Since my article about small presses was a resounding success, I thought you might like to hear me jaw about what's going on in contemporary genre literature at least once more. This time, I'd like to introduce my older readers (and, seemingly everybody else) to the up-and-coming authors destined to become household names in genre literature. These guys are next James Ellroy, Lawrence Block, Dorothy Parker, you get the gist. We're going to talk about them in fifty, maybe one hundred years.
I've had many angry emails and dealt with many butthurt Facebook conntections after last article, so I'm going to tell you this once: I'm going to do many list. If you want to be included on one someday, make sure to send me your absolute best stuff and maybe it'll happen. This first list of standout authors is obviously mystery/hardboiled oriented, so don't pout if you write horror, never sent me your books for review and aren't included on this list. If I haven't read you, I can't possibly know if you're good, can I?
Now, without further ado...
FRANK BILL
Frank Bill made a lot of noise in 2011 with his first release, a short story collection about the lives of the dispossessed people in Southern Indiana. He's one of these authors who really care about the people he writes about and tries to portray them in the fairest possible way without losing sight of their dark and desperate situations. His first novel DONNYBROOK was entirely different, it portrayed the chaotic nature of men, and exposed his immense narrative range as an author. He also published beautiful essays about where he's from in major magazines. I can't wait for his next released and I'm sure he'll find a way to make it extraordinary, whether it's similar or entirely different from his existing output.
WILLIAM BOYLE
I don't think anybody expected anything out of William Boyle's debut novel GRAVESEND in 2013, but it found its way to many year end's best, including my own. Boyle is a bit of a classicist who can harness the beauty of hardboiled and literary fiction both. His character are complex, layered and tormented. They are built like rows of majestic buildings bound to collapse in an inevitable natural disaster. I haven't read Boyle's subsequent short story collection and I'm not sure I will. Shorts aren't as fulfilling as novels by nature and GRAVESEND was so good, so I'm afraid to be disappointed. I might just hold my breath and wait for his next novel.
JOE CLIFFORD
One of the most interesting things about Joe Clifford is that he was just another hardboiled hack and then one day he figured it all out: he started writing about broken people. His novel LAMENTATION is the heartbreaking story of two brothers who live in the past and merely survive survive the present. It's a slow moving, melancholic winter mystery about the invisible forces that pull us together and tear us apart. Joe Clifford is one of these writers who understands that great genre novels have to offer way more than just their genre. They need to be universally readable.
HILARY DAVIDSON
If plotting was a sport, Hilary Davidson would be the undisputed champion. If you would've told me I was going to go nuts over a mystery series about a travel writer, I would've laughed. Davidson made it happen, though. The Lily Moore novels are some of the most subtle, original and finely plotted mysteries I ever had the pleasure of reading. Davidson is a master at portraying the dark side of people. She proved she wasn't a one trick pony last year by branching out with a standalone novel that's even better than her series.
JORDAN HARPER
Jordan Harper is probably the most skilled writer on this list. No disrespect to the others (who are obviously all amazing), but prose is just on another level. Read his short story collection LOVE AND OTHER WOUNDS and you'll understand what I'm trying to say here. The words of Jordan Harper can make anything beautiful. He has the perspective, the patience and the creativity to write these crushing, yet wonderful stories about the violence that lies inside people. He hasn't released a novel yet, but I have that date marked on my calendar. Day one purchase for me.
MATTHEW MCBRIDE
Matthew McBride's first novel FRANK SINATRA IN A BLENDER charmed just about everybody in 2011. It was as close as we would ever get of having a prime Takashi Miike movie turned into a novel. McBride took everybody by surprise last year though, when he released the haunting and elegiac A SWOLLEN RED SUN, a Southern Gothic novel about life in the Ozarks. It was a powerful statement from McBride, who has one of the most impressive narrative range I've ever come across. His uncompromising vision makes him one of the most exciting new talents in the game.
BRIAN PANOWICH
Speaking of Southern fiction, Brian Panowich is another guy who does it absurdly well. His debut novel BULL MOUNTAIN was one of my favourite reads this year. Panowich stands out by his tremendous sense of pacing, his pwerful creative vision and by his strong, yet unobtrusive voice that allows him to nail the versatile third person narrative that not all that many authors can do right. He's also quite apt in the lost art of ''setting-as-a-character''. The relationship between Bull Mountain and the Burroughs family in his novel is magnificent and complex and there isn't enough of that in contemporary literature.
TIFFANY SCANDAL
I don't know if Tiffany Scandal is a genre writer per se, but she is simply too talented to be left off that list. Her novel-in-stories JIGSAW YOUTH blew me away and hinted at unlimited potential. There are many Raymond Carver worshippers who try to ape his style in contemporary literature, but I believe Tiffany Scandal has unwittingly found a way to pursue Carver's legacy of minimalism by mixing a wide array of influence into one seamless, unique style. I'm not sure what kind of animal Scandal is yet and you won't be either after reading JIGSAW YOUTH, but all you'll know is that you'll want some more.
JOHNNY SHAW
Here's a guy who quietly became one of my favorite authors over the last couple years. Johnny Shaw is the heir apparent to Joe R. Lansdale's throne of best storyteller in the business. Not only the man can write, but he's also one of my favorite users of the first person narration. It's a very tricky writing technique since it can turn a great story into a one note song in a heartbeat, but Shaw always does it with a sense of place and a terrific mindfulness that makes each of his stories unique. I like his writing so much I'll buy an entire short story collection just to read his. I have the second Jimmy Veeder fiasco PLASTER CITY in the pipeline for this month and I couldn't be happier.
BENJAMIN WHITMER
Benjamin Whitmer is the soul holder of the Ernest Hemingway title belt of manliest writer in the business. His latest novel CRY FATHER explains the souls of men with such precision, without any judgment or foregone conclusions. Whitmer is a fine psychologist that communicates in a beautifully understated language. Sure, he writes hardboiled novels, but he writes with a purpose much greater than that: he exposes the beautiful, destructive and oddly life-affirming chaos inside men's heads. This obsession give his novels a unique varnish that make him a unique and compelling voice in contemporary literature