Episode 17: Tim Maleeny Revealed

11/16/07 • 35 min

Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed

Tim Maleeny's second Cape Weathers mystery, BEATING THE BABUSHKA, is nearly impossible to pigeonhole. Its literary predecessors run the gamut form Walter Gibson and Dashiell Hammett to Robert Crais and Elmore Leonard, and it seems to draw in equal measure on movies the likes of THE THIN MAN and THE BIG LEBOWSKI. That this multifarious, madcap pulp romp works at all owes much to Maleeny's craft: he has a gift for re-mastering old tunes, an almost cinematic economy to his crafting of scenes, and a knack for piling up plot complications. That the novel manages to deliver characters of some depth and poignancy amidst such madness is nothing short of amazing. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.

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Episode 16: Harry Hunsicker Revealed

Harry Hunsicker's strong third installment to his Lee Henry Oswald series, CROSSHAIRS, is a hard book to categorize. Though set in the sprawling suburbs of modern Dallas, it often reads like throwback hard-boiled—in all the best ways. Oswald is a Chandler-esque creation, a reluctant but unflappable hero who tries to get out of the PI game but keeps being pulled back in by circumstances, and one unavoidable truth: he's simply too good at the game to leave it. Yet Oswald is also a very modern character who, when cornered, can kill with the same dispassionate ease as Parker's Spencer. The scope of the plot is likewise more typical of modern thrillers than throwback hard-boiled, involving international pharmaceutical conglomerates, FBI corruption, global pollution, and a band of Irish gypsies. Hunsicker's ability to weave these various styles and plots into a seamless yarn is a testament to his skill, and CROSSHAIRS is a hard-boiled mash-up you won't soon forget. This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.

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Episode 18: Max Allan Collins Revealed

DEADLY BELOVED, released in December 2007 by Hard Case Crime, is the culmination of Max Allan Collins's eclectic and prolific career. Its tight pacing and razor-sharp scene cuts recall Max's talent as a filmmaker. Its visual prose speaks to his experience writing the Dick Tracy comic strip, the Ms. Tree comic book series, and the justly famous graphic novel THE ROAD TO PERDITION. The vivid evocation of the city of Chicago, and the subtle references to its mob past, remind us of Max's uncanny ability to build fiction on fact--as he has done so successfully with his Nate Heller historical thriller series. In short, DEADLY BELOVED could only have been written by Max Allan Collins. These are the topics addressed in the first half of this double-length holiday-bonus episode, while the second half allows Max to detail his current projects--as the inheritor of Mickey Spillane's unfinished manuscripts, the creative genius behind a series of graphic novels that investigate real-life crimes in the world of comics, and (perhaps) the feature film adapter of his own novels.This podcast is brought to you by Clute and Edwards of www.noircast.net. To leave a comment on this episode, or make a donation to the podcast, please visit "Behind the Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed" at btbm.libsyn.com.