and for the Taken here
and below two earlier interviews
Interview With Robert Crais, Author of The Watchman
Robert
Crais is one of the best crime writers around and his new book, The
Watchman, is further evidence of that fact. The books come out on March
1.
I have been reading Crais for several years and telling others to check him out too.
He is part of a younger generation of crime writers - that also includes Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos and Michael Connelly - that are more hip and sound less phony when talking about music and cultural issues.
In recent months I have been lucky enough to interview Connelly and Pelecanos.
via email and now I've had the pleasure of interviewing Crais, albeit a short one.
I may have annoyed him, but hopefully not, by asking about critics of one element of his books: The characters.
In doing research for this interview I read a bunch of reviews, the most intriguing of which was at a site called The Brothers Judd.
The site made two points, one of which I agree with and one with which I disagree. Crais and I disagree with them about the quality and importance of the characters.
The part I agree with is that the dialogue of Crais and some other good, young writers – though not so much Pelecanos and Connelly – reminds one of the fun banter of Robert Parker's novels.
This means that we seem to have gone from a writer like Robert Parker who was clearly influenced by Raymond Chandler, even having been authorized to complete one of his unfinished manuscripts, to writers who seem to have more in common with Parker than Chandler. Now whether that is good or bad depends on how you think Parker compares to Chandler.
I like Parker – and praised Small Vices and Cold Service but think he's gotten more predictable in recent years.
Fortunately, the same can't be said for Crais. His plots are interesting and his characters fascinating.
Just as I like to pretend I'm a young pacifist version of Robert Parker's protagonist, Spenser – ok, maybe not so much – I also like to think I'm as sharp and witty as Robert Crais' protagonist, Elvis Cole.
This book is focused on Cole's partner, Joe Pike, who is more of the strong, silent type. But I'll let Crais explain why he did that.
Scott: Why a novel about Joe Pike? Will there be others?
Robert: I'm as intrigued about Pike as my readers. Like them, I've wanted to know more about him, so I set about planning this book when I wrote The Last Detective. I needed the right kind of story—a story that would set Joe apart from Elvis Cole—so I set the stage by having Pike make a promise to a man named Jon Stone in The Last Detective, a promise that Elvis doesn't know about. That promise set the stage perfectly for The Watchman.
Scott: Will there be other Pike books?
Robert: I hope so, but I'll need the right story. I don't write these things just to write them. If I find a story that absolutely MUST be Pike's story, then I'll write it.
Scott: What do you think of the argument – such as it is expressed at this site -
that some characters (Pike in your books, Hawk in Robert Parker books) are for atmosphere and should not become the center of attention in novels?
Robert: I don't worry about what anyone thinks about this stuff. I don't think of my characters—any of my characters—as 'atmosphere.' That reduces them to, what, pepper and paprika? I would never be so disrespectful to my readers. I could write killer novels based around any of the supporting players from the Elvis Cole novels—John Chen, for instance. Lou Poitras. Hell, Carol Starkey began in her own novel, Demolition Angel. I might even write about her again.
Scott: How did writing television show scripts help or hinder your later work as a crime novelist?
Robert: I was a baby writer on terrific, high quality shows—Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice. The people I worked with—Ed Waters, Steven Bochco, April Smith, Tony Yerkovich, man, the list goes on—these people had mad skills. They were writing the best dialog, the tightest plots, the deepest characters on television. Everything I learned in television has helped my work, and, I think, my success.
Scott: Is it true you have taken steps to prevent Elvis Cole or Joe Pike from being portrayed in movies? How? Why?
No fancy steps here—studios, producers, actors, whoever, they make offers to buy Elvis and Joe, I say, no thanks. It would take me six pages to write out why, so here's the short version: I want to save the characters for me and my readers.
Scott: If you could do a collaboration with one other crime writer who would it be and why that one author?
Robert: I don't collaborate. Why you think I got out of television!?
Scott: What's next?
Robert: Elvis Cole. Next year's book will feature Elvis Cole. It's a killer story.
and
When you read a Crais book you're stepping into a story with the kind of twists and intensity of Dennis Lehane's classic Mystic River but with the kind of insights of a good police procedural, such as those penned by Joseph Wambaugh.
He's part of what I call a hip new generation of crime writers (Lehane, Connell, Pelecanos are the first three that come to mind, with perhaps Richard Price as well) who have digested and learned from the masters – Raymond Chandler, Dashell Hammett, James Cain – but taken crime novels to a higher level where the stories are not just about the characters but also often offering insight as well about the human mind and our society and culture. Patrick Anderson, the Washington Post's book reviewer of thrillers, wrote a great book about all of this.
I was pleased to interview Crais again. I previously interviewed him for the Watchmen. In that book he wrote from the point of view of Joe Pike, while normally his books are from the perspective of Elvis Cole. For The Watchman he was awarded the 2008 GumShoe Award for Best Thriller and was nominated for the International Thriller Writer's Thriller Award, The Anthony Award from the World Mystery Convention, The Strand's Critic Award, among other awards.
His new novel, Chasing the Darkness, is about an alleged serial killer who Cole helped skate out of some murder charges. Now the man is dead of a suicide, leaving evidence suggesting he was indeed the killer of people both before and after Cole's actions helped him.
The book comes out today and is, as usual, a roller coaster of a ride.
Scott: Have you ever rejected a plot twist or scene description as too dark?
Robert: No. Hey, I showed Pike torturing a guy in The Watchman. I write what feels right for the story.
Similarly, do you think there IS such a thing as something too dark? I ask partially because some books I've read lately – not yours so much as the one by Karin Slaughter and the one by Colin Harrison – were among the darkest things I've ever read.
This is something each writer decides for him- or herself. And each reader decides this, too. When I wrote the dim mak scene in The Watchman, I would be lying if I told you it didn't cross my mind that some readers might be turned off, but it was right for Pike, and for the story, so there it is. The first thing you learn in this business is that you can't be all things to all people. You cannot please everybody. So you had damn well please yourself.
Your dialogue is exceptional. How do you get it so tight?
Thanks. If there's any trick to this, and I'm not sure there is, I would have to say I read it aloud. The ear can pick up mistakes the eye will pass over.
Last time I talked to you it was after your book from Joe Pike's perspective was published. Do you have any plans for other books written from his perspective or do you plan to stick with writing from Elvis Cole's perspective? Do you think you gained something by writing from another characters' perspective?
I loved writing the Pike book--The Watchman. Chasing Darkness is an Elvis book. Pike is in it, but it's definitely Elvis Cole's book. My next book will be another Pike book.
What was it like to win awards and be nominated for awards for the Watchman? Or do you pay attention to such stuff?
It's a blast, man. Listen, you can't write for this kind of thing, and you must always ALWAYS keep it in perspective, but when people appreciate what you do enough to give you these kudos, it really is rewarding.
How does one go about researching a book like this? Do you, for example, go with cops to crime scenes? I know some writers who would say they can't describe, say, the suicide in the preface without seeing one first?
Research is more fun than writing. I do as much research as I can--I put myself in situations where I will learn something.
Do you have cops or others in a field of expertise who read your stories before you publish them?
No. Nobody reads my work before it's finished. I ask research questions, of course, but I don't ask people to read my work for veracity. My wife is my first reader, then it goes to my editor. The only time I've allowed anyone else to read my work prior to publication was The Last Detective. The combat scene when Elvis was in Vietnam. I had some guys who were LRRP/Rangers in Vietnam read that scene to help me make it as real as possible. When those guys said I had it right, then I knew it was right.
What is your goal when you write each book?
To meet whatever task I set for myself. Each time out, I set a task I feel will expand my work as a writer. I have a goal. The goals are different for each book.
I have been reading Crais for several years and telling others to check him out too.
He is part of a younger generation of crime writers - that also includes Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos and Michael Connelly - that are more hip and sound less phony when talking about music and cultural issues.
In recent months I have been lucky enough to interview Connelly and Pelecanos.
via email and now I've had the pleasure of interviewing Crais, albeit a short one.
I may have annoyed him, but hopefully not, by asking about critics of one element of his books: The characters.
In doing research for this interview I read a bunch of reviews, the most intriguing of which was at a site called The Brothers Judd.
The site made two points, one of which I agree with and one with which I disagree. Crais and I disagree with them about the quality and importance of the characters.
The part I agree with is that the dialogue of Crais and some other good, young writers – though not so much Pelecanos and Connelly – reminds one of the fun banter of Robert Parker's novels.
This means that we seem to have gone from a writer like Robert Parker who was clearly influenced by Raymond Chandler, even having been authorized to complete one of his unfinished manuscripts, to writers who seem to have more in common with Parker than Chandler. Now whether that is good or bad depends on how you think Parker compares to Chandler.
I like Parker – and praised Small Vices and Cold Service but think he's gotten more predictable in recent years.
Fortunately, the same can't be said for Crais. His plots are interesting and his characters fascinating.
Just as I like to pretend I'm a young pacifist version of Robert Parker's protagonist, Spenser – ok, maybe not so much – I also like to think I'm as sharp and witty as Robert Crais' protagonist, Elvis Cole.
This book is focused on Cole's partner, Joe Pike, who is more of the strong, silent type. But I'll let Crais explain why he did that.
Scott: Why a novel about Joe Pike? Will there be others?
Robert: I'm as intrigued about Pike as my readers. Like them, I've wanted to know more about him, so I set about planning this book when I wrote The Last Detective. I needed the right kind of story—a story that would set Joe apart from Elvis Cole—so I set the stage by having Pike make a promise to a man named Jon Stone in The Last Detective, a promise that Elvis doesn't know about. That promise set the stage perfectly for The Watchman.
Scott: Will there be other Pike books?
Robert: I hope so, but I'll need the right story. I don't write these things just to write them. If I find a story that absolutely MUST be Pike's story, then I'll write it.
Scott: What do you think of the argument – such as it is expressed at this site -
that some characters (Pike in your books, Hawk in Robert Parker books) are for atmosphere and should not become the center of attention in novels?
Robert: I don't worry about what anyone thinks about this stuff. I don't think of my characters—any of my characters—as 'atmosphere.' That reduces them to, what, pepper and paprika? I would never be so disrespectful to my readers. I could write killer novels based around any of the supporting players from the Elvis Cole novels—John Chen, for instance. Lou Poitras. Hell, Carol Starkey began in her own novel, Demolition Angel. I might even write about her again.
Scott: How did writing television show scripts help or hinder your later work as a crime novelist?
Robert: I was a baby writer on terrific, high quality shows—Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice. The people I worked with—Ed Waters, Steven Bochco, April Smith, Tony Yerkovich, man, the list goes on—these people had mad skills. They were writing the best dialog, the tightest plots, the deepest characters on television. Everything I learned in television has helped my work, and, I think, my success.
Scott: Is it true you have taken steps to prevent Elvis Cole or Joe Pike from being portrayed in movies? How? Why?
No fancy steps here—studios, producers, actors, whoever, they make offers to buy Elvis and Joe, I say, no thanks. It would take me six pages to write out why, so here's the short version: I want to save the characters for me and my readers.
Scott: If you could do a collaboration with one other crime writer who would it be and why that one author?
Robert: I don't collaborate. Why you think I got out of television!?
Scott: What's next?
Robert: Elvis Cole. Next year's book will feature Elvis Cole. It's a killer story.
and
Chasing The Darkness
Robert Crais is one of the masters when it comes to writing crime thrillers. He's up there with Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos writing thrillers on a level higher and better than old (but good) standards like Robert Parker and Elmore Leonard and Donald Westlake.When you read a Crais book you're stepping into a story with the kind of twists and intensity of Dennis Lehane's classic Mystic River but with the kind of insights of a good police procedural, such as those penned by Joseph Wambaugh.
He's part of what I call a hip new generation of crime writers (Lehane, Connell, Pelecanos are the first three that come to mind, with perhaps Richard Price as well) who have digested and learned from the masters – Raymond Chandler, Dashell Hammett, James Cain – but taken crime novels to a higher level where the stories are not just about the characters but also often offering insight as well about the human mind and our society and culture. Patrick Anderson, the Washington Post's book reviewer of thrillers, wrote a great book about all of this.
I was pleased to interview Crais again. I previously interviewed him for the Watchmen. In that book he wrote from the point of view of Joe Pike, while normally his books are from the perspective of Elvis Cole. For The Watchman he was awarded the 2008 GumShoe Award for Best Thriller and was nominated for the International Thriller Writer's Thriller Award, The Anthony Award from the World Mystery Convention, The Strand's Critic Award, among other awards.
His new novel, Chasing the Darkness, is about an alleged serial killer who Cole helped skate out of some murder charges. Now the man is dead of a suicide, leaving evidence suggesting he was indeed the killer of people both before and after Cole's actions helped him.
The book comes out today and is, as usual, a roller coaster of a ride.
Scott: Have you ever rejected a plot twist or scene description as too dark?
Robert: No. Hey, I showed Pike torturing a guy in The Watchman. I write what feels right for the story.
Similarly, do you think there IS such a thing as something too dark? I ask partially because some books I've read lately – not yours so much as the one by Karin Slaughter and the one by Colin Harrison – were among the darkest things I've ever read.
This is something each writer decides for him- or herself. And each reader decides this, too. When I wrote the dim mak scene in The Watchman, I would be lying if I told you it didn't cross my mind that some readers might be turned off, but it was right for Pike, and for the story, so there it is. The first thing you learn in this business is that you can't be all things to all people. You cannot please everybody. So you had damn well please yourself.
Your dialogue is exceptional. How do you get it so tight?
Thanks. If there's any trick to this, and I'm not sure there is, I would have to say I read it aloud. The ear can pick up mistakes the eye will pass over.
Last time I talked to you it was after your book from Joe Pike's perspective was published. Do you have any plans for other books written from his perspective or do you plan to stick with writing from Elvis Cole's perspective? Do you think you gained something by writing from another characters' perspective?
I loved writing the Pike book--The Watchman. Chasing Darkness is an Elvis book. Pike is in it, but it's definitely Elvis Cole's book. My next book will be another Pike book.
What was it like to win awards and be nominated for awards for the Watchman? Or do you pay attention to such stuff?
It's a blast, man. Listen, you can't write for this kind of thing, and you must always ALWAYS keep it in perspective, but when people appreciate what you do enough to give you these kudos, it really is rewarding.
How does one go about researching a book like this? Do you, for example, go with cops to crime scenes? I know some writers who would say they can't describe, say, the suicide in the preface without seeing one first?
Research is more fun than writing. I do as much research as I can--I put myself in situations where I will learn something.
Do you have cops or others in a field of expertise who read your stories before you publish them?
No. Nobody reads my work before it's finished. I ask research questions, of course, but I don't ask people to read my work for veracity. My wife is my first reader, then it goes to my editor. The only time I've allowed anyone else to read my work prior to publication was The Last Detective. The combat scene when Elvis was in Vietnam. I had some guys who were LRRP/Rangers in Vietnam read that scene to help me make it as real as possible. When those guys said I had it right, then I knew it was right.
What is your goal when you write each book?
To meet whatever task I set for myself. Each time out, I set a task I feel will expand my work as a writer. I have a goal. The goals are different for each book.
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