I don’t do a lot of blatant self-promotion and my sales
reflect it. This being my blog, nothing I say or do here BSP, as everyone is
here of their own free will, as opposed to me beating you senseless on Facebook.
With Pushing Water dropping on Monday
and a blog of my own, where else should people expect to see puffery?
Let’s start with how happy I am over the blurbs this book
has received. I have been fortunate over the years to get blurbs from writers
better than I deserve. (I’d list their names but they asked me not to. All of
them. Every goddamn one.) I try not to go to the same wells too often (at their
request), and I wanted to appeal to those who enjoy procedurals with more
realism in them. Who better to ask than actual cops who are also writers? The
way I looked at it, these were people uniquely immune to bullshit. They knew
cops inside and out (literally) and knew the trickiness of balancing
verisimilitude and entertainment.
The lead quote on the Down & Out web site belongs to
Colin Campbell. Colin is a thirty-year veteran of the West Yorkshire police and
author of the Jim Grant series of thrillers, the next of which, Catawba
Point, drops June 8 from Down & Out. He hit my sweet spot without
me having to tell him what it was.
“An extraordinary
voice. A mix of Pelecanos, Leonard and Wambaugh.”
Mark Bergin retired as a lieutenant from Alexandria VA
police, a two-time Officer of the Year for drug and robbery investigations.
Before that, he was an award-winning newspaper crime reporter. His debut novel,
Apprehension, was
one of my favorite reads last year and I started looking forward to his next
book soon as I put it down.
“Facing a flood of
armed robberies – and murder—Detective Doc Dougherty and his partners never
lose their professional edge or hometown humanity in Pushing Water. With twists
that shock and detective work that rings true, King is among the best cop
writers going.”
Adam Plantinga is a 19-year veteran of the Milwaukee and San
Francisco police departments and still an active sergeant. His first book, 400
Things Cops Know, earned an Agatha Award and won the 2015 Silver
Falchion award for best nonfiction crime reference. I scan it and Adam’s follow-up,
Police
Craft before I start work on a book to refresh my memory on what I can
use to add realism.
“Pushing Water is
smart, rhythmic and relentless with a gripping narrative and a keen eye for how
cops act and think.”
Frank Zafiro served twenty years in the Spokane WA PD,
retiring as a captain. He worked as a patrol officer, corporal, and detective
before entering into leadership roles, where he commanded patrol officers,
investigators, K-9 officers (and their dogs!), and the SWAT team.
Since retiring Frank has taught, and written police craft
textbooks. He’s currently a writing machine who edits the Down & Out series
The
Grifter’s Song and co-writing with Colin Conway the Charlie 3-16 series of novels. His
podcast, Wrong Place, Write Crime
has cost me a small fortune buying his guests’ books.
“Pushing Water is an engaging book that gets everything right:
the people, how they speak and act, the setting, and the story. The most
telling endorsement is this - after I finished reading it, I passed it on to
another retired cop to read!”
Thanks to all these fine officers and gentlemen. (Literally.)
Asking for blurbs is one of the more difficult aspects or writing for me, as I
know how busy everyone is and how many people want names such as these on their
books. The generosity they showed with their time and their words ranks high on
the list of things that keep me going.
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