Peter Spiegelman’s fourth novel, Thick as Thieves, is one hell of a heist thriller and one of our Whodunit? picks for August 2011. Our reviewer called it “a superbly crafted tale, pulsing with tension, twisty as a corkscrew and positively demanding to be read in one sitting.”
Spiegelman chatted with BookPage about mystery writing and great books:
Describe your book in one sentence.
It’s the story of a crew of highline thieves in the midst of the biggest job of their lives, and of their new and reluctant boss who, when he’s not managing this heist, is looking into his predecessor’s death, which he fears was arranged by one or more of the people in his crew. (That was one sentence, wasn’t it?)
What are you reading now?
Crime, a collection of stories by Ferdinand von Schirach. Grim, scary, and very moving.
What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?
No one will ever miss all the great writing you leave out.
Name one book you think everyone should read.
Dispatches by Michael Herr. Vietnam with an acid chaser. Lessons for today’s ongoing, too-easily-ignored wars.
If you could swap lives with one of your characters for a day, who would it be and why?
John March. I love his running routine.
What was the proudest moment of your career so far?
Finishing my first novel, Black Maps.
What’s next?
A new book, with new characters, set in a new city (Los Angeles).
