Irish author Adrian McKinty is no stranger to the crime fiction community. His work – including a YA novel and the acclaimed Forsythe trilogy - has been praised by critics in The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and The New York Times. He’s also developed a formidable online presence, posting regularly at his own blog, The Psychopathology of Everyday Life, and interacting with writers and commenters on other blogs, including Peter Rozovsky’s award-winning Detectives Beyond Borders and Declan Burke’s Crime Always Pays.
McKinty’s latest release, FIFTY GRAND, has a five star rating on Amazon and a BCS Review critic has already declared the book should top best-of lists for the year and receive award nominations. In FIFTY GRAND “McKinty offers a hard-edged noir about a female police detective from Cuba who travels illegally to Fairview, Colorado, hoping to make sense of her father’s death in an apparent hit-and-run on a frozen mountain road. Beginning with a gripping set piece in which Detective Mercado, disguised as a man, smuggles herself across the Mexican border and into the U.S., the novel jumps between Mercado’s under-the-radar investigation (Why was her father, a celebrated Cuban defector, posing as a Mexican immigrant?) and flashbacks to her own life in Cuba before Dad abandoned the family. Posing as an illegal maid from Mexico, Mercado infiltrates a group of supercilious Hollywood types who may hold the answers, all the while constructing a macabre revenge plan. McKinty tightens the screws on his heroine effectively, forcing her into a classic noir conundrum from which there appears to be no escape. An impeccably constructed thriller supported by a cast of finely rounded, Elmore Leonard–like characters.” – Booklist
Adrian McKinty recently spoke to The Examiner about his latest work, and his writing.
Ruttan: Havana is featured prominently in FIFTY GRAND. You really bring it to life with the scents, sounds and people. What kind of research did you do?
McKinty: I ended up going to Cuba 4 times. The first was just a quick look around, but then I had an odd experience at Ernest Hemingway's house, which I wrote about here, for the Times Online. I knew that there was a lot more going on in Cuba than I first realized. On my later trips I got out of Havana and made it to Santiago and some of the other cities. And even though I didn't use any of that material in the book I think it was important to get a broader look at the country beyond the Havana suburbs. I taperecorded a lot of people: cops, prostitutes, pimps, bus drivers, barmen etc. and ending up using some of their observations in the novel. And I think by the end of it I had a fairly good idea of how Cuba works.
Ruttan: FIFTY GRAND has a lot going on, with everything from murder, mystery, action, intrigue and suspense to political commentary. What were you hoping to accomplish with FIFTY GRAND and what do you hope that readers will take away from the book?
McKinty: I'm not a fan of didactic fiction. I don’t necessarily want to change anybody's mind about illegal immigration, the treatment of Mexicans or even their attitude towards Scientology. That's not my job as a novelist. I feel my role is to provide an engaging and arresting story with believable and interesting characters. If they come away with more sympathy for the plight of illegals and a more nuanced view of Cuba as a result well that's just a bonus.
Part two of this interview will run on Friday June 5, 2009. FIFTY GRAND can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble or your neighborhood Borders store.
Sandra Ruttan can be contacted at sandra@sandraruttan.com
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