Josef Horkai wakes up paralyzed after being frozen for 30 years and has no memories of his past or the “kollaps” that destroyed the world. Immobility by Brian Evenson is a postapocalyptic thriller about how to trust the motives of others when you can’t trust your own mind.
Who knew May was so mysterious? Quick on the heels of the Edgars, Malice Domestic has announced the 2013 winners of the Agatha Awards, which honor traditional-style mysteries with no explicit sex, gore, or gratuitous violence. Louise Penny took home her fifth Best Novel Award in six years (!!) for the aptly titled The Beautiful Mystery. Catriona McPherson’s Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for Murder won for Best Historical Novel. Need a dash of intrigue right away? You can read the winner for Best Short Story, “Mischief in Mesopotamia” by Dana Cameron, right here. Clue yourself in to puzzles Dame Agatha Christie would approve.
A camping trip, a flash flood, and Abby’s husband and daughter disappear. In her determined search for them, she is confronted with questions leaving her to wonder if she really knew her husband at all. Intrigued? Find the answers in Barbara Taylor Sissel’s new book Evidence of Life.
You don’t need a tell-tale heart to lead the way to good mysteries. This week the Mystery Writers of America crowned winners of the 2013 Edgar Awards, and the raven’s call includes intrigue in a variety of styles. Check these out:
Best Novel: Live by Night by Dennis Lehane
Best First Novel by an American Author: The Expats by Chris Pavone
Best Paperback Original: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
Best Fact Crime: Midnight in Peking by Paul French
Best Critical/Biographical: The Scientific Sherlock Holmes by James O’Brien
Best Short Story: “The Unremarkable Heart” by Karen Slaughter (in Mystery Writers of America presents Vengeance)
Best Juvenile: The Quick Fix by Jack D. Ferraiolo
Best Young Adult: Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
Best Television Episode Teleplay: “A Scandal in Belgravia,” Sherlock, teleplay by Stephen Moffat
Robert L. Fish Memorial Award: “When They Are Done With Us” by Patricia Smith (in Staten Island Noir)
Mary Higgins Clark Award: The Other Woman by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Lilian Jackson Braun wrote cozy mysteries with laid-back pacing and a cast of colorful feline and human characters. If you’ve made your way through all of her “Cat Who…” series, how about trying something new?
Click here for authors similar to Lilian Jackson Braun.
SPOILER WARNING: These book discussion questions are highly detailed and will ruin plot points, if you have not read the book.
Title: The Hard Bounce
Author: Todd Robinson
Page Count: 301
Genre: Mystery
Tone: Gritty, Darkly Humorous, Violent
1. What did you think of “the Boy” as a character? Who was “the Boy” a part of? When did he appear in the story?
2. Did this feel different than other mysteries you’ve read? Why or why not?
3. What books does The Hard Bounce remind you of? Are there any writers that Todd Robinson reminds you of?
4. Who would you recommend this book to? Why?
5. What words would you use to describe this book when talking about it to friends?
6. Would you consider this book too graphic? If yes, why? If not, are there any books you consider too graphic?
7. Boo is the main character. Did you like him? Why or why not?
8. What did it say about Boo that he owned only 1 plate and 1 set of cutlery?
9. What can you tell about Boo as a person that he still has a beeper and doesn’t own a cell phone until Kelly Reese buys him one?
10. How do Boo and Junior know each other?
11. Do you think the author is making a statement about juvenile detention facilities?
12. What is 4DC? Who owns it? Who wants to hire 4DC? Why?
13. Boo and Junior have a common man’s approach to detective work – given the same task, how would you have accomplished solving this crime? Would you have done anything differently?
14. Why did Cassie run away from home? Who did she run to?
15. Did you believe that Cassie was capable of all the things she did at 14-years old? Did she want to be saved?
16. A main plot point of The Hard Bounce involves a snuff film. How did this make you feel? How do you think the author wanted you to feel?
17. Boo wants to immediately kill Snake/Derek. Who talks him out of it and why?
18. Do you believe Snake/Derek when he later tells Boo that he truly loved Cassie and wanted to run away with her?
19. Why didn’t Boo go to see his sister Emily? Would you have gone to see her?
20. Why don’t Boo and Junior trust cops?
21. Do you think multiple points of view about law enforcement (both positive and negative) are given? Do you think it is the author’s responsibility to give multiple points of view on this issue?
22. Who is Underdog? What went wrong with Underdog’s career? Does he fix it by the end of the book?
23. Did all of the musical references add to the setting or distract you?
24. What did you think of the dynamic between Kelly and Boo? Did you think they would fall into a relationship? Why do you think they like each other? Do you think it will last?
25. When does the break in the case about Cassie come?
26. Who was Sid and what did you think of her occupation?
27. How was the mafia involved in the case?
28. What ultimately happens to Cassie? Who kills her? Why?
29. Boo goes into a depression by the end of The Hard Bounce. Why? Does he shake out of it?
30. Does The Hard Bounce have a happy ending? Did it end where and how you wanted it to?
Other Resources:
Lit Reactor interview with Todd Robinson
MPPL interview with Todd Robinson
Todd Robinson reading from The Hard Bounce
Crimespree Magazine review of The Hard Bounce
Mystery Scene Magazine review of The Hard Bounce
How does the search for a missing cat turn into a warehouse explosion and a dead billionaire? Only in the world of Dirk Gently, an invention of Douglas Adams, can randomness and chaos actually back into solving cases. The anti-Sherlock Holmes, Gently eschews logic and deduction and instead holds tight to his faith in the interconnectedness of all things. Of course, this holistic approach comes at a price, a price that may include charging clients for a new refrigerator or a Bahamas vacation because, after all, that’s part of the process, too. New to DVD, the 2010 pilot and handful of 2012 episodes are just enough to endear the manic Dirk Gently and his put-upon partner to viewers ready for a madcap departure from the stereotypical British detective.
Fans of the fast-paced, twisty Gone Girl will want to plunge into Reconstructing Amelia. Already battling working single-mother guilt, Kate is stunned to be called to her daughter’s private school after allegations of cheating. On arrival she stumbles into emergency workers surrounding the crumpled body of a student and is shattered to be told her own Amelia has committed suicide. Weeks later, Kate is sent a text which reads simply, “Amelia didn’t jump.” Told in alternating voices by mother and daughter, Kate’s quest to find out what actually happened unearths startling revelations. Was Amelia not the good girl she appeared to be? Would someone wish her actual harm? Kimberly McCreight’s mesmerizing debut makes the most of painful secrets and devastating betrayal.
Todd Robinson, also known as Big Daddy Thug, is similar to Pat Benatar in one essential way – he hits you with his best shot. His debut novel, The Hard Bounce, is a fast-paced, heart-pounder of a gritty mystery. Unlike Benatar, who shoulder shimmied her way out of knife fights, Robinson looks like he could punch a knife out of your hand, catch it mid-air, and fling it past your ear as a warning without breaking a sweat. He’s broad, bearded, often in black – and thank the literary gods – a peaceable author, too busy writing to get in many fights.
Robinson is the Chief Editor of Thuglit, a crime fiction journal dedicated to “writing about wrongs”. His novel, The Hard Bounce, came out in January. It focuses on Boo and Junior, two regular guys who are bouncers at a Boston punk rock bar. Their security company, 4DC (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap), is hired to find a missing girl. What begins as an easy job quickly spirals out of control.
Robinson kindly took time out of his editing and writing to speak a piece to the Mount Prospect Public Library.
Mount Prospect Public Library: Where did the idea for The Hard Bounce come from?
Todd Robinson: Many years ago, I worked at a legendary rock club in Boston called The Rathskeller that would throw all-ages punk shows on Sunday afternoons. One afternoon, this young girl in pink dreads caught my eye. I remembered her, because I marveled at the courage of that kid—to do her own thing at an age when most kids try anything to “fit in”. A few hours later, her father showed up at the bar looking for her. I guess she broke curfew. He had a picture of her that showed a clean-cut kid, not the dreadlocked individualist I’d seen only a few hours later. Three things stuck with me from that incident. The first was that I never found out what happened from that point. The second was: what turned that kid from the one in the picture to the one I saw? The third was: were I suddenly put in a position to find that kid, how would I go about it?
MPPL: The Hard Bounce is set in Boston. Do you think this story could have been told anywhere else?
TR: I don’t know. I live in New York now, and I know that the same story couldn’t happen here the way it did in Boston. I’m not even sure that it could unfold the way it does in today’s Boston. I more or less dropped the story into the old Boston that I knew and loved—that really isn’t there anymore. It’s a love letter to a particular time and place in my life.
MPPL: Is The Hard Bounce a standalone novel or can we expect to see more of Boo and Junior?
TR: As of right now, it’s a standalone simply because I only have a one book contract. Hell, right now my “career” is a standalone. However, I always planned out the stories of Boo & Junior as a series, and am working on #2 right now.
MPPL: How do you want to leave your readers feeling?
TR: Less like they’ve been on a wild ride, but that they’ve shared a particularly rough and tumble episode in a person’s life. That’s what I want the entire series to feel like. I want the reader to experience moments within the character’s lives more than skipping through individual episodes. I want there to be repercussions in book 4 from book 1.
MPPL: Have you ever been called to write in a genre outside of noir or mystery?
TR: Matter of fact, I was working on a horror novel when the call came in on The Hard Bounce. Frankly, I’d given up on it. I wrote one horror short story, and then adapted it into a screenplay. That screenplay made it very far in the Nicholl Fellowships Competition, so I thought I should try my hand at horror on a larger scale.
MPPL: You are the creator and Chief Editor of Thuglit. What has editing others taught you about your own writing?
TR: Man, nothing has taught me more about the flaws in my own writing than nitpicking the work of others. It’s an epiphany when you find something that you absolutely hate in someone else’s work—and then realize that you do the exact same thing.
MPPL: Recently on The Daily Beast, Frank Bill asked, “Is Masculine Writing Dead?” He laments the loss of physical labor and ruggedness represented in contemporary fiction. Do you agree with this? Do you feel yourself to be a “masculine” writer?
TR: Beyond him being one hell of a writer, I consider Frank Bill a friend, so I’m not going to go into detail on the piece (since the Internet has already praised to high heaven AND torn it a new butthole). So, without sounding judgmental or getting political and avoiding the question, I’ll just say this about the piece: I agree with a lot of the sentiment within the opinion, but I don’t necessarily agree with Frankie’s narrow definition of masculinity.
I do consider myself to be a writer of masculine fiction, which is why I’m a little surprised at the incredibly positive response that The Hard Bounce has been getting from female readers. Just goes to show you how much I know about women. (Sighs)
MPPL: What are several classic crime novels or short stories that everyone should read?
TR: John D. MacDonald’s Travis McGee series is a must. They were just re-issued. Start with The Deep Blue Good-by. He created the classic template for the modern American crime series. Then read The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George Higgins. It’s THE classic Boston crime novel. More people need to read it. I’m amazed at how little known it is outside of the hardcore fans.
MPPL: What about several newer writers you’ve enjoyed lately?
TR: I already mentioned Frank Bill, so let’s add Josh Stallings, Matt McBride, Johnny Shaw, Chris Holm, to name the most recent that I’ve read. Two guys to watch out for are Joe Clifford, Justin Porter, and Jordan Harper. All of these guys absolutely kill it on the short story scene and have in-the-works novels that I’m really looking forward to reading.
MPPL: The Hard Bounce is chock full of music references. Is music important to your creative process?
TR: It is. I like setting a musical tone to write to, to help set a scene in my head emotionally. For the longest time, I couldn’t listen to anything with a lyric. I was such a bad typist any external words would f— up my own. I did most of my writing to jazz and opera—opera not counting, since I couldn’t understand what the hell they were saying.
MPPL: What albums are always on your rotation?
TR: Anything by Social Distortion, Clutch, The Cramps, and Tom Waits. Those are my big four. Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of Black Keys, Mumford & Sons, and Florence and the Machine. I know that’s all over the place, but it’s what I dig.
MPPL: It took 10 years, 5 agents, 4 publishers, and 37 drafts to get The Hard Bounce out…how’s the timeline looking for your next novel?
TR: No better…(Sighs)
MPPL: What does success mean to you? How do you know when you’ve “made it”?
TR: I pay my bills with bartending. Every once in a while, somebody comes in and asks, “Hey! How goes the writing?” My answer is always the same. It’s, “I’m still on this side of the bar, ain’t I? You’ll know it’s going well by either my absence or when I’m sitting at the bar next to you.”
Be sure to check out Todd Robinson’s tough-talking, hard-hitting first novel, The Hard Bounce. Then come to the Fiction/AV/Teen desk to share your thoughts or get great suggestions on what to read next.
SPOILER WARNING: These book discussion questions are highly detailed and will ruin plot points, if you have not read the book.
Title: The Big Sleep
Author: Raymond Chandler
Page Count: 249
Genre: Mystery, Pulp Fiction
Tone: Witty, Gritty, Fast-paced
1. What did you think of Chandler’s constant barrage of setting details?
2. Do you think General Sternwood had given up on being a parent? What would you have done differently?
3. Vivian visits Marlowe’s office to try and figure out if he is looking for her husband. Why doesn’t she just go to her father?
4. Vivian tells Marlowe, “People don’t talk to me that way.” (p. 19) What does this tell us about Vivian? What does this tell us about Marlowe?
5. Marlow comes in contact with thugs, lowlifes, cops and the rich. Does he speak to everybody the same?
6. Marlowe seems almost unmovable. Almost. What are some examples of Marlowe being human?
-p. 61, Marlowe blushes after Vivian leaves
-p. 190, interaction with Eddie Mars’ wife
7. Do you count The Big Sleep as a classic of American literature? Why or why not?
8. What makes a character classic?
9. What are the charms of Marlowe?
10. Do you think Phillip Marlowe has an equal in crime fiction?
11. Did you see Marlowe as Humphrey Bogart?
12. Who could play Marlowe in this day and age?
13. What did you think of Carmen?
14. Is Carmen not very smart or does she have health issues that can account for her behavior?
15. Rusty Regan, the missing, bootlegging husband, always carried 15 grand on his person. What does that say about him?
16. Why do you think Chandler never lets us see Rusty Regan, alive or dead?
17. What does it say about Phillip Marlowe that he carries a gun and a bottle of rye in his glove compartment?
18. When you read the book, did you see it in black and white in your mind? Color?
19. Why would Vivian “loath masterful men?” (p. 20)
20. Did Carmen getting the drop on Marlowe surprise you? (p. 210)
21. Eddie Mars’ wife says she still loves her husband, even knowing what a criminal he is. (p. 196) Were you bothered by her stance? Why?
22. If you could go back to 1939, would you want Marlowe’s job? What job would you want?
23. What does it say about Marlowe that he is a private investigator instead of a police officer?
24. Did the slang ever bother you?
25. Is everybody (men and women) a smooth talker in The Big Sleep?
26. Any favorite quotes from the book?
27. On page 48, the doctor can’t easily tell Owen Taylor’s time of death. How would this bit of information help establish the novel’s era?
28. There ended up being a good number of characters and quite a few of them dead. Did you ever have trouble following along?
29. One of Chandler’s most famous quotes is, “When in doubt, have a man come through the door with a gun in his hand.” (The quote originates from “The Simple Art of Murder,” found as an introduction essay to his novel of the same name.) Did you see examples of that in The Big Sleep? Is this a good writing practice?
30. Think of characters and their status levels. Is there any social critique within The Big Sleep?
31. Do women have power in this story? If so, what kind?
32. How does Marlowe see women?
33. Does Marlowe have a code of honor?
34. Some of Raymond Chandler’s biggest literary influences were Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway and Henry James. Do you see any connections in his work to these authors?
-Ex: Dickens wrote convoluted plots, Hemingway wrote in short, to the point sentences, and James wrote in very dark tones
35. What influence do you think Chandler has had on crime novels?
Other Resources:
Raymond Chandler’s website
Extra discussion questions on Spark Notes
Wikipedia page on pulp fiction
Ian Fleming interviews Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler’s 1945 essay for The Atlantic about writing in Hollywood
Original 1939 New York Times book review of The Big Sleep
Extra books on Chandler: Raymond Chandler: A Biography and The Raymond Chandler Papers
