Thriller author
Ian Walkley interviewed me last month for The Big Thrill...Here's what he came up with:
Harlan Coben describes Vincent Zandri’s novels as “Gritty,
fast-paced, lyrical and haunting…” Vincent’s latest mystery thriller THE
GUILTY finds former prison warden and private eye Jack Marconi
investigating a local restaurateur who’s not only obsessed with the
sexy, dark romance novel, FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, he’s accused of
attempting to murder his school teacher girlfriend. As the now
brain-damaged young woman begins recalling events of that fateful winter
night when she was allegedly pushed down the stairs of a West Albany
mansion, she becomes the target of the angry foodie/sex-obsessed
boyfriend once again. Only this time, he’s cooking up a plot to keep her
silenced forever.
Vincent Zandri is the No. 1 International Bestselling Amazon author
of THE INNOCENT, GODCHILD, THE REMAINS, MOONLIGHT FALLS, THE CONCRETE
PEARL, MOONLIGHT RISES, and more. The bestselling author of SAVAGES, Don
Winslow, says of Zandri: “He’s a terrific writer and he tells a
terrific story.” Zandri’s work has been published in many languages
including Dutch, Russian, and Japanese. An adventurer, foreign
correspondent, and freelance photo-journalist for LIVING READY, RT,
GLOBALSPEC, as well as several other news agencies and publications,
Zandri lives in New York.
Vincent, what are some of the things we’ll discover about Jack Marconi in this story?
In the first two Marconi novels, THE INNOCENT(formerly AS CATCH CAN),
and GODCHILD, Jack was much more brooding and dark-minded due to his
obsession over who killed his wife Fran and why. That mystery now
solved, and ten years having passed in the meantime, Jack is now a
little more cocky, and somewhat happier. He’s come to terms with Fran’s
death and although he hasn’t remarried, he’s gotten his life back and it
shows.
And what or who are some of the obstacles Jack has to face?
Maybe Jack has gotten his life back, but he’s also aging in a way
that’s making him feel culturally irrelevant. Smartphones, texting,
blogging, Facebook, Google…none of these things were around during his
previous adventures or, at least, were in their infancy. How does he
compete with a would-be killer who’s obsessed with the post-modern indie
erotica novel, “Fifty Shades of Grey?” He has to find a way to get into
the killer’s mind-set. Not an easy thing for someone who is essentially
still rooted in the 1950s. The sense of isolation he feels adds to his
already heightened sense of existentialism. He feels at once alone and
dismayed at a new generation of socially media savvy and digitally
raised young people who can torture others both sexually and mentally
with all the ease and carelessness as one would experience playing a
video game. I explored a very similar theme in my stand-alone thriller,
SCREAM CATCHER.
What are some of Jack’s flaws? Did you develop these through
conscious character design, or do they flow more from the storyline?
Jack is always going to do the right thing, even if it means breaking
the law. He’d rather hire a convicted drug dealer and killer as his
sidekick than a white-bread goody-two-shoes, because he knows the former
knows a hell of a lot more about real life in the modern world than
does the latter. Such close underworld associations, however, can make
Jack suspect in the eyes of both the police and his clients. It also
elevates the potential for Jack to do something bad in order to get at
an ultimate good. Like shooting a bad guy in the thigh for instance in
order to extract some much needed information.
Who are some of the other characters in THE GUILTY, and how will they impact Jack.
Jack’s a got a new side-kick in the form of a former Green Haven
inmate whom he once was in charge of incarcerating. Blood, which is his
nickname, is now the local neighbourhood watchman which means he more or
less controls who sells and buys what on the street corners. He can
also get anything done…anything…but for a price. He is a handsome, very
in shape, middle-aged African American man of strict morals who knows
what it’s like to be on the wrong side of a set of prison bars. Like
Keeper, he only wants to get at the truth of any given case.
What did you particularly enjoy about writing THE GUILTY?
It was fun being back in Jack’s voice. Some readers will say that
Jack seems a lot like my other serial character Dick Moonlight, but
there are tremendous differences. Jack would do stuff Moonlight would
never do and vice versa. They know one another, and often work with the
same men and women at the Albany Police Department. One day I’m going to
sit down and start writing a novel with both of them in it.
That sounds like a fun story to write. In what ways has your
writing evolved since the first Jack Marconi book? Who are some of the
influences that have impacted your writing?
I’m older and having written thirteen novels and countless articles
in between, I’m a somewhat better writer. Or so I hope. I’ve also been
exposed to some great voices over the past decade and a half since I
wrote the first Marconi novel. Charlie Huston, Don Winslow, Boston
Teran, Les Edgerton, Belinda Frisch among them. They have taught me all
about writing great sentences and paragraphs with few if any wasted
words.
You recently attended Thrillerfest. What were some of the memorable moments?
Andy Bartlet, my original acquiring editor at Thomas & Mercer,
and I tried our best to steal a Kuwaiti flag which was mounted to a pole
on the exterior of the Kuwaiti embassy. I suppose in the end it’s good
that we didn’t get the flag because then we would have had to fight over
who got to take it home. The whole adventure blended well with
Thrillerfest in that it’s the one occasion during the year where
editors, writers, publishers, fans, all get to let loose together and
have some fun. It’s what keeps me coming back year after year.
As well as writing novels and short fiction, you continue to
work as a freelance photo-journalist, travel a great deal, and play the
drums in a punk rock band. You also spend time in Italy. Do you find
your lifestyle creeping its way into your stories?
Sure, it can’t help but creep in. I just wrote a novel called CHASE
which is about a writer/adventurer who lives in Florence part-time. He
often gives walking tours for extra cash and on occasion will act as a
private detective for the local police. In the first book he goes on the
trail of a missing archaeology professor and ends up in
post-revolutionary Egypt. Not the safest of places. I went to Egypt this
past October to research the novel. I couldn’t admit to being an
American. My fixer and I also got run off the road, our car crashing
into a ditch. It was a strange feeling finding yourself in the hornet’s
nest. But then, I like that sort of thing.
You have been extremely successful as an indie author,
through Amazon publishing and through StoneHouse Ink, a highly regarded
indie publishing house. Do you have a view about how publishing might
evolve over the next few years?
I think the big six or five or four or whatever they are down to now
will rebound and enjoy a new resurgence with e-books. It’s taken some
time, but they are beginning to understand the potential of digital
publishing and how it will now replace entirely the mass market
paperback. Medium sized Indie houses like StoneHouse/StoneGate Ink will
get larger and larger until they are either bought out by the majors or
they become majors in their own right. Self-published authors who have not been previously published by major houses will find
it harder and harder to compete in a crowded marketplace but that
doesn’t mean there won’t be huge success stories every year. At the same
time, established authors who have been published by the majors will begin to seek out more independent alternatives in order to gain more control over what they write and publish while increasing profit margins. More brick and mortar bookstores will close including more Barnes
& Nobles. However, the trade paperback will continue to share the
podium with e-books while on-line sales thrive. I’m actually wondering
what’s going to replace the e-book. Whatever it is, it will happen very
soon.
It remains difficult for new writers to be noticed. Do you
have any advice for aspiring novelists about increasing their chances of
success?
Write great books. There’s no better way to be noticed.
THE GUILTY was released in July as a paperback original by StoneHouse Ink/StoneGate Ink.
WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
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