Peter Colt

Peter Colt was born in Boston, MA in 1973 and moved to Nantucket Island shortly thereafter. He is a 1996 graduate of the University of Rhode Island and a 24-year veteran of the Army Reserve with deployments to Kosovo and Iraq. He is a police officer in a New England city and the married father of two boys.

Colt's new Andy Roark mystery is The Banker.

Recently I asked the author about what he was reading. Colt's reply:

If reading were a marriage I would be the worst. I suffer from Librid Infedelis. I pick up books, start to read them and find myself distracted and move on only to come back to the original book. I suppose that I am married to Lord of the Rings in the way Spencer Tracy was married but was with Katharine Hepburn.

I am currently reading Amor Towles's Table For Two. An old and dear friend recommended it as it reminded her of me and a good friend whom I lived with in the 1990s. She was spot on. I am about half way through it which is usually when my book infidelity strikes. I can say, with great envy for his craft, that I wish I was half the writer Towles is. He writes beautifully and captivatingly.

I recently read the first four Havana novels, Havana Red, Havana Black, Havana Blue and Havana Gold, by Leonardo Padura. They are police procedurals set in Havana Cuba in the 1980's. About ten years ago Netflix was streaming a series entitled Four Seasons in Havana. It was filmed in Cuba, shot entirely in Spanish with subtitles and I loved it. I loved it so much that I would go back and watch it every now and again until sadly it left Netflix.

It is standard fare that cops have to be jaded and cynical, trust me, I should know, I've been a cop for almost twenty years. But the lead character Conde has all of the reasons to be and more. I picked up the first book expecting to be disappointed. There was no way that the books could match the series. I have found there are rare exceptions to TV/Film not being as good as the movie. I'm talking to you Six Days of the Condor and L.A. Confidential. Both are fine works but not as good as their film versions. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the series was a faithful interpretation of the series. Which is good because I can't stream it anymore so at least I can get my fix from the books!

Visit Peter Colt's website.

My Book, The Movie: Back Bay Blues.

The Page 69 Test: Back Bay Blues.

Q&A with Peter Colt.

The Page 69 Test: Death at Fort Devens.

My Book, The Movie: Death at Fort Devens.

Writers Read: Peter Colt (June 2022).

My Book, The Movie: The Ambassador.

The Page 69 Test: The Ambassador.

The Page 69 Test: The Judge.

My Book, The Movie: The Judge.

Writers Read: Peter Colt (May 2024).

--Marshal Zeringue