The Noir World of Gerald Petievich

 

It was in 1985 that I first encountered the work of Gerald Petievich. It was in London’s Leicester Square watching a matinee of the newly released film TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA. It was a movie directed [and co-written] by William Friedkin. I sat transfixed at the screen throughout the film, and right through to the closing credits with the pulse pounding 1980s techno-rock score of Wang Chung.

When the curtain came down, I didn’t leave the cinema, but sat in my seat and watched the film again. On my second viewing I noticed on the opening credits that TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA was based on a novel by Gerald Petievich [who also co-wrote the screenplay], and so began my enthusiasm for the work of this former US Secret Service agent – turned novelist and screenwriter.

It would prove difficult to track down his novels and to even learn anything about Gerald Petievich in England. He was as mysterious as his Secret Service past. I knew no one else who had read his work apart from award-winning author, reviewer, literary commentator and Shots Magazine’s columnist Mike Ripley. In fact Ripley recently commented about his admiration for the work of Petievich in his latest column -

 “I discovered the novels of former U.S. Treasury agent Petievich about forty years ago, just as I was embarking on my own foray into crime-writing. They were tough, cleverly plotted and utterly gripping thrillers which I greatly admired although until a recent conversation with Ali Karim, I had never met anyone else in this country who had read them.”

Read More from Mike Ripley’s latest Revival HERE

I discovered more about the enigmatic Gerald Petievich from a two-part interview with writer / literary commentator Wallace Stroby - conducted on May 13, 1988, shortly after the release of his sixth novel, SHAKEDOWN.

Of which Elmore Leonard commented “Shakedown is a gem. Stopped writing to read it, something I have sworn I would never do, but couldn’t help it.”

As there is so little written about the work [and life] of Gerald Petievich, especially as he rarely grants interviews - Stroby’s feature [though over 35 years old] is enlightening and insightful with some very rare photos – and can be accessed from the links below -

Part One: A conversation with Gerald Petievich, May 1988 Part One

Part Two: A conversation with Gerald Petievich, May 1988 Part Two

Earlier this year, I was energised to hear that Gerald Petievich would be making a rare public appearance at the 2025 Bouchercon in New Orleans. I alerted my very dear friend and editor / publisher Mike Stotter that we had to meet him. I wanted to shake Petievich’s hand and tell him how much I had enjoyed his work – which truth be told had enriched my life, with exciting tales that reeked of authenticity.

But it would be during Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Press Anniversary Party, held on Bourbon Street that Mike and I finally met with Gerald Petievich. I transformed into ‘Fan-Boy’ mode, and was excited to hear that he had a new book out [13 Hillcrest Drive], after a long gap in his publishing history.   

So once back in the UK and after writing my New Orleans Diary for The Rap Sheet – I got to Petievich’s latest novel - so what were my thoughts regarding the new book, 13 HILLCREST DRIVE?

It’s an egregious felony that author Gerald Petievich is not more widely read. He remains a cult crime-fiction author, spoken about in whispers [and the occasional scream] by readers who seek out the most disturbing hard-boiled noir. His writing is slippery in that it weaves intricate plots effortlessly about the greasy lives [and nefarious deeds] of the criminal[s], into the lives of the men and women who pursue justice and redemption in a very dangerous world. Petievich’s latest work [not unlike its precursors] provoke deep-thought as his fiction poses harsh moral and ethical dilemmas for his characters that the reader unpacks as the narrative unspools to the violent climax.

His latest police procedural backdrops Hollywood California both the geography, as well as the darker edges of the film industry.

In Petievichs’s cynical world-view, “good” and “evil” are not two opposite edges on a graduated line; but as human nature bends the line - it becomes curved, so the edges interlock to shape a distorted circle.

The novel commences with former Military Veteran [from Afghanistan] Detective Michael ‘Legs’ Casey of the Hollywood Station, Los Angeles Police Department [LAPD], working the stolen-car beat in penance for a past indiscretion, related to drinking. He’s nicknamed ‘Legs’ due to his running [to successfully apprehend a criminal] over three city blocks.

Read the full review HERE

Gerald Petievich agreed to talk to Shots Magazine about his work for his European [and Worldwide] Readers, in a fascinating exchange -

Ali: Thank you for speaking to your British Readers.

Gerald: It’s my pleasure to be speaking with you today.

AK: In the past I had a devil of a job tracking down your books in England - Money Men, One-Shot Deal and To Die in Beverly Hills were [published by New English Library]. Can you tell us a little about your experience[s] in Publishing, especially in Europe where I consider you somewhat of a cult writer?

GP: In the UK my novels, including Earth Angels were published by Chatto & Windus or New English Library. Chatto released the books in hardcover editions. Gallimard was my French publisher. In Italy, Sonzogno published The Sentinel and Mondadori published most of the early novels.  Wilhelm Heyne was my publisher in Germany.  In the Netherlands, my novels were published as ‘Manhattan Special’ crime novels.

AK: …and I see Rare Bird Publishing of Los Angeles are your new publisher, though I noticed you have the rights back to much of your back catalogue…would you care to comment on what you consider your favourite novels? And what should a new reader to Gerald Petievich grab first?

GP: My preferred work is Earth Angels, initially conceived as a mainstream novel. Although the narrative ultimately adopted a darker tone, I believe it conveys my perspective on the desensitizing impact of policework.  For readers unfamiliar with my work, I suggest reading Shakedown, which reviewers have said has the best story.

AK: As we’ve provided links [via Wallace Stroby] to much of your background in Military Intelligence and the US Secret Service in our introduction, so would you be prepared to tell us a little about Gerald Petievich before he became a writer?  

GP: I studied Russian Language in college and later graduated from the Defense Language Institute after studying German.  All I can say about my service in West Germany in the late 1960s is that John Le Carre’s novel The Spy who Came in From the Cold is a perfect novel that perfectly captured time and place. 

In 1970, I joined the US Secret Service as a special agent. My initial responsibilities included investigating counterfeiters in Southern California, an area affected by counterfeit currency. This assignment required working undercover, posing as a buyer, and apprehending suspects until eventually locating and arresting the individual responsible for printing counterfeit money. Through this work, I became familiar with the Los Angeles underworld. 

In 1974, I was assigned to Paris, France, where I served as a law-enforcement attaché at the US Embassy and collaborated with Interpol on cases involving international counterfeiting. While investigating counterfeit US treasury bonds being exchanged in Europe, I received information regarding a US crime figure traveling from Africa to London with fourteen million dollars in counterfeit bonds. I contacted a colleague at Scotland Yard and relayed the tip. Shortly after, he informed me that the suspect had just left Heathrow airport on a commercial flight. He indicated that he could request the plane's return to the airport, but if the bonds were not found, we would be held accountable. I confirmed the validity of the information, and he subsequently arranged for the aircraft to return to Heathrow, where fourteen million dollars in counterfeit bonds were recovered. The suspect later disclosed that the bonds originated from a counterfeiter whom I had previously arrested while working undercover in Los Angeles.

AK: It was the film adaptation of your 1984 novel TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA that brought your work into the hands of many readers. Can you tell us how the film rights ended up with William Friedkin?

GP: My film agent at the time shopped To Live and Die In LA to some movie producers and one of them, whose name escapes me now, referred the work to Friedkin. I met with him. He seemed very interested, and we signed an option agreement for the film rights to the novel. He planned to make the movie after finishing a pirate movie he was scheduled to direct. But the pirate movie deal fell through and Friedkin decided to make the movie as soon as possible.

AK: There were some incongruous insertions such as the opening scene with the terrorist, as well as the car chase [among others] by the Director, so could you tell us a little about working with William Friedkin? As I heard he took sole credit for the original screenplay but upon release, the screenplay was credited to William Friedkin and Gerald Petievich [and based on the novel by Gerald Petievich]

GP: The opening scene with the terrorist was not part of the novel; Friedkin added it on a whim. His challenging personality made typical collaboration impossible. The Writers Guild of America ultimately awarded him co-credit.  Considering the business that is filmmaking, I was pleased that the movie ended up remaining fairly close to the novel’s general storyline.

AK: …and how do you feel about TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA being lauded in Europe and in the art house circuit, contrasting starkly with its 1980s feel [complete with synthesiser soundtrack by British Pop Group Wang Chung] with amorality and blurring of good vs evil?

GP: The film’s pervasive cynicism and graphic violence were considered innovative for its era. Its distinct 1980s aesthetic was influenced by the director’s admiration for the television series Miami Vice, which enjoyed widespread popularity at the time. The British band Wang Chung provided a memorable musical motif for the printing scenes, a contribution that has since become iconic within the film’s legacy. Notably, Wang Chung’s score replaced that of an earlier group initially commissioned to compose the music.

AK: And what about your other experiences with Hollywood with Money Men [aka Boiling Point] and The Sentinel as well as any film interest in 13 HILLCREST DRIVE?

GP: My debut novel, Money Men, was initially optioned for film after actor James Woods introduced it to producer James B. Harris (The Killing and Paths of Glory) and expressed interest in playing the lead role. Subsequently, Harris contacted me and I executed a film option agreement. Reflecting common practices in the film industry, the option was renewed annually over a ten-year period until 1990, when Mr. Harris officially acquired the rights and commenced production in Hollywood. The film’s title was changed to Boiling Point, with Wesley Snipes cast in the leading role and Dennis Hopper as the antagonist. Harris undertook both the screenplay adaptation and direction, marking his directorial debut. 

Michael Douglas acquired the movie rights to The Sentinel, a political thriller, while at Paramount Studios. Hiring a screenwriter who changed the plot significantly, at age 62 Douglas starred in the film as a youthful White House Detail Secret Service agent involved in a romantic affair with the attractive First Lady.  

Carolco Pictures acquired the rights to my political thriller Paramour and hired me to write the screenplay. After I was paid and finished the script, Director Ridley Scott left the project and Carolco was later sold. The Paramour project is still in turnaround.  

So far, my new novel 13 Hillcrest Drive has earned positive feedback from Hollywood insiders, although one producers saw risk in funding a film about celebrities and the underside of the entertainment industry.

AK: Talking about new novel 13 HILLCREST DRIVE which landed earlier this year, with a close to two decade gap in your publishing history…would you care to tell us what you’ve been up to during this publishing gap?

GP: My publishing gap stemmed from many years of sixty-hour weeks and a career that left little time for personal pursuits. I spent the last few years dabbling in movie and TV projects becoming a fair tennis player, bullfight aficionado, and casino craps player. For the first time, I got involved in charity work. Having checked off my bucket list, I’m now focused solely on crafting novels.

AK: I noticed the great Robert Crais has been a champion of your work, and I believe he was involved in urging you to turn your novel The Sentinel into a film, would you care to comment?

GP: Years ago, I happened to have lunch with Robert Crais shortly after I had finished a novel.  During a general discussion of books, he suggested I wrote a novel about a White House Secret Service agent who was romantically involved with a first lady. I knew immediately the premise was enough to make a novel. Taking his advice, I began working on an outline, suffering with it for months to make it believable, but not tawdry. Before writing novels, Crais was an accomplished television writer. When it comes to ideas for novels, the idea can come from anywhere. The idea for my novel Shakedown, came to me when I was working undercover as a buyer of counterfeit money.  The seller told me he just been released from prison after serving eight years for extortion. He told me all about his experience as a member of a successful blackmailing ring. I knew immediately I could write a novel about it and began making notes as soon as I got home that night.

AK: I heard you are a voracious reader, so apart from the works of Bob Crais, who else do you read? And would you care to mention the writers [and their work] that influenced you to take up the pen?

GP: I read mystery writers like Crais, Thomas Harris, and Michael Connelly, but also non-fiction—biographies, history, psychology, and current affairs to fill my subconscious mind with unique examples of human behaviour. Recently, I finished Kai Bird’s The Good Spy and am currently reading Scott Anderson’s King of Kings about the Iranian revolution. As a child, I explored all genres at the Public Library, especially enjoying Hemingway and Robert Ruark's novels about Africa. My seventh-grade teacher recommended James Jones’ From Here to Eternity, still my favourite novel and an inspiration for my own writing.  I also like Henning Mankell’s work. Before my first novel, I studied John le Carré, Charles Willeford, Joseph Wambaugh, Graham Greene, Frederick Forsyth, Lawrence Sanders, Mario Puzo, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Fleming, Daphne du Maurier, James M. Cain, Mickey Spillane, Jim Thompson, Alastair McLean, Richard Condon and others. 

AK: …and I heard while you were a young bloke working Europe, you enjoyed the ten novel series by Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo, would you care to tell us a little about what you find special about these novels?

GP: At the beginning of my mystery writing career, I admired the distinctive style of Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo, and the way they created atmosphere. Sjowall and Wahloo were journalists and had a police reporter's unvarnished, keen view of police investigative work. One of their mystery novels begins with their hero, Detective Martin Beck, playing chess with a colleague who is babysitting. Beck doesn't like chess but continues to play because it's snowing and he doesn't want to go out in the cold. The authors always managed to create a palpable sense of place while capturing the political climate and ups and downs of police work. Their unique and irreverent point of view was always evident, but never dogmatic. I met Maj Sjowall at a writers conference in Spain in the 1980s and we talked about her work. Smart and as delightfully irreverent as her novels. She told me that when writing, she and Per Wahloo never took their mysteries too seriously.  

AK: I adored your latest novel, from its premise and characters that made the narrative such a dark but engaging read – can you tell us a little about both the inception and also the execution that became 13 HILLCREST DRIVE?

GP: 13 Hillcrest Drive is my ‘Hollywood novel,’ one I’ve been making notes on for years. I’ve led an unusual life in that I’ve not only been able to experience the underworld as a law-enforcement officer an undercover agent, but I’ve also been a working Hollywood screenwriter, technical advisor and producer. My cop colleagues who had the same experience, such as Joe Wambaugh, call it learning about the ‘overworld.’ I can attest to the fact that both the underworld and the Hollywood ‘overworld’ are broadening. The desperation and anger at the bottom of both worlds, is different. In the overworld, the desperation stems from ego. There are lots of poseurs and few and talented actors, directors and producers. But in the U.S. at least, film is the most powerful art. I found a vehicle to fashion a novel with this point of view when a well-known Hollywood private investigator mentioned to me that every celebrity in Hollywood, at one time or another in their career, is forced to pay blackmail. At that moment, I knew I had what I needed to create my Hollywood novel. Having written the first draft, I thought I’d missed the mark. The novel wasn’t ready. It was flat. Then I recalled a friend telling me about his experience with psychoanalysis. Re-shaping what he’d told me to fit the novel, I realized I’d written the final draft.

AK: My editor Mike Stotter and I found one of the highlights of Bouchercon New Orleans was meeting you during Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Press Anniversary Party – so can you tell us what you got up to in The Big Easy?

GP: There is nowhere in the world to find more mystery readers gathered together in one spot than at a Bouchercon. Nothing is better for the soul of a mystery novelist than spending time with mystery readers. Attending my first Bouchercon in 1982, readers confessed to me that they would buy a book at the Bouchercon store and then take it to their hotel room because they couldn’t wait to read the first scene. They were as obsessed with story as much as I. The fear that a reader might begin my book, get bored and put it down, remains palpable. I was a member of a Bouchercon panel on screenwriting and saw that there is still more interest in finding some connection to get a producer to screenplay, than in creating a surefire story.  I was very pleased to meet you and Mike at the Mysterious Press Anniversary party. You two reminded me of my pals at Scotland Yard who knew the ropes of the business better than anyone - and weren’t afraid to risk calling back a commercial airliner in flight.

AK: And finally what’s next for Gerald Petievich?

GP: I’m working on another Beverly Hills novel featuring police detectives featuring the characters I introduced in 13 Hillcrest Drive, Detective Legs Casey and his partner Katrina Sutherland. This time they’ll be investigating the murder of a Hollywood movie celebrity that gets complicated when one of the witnesses is an attractive woman with whom Casey once had an affair, and a clue points toward the most elusive mobster in L.A. …  

AK: Thank you so much for your time, because, Gerald – You, the MAN.

GP: Thanks to you and Mike, top blokes, and to your loyal readers at Shots Magazine.

If you have not read Gerry Petievich’s work, I’d urge you to seek out his exciting and truly authentic police thrillers, but a warning – they are tough character driven narratives and as noir as they get.

Bibliography

13 Hillcrest Drive (2025)    

The Sentinel (2003)

Paramour (1991)

Shakedown (1989) 

Earth Angels (1989)

Quality of the Informant (1985)    

To Live and Die in L.A. (1984)

One-Shot Deal (1983)        

To Die in Beverly Hills (1983)

Money Men (1981) 

Shots Magazine would like to thanks Delia Bennett of Los Angeles based “Rare Bird Publishing” and Emma Petievich for their help in organising this interview – AND – of course the legendary Gerald Petievich for his time, writing, insight and for his service in US Law Enforcement and Military Intelligence in Europe.

More information available HERE > https://petievich.com/

And HERE > https://rarebirdlit.com/about-rare-bird/

And Shots Magazine wish to also thank Connie Perry and Heather Graham and their teams at Bouchercon New Orleans for organising such a great convention.

….…and an addendum below….there was an alternative ending shot for William Friedkin’s film version of Gerald Petievich’s TO LIVE AND DIE IN LA…..but never used…..and it [with another deleted scene] is available below –

Photos taken at Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Press 50^th Anniversary Party Friday 5^th September 2025, Maison Bourbon, 641 Bourbon Street, New Orleans © 2025 A Karim and with thanks to Emma Petievich.