New Pyres Reviews

Glad to report that last month's publication of the trade paperback of Pyres has eared the book some renewed attention, including some fresh reviews from newspaper and online sources. Here's a sampling:

Nikitas does a nice job of weaving in a surprising amount of Norse mythology into an otherwise very modern thriller. . . [T]he novel's final chapter, titled Ragnarok (twilight of the gods in Norse mythology), vies with any epic opera for explicit and apocalyptic violence.

Nikitas keeps the tension high in Pyres while creating a compelling cast of characters. Detective Hurd could be a springboard heroine for a noir series set in the woodsy idyll of upstate New York.

--Kathy Kerr, The Edmonton Journal (full review here)


Derek Nikitas' Pyres garnered good notices, but not widespread acclaim, when it was published last year. But now that the book, nominated for an Edgar Award for best first novel, is out in paperback, it has a chance to reach the audience it richly deserves.

--Ruth Myles, Calgary Herald (full review here)

An Edgar Award nominee for best first novel, Pyres is a harsh, bleeding nightmare full of Scandinavian angst and American mayhem, a fairy tale with all "the brutal bits."

In a genre ploughed deep, it breaks new ground. Don't miss it.

--John Sullivan, Winnipeg Free Press (full review here)

It's hard to believe this tour de force is a first novel. However, the author is an acclaimed short-story writer and clearly has honed his fiction chops. Another surprise, given the male author, is that the main characters are women and a major theme running through the book is mothers and daughters trying to make peace. To Nikitas' credit, the characters and relationships are all quite convincing. Nikitas is also close enough to his youth that he gets his younger characters right. I admit that when Luc started seeing Nordic gnomes (tomten) that led her on the right path, I paused. This was verging on fantasy, something I usually avoid. But everything about the story was so well done and so compelling that I was willing to suspend disbelief and keep on reading. I was glad I did. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

--Verna Suit at I Love a Mystery (full review here, complete with doofy candid of the author)

And here's a nice bit about my story "Runaway," in the Killer Year anthology (St. Martin's Minotaur, edited by Lee Child):

The best story in this collection is the superbly chilling "Runaway" by Derek Nikitas. Two fifteen year-olds have made a building site their playground and a concrete underground bunker their den - and then they discover that a runaway black girl is hiding inside. The captivating Rhonda Peach is a revelation to the boys. But things increasingly get beyond their control. Nikitas's writing is evocative and sensual and rooted in teenage angst.

--Eileen Shaw, The Bookbag (full review here)

But perhaps my favorite review of Pyres yet comes from the "Nerd of Noir" (aka Peter Dragovich) Here's a snippet, but please do read the whole profane thing:

But what really makes this fucker hum is the action. This is some of the most intense violence you will read anywhere, depicted on a level that is arguably McCarthyian - no shit. ..Some shocking stuff happens in this motherfucker and when it isn't completely disgusting, it is absolutely riveting.

I can't wait for Nikitas to pump out another book. This dude has the chops to intrigue both the beret-wearing totebag-carriers and the folks like you and me who want our pulp to go all the way. He's fighting the best fight and I support the shit out of him for that.

Finally, and by contrast, here's a message board over at Women's Day, where a nice group of folks are currently reading and discussing Pyres.

The Long Division

I think I can say now that the title of my second novel will be...

The Long Division. Aside from being thematically related to the book in several ways, the title is also a play on the old Chandler, Hammett, Ross McDonald titles that were euphemisms for death: Red Harvest, The Big Sleep, The Long Goodbye, etc.

The hardcover ought to be coming out this September. I think I can also divulge a quick synopsis of the book as well:

An Atlanta housecleaner flees her nowhere life to reunite with the son she gave up for adoption. The teenage boy joins his long-lost mother on an unlawful road trip that proves how much they both have to lose by finding each other. Elsewhere, a deputy must track down the shooter in a drug-related double murder before other investigators discover the deputy's illicit ties to the case. The killer is an unbalanced college kid hunted by vengeful drug dealers and the police, haunted by loves both dead and forbidden. When the renegade mother and son arrive, past sins and present gambits will ensnare them in the violent endgame between the deputy and the desperate killer.

Pyres in Paperback

Just a quick reminder that the trade paperback edition of Pyres goes on sale today from St. Martin's Minotaur. Now you can have it for as cheap as eleven bucks! And it's smaller, easier to cart around.

Flash (In the Pan?) Fiction

So, the game is afoot. Two more kick-ass online noir outlets have published flash fiction pieces of mine: Pulp Pusher and Plots With Guns. This nearly rounds out the linked flash fiction cycle I concocted. These editors have been so gracious in accepting my stories, I still can't believe my secret plan to publish these stories in tandem worked. Well, nearly worked, since there is still one installment outstanding. I'll let you know.

The stories are rather loosely linked. You don't have to read them in chronological order. Well, you don't have to read them at all. I didn't even tell the various editors they were related. And now they're each going to send somebody to break my fingers for not telling them. That's how these noir guys operate.

If you like order, here it is:

"Bronze Horsemen" in Plots With Guns.
"Homecoming" in Pulp Pusher.
"Razor" in Thuglit (here you have to open "Thuglit Issue 28 and then my story in PDF).

While you're at it, check out some of the other killer stories they've got in these issues. Especially "Big in Japan" by my GSU pal Chris Bundy. That one's in the same issue of Thuglit above. Also check out "Guts" (Thuglit #9) and "Pay to Pray" (Thuglit #26) by my buddy Keith Gilman, whose first novel Father's Day comes out from St. Martin's Minotaur in Spring 09. More on Keith another day.

Razor

Man, I'm a bad blogger. But I can blame trying to finish novel two, which looks like it officially has a name, though I'm not sure I can reveal it yet. Maybe in the next couple months.

Till then, how about a short story? I just had one published in this month's issue of Thuglit. It's called "Razor," not to be confused with "Reznor" of Nine Inch Nails fame, though I am an undying fan. Perhaps one of the more brutally noir-ish pieces I've yet written. More stories to follow shortly from the likes of Plots with Guns and Pulp Pusher. Once they're all published, my master plan will be complete...

Besnyo/ Blankets

Here's a video my brother's band, Besnyo, just released in conjunction with their new album, Worry. Of all the song on that album, this one is my second favorite, after "Luisa, I Am Tired." It sounds so desperately moody, I can't stand it, like a song New Order should have made way back when they became New Order, instead of making that dull-fest Movement. My brother Steve Nikitas is the guitarist. He makes me proud. Sean Mikula sings, and sometimes I wish they'd mix his voice a little louder and clearer. But that's part of the charm, I suppose.

Blankets

Good People

So I'm being terrible at updates again. But only because I'm writing book two. And getting moved into my new house in Kentucky. And prepping for classes. And hanging out with the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department in NY to do some serious hands-on research for the aforementioned book two.

I should mention I'll be teaching--four courses!--at the South Carolina Writer's Workshop this October. I'm psyched, particularly because Michael Connelly, one of the world's great crime writers, will be there as the keynote speaker. In honor of Mr. Connelly, two of my seminars will be focused on analyzing the structure of his two greatest novels thus far: The Poet and Bloodwork. I'm having a lot of fun reading through them again from a practitioner's and learner's POV. Nothing like a good novel read closely to teach a writer how to write. Plus I get to hang out with my St. Martin's editor, Michael Homler, do a seminar with him, and endlessly speculate with him about the upcoming G.I Joe movie.

If you're in the South Carolina area and want to spend a weekend on the beach absorbing the wit and wisdom of some great writers (and hear nonsense from me), consider signing up. Of course, if you're looking to study creative writing long term, mostly from the comfort of your own home, there's always this soon-to-be-legendary low-residency MFA program. You might recognize one of the professors...


All right. More than enough bullshit about me. Let's talk about a real writer.

Today is the day that my pal Marcus Sakey releases his third novel, Good People. His first two novels, The Blade Itself and At The City's Edge sealed his reputation and earned him mega fans and critical accolades. Hell, Ben Affleck is directing The Blade Itself as his follow-up to Gone Baby Gone. But Good People is his real masterpiece, and it's going to put him up there with the other household names in crime writing who are also quality writers and storytellers (an uncommon double-whammy): Denis Lehane, Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos, to name a few. Bank on it. And read this fucking amazing book, Good People.