Penguin presents
timeless reads for slower summers: the American Mystery Classics collection is a
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the series brings together the smartest, cosiest, most ingenious mysteries of
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Timeless Reads
for Slower Summers
14th May 2026 14th May 2026 11th June 2026
9th July 2026, 17th September 2026 17th September 2026
Discoveracollectionofforgottenclassics– the ultimate suitcase library
About the Author
Otto Penzler owns The Mysterious Bookshop
in New York City and founded the Mysterious Press and Otto Penzler Books. He has
written and edited several books, including the Edgar Award-winning Encyclopaedia
of Mystery and Detection, and is the series editor of the annual Best American Mystery
Stories of the Year.
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.”
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 -
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.
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?
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 theindividual
responsible for printing counterfeit money. Through this work, I became
familiar with the Los Angeles underworld.
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?
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.
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
–
Mike Stotter and I were
thankful to Publisher / Editor and Literary Raconteur Otto Penzler, for a
specific book he’s just released, and we got the opportunity to thank him
personally while we were at Bouchercon 2025 in New Orleans.
I first heard of this book
during the London Book Fair when I had a meeting with Otto Penzler. As a long
time reader of Lee Child’s
Jack Reacher novels - I quizzed him about this book during last May’s Crimefest
event in Bristol.
The book I am referring to is ‘Reacher: The Stories behind the Stories’
– a book that I was highly anticipating.
So, what are my thoughts once
I had a copy in my hands?
This interesting book will not only appeal to readers of
the Jack Reacher novels, but also to readers [and writers] who wish to uncover
the physical mechanics behind the writing process; the dynamics that powered
one of the world’s best-selling thriller series.
Written in a series of short chapters [which were initially
short introductions to the limited print run special editions of each Jack
Reacher novel solely written by Lee Child] from the first [Killing Floor] to
the twenty fourth [Blue Moon], this book is so very interesting.
It opens - On Monday September 5th, 1994, at home, at the dining
room table, I sat down to write. An hour later, I gave the first chapter to my
wife. I asked, “Should I continue?”
“Yes,” she said. “I like it.”
Child’s self-deprecating, modest and amusing style at times
raising a smile, while at others forcing the reader to pause for thought and
ponder upon the hand of fate. The combination of the author’s work ethic,
built-in self-reliance, positive [and generous] nature - collided many times
with the hand of fate as he watched the cards fall, not always in his favour –
but he always seemed to play the best possible hand. Case in point – the
circumstances of the purchase of his Property in Southern France, as well as
its subsequent sale.
After completing this slim
tome, including the new Jack Reacher short story “A Better Place” which closes this interesting book – I had a few
questions, and thanks to publisher Otto Penzler, who spoke with Lee – I got my
answers, which are presented below for our readers.
I closed my review –
“This is the most informative and entertaining book I’ve
read so far in 2025. Reacher: The Stories behind the Stories helped recall how
much pleasure reading the Lee Child novels had on me, enriching my own life by distracting me
from my own [at times] Bad Luck and Trouble.”
I understand the importance of
literature - good writing – and the power of stories in helping manage the
randomness of life and its challenges.
Stephen King summed this
importance in his book “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft”.
“Life isn't a support-system for art. It's
the other way around”
I managed my life through my
love of books and reading, so over to a story teller that helped me overcome
the challenges that life presented me from 1997’s ‘Killing Floor’ to 2019
and ‘Blue Moon’ – Mr. Lee Child.
Ali: I first heard about ‘Reacher: The Stories
behind the Stories’ in March, from Otto Penzler during the London Book Fair.
Would you tell us about the book’s genesis and was it your idea or that of
Penzler’s Mysterious Press?
Lee: Entirely Otto's idea - both originally and
contemporaneously. Otto did very limited
editions of the Reacher books for his collectors, 126 printed per title, and
asked for added-value forewords for each, year by year. I did them as diaries, really - where I was,
what I was thinking, etc, while I was writing each book. Then he wanted to publish them in a single
widely-available volume. Which felt
weird, frankly. I knew collectors rarely
even open the book - they shelve them reverentially and worry about cracking
their spines. So I thought no one would
read this stuff, so I made the intros quite personal and unguarded. Transworld picked it up as a subsidiary deal
for the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
AK: I see there will be an audio release,
will you be narrating / reading it or will Jeff Harding do the honours again?
AND what’s your take on the growth of Audio Books, and the Reacher novels in
particular?
LC: I narrated the
main part of the audio myself, because it feels a bit autobiographical, like a
memoir. That was the first time ever for
me. Jeff Harding did the non-me parts,
including a brand new Reacher short story we put in as bonus content. Audio is getting huge now - inevitably, I
think, because for most of our evolution storytelling has been oral, and we
seem to be hardwired for it. I'm all in favour
- I'm a storyteller rather than a writer, so I'm happy for people to get the
story any way they want.
AK: I enjoyed the Reacher short story “A
Better Place” that closes “Reacher: The Stories behind the Stories”, so after
last year’s collection ‘Safe Enough’ and previously ‘No Middle Name’, will we
be seeing more short fiction from you?
LC: I'm sure I'll do short stories now and then. There's always someone asking. If I'm around long enough, there could be
enough to make another collection.
AK: As a fellow
bibliophile - I was amused when you mentioned about renovating the manor house
in Sussex, including building a library “…for
the first time in my life, I had more shelves than books….though that moment
did not last long…” So tell us about your own book collecting over the
years, and what is the state of your book collection currently?
LC: I'm not a collector per
se - I have probably ten thousand books here and there, but fewer than
twenty are actual valuable volumes. I
have a Kelmscott Chaucer - folio size, hand-printed by William Morris,
illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones, often called the most beautiful book in the
world, and a first edition, first printing of The Catcher in the Rye, and a signed first of The
Silence of the Lambs. Plus a couple of
James Bonds. Stuff like that. But most of my books have little resale
value, except they're much loved by me.
AK: Naturally, there is little mention of the
Amazon series REACHER due to the time frame [Killing Floor to Blue Moon] – so
what can you tell us about Season Four – and is it based on your novel “Gone
Tomorrow”? And what about the spin off series “Neagely”?
LC: Yes, the TV seasons post-date the forewords in the
book. Reacher season four is almost done
- yes, Gone Tomorrow - and the Neagley spin-off is almost through
post-production.
LC: Like the memoir book [Reacher: The Stories behind the
Stories], the archive is another thing I never expected. UEA is very much "the writers'
university", a bit like Iowa State in the U.S., and I know Henry Sutton,
who teaches there. He asked for my
archive. I wasn't sure I had one, as
such - just a bunch of old boxes with all kinds of stuff thrown in. But they have made wonderful sense of it - it
has turned out to be beautifully curated and quite impressive. I started long enough ago that plenty of it
is on physical paper, not just electronic.
LC: I love festivals, and go to as many as I can fit
in. Readers and writers are like my
family, and it's great to see them periodically. I like to meet the new writers - such
passion, energy, and ideas - and such great books! And yes, I'll be there on
November 8th, at 7pm at Whitby in November.
Now I'm back in the UK, I decided to do stuff I had to miss
before. I like Whitby - I had a nice holiday
there once. And it's a new festival, so
I wanted to help launch it.
LC: By an outrageous coincidence, unknown to each other, I
was their fan and they were mine, and eventually we met. Obviously we immediately pledged to make an
album together - I would write the lyrics, they would write
the music. It took us fifteen
years to get it done, but we did it. A
real high point in my life. Total fun,
with two lovely people.
AK: Thank you for your time, and the trip
down memory lane with Reacher: The Stories behind the Stories. Your work has
always been important to so many readers.
LC: My pleasure as ever.
Shots Magazine would like to pass our thanks to Otto
Penzler of The Mysterious Press / Penzler Publishers and Patsy Irwin of
PenguinRandomHouse for helping organise this short interview and of course to
Lee Child for his time.
5 Min video Below: Lee Child
and Andrew Grant at Crimefest May 2025 Bristol UK recorded in Gonzo-Vision.
Over on the PBS Masterpiece website you can find a wide range of information on their various shows including schedules, podcasts and special features. Their latest post is about fictional detectives.
(From the website)
With three separate take-charge women solving crimes and defying stereotypes on MASTERPIECE on PBS this fall, now’s the perfect time to explore the fascinating range of similar protagonists—from books. We asked crime fiction reviewers, authors, and insiders for their favorite female crime fighters, and they delivered a list stretching from an 11-year-old sleuth to a forensic archeologist. Whether you’re interested in cozy mysteries or futuristic police procedurals, there’s plenty to love in these seven recommendations.
Some well known authors, mystery folk and reviewers (Including myself) have contributed to some surprising choices.
The 7 fictional female detectives can be seenhere.
In my office, which is in fact
our family dining-room (due to a change in professional circumstance), rests
one solitary novel on that table’s congested surface.
I sit at one end of the dining
table, back to the window, facing my PC screen, with a printer to my right, and
a growing series of books, piles of novels on the left. On the table, ahead of
me are my file-cards, folders, newspaper clippings, stacks of paper, my
notebooks, my array of pens, stationary, thesaurus, dictionary, history books
and the usual writing clutter; the ephemera for those who find joy in playing
with words and the imagination.
There is one solitary novel
resting on the table’s surface. It breaks my rule, the sacred rule of the novels
of others, only to be resting in piles to the left of me – never on the actual
table’s surface, where my own writing, my scribbled notes and ephemeral
thoughts reside. That novel is about a
Detective, a rule-breaker, a maverick, an outsider or stranger. The novel is entitled
Metropolis, and is the last outing of Bernard [‘Bernie’] Gunther, who at times
is laconic, reflective, while at other times is the wise-cracking observer of
the brutal absurdity that surrounded him.
Like Gunther’s creator, the
novelist Philip Kerr was also a gregarious loner, a character who was different
from the others that surrounded him. Gunther was a man who juggled the horrors
of the world he existed in, with wit and action, a world striated with moral
ambiguity, where brutality and horror had to be confronted with violence and
with intellect.
Literary Renaissance Man,
Publisher, Editor and Bookseller New York’s Otto Penzler noted, that stylistically
Gunther, had a legendary precursor -
[Philip] Kerr wrote the nearest pastiche to Raymond
Chandler’s quintessentially American literary style yet achieved, transcending
the scores—no, hundreds—who had attempted it before he did.
I was in London for a few
days, an escape from my Office (aka, our family dining room). I got thinking
about the nervous anticipation I have for this Novel, Metropolis, the last
adventure of Bernie Gunther, the final work from Philip Kerr and soon to be
published posthumously. He was taken so tragically young, and at the peak of
his narrative skill as a novelist. He was barely older than I; a thought that
troubled me from time to time.
Those thoughts were triggered
by a chance encounter over a literary lunch with Robert
Goddard and Tom Bradby, hosted by Patsy Irwin and Becky Short of PenguinRandomHouse’s
UK imprint Transworld. I will be detailing that extraordinary lunch in due
course, but I don’t wish to digress at this point, so back on topic.
Once the lunch plates and
cutlery had been cleared away, Mike
Ripley and I found ourselves seated with Political Journalist /
Broadcaster Tom Bradby, a familiar figure due to his career at ITN News.
Some may not know that Tom Bradby is also an
elegant thriller writer. So as we sipped our coffee, we got talking about
thriller writing and of thriller fiction. This was in context to Bradby’s own upcoming
political thriller SECRET SERVICE,
a book I was currently reading, and will be reviewing before its publication on
30th of May, 2019.
I’ve come to understand that the
most elegant of thriller writers, are those who are the most well-read.
Tom Bradby is no exception.
The conversation got around to
who we read, and who we consider ‘the
point men and women’ in thriller writing. I mentioned to Bradby that Mike
Ripley and I attended Philip Kerr’s funeral last year [which I detailed HERE].
Bradby’s eyes grew animated as he told us that he was a huge, huge fan of
Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther novels. He’d read them all, some, several times,
and then the three of us talked, and we talked, and we talked until we could
talk no more about those Philip Kerr novels, those treasures that featured a former
German Soldier turned Detective, called Gunther.
Tom Bradby considers those
Bernie Gunther novels, like many of us, as sitting at the high table, shoulder to
shoulder with the masters of the crime and thriller genre.
I told Bradby that I was
apprehensive as well as eager (as counter intuitive as that may appear), to crack
the spine of METROPOLIS, that novel that sat at the edge of my office desk.
It would have sounded too weird, if I told him it actually
resided on our family’s dining table.
I told Bradby that I had just
read a truly emotional as well as insightful essay, by the novelist Jane Thynne,
Phil Kerr’s wife. It details much about what that last salute to Bernie Gunther
had in store for its readers, from the pen of Philip Kerr, and I urged him to
look it up.
It Began -
In July 2017, in the inappropriately sunny office of a
London cancer clinic, Phil learned that he had stage 4 metastatic cancer and it
was incurable. With characteristic courage he asked the doctor how long he had.
Between one and two years, she suggested. Plainly keen to impart more
optimistic news, she volunteered that she had once, in a long career, known a
single patient at the same stage live for five years.
When we got into the car, Phil exhaled. ‘So I’ve got five
years.’ In the event, he had eight months.
Later I found myself seated on
a bench in Soho Square, with coffee, with pages ofnotes, with a shoulder-bag full of books -
and only pigeons at my feet for company.
I was alone with my thoughts.
I thought of Philip Kerr, a man I didn’t know that well, apart from snatched conversations
at book launches and over shared drinks at literary events. I thought that we
rarely know these loners, for they hide themselves in plain sight, masking themselves
as characters in what they write, in their novels. Philip Kerr was such a man,
solitary, but also larger-than-life [as counter-intuitive as that sounds].
I did get to know his character
Bernie Gunther rather well, from my reading over the years, commencing with March Violets.
Philip Kerr and I shared one
strand that was common in our lives, it was one that marked us out as different
from the others, back when we were schooled, he in private education, while I
sat within the public system. However, in both our childhood situations, we
were clearly visible as being ‘different’ – not unlike the character Philip
Kerr would create, that loner, that fish-out-of-water, Bernie Gunther.
I
recall talking with Kerr, discussing his tough school experiences [which he
widely recounted] and that I considered became character traits, visible in
Bernie Gunther, which would always make him smile, as he had a love-hate
relationship with his creation, the outsider, the stranger who does not fit
into the world he finds himself in, and is not accepted; a feeling I too share,
from time to time.
Read
More about my reflections HERE and
from Jeff Pierce, in a most detailed and very rare interview with Philip Kerr HERE
So, as I took a break from Tom Bradby’s
novel SECRET SERVICE, on that park-bench in Soho Square; I thought of that
one novel that sat on my family dining table, Metropolis; the last hurrah for
Bernard Gunther.
Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero’s origins,
exploring Bernie Gunther’s first weeks on Berlin’s Murder Squad.
A portrait of Bernie Gunther in his twenties: He’s young,
but he’s seen four bloody years of trench warfare. And he’s not stupid. So when
he receives a promotion and a ticket out of Vice squad, he knows he’s not
really leaving behind the criminal gangs, the perverse sex clubs, and the
laundry list of human corruption. It’s 1928 and Berlin is a city on the edge of
chaos, where nothing is truly verboten. But soon a new wave of shockingly
violent murders sweeps up society’s most vulnerable, prostitutes and wounded
ex-soldiers begging on the streets.
As Bernie Gunther sets out to make sense of multiple
murders with different MOs in a city that knows no limits, he must face the
fact that his own police HQ is not immune. The Nazi party has begun to
infiltrate the Alex, Berlin’s central office, just as the shaky Weimar
government makes a last, desperate attempt to control a nation edging toward to
the Third Reich.
It seems like the only escape for most Berliners is the
theatre and Bernie’s no exception. As he gets deeper into the city’s sordid
underground network, he seeks comfort with a make-up artist who is every bit a
match for his quick wit and increasingly sardonic view of the world. But even
this space can’t remain untouched, not with this pervasive feeling that
everything is for sale in Berlin if you’re man enough to kill for it.
So as METROPOLIS arrives on 4th
April 2019 from Quercus Publishing in the UK and Ireland, and on April
9th 2019 from PenguinRandomHouse in the US and Canada, I hope
you will join me, and the millions of other readers in discovering Philip Kerr’s
last novel, a journey into the past, to see a young Bernie Gunther – as portrayed
in the novel METROPOLIS, the one that sits at the far edge of our family dining
table; now my office, waiting for me, to read and to review, with my personal
commentary.
If you’ve not discovered the
work of Philip Kerr, I’d suggest clicking THIS
LINK, and ordering
MARCH VIOLETS and pre-ordering
METROPOLIS - the Alpha and the Omega of Bernie Gunther, created by a writer
named Philip Kerr.
I notice it’s Valentine’s Day,
so my words are surreally apt when I talk of Bernie Gunther on this particularly
sunny day. It is a day that despite the warmth of the Sun on my face, it feels
melancholic within, and that is not counter-intuitive.
Ali Karim, 14th February 2019
Postscript
Have a fine day in these
politically confusing times. I’ll end with a line that indicates the possible
truth a novelist can bring to bear to the surface of our reality, to provoke
thought in matters that perplex.
“I
didn’t know you were interested in politics,’ I said. ‘I’m not,’ he said. ‘But
isn’t that how Hitler got elected in the first place: too many people who
didn’t give a shit who was running the country?”
Philip Kerr
Berlin
Noir: March Violets / The Pale Criminal / A German Requiem
Philip Kerr treats readers to his beloved hero’s
origins, exploring Bernie Gunther’s first weeks on Berlin’s Murder Squad.
A portrait of Bernie Gunther in his twenties: He’s young, but he’s seen four
bloody years of trench warfare. And he’s not stupid. So when he receives a
promotion and a ticket out of Vice squad, he knows he’s not really leaving
behind the criminal gangs, the perverse sex clubs, and the laundry list of
human corruption. It’s 1928 and Berlin is a city on the edge of chaos, where
nothing is truly verboten. But soon a new wave of shockingly violent murders
sweeps up society’s most vulnerable, prostitutes and wounded ex-soldiers
begging on the streets.
As Bernie Gunther sets out to make sense of multiple murders with different MOs
in a city that knows no limits, he must face the fact that his own police HQ is
not immune. The Nazi party has begun to inflitrate the Alex, Berlin’s central
office, just as the shakey Weimar government makes a last, desperate attempt to
control a nation edging toward to the Third Reich.
It seems like the only escape for most Berliners is the theater and Bernie’s no
exception. As he gets deeper into the city’s sordid underground network, he
seeks comfort with a make-up artist who is every bit a match for his quick wit
and increasingly sardonic view of the world. But even this space can’t remain
untouched, not with this pervasive feeling that everything is for sale in
Berlin if you’re man enough to kill for it.
