The Crime Writer - Hardcover

Hurwitz, Gregg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670063215 ISBN 13: 9780670063215

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2007

Synopsis

Drew Danner, a crime novelist with a house off L.A.'s storied Mulholland Drive, awakens in a hospital bed with a scar on his head and no memory of being found convulsing over his ex-fiancee's body the previous night. He was discovered holding a knife, her blood beneath him. He himself doesn't know whether he's guilty or innocent. To reconstruct the story, the writer must now become the protagonist, searching the corridors of his life and the city he loves.
Drew finds himself at the center of an ongoing murder investigation and the target of a series of increasingly bizarre psychological assaults that seem the result of his own dark imagination. As he closes in on clues he might or might not have left, another young woman is similarly murdered, and he has to ask difficult questions not only of others but also of himself.

About this title

About the Author

Gregg Hurwitz is the critically acclaimed bestselling author of The Tower, Minutes to Burn, Do No Harm, The Kill Clause, The Program, Troubleshooter, and most recently, Last Shot. He has taught fiction writing in the USC English Department and at the La Jolla WriterÂ’s Conference.

Reviews

Hurwitz's L.A. thriller has noir pulp chutzpah in spades, even if it does start out with a bang and end up shooting blanks. When Andrew Drew Danner, a crime novelist, is tried for the murder of his ex-fiancée, Genevieve Bertrand, beside whose body he was found holding a bloody knife, he pleads not guilty. He has no memory of how he got to the crime scene because of a breakdown caused by a recently removed brain tumor. Once he's found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity, Danner sets out to find the real killer—or discover some very nasty things about himself. Someone's also trying to frame him for a second murder that appears to be similar to that of Bertrand. Luckily, Danner gets help from old friend Chic, an ex-professional baseball player, and Lloyd Wagoner, a troubled police criminalist. A tense, page-turning first act leads to disappointing explanations involving the police and a misinterpreted phone message. Still, the fast pace and ingenious setup provide considerable tension. Hurwitz (Last Shot) may not have written a California classic, but it's a worthy effort.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Successful crime-novelist Drew Danner has gained true tabloid fame--as the murderer of his ex-fiance. Found by the police in the midst of a brain-tumor-induced grand mal seizure, with her blood covering his hands and his fingerprints on the murder weapon, Danner seems to be the only person in L.A. who isn't sure he is a killer. Emergency surgery after his arrest removes the tumor, and a temporary insanity defense frees him, but his comfortable life is shattered. He can't live without knowing if he killed a woman he once loved. His only choice is to become a character in a story he hasn't written. Danner's anguish is compellingly described, and the plot has more twists and turns than Mulholland Drive. At least half a dozen characters are vividly drawn, and nearly all are like Danner--struggling to recover from some tragic and life-altering event. Hurwitz's insights about L.A. life sound knowing and are often ruefully funny, e.g., "L.A., where a porn star runs for governor and an action figure wins." Crime fans looking for something different will love this one.Thomas Gaughan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670063215
• ISBN 13: 9780670063215
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320