To be a writer, you have to be a reader. That’s one of the essential truisms of writing advice, and I’m not here to be contrarian about it. But maybe a better way to say it is that to be a writer, you have to consume writing, because not all writing is meant to be read. My own writing is influenced as much by movies and television as it is by books. I think that’s valid! Movies and television are written; they have stories and characters and arcs and dialogue. Charlesgate Confidential was influenced by George V. Higgins and Dennis Lehane and Stephen King, but it was equally influenced by film noir and The Departed and The Wire (on which Dennis Lehane was a writer, as were crime novelists George Pelecanos and Richard Price).
Having said that, in the past few years I have made a point of keeping up with published crime fiction, to the extent that it comprises probably ninety percent of the books I read. Part of this is “professional” obligation - I need to know what’s out there, know what’s selling, know what publishers want. Does this help? Hell, no! I still just end up writing what I want to write and hoping for the best. I may be cynical, but I’m not cynical enough to attempt tailoring a book for the market, even if I had the skill to pull it off. Maybe some lessons about marketability sink in subconsciously, I dunno. But reading good stuff is its own reward, and I read some excellent crime fiction published in 2022! Here are my favorites.
The Last King of California by Jordan Harper
I covered this one in a previous newsletter, where I said it was “likely my pick for novel of the year. Ferocious, visceral writing and storytelling, culminating in a breathless apocalyptic finale.” I’ll stand by that, and only add that the first new book of 2023 I’ll be reading will definitely be Harper’s Everybody Knows, which most all my other crime-writin’ pals have already devoured and raved about.
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
Gabino Iglesias levels up with this one-of-a-kind mix of crime and the supernatural, where the starkly realistic plight of desperate characters bleeds into mind-melting visions of horror. You'll read all night because you'll be afraid to turn off the lights.
The Devil Himself by Peter Farris
Here’s the devil again, shapeshifting into one of the most memorable characters of the year in Leonard Moye, a backwoods loner with a fearsome reputation and a mannequin for a wife. Leonard is at the center of Farris’s richly imagined Southern noir, protecting a sex-trafficking victim from the powerful forces who want her out of the picture.
Real Bad Things by Kelly J. Ford
Rural noir had a good year, or maybe I just read more of it than usual. Ford’s entry stands out as a long-forgotten murder resurfaces in small-town Arkansas, bringing original suspect Jane back from the big city to face the music. The story alternate viewpoints between Jane and former lover Georgia Lee, both growing ever more uncertain of the truth as they are drawn back into each other’s orbits by circumstance.
Don’t Know Tough by Eli Cranor
More Arkansas noir, as you can probably tell from the color scheme of the cover. (Did this one and Real Bad Things arrive on it by coincidence, or was there a memo at some point?) Cranor also trades point-of-view chapter by chapter, alternating between omniscient narrative and the distinctive voice of troubled football star Billy Lowe. Billy’s clashes with his coach, his stepfather, and the rest of his team grow progressively darker even as the state championship game looms in Cranor’s spellbinding debut.
Honorable Mentions: Child Zero by Chris Holm; City of Fire by Don Winslow: Heat 2 by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner; My Summer Darlings by May Cobb; Like a Sister by Kellye Garrett; Living the Gimmick by Bobby Mathews; Payback is Forever by Nick Kolakowski; The Low White Plain by Paul Garth; The Next Time I Die by Jason Starr.
That’s a wrap on 2022! Happy Holidays to everyone who took the time to subscribe and possibly even read these things. Big things are brewing for 2023, so stay tuned!