Sam Wiebe's novel
Last of the Independents won the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and an Arthur Ellis Award, and was nominated for a Shamus award. His second novel,
Invisible Dead, was published by Random House Canada and Quercus USA. His short stories have appeared in
Thuglit,
Spinetingler, and
subTerrain, and he was the 2016 Vancouver Public Library Writer in Residence. He lives in Vancouver.
Recently I asked Wiebe about what he was reading. His reply:
My local bookstore owner recommended Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson practically at gunpoint, calling it “an aboriginal Twin Peaks.” It’s about Jared, a teenaged indigenous kid trying to negotiate his hellishly 
dysfunctional family. Robinson is from the Haisla First Nation, and her writing ranges from my hometown of Vancouver to the small towns of northern British Columbia. She writes characters who understand poverty and desperation, but her books also feature moments of humour and genuine kindness. As the title suggests, there are elements of the mythical and supernatural, but like Stephen King’s best work, Son of a Trickster is grounded in strong characters with real-life problems.
Ghettoside by Jill Leovy is a non-fiction account of LAPD homicide detective John Skaggs’s investigation into the murder 
of Bryant Tennelle, a black teenager in South Central who also happened to be the son of another detective. The book reads like a California version of The Wire—dedicated cops trying to do their job despite the realities of racial injustice, limited resources, and a culture dismissive of black-on-black murders. Leovy’s account is fascinating true crime, but also full of sociological insights into police culture, race, and the legal system.
Visit
Sam Wiebe's website.
--Marshal Zeringue
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