Monday, November 15, 2004

Domenic Stansberry....The Confession of Chasing The Dragon

The man is amazing, two book out with two different publishers and both of the both are getting rave reviews. What am I talking about????

I met up with Domenic at Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks. He was in the Southern California area promoting The Confession which is published by the outstanding pulp publishers Hard Case Crime as well as the start of his new series character Dante Mancuso in Chasing The Dragon published by St. Martin's. Stansberry contract calls for two books, but it can be hoped that with all the buzz that has been generated and the positive critical reviews, maybe it can turn into a four book series.

So far, each of his books has a different feel. For instance, Manifesto for the Dead is loosely based on the life of Jim Thompson. In The Last Days of Il Duce, the novel has a very James Cain feel to it. However, Stansberry makes it all look easy and the stories are highly engaging. Some might call his work middle class noir. I call it damn good story telling.

When asked what his writing schedule is like... "well I have other jobs too". So he admits to taking his time to hone his craft and the wait is well worth it. In fact St. Martin thinks so that they are bringing out manifesto and Il Duce out in paperback re-release this year.

I asked him how he got hooked up with Hard Case Crime. He said that Charles Ardai one of the publishers of Hard Case was a fan of Il Duce and asked if he could bring it out under the Hard Case house. But Il Duce was already spoken for. So Ardai asked him what he had in that proverbial bottom desk draw...The Confession. We can only wonder what other gems might be secure in that draw.
I f you have read any of Stansberry's work, what is your favorite? Tell me why.

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