Wading into 2008 Territory

Happy New Year, everybody. If the first day was anything to judge by, things are off to a pretty good start for me (granted, the mimosas helped, but so did the long walk and the utterly adorable sandy-haired two-year-old running around the Columbus Circle Borders with a permanent smile on his face.) And even though the holidays gave me license to be lazy, the workaholic in me welcomes getting back into my usual routines - which, of course, include blogging.

Having said that, I'm viewing Confessions in 2008 as something of an experiment. A lot will stay the same with regards to content, but don't be surprised if a few new features show up unexpectedly. The focus remains on crime fiction, but more forensic science and true crime-related pieces will pop up here as well, and I'd rather post less and keep the quality high than rely on link dumps just for the sake of them. So naturally I'm starting with one, but I did say I was wading into the new year, right?

From 2007: Time Magazine on Qiu Xiaolong, Asahi Weekly walking the Tokyo streets with David Peace, Hallie Ephron's year-ending crime fiction column for the Boston Globe, Nicholas Wroe chats with John Harvey, Otto Penzler purveys pulp to the WSJ and NRO, and Motoko Rich talking with Joseph Weisberg about AN ORDINARY SPY. And on the moi front, my LA Times column focused on British spy novelist John Bingham, while the week after I reviewed James Sallis's SALT RIVER.

Speaking of spy fiction (something I've been thinking about a lot lately as the deadline for a piece I'm working on looms closer) the Urbanite has an extended Q&A with Dan Fesperman about his upcoming novel THE AMATEUR SPY.

Ed Gorman's take on the newly discovered and reissued Lawrence Block novel A DIET OF TREACLE is dead-on. I also couldn't help but wonder why this book was published using one of Block's "sleaze" pseudonyms, Sheldon Lord, because it could easily have been a Gold Medal book to my mind. (Also, on a more idiosyncratic level, every time I read a book about the Beats written during that time period, I wonder where David Markson was at that particular moment.)

Dick Adler waxes eloquent about Laurie King's new standalone novel for January Magazine. And may I say how thrilled I am to see Mr. Adler writing on a regular basis again?

Speaking of Janmag, Ali Karim fills us in on the plagiarism scandal that plagued Ian Fleming - and changed the course of the Bond universe.

Will video games develop their own version of film noir? I sure as hell hope so.

Dave White on the Bat Segundo Show. Need I say more?

Levi Asher cracks the Philly Inquirer!

Dr. Marcella Fierro, who is credited with inspiring Patricia Cornwell to create Kay Scarpetta, has retired as Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner. (as for Scarpetta, Mark Lawson's happy to have her back for some reason or another.) 

I am profoundly addicted to reading this site, even though I only frequent Starbucks shops out of necessity more than desire.

Comments

[Laura]

Welcome back, Sarah, and while I try not to spend too much time in backblogs, I will seize any opportunity to pimp Joseph Weisberg's book, which also got a rave from Mark Costello in the NYTBR.

In interest of full disclosure, I blurbed this book and taught the author the elementary backstroke.

[Jason Pinter]

I'm very surprised that "Game Noir" article didn't mention the Max Payne series, which was a terrific melding of video game, graphic novel and film noir. Fun as all hell, but gritty, sad and well-written too. And man, those levels where the unconscious Max has to tightrope walk along a narrow highway of blood vessels while listening to the cries of his murdered infant daughter...not exactly Super Mario Brothers.

Too bad my PS2 is in that great storage bin in the sky.

[Charles Ardai]

...not to mention the videogame called NOIR, from Cyberdreams. Lousy game, but they gave reviewers a nifty shot glass emblazoned with the logo, and I still have the glass on my shelf.

Plus MEAN STREETS and UNDER A KILLING MOON from Access. And PHILIP MARLOWE: PRIVATE EYE from Byron Preiss Multimedia, which took its plot from THE LITTLE SISTER. And VOYEUR by Digital Pictures.

There have been quite a few noir videogames over the years.

[Lee Lofland]

Dr. Fierro's retirement brings back a flood of memories for me. She conducted the first autopsy I ever attended as a rookie police officer, and she was the M.E. in charge of all the autopsies thereafter for each the homicide cases I investigated during my career as a police detective. Her office also performed the autopsy on the bank robber I killed during a pretty violent shootout.

It wasn't long after when Dr. Fierro and members of her staff joined us for dinner at the Commonwealth Club in Richmond the night my wife received her PhD in pathology from the Medical College of Virginia.

I witnessed the execution of serial killer, Timothy Spencer, the first person in the U.S. to be sentenced to death based upon DNA evidence. Dr. Fiero's office handled that case as well. Patricia Cornwell based her first book, Postmortem on the Spencer case. I believe that book brought about the appearance of of Kay Scarpetta, a character based on Dr. Fierro.

I imagine the world of forensics will miss Dr. Fierro. I know I will, but hers is a retirement that's well deserved.

[Sarah]

Charles, thanks for reminding me about MEAN STREETS, which I played avidly as a 12 year old in between King's Quest bouts. MAX PAYNE, alas, I never got to. But I think the piece is right in that there isn't nearly enough of these types of games.

Lee - a stunning, eloquent tribute.

[Ray Banks]

Um, there are quite a few noir games, or at least noirish. Other than MAX PAYNE (and I HATED those tightrope bits) FAHRENHEIT springs to mind, as does the DS game HOTEL DUSK: ROOM 215 and recent disappointment KANE AND LYNCH. And aren't Rockstar developing a film noir heavy game called LA NOIR?

[Dana Kaye]

Welcome back and happy New Year! Also, thank you for introducing that Starbucks site which, as I former Barista, I find completely entertaining!