Peter Blauner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Blauner (1959- ) is the author of six novels, including Slow Motion Riot, which won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America and was named an International Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement. His novel The Intruder was a New York Times bestseller and a bestseller in England as well. USA Today said his most recent book, Slipping Into Darkness "might very well be the crime novel of the year." {USA Today, February 28, 2006} His novels have been praised by such authors as Stephen King, Scott Turow, James Patterson, Nelson DeMille, Michael Connelly, James Ellroy, George Pelecanos, and Patricia Highsmith. His novel The Intruder was called "The best book I've read in years" by James Patterson and was included on Stephen King's booklist in his memoir On Writing. He considers himself to be not so much a thriller writer as a "social novelist," often writing about the cost of city living on the human soul.

He writes finely crafted, uncompromisingly realistic urban novels that combine elements of crime fiction with searing character studies.

1 Early Career
2 Novels
3 Short Stories
4 External links

[edit] Early Career

His early literary influences ranged from writers like Raymond Chandler, Ernest Hemingway, Flannery O'Connor and Philip Roth to film directors like Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, and Werner Herzog. He studied at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and won the Paul Horgan prize for best short fiction by a student. He started in journalism as an assistant to writer Pete Hamill before reporting for the Newark Star-Ledger in New Jersey and the Norwich Bulletin in Connecticut. He reported on crime for New York magazine but found inspiration for his first novel at the New York Department of Probation saying that it was a "virtual social microcosm."