What was the first crime novel you ever read? AFTER Nancy Drew or the Hardy Boys that is, when you were an adult!

[carole gill]

I'm thinking too. And I realize that I mainly read horror until fairly recently! When I was a young teen I used to grab hold of my parent's Alfred Hitchcock Monthly Magazine. I loved it! But as for novels--I think the first crime novels I read were by Lawrence Sanders. Come on, tell me--so it'll refresh my memory!

[carole gill]

Wow, what a great answer! I was riveted to Nancy Drew being a little girl child. I was a huge fan of the original Twilight Zone. I used to hop down the streets with my friends and we'd say things like "Now, we're about to go into the Twlight Zone, ready?" and there we were! I loved your quote from Mystic River. I have to read it. I did enjoy the film though, very much. You certainly named some authors I love. And wait a min! Hard Case Crime, are you kidding? I am addicted! I am writing something and have in mind the most lurid cover in the world! I loved Little Girl Lost and Branded Woman. I have to read Faust's and Guthrie's as well. I think it's fantastic that they are publishing books like that again, old and new. Books that people had to search through second hand book shops and attics to be able to read some of the earlier ones. And as for the new ones by new authors, it's great! why shouldn't a much loved style of writing be developed and redeveloped and shaped and added to and adapted for a brand new audience? it's so good.
btw, thanks so much for you reply. ps. I got into Stephen King right away--with Salem's Lot, I think it was. And as for pet cemetary or however he spelled it--! It shook me up like a lot! I mean it, too!

[Loretta Wheeler]

:) My first of King's was The Stand, it's always been my favorite. And then of course I began drifting through all of them. I'm like you, Pet Semetary was very eerie feeling...and I can remember one of my sons' having nightmares after watching Christine. He was younger (teens) but it bothered him a lot...maybe because when you're a male teenager, that car is life, and for the car to become your enemy was your worst nightmare!;):)

[carole gill]

I know what you mean. Christine was pretty scary. I think Salem's Lot scared me the most. I mean (i still remember) Danny Glick floating outside his brother's window. I mean woah! I think I checked around under the bed after that (and I was over twenty)! holy tamales!

[Loretta Wheeler]

Scott, reading your post was somewhat like reading one of the author's you listed:) Especially the part where you said,"Throw away the key, man. I'll stay behind bars as long as you feed me this stuff. Pelecanos's characters talked and lived a life so unlike mine, I felt like a voyeur. And I savored every last letter." Excellent!

And thank you for refreshing me about Dennis Lehane...I've read him and love him. Probably a lot of others that it would take a nudge to remember ...I tend to remember the titles rather than all the author's unless it's one I've read for years. I haven't got a clue what "disorder" that would be labeled under...sigh...I do the same thing with music.

I loved the opening line you quoted from Mystic River...I've seen the movie, but haven't read the book, but this makes me want to order it as soon as I log off:)

Like Carole said, this is an excellent post...and your own style is just as excellent. Tell us you write too!:) If not, you need to!:)

L.

[Bill Crider]

The first adult crime novel I ever read was A MOST CONTAGIOUS GAME by, I believe Samuel Grafton. I still remember parts of it vividly. I checked it out of the library the first time I was allowed into the adult stacks. Must have been pretty young.

[carole gill]

woo! looks like my kind of book! I love books with covers like that! Like Hard Case crime novels. I bet you loved it. And I bet it shaped your reading? First impressions and all of that. Me, I remember noticing the books my Grandfather had on the night stand. My Gran worked out of the home a lot--away for days, and he loved to read. These books had an impression on me--I think they must have been Spillane novels, with blondes and tough guys on the cover. I was a little girl, but it planted a seed in my head I guess. You're good that you remember early on. I can't--except for possibly Hitchcock mystery magazine stories. thanks so much Bill!

[Martyn Waites]

Raymond Chandler, Farewell My Lovely. I still have the copy. It was an old, green Penguin paperback edition, yellowed and worn and I picked it up from an antique book fair. I must have been in my late teens, I think. And I never looked back.

[carole gill]

I agree. It's one of my treasured books. I just get lost in it. It made a huge impression on me--talk about inspiration! thanks for that.