HEAD GAMES: the first review comparing the novel and the graphic novel

Review published on September 21, 2018. Whichever version of Head Games you choose to read, the novel or the graphic novel, you’re getting a juicy slice of Americana to feast on. I decided to tackle both books because I thought it would be interesting to read one straight after the other (starting with the novel, … Continue reading HEAD GAMES: the first review comparing the novel and the graphic novel

“A gem for real noir fans” – a new review of BORDERLAND NOIR

Original review published on February 25, 2018 here: http://nudge-book.com/blog/2018/02/borderland-noir-edited-by-craig-mcdonald/ I came across this anthology when I was looking into a feature on Mexican crime fiction, also published this month on BookNoir. I’m glad I did because there is some fine writing here; there is a genuine connection between the stories based at La Frontera, the … Continue reading “A gem for real noir fans” – a new review of BORDERLAND NOIR

An Interview with Craig McDonald: The Hector Lassiter Series

An exceptional, in-depth, interview with Craig McDonald by Steven Powell, a researcher at the University of Liverpool, UK.

Steven Powell is the editor of Conversations with James Ellroy (2012) and 100 American Crime Writers(2012). He has written several articles for the British Politics Review, blogs about crime fiction at VenetianVase.co.uk, and co-organized the “James Ellroy: Visions of Noir” conference at the University of Liverpool. His most recent work is James Ellroy: Demon Dog of Crime Fiction (Palgrave Macmillan 2016).

10 Three Chords“If you are not already initiated, I hope this interview will persuade you to start reading the Lassiter novels. They are compelling, thrilling and darkly humorous.

Lassiter is a brilliant creation…”

 

The Venetian Vase

Craig McDonald is an author and journalist. He has written fourteen novels, including, to date, nine books in the award-winning Hector Lassiter series. I have kept up a correspondence with Craig these past few years as we are both avid readers of James Ellroy. I’m also a massive fan of the Lassiter novels, and when Craig agreed to be interviewed by me, he also kindly supplied an advance copy of the final novel in the Lassiter series, the forthcoming Three Chords and the Truth. If you are not already initiated, I hope this interview will persuade you to start reading the Lassiter novels. They are compelling, thrilling and darkly humorous. Lassiter is a brilliant creation– a crime writer who learned his trade with Ernest Hemingway and the Lost Generation in Paris in the 1920s. He is also a man who seems dangerously prone to violent intrigue, doomed love affairs…

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A fabulous review of Craig McDonald’s TOROS & TORSOS

"I would highly recommend TOROS & TORSOS as a gripping and compulsive mystery, and one of the best novels I have come across to explore how an art movement is defined by its time and setting. But if the surrealists were to be believed, art defines its time and setting." Read the full text here: … Continue reading A fabulous review of Craig McDonald’s TOROS & TORSOS

Craig McDonald: the HEAD GAMES interviews. Part 2 of 3

"To mark the launch of the Betimes Books' reissue of Head Games in trade paperback and eBook formats, I'm sharing the second of three English translations of interviews I not so long ago gave to media in Mexico regarding the release of HEAD GAMES (LA CABEZA DE PANCHO VILLA) there.  This one is with journalist Laura Luz … Continue reading Craig McDonald: the HEAD GAMES interviews. Part 2 of 3

From HEAD GAMES by Craig McDonald

"I kicked Orson once … and couldn’t tell if I hit fat or special-effect’s padding. So I kicked him again. But to no discernible effect. “You and me,” I said to Welles, “we’re through.” I walked as Marlene stooped to help Orson to his feet. The Kraut and a forklift might get the job done. … Continue reading From HEAD GAMES by Craig McDonald

Craig McDonald: Cover me #3 – Forever’s Just Pretend & The Great Pretender

"This edition is all "pretend" in terms of exploring more about how Betimes Books and I went about our strategic relaunch of the Hector Lassiter series, for the first time presenting the entire series in a mix of old and new titles, uniformly branded and sequenced in chronological order.  Having established the look of the … Continue reading Craig McDonald: Cover me #3 – Forever’s Just Pretend & The Great Pretender