Re: RARA-AVIS: recent reads

From: crimeflix ( jmks100@aol.com)
Date: 17 May 2007


Hey Nathan, Jeff, Kerry, Mark, and thanks so much for the amazing, thoughtful comments on THE FOLLOWER. Love the comparisons to Highsmith, Wolfe, Ellis etc., that's great to hear!...Nathan, you're right, I think I am expanding my approach in this book, and it was certainly my intention to have a different type of character at the center of the story than I've had in my previous books. I wanted it to be just as twisted as my previous stuff, but with more morality at the center...Kerry, the comment about the cops in the book is dead- on, exactly what I was going for, and has given me a lot to think about..Jeff, I agree, I think there is a big difference in a book like THE FOLLOWER (which takes place most on the Upper East Side), as compared to a couple of my earlier books (I think the one you're referencing is Fake ID). But I don't think I've been going up the social strata from book to book. Actually, I think my last book LIGHTS OUT was the grittiest one I've written, with all the gang/street stuff in it. And I'm definitely sticking to my gritty roots in the books with Ken (Bust and the sequel Slide, which is out from HCC in Oct). If you want grit, check out Slide. In that book I think we push the envelope just about as far as it can be pushed! Thank you again for the comments! Bill, that's great news about the Derringer. Loved that story. Well deserved and big congrats! Lastly, if anyone on RA is going to be at Book Expo, please come to the Hard Case Crime party at the Dorchester booth on Saturday June 2 at 11:00. Charles Ardai will be there with me, and they're giving away ARC's, limited edition cover art, T-shirts, etc and, best of all, Hard Case cover models will be there!! Would be great to see you Cheers, Jason

And congrats

--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Nathan Cain" <IndieCrime@...> wrote:
>
> The Follower reminded me of Bret Easton Ellis' work, but without a
lot of
> the pretension. Starr's work has been moving more and more toward
having a
> mass appeal. He has specialized in writing about shallow, callow,
selfish
> characters, and he's done it well, very well, in fact. For all her
> cluelessness, I think Katie Porter is his most sympathetic
character ever,
> and I think this novel has the most commercial appeal of anything
he's
> written. If it does turn out to be a big success, it will
certaintly be well
> deserved one.
>
>
> >
> > Very well put. The Tom Wolfe analogy is apt and I've mentioned
here
> > previously. It certainly was true of his last two books--Twisted
City and
> > Lights Out. Twisted City seemed like Jason imitating Wolfe and
eventually
> > getting so good at it that Lights Out seemed like Jason Starr
imitating
> > Tom
> > Wolfe imitating Jason Starr. Like he was alternating teaming up
with Wolfe
> >
> > as well as Bruen.
> >
> > Aside from the obvious similarities to Bonfire of the Vanities,
there is
> > another striking parallel to Wolfe in that, as Jason becomes more
> > successful, he writes characters that are further and further up
the
> > social
> > strata with each novel. It was like Wolfe writing from the
perspective of
> > Leonard Berstein's high-rise apartment. I miss the grittiness of
Jason's
> > early novels--the bars . . . the racetrack.
> >
> > Jason, feel free to jump in here and defend yourself.
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>



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