Monday, May 19, 2014

Reed Farrel Coleman

Reed Farrel Coleman’s love of storytelling originated on the streets of Brooklyn and was nurtured by his teachers, friends, and family.

Called a hard-boiled poet by NPR’s Maureen Corrigan and the “noir poet laureate” in the Huffington Post, Coleman is the author of The Hollow Girl, the latest novel in the acclaimed Moe Prager series.

Coleman is a three-time Edgar Award nominee in three different categories—Best Novel, Best Paperback Original, Best Short Story—and a three-time recipient of the Shamus Award for Best PI Novel of the Year. He has also won the Audie, Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards.

Earlier this month I asked the author about what he was reading. Coleman's reply:
I have been long smitten by the work of the UK author Philip Kerr. His Bernie Gunther novels, along with Larry Block’s Scudder series, served as the inspiration for my soon to be retired protagonist, Moe Prager. But I am currently about one third done with Kerr’s new stand-alone Prayer. The story of a FBI agent’s odyssey in the world of big religion, big churches, and murder. Loving it. Also reading an atmospheric WWII novel by James Benn, The Rest is Silence. On deck is Megan Abbott’s The Fever. But the book that’s had the greatest impact on me this year was Dennis Tafoya’s The Poor Boy’s Game. A real masterwork that proves why crime fiction stands up to any kind of other writing you can throw at it.
Visit Reed Farrel Coleman's website.

The Page 69 Test: Redemption Street.

The Page 69 Test: Empty Ever After.

My Book, the Movie: The Moe Prager Mystery Series.

The Page 69 Test: Innocent Monster.

--Marshal Zeringue