Even More Love for Wild Bill

Leighton Gage is the author of the successful Chief Inspector Mario Silva series, set in Brazil. His books have been praised by outlets ranging from Booklist (“South America’s Kurt Wallender”) to the Toronto Globe and Mail (“Masterful”) to the Boston Globe (“Compelling”) to Publisher’s Weekly (“Intelligent and Subtle…suspenseful and sophisticated). His newest effort, A Vine in the Blood, will be available in hard copy in North America at the end of December, and is available for Kindle now. 


Here is what he had to say about Wild Bill:


I’m no stranger to first novels.


Twice, I’ve served on juries where our task was to recognize the “Best Mystery/Thriller Novel Of The Year.”


Both times, it involved the reading of books written by well over 100 debut authors.


Few of them were anywhere near as good as Wild Bill. And none were significantly better.
Wild Bill is as lean as a whippet.


Dana King, the author, is a guy who has a natural talent for making every word count.


Characters in the books of many first-timers are often about as substantial as cardboard. And just as appetizing.


That’s not the case with King.


His voice is original.


And he’s really good at grasping cliché’s and turning them inside-out.


As a matter of fact, the only bad thing I can say about Wild Bill (and I’m trying really hard now) is that, personally, I don’t like the way it ends.


Not that King ended it badly. He didn’t. But the story didn’t come out the way I’d hoped it would.


Which, in a way, is another good thing to say about it.


Because my investment in the characters was great enough for me to care.


And when it comes to first novels, that doesn’t happen all that often, either.


Many thanks to Leighton for his kind words. Remember,Wild Bill is available now on Amazon as well as Barnes and Noble for that perfect $2.99 Kindle- or Nook-stuffer.