Peter Blauner
Encyclopedia
Peter Blauner 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.
, 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."
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America
Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York.The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday....
and was named an International Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
. His novel The Intruder was a New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
and a bestseller in England as well. USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
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
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, Scott Turow
Scott Turow
Scott F. Turow is an American author and a practicing lawyer. Turow has written eight fiction and two nonfiction books, which have been translated into over 20 languages and have sold over 25 million copies...
, James Patterson
James Patterson
James B. Patterson is an American author of thriller novels, largely known for his series about American psychologist Alex Cross...
, Nelson DeMille
Nelson DeMille
Nelson Richard DeMille is an American author of thriller novels. His works include Word of Honor , The Charm School, The Gold Coast, Plum Island, and The General's Daughter .DeMille has also written under the pen names Jack Cannon, Kurt...
, Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books, which have been translated into 36 languages, have garnered him many awards...
, James Ellroy
James Ellroy
Lee Earle "James" Ellroy is an American crime fiction writer and essayist. Ellroy has become known for a so-called "telegraphic" prose style in his most recent work, wherein he frequently omits connecting words and uses only short, staccato sentences, and in particular for the novels The Black...
, George Pelecanos
George Pelecanos
George P. Pelecanos is a Greek-American author. Many of his works are in the genre of detective fiction and set primarily in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writer...
, and Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith
Patricia Highsmith was an American novelist and short-story writer most widely known for her psychological thrillers, which led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen numerous times, notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951...
. 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
On Writing
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a memoir and writing guide book by Stephen King, published in 2000. It is a book about the prolific author's experiences as a writer. In 2008, Entertainment Weekly listed On Writing 21st on their list of The New Classics: Books - The 100 best reads from 1983 to...
. 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.
Early career
His early literary influences ranged from writers like Raymond ChandlerRaymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
, Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, Flannery O'Connor, and Philip Roth
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
to film directors like Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
, Sidney Lumet, and Werner Herzog. He studied at Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
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."
Novels
- 1991 - Slow Motion Riot
- 1994 - Casino Moon
- 1996 - The IntruderThe Intruder (novel)The Intruder is a children's novel by John Rowe Townsend, published in 1969. It was well-received, being shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and winning the Horn Book Award in 1970 and the Edgar Award in 1971...
- 1999 - Man of the Hour
- 2003 - The Last Good Day
- 2006 - Slipping Into Darkness
Short stories
- "Going, Going, Gone," The Best American Mystery Stories 2007
- "The Consultant," Wall Street Noir, 2007