by Peter Prasad
The modern-day sonnet comes packaged as a crime thriller. Imagine Shakespeare counting syllables on his fingers, trying to make the rhythm work. It imposes form and structure on creativity. If you can seed your plot with an exciting story line and credible characters, then you might have something worth reading purely for entertainment value.
All literature is escapist, like bath beads in a sudsy tub, with the promise of being transported far away on a flight of imagination, rich with thrills and danger. Isn’t it amazing how reading can make a hero’s quest appear so real in the space between your ears. It’s been so since before recorded time when we sat around the fire, gnawing on a haunch, transported beyond cave and daily cares.
Crime thrillers are the morality plays of our generation. Good versus evil, and in the end order and the rule of law prevail. And that makes it easier to get up and go to work tomorrow. We’ve kept the wolf in the forest at bay one more day.
Which brings me to Cicero’s Dead by Patrick H. Moore. (http://www.amazon.com/Ciceros-Dead-Pa…)
In my Amazon review I said:
Jade wants to find her brother. Her dad, Cicero Lamont, has died mysteriously. She needs help. She calls LA’s newest hardboiled detective Nick Crane. Crane uncovers motive and opportunity like a surgeon wielding a Glock. His colorful sidekicks add accuracy and flavor to this hard-edge thriller.
Prepare for lean, direct storytelling about tough, cynical characters that dance from LA to San Francisco. Author Patrick H. Moore, a seasoned private investigator and crime writer, crafts an elegant first novel, soon to be followed by another Nick Crane thriller. Five stars. It pays homage to the classics and turns up the heat on what you expect from a hardboiled mystery.
In my day, a Boy Scout had to be able to build a fire with two matches. A rifleman had one shot at six hundred yards. A torn shirt and two sticks made a splint so you could hobble your fanny back home. Have hope. Seventy percent of American movies begin with a book. And a crime thriller is a great way to cut your teeth, or shall I say author’s chops.
On’Ya readers & writers, and all the little children who beg for one more page at story time.
The Goat-Ripper Case (Sonoma Knight) is a sexy romantic crime thriller in the heart of Sonoma wine country. Jake Knight, Afghan vet and new PI, goes after a wine cheat and saves the governor.
GURL-POSSE KIDNAP is a drug deal gone wrong. It morphs into murder, kidnap and redemption as Jake helps his client see the light.
GUT-CHECK GREEN has environmental terrorists raiding a wine party. They stymie a task force sent to hunt them down. Only Jake can identify and chase them, going up against a vicious killer, the Pencil Man.
CAMPAIGN ZEN 500bc-2012 is a look at the history of the ballot box, told in tavern doggerel. Pour a jar and read aloud, then vote as often as you can.
About me? Florida native, San Francisco resident, father, husband and Boy Scout in recovery, world traveler, Zen poet, Africa & Tokyo ad guy, start-up & solar guy, ocean energy champion, a writer for 40 years.
I love the poem cadences of Kipling, the dialect of Mark Twain, the heart of Vonnegut and the thrillers of John D. MacDonald. His PI, Travis McGee, was birthed on a Beach Club bar stool where I grew up.
So jump in; life is a participatory sport. If you’re an emerging writer, load up on life experiences on which to craft your art. Thanks for reading. O’ya dear readers.