The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Otto Penzler (Author), John Allen Nelson (Narrator), Justine Eyre (Narrator), John Lee (Narrator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1400143608 | ISBN-13: 978-1400143603 | Publication Date: January 25, 2010 | Edition: Unabridged,Library - Unabridged CD

A great recurring character in a series you love becomes an old friend. You learn about their strange quirks and their haunted pasts and root for them every time they face danger. But where do some of the most fascinating sleuths in the mystery and thriller world really come from? What was the real-life location that inspired Michael Connelly to make Harry Bosch a Vietnam vet tunnel rat? Why is Lee Child's Jack Reacher a drifter? How did a brief encounter in Botswana inspire Alexander McCall Smith to create Precious Ramotswe? In The Lineup, some of the top mystery writers in the world tell about the genesis of their most beloved characters-or, in some cases, let their creations do the talking. The following characters (and their creators) are featured in this collection:Jack Taylor by Ken BruenJack Reacher by Lee ChildHieronymus Bosch by Michael ConnellyCharlie Parker by John ConnollyElvis Cole and Joe Pike by Robert CraisLincoln Rhyme by Jeffery DeaverInspector Morse by Colin DexterCharlie Resnick by John HarveyBob Lee Swagger by Stephen HunterPeter Decker and Rina Lazarus by Faye KellermanAlex Delaware by Jonathan KellermanDismas Hardy by John LescroartTess Monaghan by Laura LippmanRambo by David MorrellMallory by Carol O'ConnellSpenser by Robert B. ParkerLou Boldt by Ridley PearsonCharlotte and Thomas Pitt by Anne PerryAloysius X. L. Pendergast by Douglas Preston and Lincoln ChildJohn Rebus by Ian RankinPrecious Ramotswe by Alexander McCall Smith

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The best book of its kind.... An exciting omnibus volume that has widespread appeal and adds up to much, much more than the sum of its parts....delivering memorable revelations about the mystery genre and its different incarnations....Candor is no small part of this collection's great value. Time and again these crime writers return to the same questions: Is your character like you? Where did the character's name come from? How did you get published? The answers are always interesting." (New York Times Janet Maslin )

"This book will delight any mystery lover....[and] make readers return to favorite books with a fresh eye." (Cleveland Plain Dealer Michele Ross )

"The natural bridge between authorial intention and reader demand. After all, who are more equipped to discourse on the origins, the motivations, the foibles, and the triumphs of their life's work than some of the best-known and most successful mystery and thriller writers on the planet?" (Los Angeles Times Sarah Weinman )

"The ultimate How-dunit." (The New York Times Janet Maslin )

"Tremendous fun--clever, wide-ranging, revealing, even surprising. Bet you can't read just one." (Raleigh News and Observer )

"Fiery....The authors take different approaches, but all offer an opportunity to see a familiar character in a new way....It's also a great way to get a taste of some of the series you haven't read yet." (NPR.org Maureen Corrigan ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Otto Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City and the editor of many mystery anthologies, including The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, for which he won an Edgar Award. He also writes a weekly column, "The Crime Scene," for the New York Sun. For seventeen years Penzler served as publisher of the Armchair Detective, the Edgar Award–winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction. He has also created several publishing firms, such as the Mysterious Press, Otto Penzler Books, and the Armchair Detective Library. He lives in New York. John Allen Nelson's critically acclaimed roles on television's 24 and Vanished are among the highlights of his twenty-five-plus years as an actor, screenwriter, and film producer. As a narrator, he won an AudioFile Earphones Award for his reading of Zoo Story by Thomas French. Justine Eyre is a classically trained actress who has narrated nearly one hundred audiobooks. With a prestigious Audie Award and three AudioFile Earphones Awards under her belt, Justine is multilingual and is known for her great facility with accents. She has appeared on stage in leading roles in King Lear and The Crucible, and has starring roles in four films on the indie circuit. Her recent television credits include Two and a Half Men and Mad Men. British narrator John Lee has read audiobooks in almost every conceivable genre, from Charles Dickens to Patrick O'Brian, and from the very real life of Napoleon to the entirely imagined lives of sorcerers and swashbucklers. He has won numerous Audie Awards and AudioFile Earphones Awards, and he was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile in 2009. Lee is also an accomplished stage actor and wrote and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Tantor Media; Unabridged,Library - Unabridged CD edition (January 25, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400143608
• ISBN-13: 978-1400143603
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 6.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,916,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

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

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 109,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

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

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth your time and money, January 16, 2010

By 

Cheryl Koch (CO) - See all my reviews
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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.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, January 30, 2010

By 

Susan Johnson "book nerd" (Willits CA USA) - See all my reviews
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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.