52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Treat to Be Savored Again and Again, December 11, 2009
This review is from: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives (Hardcover)
"I applied my heart to know,
To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things,
To know the wickedness of folly,
Even of foolishness and madness." -- Ecclesiastes 7:25
How many people would read about Sherlock Holmes if the stories were merely clever puzzles, rather than also being fascinating studies in character, of Holmes, Watson, the criminals, and often the victims?
Occasionally, you will bump into a terrific article where an author talks candidly about the origins of his or her detective, PI, or righter of wrongs. Those experiences leave you hungry for more.
Well, you've been blessed this year. Otto Penzler has assembled a world-class cast of authors and their characters for you to explore from the authors' perspectives. In many cases, the authors wrote new fictional material featuring their detectives (often in the form of interviews) that is some of the best writing those authors have ever done in my humble opinion.
Unless you are an omnivorous consumer of crime, detective, and police fiction, chances are that some of these characters are new to you. After you read a little about the characters and their story lines, I guarantee you'll find some great new books to read. What a delight!
The profits from the book also help keep The Mysterious Bookshop in business, where I've had all of my best signings with mystery authors.
The pieces address subjects such as how the author came to write mysteries, how the character was originally conceived, where the name came from, why the character developed in the way that she or he did, and many perspectives concerning how the author thinks about the character. It's fascinating.
I have heard many of these authors speak about their books, and these essays and stories are way better than the in-person talks. Don't miss them.
If you are interested in learning more about how to write mysteries, this book is also a must!
Here are the authors and characters covered in the book:
Jack Taylor by Ken Brown
Jack Reacher by Lee Child
Harry Bosch by Michael Connelly
Charlie Parker by John Connolly
Elvis Cole and Joe Pike by Robert Crais
Lincoln Rhyme by Jeffrey Deaver
Inspector Morse by Colin Dexter
Charlie Resnick by John Harvey
Bob Lee Swagger by Stephen Hunter
Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus by Faye Kellerman
Alex Delaware by Jonathan Kellerman
Dismas Hardy by John Lescroart
Tess Monaghan by Laura Lippman
Rambo by David Morrell
Mallory by Carol O'Connell
Spenser by Robert B. Parker
Lou Boldt by Ridley Pearson
Charlotte and Thomas Pitt by Anne Perry
Aloysius X. L. Pendergast by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
John Rebus by Ian Rankin
Precious Ramotswe by Alexander McCall Smith
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth your time and money, January 16, 2010
This review is from: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives (Hardcover)
For mystery thriller fans alike whether it be Ken Bruen and his character, Jack Taylor or Jonathan Kellerman and his character Alex Delaware, then you will enjoy The Lineup. Edited by Otto Penzler. This book lets readers into the minds of crime writers. The authors share the back ground story about how they developed their characters, why they became authors, and even share some about their next book.
I enjoyed reading about Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor. It made him more interesting to me and now I will give his books another try. It was fun learning about Michael Connelly's childhood and where he grew up. Ever wonder how Mr. Connelly came up with the name Hieronymus Bosch...well you will just have to read about it in The Lineup. There are many authors that are new to me in this book. The Lineup became like a wish list for me of authors and their books I want to read. So if you want the inside scoop on your favorite crime authors...look no further than The Lineup.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating, January 30, 2010
This review is from: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives (Hardcover)
I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book. I found it fascinating reading about different authors and their varied approaches to writing. Each author had a short story and some of them interviewed their characters, some told how the characters came to be and some expounded on the writing process. I really was interested inlearning some of the authors said their characters talked to them and directed the stories and others who said they planned their books in detail.
It was interesting to read the authors viewpoints of themselves. One of them, Jonathon Kellerman, told about what a great listener he was and how much he liked to interact with readers. I met Mr. Kellerman at a Tony Hillerman Mystery Writer Conference and he was the most closed off author I have ever met. Because I am such a book nerd, I have been to many author talks and literary conferences and I have never met anyone who seemed not to care about talking to his readers. He fixed his stare above people shoulders to avoid eye contact and told one person that he didn't care what they thought of Alex's love life. He was simply one of the rudest people I'ver ever met. I haven't picked up an Alex Delaware book since. He doesn't care about his readers, I don't care about his books.
It's just an example of how enthralling it is to read about the author's point of view.
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