Today I'm delighted to welcome
PAUL FRENCH
to share his BEST OF CRIME ...
... AUTHORS
I’m currently racing through everything by George Pelecanos (after binge watching both series of the HBO show, The Deuce, which he co-writes) – the Nick Stefanos series and the DC Quartet are amazing. Most of his noir novels are set in Washington DC in the ‘70s and ‘80s. They’re fast, furious and leave you breathless turning pages so fast.
... FILMS/MOVIES
I watch a lot of Chinese cinema. Especially Chinese gangster and revenge movies. Last year Jia Zhangke’s Ash is the Purest White was about contemporary jianghu, or outlaw gangs; while (my favourite Chinese movie director) Jiang Wen released a 1930s Beijing-set revenge thriller called The Hidden Man.
... TV DRAMAS
I started watching Justified, based on Elmore Leonard's short story Fire in the Hole and I will not stop till I get to the end of all six series and 78 episodes.
... FICTIONAL KILLERS
Dix Steele, from Dorothy B. Hughes’s 1947 noir In a Lonely Place. A troubled ex-WW2 airman who roams LA at night, falls for actress Laurel Gray and might just be a serial killer. Humphrey Bogart played Dix and Gloria Grahame was Laurel in the slightly toned down 1950 movie, which still looked great.
... FICTIONAL DETECTIVES
I’m going to go with Detective Sean Duffy of the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the seven Duffy novels from Adrian McKinty. 1980s Northern Ireland is a tough beat – Duffy deserves his nightly pint of vodka gimlet and a little Tom Waits at the end of the day.
... MURDER WEAPONS
I’m a noir guy – it’s the city that kills you … every time.
... DEATH SCENE
The opening of James Ellroy’s LA Confidential – LAPD detective turned mob enforcer Buzz Meeksis holed up in an abandoned auto court with $94K, 18b of high-grade heroin, a 10-gauge pump, a .38 special, a .45 automatic and a switchblade. It’s 4 pages of total mayhem (though the dope cloud in the opening scene of Don Winslow’s The Force might just tie for first place)
... BLOGS/WEBSITES
newspapers.com – it’s all there in copious amounts – murder, human depravity, sin - and less per annum than a Netflix subscription.
... WRITING TIPS
Get it writ; then get it right.
... WRITING SNACKS
Summer – Pastis, a lot of water (you don’t want to slump over the keyboard too early), ice
Winter – hot chocolate with a serious shot of chartreuse
About PAUL FRENCH
Paul French lived in Shanghai for ten years, where he was a business advisor and analyst. He frequently comments on China for the English-speaking press around the world. French studied history, economics, and Mandarin at university and has an M.Phil in economics from the University of Glasgow. He lives in London.
Find Paul French on his website and on Twitter - @chinarhyming
About CITY OF DEVILS
Publisher's description
1930s Shanghai was a haven for outlaws from all over the world: a place where pasts could be forgotten, oppression outrun, fortunes made - and lost.
This is the story of 'Lucky' Jack Riley, the Slot King of Shanghai, and 'Dapper' Joe Farren, owner of the greatest clubs and casinos. It tells of their escape from American prisons and Vienna's ghetto, their rise to power, and the trail of destruction they left in their wake.
Shanghai was their playground for a flickering few years, a city where for a fleeting moment even the wildest dreams seemed possible.
City of Devils was published in paperback by riverrun on 13 June 2019.
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