roger smith's Videos
ROGER SMITH'S PAGE
Profile Information
- About Me:
- I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. I've written, produced and directed film and TV. My credits as a screenwriter are numerous and my work is seen regularly on African television. I now live in Cape Town.
My first thriller, MIXED BLOOD, was published in the US in hardcover by Henry Holt and Company on March 03 2009.
MIXED BLOOD is available in trade paperback in the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The German translation, KAP DER FINSTERNIS, is on sale through Tropen/ Klett-Cotta as their lead title.
WAKE UP DEAD, my second stand-alone thriller, will be published by Henry Holt in early 2010.
MIXED BLOOD: An American, hiding out in Cape Town after being blackmailed into a bank heist back home, is building a new life for his pregnant wife and young son when an incident of random violence sets him on a collision course with street gangs and a rogue cop who loves killing almost as much as he loves Jesus Christ.
PRAISE FOR MIXED BLOOD
"A lean, bloodthirsty, yet meditative story that is almost impossible to put down, offering the rewards of a literary thriller combined with the zip of a powerful movie (it seems a natural for the big screen). MATT SOERGEL - FLORIDA TIMES-UNION
"A frenetic roller-coaster of noirish desperation. Fast and furious, full of blood and vengeance." ANDREW DONALDSON -SUNDAY TIMES
"A gripping thriller that follows believable (if sometimes grotesque) characters along a desperate rush to ruin. Highly recommended." RON TERPENING - LIBRARY JOURNAL
"Mixed Blood is excellent. Picture Richard Stark's Parker as a family man having to flee to Cape Town, South Africa. Very,very violent, very dark. This is about as good a first crime novel as I have read." DAVE ZELTSERMAN / Small Crimes
"Smith plays out . . . that chilling sense of inevitability that is at the heart of the best noir. Like George Pelecanos, [he] captures lives trapped by poverty and prejudice without sentimentalizing those lives or downplaying the havoc they can produce. A fine debut." BILL OTT - BOOKLIST
"The spare, well-paced story gathers momentum to a Miltonic moment of retribution." BARBARA FISTER - MYSTERY SCENE MAGAZINE
"An unnerving thrill ride that kept me on edge from beginning to end. Mixed Blood is a top-notch debut thriller and I'm looking forward to Roger Smith's next book." PHILLIP MARGOLIN/ Executive Privilege
"Smith offers a gritty tale of corruption and vengeance set in South Africa in his absorbing debut. His taut prose bodes well for future thrillers from his pen." PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Startling, vivid, frightening. A first-rate debut by an up-and-coming talent." ERIC VAN LUSTBADER/ First Daughter & The Bourne Sanction
"A very brutal, absolutely gripping walk on the wild side.All ends in a devastating climax making Mixed Blood a shattering page-turner." STEVE WHITTON - THE ANNISTON STAR
"Smith does an outstanding job of bringing Cape Town to life,taking us through the twists and turns of the local criminal world and the confusing labyrinth of racial identity in post-apartheid South Africa." KIRKUS REVIEWS
"A cinematic Cape Town thriller." BRUCE TIERNEY - BOOKPAGE
"Smith's characters fight for their lives against a Cape Town heavy with heat, grime, corruption,and gang violence. With its shattering sense of place, and satisfying plot twists, this book will grip you from page one." CHELSEA CAIN/ Heartsick & Sweetheart
"Mixed Blood deals with characters spiralling out from a break in on the high-rent slopes of Cape Town's spectacular mountains . . . all drawn vividly in the complexity and beauty of the city itself. Smith's tale has a drive and an inevitability that makes it a compelling read." GLENN HARPER - INTERNATIONAL NOIR FICTION
"Mixed Blood is right up the mean streets of those who like fast, tough, gritty crime fiction." MIKE NICOL - CRIMEBEAT
"I couldn't put this book down. A great comparison is Pelecanos' hard look at Washington DC, or an earlier Richard Price. Mixed Blood is great genre writing ." THREE GUYS ONE BOOK
"The poverty, hopelessness and turmoil of Cape Town is portrayed frankly and unapologetically, and also with sympathy, but in this brutal noir world, almost no characters can escape. Highly recommended for those who can stomach the violence." STOP YOU'RE KILLING ME
"A scorched earth, no prisoners, no quarter, no good guys,just degrees of badness thriller." MACK CAPTURES CRIME
"An adventure into another part of the world you won't soon forget." NEW MYSTERY READER MAGAZINE
"A graphic look at Cape Town. Entertaining and suspenseful." MLB NEWS
- I Am A:
- Writer
- Website:
- http://www.rogersmithbooks.com
- Books And Authors I Like:
- James Sallis, Elmore Leonard, Cormac McCarthy, Pete Dexter, Jim Thompson, Richard Stark, Ken Bruen, Philip Roth, Carl Hiaasen, Dennis Lehane, Norman Mailer, Denis Johnson, James Ellroy, Ian McEwan
- Movies And TV Shows I Like:
- No Country for Old Men, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Fargo, Dr Strangelove, Raging Bull, Point Blank, The American Friend, Sunset Boulevard, Big Lebowski
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Roger smith's Blog
Variety reports that Phillip Noyce will direct Mixed Blood the movie
Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Screen International have given a lot of space to the announcement that Phillip Noyce will helm the scr… Continue
Posted on June 18, 2009 at 3:00am —
Mixed Blood by Roger Smith hits the shelves
My debut thriller, Mixed Blood (Henry Holt & Co), is available today in the US.
An American, hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, after being blackmailed into a bank heist back home, is building a new life for his pregnant wife and young… Continue
An American, hiding out in Cape Town, South Africa, after being blackmailed into a bank heist back home, is building a new life for his pregnant wife and young… Continue
Posted on March 4, 2009 at 1:45am —
German translation of MIXED BLOOD by Roger Smith on 10 Best list
Posted on March 2, 2009 at 10:11pm —
MIXED BLOOD MOVIE RIGHTS OPTIONED
The rights to my debut thriller Mixed Blood (Henry Holt & Co 03 03 2009) have been optioned by GreeneStreet Films (NYC) with Samuel L. Jackson attached to star and Kelly Masterson (Before The Devil knows You're Dead) to write the screenplay. Active negotiations are underway for Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Bone Collector, The Quiet American) to direct. Via Jody Hotchkiss at Hotchkiss & Associates.
Posted on February 8, 2009 at 4:15am — 3 Comments
"Mixed Blood" reviewed by the Big 4
www.rogersmithbooks.comMy debut thriller Mixed Blood (March 03 Henry Holt) has been reviewed by all four influential US pre-pub journals:Publishers Weekly, Library Journa… Continue
Posted on January 31, 2009 at 10:56pm — 2 Comments
Latest Activity
Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Screen International have given a lot of space to the announcement that Phillip Noyce will helm the screen version of my debut thriller, Mixed Blood. Noyce has recently wrapped Salt with Angelina Jolie.
Samuel L. J...
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Steve
jc
sorry I was so slow at responding to your 'add', I wasn't being rude! All the best, Alison
By the way, I'm also a fan of The Big Lebowski. Here in the U.S., that movie has acquired quite a cult following. There are actually Lebowski Fests in several cities, where attendees dress up as the Dude, Walter and even the Nihilists!
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