#1 New York Times Bestselling Author & TV Producer
I'm a big Garry Disher fan…but as much as I like his Inspector Challis books, I absolutely love his WYATT novels, which are an Aussie take on Donald Westlake's Parker. It has been years since the last one, but now Wyatt is finally back. A new novel, simply called WYATT, will be published in Australia in February. So far, no publisher in the U.S. has picked up the book…but that' s not going to stop me. I'll buy it from a bookseller down-under.
Andy Breckman ( the creator of MONK), NBC/U (the owners of MONK) and my editor all loved the outline for MR. MONK GETS EVEN… my 11th original MONK novel. So, next week, I have to start researching and writing. I have no time to waste… the book is due in May.
The idea for the book actually occurred to me while I was at the Men of Mystery conference in Irvine last Sunday…though the plot has nothing to do with mystery conference or authors. I actually already had an idea for the book…and was going to start writing it up when I got home…but then this notion popped into my head out of nowhere and I realized it was much better than what I was already working on. I quickly jotted down my idea on a scrap of paper and then had the bright idea to email the notes to myself on my Blackberry.
I'll have to do some research for this one, but that's okay. I have nothing against learning something while I write! (I had to do lots of research about the old west for MR. MONK IN TROUBLE, collecting paper currency in DIAGNOSIS MURDER: THE DEAD LETTER, life in California in the early 1960s for DM: THE PAST TENSE, the Paris underground for MR. MONK IS MISERABLE, earthquakes and L.A. disaster scenarios for THE WALK, the illegal sales of body parts for DM: THE LAST WORD, alligators for MR. MONK AND THE TWO ASSISTANTS, etc. I've already started ordering books on Amazon and scouring the Internet for relevant articles.
This is will be the first book set after the "end" of the TV series but it won't be published until a year from now. In the mean time, MR. MONK IN TROUBLE comes out next week and MR. MONK IS CLEANED OUT will be published in July…both of which are set before the events in the final season of the TV series.
Here's Shirley Bassey's rejected QUANTUM OF SOLACE theme, set to the opening titles. The music is by David Arnold (who clearly lifted some elements from the song in his final QUANTUM score) and lyrics by longtime Bond vet Don Black.
Tracy Farnsworth at Roundtable Reviews has given MR. MONK IN TROUBLE a rave. She writes, in part:
Lee Goldberg always captures Monk’s nuances perfectly. He injects the mysteries with just the right amount of humor and tackles subjects I only wish I’d seen on television.[..] When I’m looking for a bit of escapism and a lot of laughs, Goldberg’s Monk books get top billing.
Thanks, Tracy! MR. MONK IN TROUBLE comes out in bookstores everywhere on Dec. 1st.
The Red Adept blog reviews the Kindle edition of my 1985 novel .357 VIGILANTE #2: MAKE THEM PAY and was far kinder to the book than I had any right to expect. Here's an excerpt from the review:
The storyline flowed fast and furious. There wasn’t a lot of thought put out regarding vigilantism and whether it is good or bad. There was no preaching or lectures, either. This was just a fast-moving, roller coaster ride of a story.[…]this is not a literary novel. You don’t read it for the great metaphors, flowery prose, or vivid descriptions. You read if for the action. With that, Mr. Goldberg really hits his stride. The action scenes are wonderful, quick reads, with plenty of tight descriptions. He knows just when to draw out the scene and when to just get on with it.
My friend Richard Wheeler pointed me to this terrific appreciation of Elmer Kelton, one of my favorite authors, in today’s Wall Street Journal. Here’s an excerpt:
Kelton wrote dozens of conventional westerns, but he never shrank from bending the rules of the genre. As he commented in “My Kind of Heroes,” an essay collection, “I can’t write about heroes seven feet tall and invincible. I write about people five feet eight and nervous.” Even so, much of his work, including the two posthumous books, fits comfortably within the tradition of Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour.
The form’s aficionados always have appreciated Kelton’s books. In 1995, based largely on the accomplishment of “The Time It Never Rained,” the Western Writers of America voted him the greatest western writer of all time. Finishing a distant second: Willa Cather.
Bookgasm’s Bruce Grossman gave my brother Tod’s new book OTHER RESORT CITIES a rave review today. Here’s an excerpt:
The people who populate these stories could totally exist in our society and probably some do. They are just like you and me, but with some truly twisted backstories. Some of these stories could be expanded into even further lengths. While I’d love to read more about these people, I definitely would not want to hang out with most of them. OTHER RESORT CITIES is an eye-opening look at life in today’s society, never sugarcoating its harsh reality