shot.

Look who's nerdy--me & Crais, WITH clothes

Subscribe to Pop Culture Nerd

33 Comments

Review: Michael Robertson's THE BAKER STREET LETTERS

I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan and have read most things ever written about him so when I heard about Michael Robertson’s debut novel, The Baker Street Letters, I had to get my hands on it. I’m so happy I did. It’s a funny, clever tale with only a tangential link to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation but much of the spirit of his stories.

Reggie and Nigel Heath are London barristers who have just rented offices at 221b Baker Street, well-known address for the fictional detective. The rent is cheap because part of the deal is they have to respond to mail from real people asking Holmes for help. Instead of sending a standard form letter in reply, Nigel decides to fly to Los Angeles to follow up on one, believing the young woman who wrote it is in grave danger.

Problem is, he departs without telling anyone of his plans and leaves behind a dead body in his office. Reggie must then track down his brother in America, keep Nigel away from police in both countries who want him for murder (they stumble upon more bodies in L.A.), protect the young letter-writer from very real danger, and solve the twenty-year-old case of her missing father before it reaches an explosive conclusion.

Robertson’s lively prose, strewn with dry humor, makes the pages fly by. He imbues Reggie and Nigel, as well as Reggie’s actress girlfriend Laura who tags along, with deductive skills evocative of Holmes’s. They’re an engaging lot I’d like to see more of so it’s a good thing this book is first in an intended series.

Furthermore, Warner Bros. has optioned television rights and I’ve got just the actor to play Reggie: Rupert Penry-Jones, who’s apparently available after leaving a Jerry Bruckheimer pilot. As for Nigel, I think John Simm, who starred in the BBC versions of Life on Mars and State of Play, could knock it out of the park.

Nerd verdict: Well-written Letters

5 Comments

My Thoughts on the Alice Hoffman Twitter Controversy

By now, you may have heard about the Twitter controversy which flared up last weekend surrounding author Alice Hoffman’s reaction to getting a tepid review from the Boston Globe. If you haven’t, her Twitter account has since been deleted so you’ll have to read the details on Gawker.

In short, Hoffman seemingly became enraged at Roberta Silman, the Globe critic, for being unenthusiastic about Hoffman’s latest novel, The Story Sisters (read that review here). The author proceeded to fire off more than 20 tweets attacking Silman (calling her “moron”), the Globe, the city of Boston, and people who try to keep women down.

So, she’s human and got her feelings hurt. What’s the harm, right? Except Hoffman posted Silman’s e-mail and (supposedly) unlisted phone number, rallying her fans to tell off the “snarky” critic. At this point, Hoffman became much nastier than anything Silman wrote in her review. My feelings towards the author shifted.

I’ve long been a fan of Hoffman’s work, have enjoyed most of her oeuvre, and Story Sisters is in my TBR pile. But I think she crossed a line. If someone posted my unlisted number, there’d be hell to pay. So I find myself pushing Story Sisters farther down the stack because suddenly, I’m not as eager to pick it up. I know this isn’t logical—the book was written before all this happened so one thing has nothing to do with the other—but I have to admit an author’s personality does affect how much I want to read his/her books.

Many years ago, I was a devoted fan of an author who shall remain unnamed. I thought his books were the most beautiful creations. But I attended a signing one night and he was so dull during the reading with his monotone voice, he actually put me to sleep. I haven’t picked up another of his books since, fearing it’ll have a similar soporific effect on me. I didn’t blacklist him or anything, but subconsciously stopped gravitating towards his books.

Conversely, I’d never read British author Peter Robinson when I went to a signing to get a copy inscribed for a friend who couldn’t make it. Robinson was so charming and smart and made me laugh so hard during Q & A, I had to immediately check out his books, hoping his sense of humor is contained in them.

This isn’t to say I expect authors to be perfect people or put on an act at appearances. In fact, if they try too hard to be “on,” that turns me off, too. But I do want writers to be a little entertaining since they are storytellers. If they come across duller than dirt, how exciting can their stories be? Then again, maybe they’re just shy.

I know I shouldn’t deprive myself of someone’s talent just because they lack a sparkling personality, but there are more good books in the world than I can read in my lifetime so why should I waste time supporting wankers and bores?

Do you ever feel this way when you hear about a writer behaving badly? What about actors? Did Christian Bale’s on-set decimation of a crew member deter you from seeing Terminator Salvation? Post a comment and let’s discuss.

12 Comments

Review: Richard Lange's THIS WICKED WORLD

Every once in a while, a neo-noir writer comes along who’s so exciting, he/she turns me into an annoying evangelist-type fan with a fervent need to spread the word. Five years ago, Charlie Huston had this effect on me with his first novel, Caught Stealing. Gillian Flynn did it to me in 2006 with Sharp Objects. This year, the honor goes to Richard Lange and his debut novel, This Wicked World.

Former marine and ex-con Jimmy Boone is a bartender on Hollywood Boulevard, trying to repair his life after a horrible mistake cost him a luxiourious lifestyle and landed him in prison. One day, he goes with a friend as a favor to look into an illegal immigrant’s death and quickly becomes obsessed with the case, even after his friend has dropped the investigation. Boone’s probe into the matter gets him involved with an attractive ex-cop neighbor, a vindictive stripper and her drug-dealing brother, and a deadly criminal mastermind who runs a dog-fighting ring in the Twentynine Palms desert. Things go violently awry and Boone finds himself in a situation that puts his life—and those of his friends—in mortal danger.

There are many things to praise about this novel: the tight yet expressive prose; the hip, witty dialogue that almost needs to be read aloud so you can hear how good Lange is with banter; the compelling plot which slowly reveals why Boone went to prison; and the unexpected moments of black humor (a bad guy’s profane internal monologue is cut off mid-sentence when he gets shot).

But the most striking thing about this book is the cast of characters. In this story, no one is completely heroic and no one is pure evil. Everyone lives in a gray area, surviving the only way they know how, searching for the same thing: redemption. The good guys have done some questionable things in their past but somehow you don’t judge them. More surprisingly, Lange made me understand and empathize a little with the nastiest characters, even as I was horrified by their actions. One of the crime boss’s henchmen, for example, can kill a man in cold blood but also subjects himself to painful tattoo-removal procedures so he can look more respectable in court while fighting for custody of his young daughter.

This dual nature extends to the novel’s L.A. setting as well. The city can be a glamorous place but Lange prefers hanging out in the grittier neighborhoods, capturing the feel of places and people who usually have police searchlights instead of movie spotlights on them. “Wicked” can mean either evil or wonderful so the title is appropriate because this story is both.

Nerd verdict: Wicked World is wicked good

24 Comments

Review: Margot Berwin's HOTHOUSE FLOWER AND THE 9 PLANTS OF DESIRE

You know how sometimes when you go on vacation, you want something light to read but don’t want it to be so trashy as to elicit condescending looks from people sitting next to you on the plane? Well, I’ve got the perfect holiday read for you: Margot Berwin’s Hothouse Flower and the 9 Plants of Desire. I just road-tested this theory and received only glances of interest and curiosity. I mean, look at that eye-catching cover. And here’s an instance where you can judge a book by its cover because the story inside is just as colorful and full of life.

Berwin’s debut novel is about Lila, a newly divorced New York ad exec who decides to buy some plants for her new apartment. In the process, she meets a handsome plant vendor, David Exley, and Armand, who owns a magical laundromat set up like a tropical jungle, with plants everywhere (the steamy air is good for them), moss on the floor and butterflies flying free. Armand tells Lila about the nine plants of desire, each representing a quality such as fortune, love at first sight and magic. The plants can only be found if they choose to reveal themselves to someone they deem worthy. Once a person possesses all nine, his/her desires shall be granted.

Lila goes searching for the plants in the rain forests of the Yucatan Peninsula, where she encounters snakes, an enigmatic jungle guide, lots of scorpions and a black panther which shadows her. While looking for the plants, she finds something even more important—her spiritual strength.

The story has a little bit of everything—adventure, humor, romance, magical realism, interesting plant facts—so no wonder a movie is in the works with Julia Roberts attached. Even with all these elements, Berwin manages to keep the pace breezy. Her vivid description of the extraordinary laundromat made me wish I had one in my neighborhood and her account of cannabis sativa in the form of sinsemilla—the plant of female sexuality—is incredibly sensual. Unlike the potent marijuana this plant produces, however, this novel will take you on a wild ride without killing any of your brain cells.

Nerd verdict: An exotic, sexy Desire

3 Comments

Interview: Nerdy Questions for TRUST NO ONE’s Gregg Hurwitz

Photo by Gwen + Eddie

One of the highest compliments I can give you is by saying I want to shove you down the stairs. It means you have such an abundance of gifts, I want to steal some a la Eve in the movie that’s all about her.

Thriller writer Gregg Hurwitz is someone I’d like to shove down the stairs twice. But I can’t. Because he’s cool. And he’d probably “punish” me if I tried (more on that later).

Among other accomplishments, Gregg is the author of nine novels, the latest titled Trust No One (out June 23). It opens big, gets bigger, and hurtles towards an explosive finish without shedding character development and logic along the way. Gregg writes with equal parts intelligence, heart and muscle—what else can you ask for?

The plot: Nick Horrigan has been waking at 2:18 a.m. every day for almost two decades due to a traumatic incident which destroyed his life and sent him on the lam when he was seventeen. He’d just started sleeping normally again when an LAPD SWAT team storms his apartment one night and drags him out of bed. A terrorist has barricaded himself inside a nuclear power plant and given the edict he will talk to only Nick. But Nick doesn’t know the man and has no idea what’s going on. Turns out the so-called bomber has a key to unlock the mysteries in Nick’s past which involved his stepfather Frank. “Trust no one” is the credo Frank lived by (etched as a tattoo on his arm in Japanese characters) and one Nick must adopt to survive.

For more info on the book and about Gregg, click here. In the meantime, read on as he answers my nerdy questions.

PCN: Since Frank broke the ice with the teenaged Nick by asking, “What do you want me to not do?”, I’ll start with, What do you want me to not ask?

Gregg Hurwitz: Don’t ask me about sock puppets. Or Ayn Rand.

PCN: Done. You’re Harvard and Oxford-educated, have guest lectured at Harvard and UCLA, swum with sharks, hung with SEALs, zip-lined across gulleys in Costa Rican cloud forests, a pole-vaulting champion, Shakespearean scholar, novelist, comic-book writer, inventor of fire, screenwriter, husband and father of two. Could you please tell me something you can’t do so I can feel less inadequate?

GH: I can’t tie my shoelaces except by making bunny ears. My nine-year-old, to her great delight, discovered this some months ago and has been lording it over me. I also can’t find my way out of the proverbial paper bag without help from a GPS system or my wife.

PCN: I feel much better, thank you. The U.S. title of your new novel is Trust No One. So if I say your book is terrific, would you think I’m lying? How would I convince you I’m not?

GH: Aw, shucks. Okay, I believe you. And thank you.

PCN: OK, good. So you’ve said you were interested in joining the FBI during your senior year in college. If you had become an agent, would you have been more like Scully or Mulder, whose motto was also…well, you know.

GH: Boy, that’s a tough one. Back then, I was definitely more Scully—I was (even more) argumentative and fact-based. I think I’ve mellowed since into a more Mulder-esque “there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy” mindset.

PCN: Horatio couldn’t have possibly dreamt about the kind of nuclear threat at the beginning of TNO. That was alarming. Did your research into that make you wake up in a panic at 2:18 a.m. every day?

GH: Not exactly. But I will say this—there’s a lot of scary stuff out there. And part of my job as a thriller writer is to find a type of threat—a NEW type of threat—and present it in a way that puts ice in readers’ veins. This isn’t always the obvious threat, and it shouldn’t be one that people have seen or read before. Often, the best stuff comes in at a slight angle. And so the threat that Nick confronts in that power plant in the opening sequence isn’t what readers will expect it to be. That said, the book shifts gears very quickly from there; it becomes very much about Nick’s struggle to reclaim his identity.

PCN: One of the themes in the book is that it’s not what a person says or promises, it’s what he does that defines him. What do you do every day that makes you who you are?

GH: Well, most obviously, I write every day. I think a lot of people want to be writers, but very few actually want to write, so that’s something that’s very defining—the activity itself. Mostly, I try to be a man of my word, to uphold promises, to be honest even when it’s not convenient. I do okay at it, I hope. Those are the values I want to instill in my kids, and those are the values that Nick learns from Frank, his stepfather, in Trust No One. Frank doesn’t say much in the book, you’ll notice, but he sets a very strong example by what he does.

PCN: Frank’s a great character. I like how he’s not some cliché stepdad who’s a jerk to his stepson. But if you were in Nick’s shoes and had to go on the run for 17 years, where would you go and what would you do?

GH: Well, I do have it a bit easier, since I’m an adult (or simulate one reasonably well). What’s really damaging for Nick is that he’s forced onto the run as a seventeen-year-old and cut off from his family—and his entire life. For me, I’d probably go somewhere near lots of bookstores and bourbon and live in a tent.

PCN: You have lots of jobs now but what was your first paid writing gig and what did you do with the check?

GH: I was very fortunate early on; I sold my first thriller, The Tower, right out of school. And the check went, boringly enough, straight into the bank so I could keep writing and not have to get a real job. Writing is all I ever wanted to do, so when I got paid, I wanted to bank as many months as I could to keep doing it.

PCN: Wait, how did you manage to sell your first novel right out of school? You had time to write a book between term papers?

GH: I wrote the (very) rough draft of The Tower over the summers before and after my senior year of college. I’d written one sequence the summer previous, when I was 19, but the bulk of the writing came during those two summers. Then I was fortunate enough to land an attorney that next year, when I was getting a master’s in Shakespearean tragedy in England, and my attorney got me an agent who gave me LOTS of (highly necessary) notes. When I was finishing my master’s and supposed to be working on my dissertation, I was in fact rewriting The Tower (and playing lots of soccer), and shortly after I finished up, we managed to sell it. [Editor’s note: The line to shove Gregg down the stairs forms to my left.]

PCN: You don’t just write novels; you’ve written Wolverine, the Punisher and Foolkiller for Marvel Comics [Marvel just announced Gregg will also be taking over Moon Knight]. Which character is most like you?

Hurwitz, in said skull tee, with friend Betsy Little, photo by: Vee Scott

Hurwitz, in skull tee, with friend Betsy Little, photo by Vee Scott

GH: Wow. It seems there is no un-arrogant way to answer which superhero one most resembles—who are you most like, Einstein or Oppenheimer? But I’d have to say, uh, okay, [the Punisher] Frank Castle. Mostly because I wear a skull T-shirt around a lot.

PCN: But you do help save lives. Your third novel, Do No Harm, saved a man’s dog. What other useful tips can readers get from your books?

GH: They can learn how to boost a car, avoid getting sucked into a mind-control cult, and (in the restaurant scene in Trust No One) figure out how to navigate the coolest and most scary conceptual dining experience out there!

PCN: That restaurant scene was freaky! I’d be scared to stick things in my mouth I can’t see. Speaking of dining, I love the perfect anniversary date Nick comes up with at the end—Capra or Howard Hawks, Inn of the Seventh Ray, Shutters, the pier, etc. But that’s expensive. Any ideas for the perfect L.A. date on a budget?

Olvera St., Photo by Pop Culture Nerd

GH: L.A.’s a great budget place for a date since there are so many aspiring not-quite-there-yets hanging about. The beach is always a short drive away and always wonderful, whether for a walk or a picnic. The Farmer’s Market at 3rd and Fairfax is terrific—great cheap food from all cultures. Olvera Street—the historic first street in Los Angeles—has the best taquitos in the world.

Oh, and a walk around Venice Beach is like warping to another world. Hippies, head shops, soft-serve ice cream, arts and crafts, Muscle Beach. Last time I was down there I popped in to a storefront running a literal freakshow so one of my daughters could see a sheep with two heads.

PCN: You can get tattoos down there, too. If you had to get one of your life mantra, what would it say and in what language would it be?

GH: I think it would simply be the yin and yang—dark and light, reconciled.

Subscribe to Pop Culture Nerd by Email

10 Comments

Wanna Take a Cheap Vacation?

Since we’re in a recession right now, most of us probably have to cut back on the big vacation this summer. But you don’t have to feel stuck wherever you are. I’ve compiled a list of movies available on DVD that will take you away to an exotic locale. How can you beat a $3 vacation? (I’m even cheaper—I get them for free from my public library.)

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants—Santorini, Greece. I immediately made plans to go to this Greek island after seeing this movie on video (it took me a year and a half to finally get there but still…). The sun-drenched beaches and white-washed buildings were too much for me to resist, and the reality was even more astounding.

Roman Holiday—Rome, Italy. One of my favorite movies starring my favorite actor and actress of all time—Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn—showcases the wonderful landmarks the city is famous for: the Spanish steps, Trevi fountain, Bocca della Verita (Mouth of Truth), Coliseum and more. It’s like getting a tour through the Eternal City from two charismatic, gorgeous tour guides.

If you want to see more of Italy and want to see it in color, check out The Talented Mr. Ripley. Besides Rome, the movie gives glimpses of Naples, Venice, Lazio and the Amalfi coast. And Jude Law almost counts as a tourist attraction in this movie.

Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke in Paris

Before Sunset—Paris, France. This movie takes place in one day as Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke’s characters walk and talk around Paris, still trying to figure out if their characters should be together (they started this dance in Before Sunrise). They sit around in cafes, take a boat down the Seine, and do romantic stuff with Paris as their backdrop. We’re not sure if they’re actually in love with each other but I do know I fell in love with the City of Light.

To Catch a Thief—Monaco. Grace Kelly was blindingly glamorous in this movie but the city, as captured in this Alfred Hitchcock movie, is just as breathtaking. Watching her drive Cary Grant around in her blue convertible and set off fireworks at night over the city when she kissed him, I thought of that famous Tina Fey line: “I want to go to there.”

Bardem frolicking with Cruz and Johansson

Vicki Christina Barcelona—Barcelona. Seeing Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson and Penelope Cruz take bike rides and have picnics in the countryside, I asked myself why I don’t do that more often. Oh, yeah, I live in L.A. and would probably get hit by an over-sized SUV on my bike. But in Spain, that kind of languorous behavior would probably be enforced. Aren’t siestas mandatory? Sign me up.

The ladies sashaying through a bright and shiny NYC

Sex and the City—New York City. We all know there are parts of NYC that are so scary, you wouldn’t walk past them in daylight with beefy bodyguards by your side. But SATC makes it all look so shiny and romantic, stuffed with beautiful people wearing even more beautiful clothes. The walk-in closet Big builds for Carrie is a landmark in itself. I could never afford the way of life these people have but indulging in the movie makes me feel fancy and frivolous.

Australia—Australia. I don’t know much about Australian geography so I had to look up some things after being blown away by the stunning locales in this movie. Apparently, some of the featured areas are in Western Australia (the Kimberley region), the Northern Territory, and Queensland. I’m not an outback person so much but while watching this movie, I thought, “How nice would it be to unplug from everything, go there for a little while and ride some horses?” If Hugh Jackman shows up and wants to hang out, that would be fine, too.

Gleeson and Farrell gliding through canals

In Bruges—Bruges, Belgium. I apologize to some of you if you’ve heard me go on about this movie before but I love this little gem. Though Colin Farrell complains endlessly in the movie about being stuck in this medieval city, I found it quaint and lovely. I like the canals and the market square and the imposing Belfry, even though it served as backdrop to a bloody scene.

So have at ’em, readers. Check out these movies, put on your most comfy traveling clothes and recline that seatback on your La-Z Boy. Post comments and tell me which movies have inspired you to visit a certain place.

Speaking of traveling, I’ll be out of town for the next 10 days to see family. I might be posting less often but I’ve stockpiled some great stuff that will be published while I’m gone, including reviews of The Proposal, Funny People and an interview with thriller writer Gregg Hurwitz about his new novel, Trust No One.

I might also post book reviews from the road ’cause here’s what I’m taking with me:

There’s no way I can finish them all but I can’t decide which to leave behind. I sampled the first chapter of each (I’m halfway through Hothouse) and they’re good in different ways—funny, suspenseful, adventurous—so I’ll take them all and let my mood guide me.

Enjoy your DVD vacations. May each take you on a wonderful adventure.

11 Comments

Winner of Signed Galley of Kathryn Casey's BLOOD LINES

Instead of using random.org, I chose this very scientific method for the giveaway drawing: I wrote names of interested parties on folded strips of paper, put them in a hat, mixed them up, walked over to my neighbors’ place and asked their adorable 3-year-old daughter Mia to draw one out (she was awarded a small bouquet of balloons for her assistance).

And the name she selected was…(yes, I got permission to post her picture here)

Congratulations, Shelley P! Please let me know how you’d like the galley inscribed and where you’d like it sent. I’ll pass along the info to Kathryn Casey, who will sign and ship the ARC to you directly.

Thanks to all who participated. If you didn’t win, Blood Lines will be available for purchase July 21. And there will be giveaways of other stuff so maybe next time!

13 Comments

Older Posts

Newer Posts