Author Tom Piccirilli writes that his “Cold” books (The Cold Spot and The Coldest Mile to date) are inspired by Gold Medal paperbacks, including those by our favorite:
The Cold books are heavily influenced by the 50s [sic, in Stark’s case at least] Gold Medal classic authors such as David Goodis, Charles Williams, Jim Thompson, Harry Whittington, Peter Rabe, Bruno Fischer, Gil Brewer, and Donald Westlake (Richard Stark). For those of you who don’t know, Gold Medal was a paperback publisher noted especially for its crime fiction. Unless you live and breathe this kind of writing (and even if you don’t, you should keep your eyes open when hanging around the secondhand shops), you’ve probably only heard of one or two of those names in passing.
Bruce Grossman at Bookgasm got a little Stark on his mind while reading The Coldest Mile:
With the passing of Donald E. Westlake, crime fans understand we’ll never see another in his Parker series. But Tom Piccirilli’s current series stars what could best be described as an alternate version of that character, but still (a)s cold-blooded and ruthless.
A quick spot-check of the Internet indicates that both books are well-reviewed. Anyone read either or both? If so, what did you think? Would you recommend them to Parker fans?
Getting back to Piccirilli’s above-quoted text–I’ve read fewer than half of the authors he lists. Looks like I have some exploring to do.
(Tom Piccirilli”s blog is here.)
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I just read the Coldest Mile my first book by Tom Piccirilli. He is my new favorite author of crime fiction. Now I have to purchase 19 more books. I wonder why I am just now discovering him? With 20 book he must be read a by a lot of people. I think a little known soon to be well known great crime fiction writer.
I’ve read the Cold books. Well-written, but I didn’t like them enough to read more Piccirilli. May I recommend Ghostman by Roger Hobbs. Hobbs is only in his 20s. He is going to be very big in crime fiction circles.