Hard Case Returns... With Some Westlake in its Back Pocket

If you're a Hard Case Crime fanatic like myself, the past year has felt a little like limbo, hasn't it? The last HCC release was back in August 2010, and every month since then I've been glancing at my TBR pile with a forlorn expression, missing those red-and-black-and-white spines with the yellow ribbon that represented my assurance of quality. (Sigh.)

Thankfully, we've all been sprung from purgatory. Hard Case Crime is officially back this September with out four new novels by Lawrence Block, Max Allan Collins, Mickey Spillane and Christa Faust. And February 2012 brings something I never thought I'd see again: a new Donald E. Westlake novel. Hard Case honcho Charles Ardai explains:

The book is called THE COMEDY IS FINISHED, and it's going to be our second hardcover ever.  Don wrote it between the late 1970s and early 80s, but never published it because he found himself worrying that its premise -- the kidnapping of a famous television comedian -- was too similar to the movie "The King of Comedy," which Martin Scorsese released around the same time. He shouldn't have worried -- the book and the movie aren't similar at all outside of sharing that basic premise.  It's a hell of a good book and one that very much deserves to be in print, and we're very excited to be bringing it out for the first time, with a fabulous cover by Greg Manchess.

While I hated the hiatus, I've gotta say... this news kind of made it worth the wait. And look at that gorgeous Manchess cover. Hard to say which is more risque; this one, or Manchess's cover for Lawrence Block's Getting Off.

Glad you're back, Hard Case.

That's Noire With an "E," Pal

I swear, I have the receipt to prove it.

I pre-ordered my copy of L.A. Noire, the forthcoming detective thriller game from Rockstar, back in January, many weeks before I even caught wind of any anthology, let alone the idea that I might be part of it. Now, I'm not much of a gamer. The last video game I really went wild for was Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto III way back in December 2001, in those lazy, crazy months before I became a father. (Our son Parker, the hardcore gamer in the family, was born the following March.)

But the siren call of L.A. Noire was too great to resist. Like GTA III, the game offers the opportunity to wallow in crime and mayhem in a sprawling urban environment. In GTA III, it was the fictional "Liberty City." In L.A. Noire, however, you're racing around a breathtakingly-accurate postwar Los Angeles, solving crimes straight out of the darkest film noirs and crime thrillers of that era. The game's out May 17, at which point my son Parker will have to surrender his X-Box controller for a few weeks. (Sorry, son. But I am bigger than you.)

This is why I was insanely excited to contribute a story to L.A. Noire: The Collected Stories, an anthology of eight tales spinning out of (and around) the L.A. Noire universe. The lineup (present company excluded) is flat-out stellar: Megan Abbott. Lawrence Block. Joe Lansdale. Joyce Carol Oates. Francine Prose. Jonathan Santlofer. Andrew Vachss. Each story will roll out separately over the next few weeks, and then released as a Mulholland Books ebook on June 6, complete with an introduction by Charles "Hard Case" Ardai. You can find the complete rundown of stories, along with a teaser excerpt of Megan Abbott's "The Girl," right here at the Rockstar website.

My contribution is called "Hell of An Affair," and I'll let you guys know the minute it's online. The best part of the research process was traveling up to Rockstar Games for a top-secret preview of the game. I am bound by nondisclosure agreements, so I can't reveal a blessed thing, but let me just say this: I am very, very glad I pre-ordered my copy. The boy will just have to deal with it.

A Drink to Wash Down the Noir

Some say noir is the literature of "no hope." So naturally, a bunch of us are doing a Philadelphia Noir signing in New Hope, PA. This Friday night, editor Carlin Romano will be gathering Noir contributors Cordelia Frances Biddle, Diane Ayres, Dennis Tafoya, Jim Zervanos and yours truly for a special reading and signing party at Marcella's, 7 E. Ferry Street, at 7 p.m. The night is hosted by the awesome folks at Farley's Bookshop, who ran the book tables at NoirCon 2010 a few weeks ago. You can find more details about the event right here.

Best of all: buy a copy of the book, and Farley's will buy you a glass of champagne or wine.

Somehow, I think I forgot to blog about Philadelphia Noir. I'm very proud of my contribution, "Lonergan's Girl," which is set in 1924, making it my first stab at historical crime fiction. (The story is also a prequel to a full-fledged Prohibition-era Philly crime novel I've been writing/researching.) And I'm very proud to be in the company of writers like Tafoya, Romano, Ayres, Biddle and Zervanos, among other usual (and unusual) suspects.

If you're anywhere near scenic New Hope this Friday night, I hope you'll stop by and say hello.

Noir Town, USA

Faithful Secret Dead Blog readers will know that I traveled cross-country with my family this summer. There are some more details from that trip in a short essay I wrote for Mulholland Books.

For All You Body Double Fans Out There

Here's a shot of the famous Chemosphere, as featured in that trashy-but-awesome Brian De Palma classic. If you squint, you can see Craig Wasson, staring back down at you with a telescope.

"When I Finally Caught Up with Kermit the Frog, He Was Drinking Beer with an Alcoholic Felt Dog Named Rowlf..."

Over at Popcorn Junkies, Travis Leamons reports on an upcoming Muppet movie called The Happytime Murders. As the title might half-imply, this is not meant for kids. It's a genuine murder mystery, with booze and dead (felt) bodies and everything, set in a Roger Rabbit-ish world where humans and Muppets co-exist. Here's hoping it works. I've been dying to pitch my idea for A Muppet Dante's Inferno for years.