Posts Tagged ‘Richard Jay Parker’

Today I have been joined by Richard Jay Parker, author of the crime novel, Stop Me.  But before I ask him some questions I will be reviewing this fantastic novel.

Publisher – Allison and Busby
Publication Date – 11th January 2010
Paperback – 336 pages
Genre – Crime

Source – Received from the publisher for review

Book Information - Forward this email to ten friends.  Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends.  Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends.  If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won’t slit the bitch’s throat.
Can you afford not to send this onto ten friends?
Vacation Killer Leo Sharpe’s life is shattered when his wife Laura suddenly disappears.  His desperate need to find her turns to obsession when he becomes convinced she’s the latest victim of The Vacation Killer who has claimed eleven lives already – is Laura going to be the twelfth?  The MO is the same every time – a woman disappears and within hours inboxes around the world receive a threatening email.  A few days later, grim evidence of the victim’s death is delivered to the police.  But in Laura’s case, nothing is sent.  Has the killer spared her life?  Why?  And for how long?  For Leo, the clock is ticking – he needs to do everything in his power to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Review – I think that what really struck me about this book is the realism with which it has been written.  Leo Sharpe is just an ordinary man who is being consumed with grief over his missing wife.  For the first part of the book he is waiting for news from the police about Laura and he has become dependant on temazepam to help him sleep and to help block the pain and grief that he feels.  This part of the book is written so well that you can almost feel the numbness caused by the drugs, but at the same time it is also possible to see the pain hiding just beneath the surface.  I really felt for Leo and I became emotionally invested in his story right from the first page.
Fifteen months after Laura’s disappearance, the police are losing hope of ever finding her and the momentum of the case has slowed considerably.  It is at this point that Leo receives a call from a doctor who claims that he knows where Laura is being held captive.  The day that they are supposed to meet up the doctor is murdered, and this is the catalyst that Leo needs in order to take matters into his own hands.
He goes across to America to meet up with John Bookwalter; a man who confessed to the crimes of the Vacation Killer but was not charged due to a lack of evidence.  John has since set up a website where he still claims to have committed the murders, and this is how Leo first gets in contact with him.  Once he is in America, Leo meets John, who claims to have Laura hidden somewhere.  John will let Leo see Laura if he agrees to a few conditions.  However, Leo has never really believed that John is the real Vacation Killer so he starts his own investigation.  It is at this point that Leo’s character really comes into his own.  He has stopped taking the temazepam and he puts himself into some pretty dangerous situations in order to find out what has happened to Laura.  He does all of this even though he is scared and this makes him an incredibly likeable and believable character.
I really enjoyed reading Stop Me.  It was well-written and kept my attention right from the beginning.  I found myself being surprised several times by the way that the events unfolded and I was completely shocked at the ending – I just would not have predicted it at all!  It was, at times, quite a chilling read.  The style of writing made me feel as though I was really there and it was such a realistic storyline that I had no doubt it could really happen.  The other aspect that made it chilling was the chain emails that were sent by the Vacation Killer.  I can’t really explain it but I have always hated chain letters/texts/emails because of the irrational fear I feel when I do not pass them on (I never pass them on as I don’t want to pass along the bad feelings that I get when I receive one!).  So the fact that the consequences of the emails are so dire in this novel really struck a chord with me.  The anonymity of the Internet would make this kind of action completely possible and this again added to the realism of the story.
I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of the crime/mystery genre.  It was a gripping and enjoyable read that I found difficult to put down.

And now it is my pleasure to introduce Richard Jay Parker, who will be answering a few of my questions…

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born in South Wales but worked in TV so moved to London for fourteen years before relocating to Salisbury in 2006.  I still love returning to London to see friends and attend meetings but I’m happy to be a commuter now.  I love books and movies with a dark, twisted or sexy edge.

When did you start your writing career and did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

The writing bug bit early.  Have been writing full time since I was about eighteen (comedy scripts).  I worked as a TV script writer, script editor and producer for about fifteen years but started penning novels when I felt I’d gone as far as I could go with that form of writing.  I left my TV agent and managed to get a literary agent with my first book.  It was a hard sell though.  So hard that it was never published.  I did get invited to my first literary party though and found myself mentioned in Publishing News as ’soon-to-be-published Richard Jay Parker’.  Ten years later, STOP ME was published.

How did you come up with the ideas for your novel, Stop Me?

I get a lot of SPAM email that threatens me with loss of health or happiness if I don’t forward it.  I wondered what would happen if I received one that threatened somebody’s life if I didn’t send it on.  It was one of about four concepts that I had for books.  I ended up using all of them in STOP ME.

Can you tell us a bit about your writing process – do you plan a storyline at the start or do you just start writing and see where the mood takes you?

I always like to know where I’m heading.  With STOP ME I had the twist ending established and knew what the trajectory of my character would be.  When I was writing it though the fun was leading him down a series of dark sideroads along the way.

What are you working on at the moment? Have you got any other novels in the pipeline?

Am currently working on two thriller projects for my agent which I hope to have completed in the next couple of months.  I’m also writing scripts for some horror shorts – two of which have already been shot.

What other authors do you like to read and who has been you biggest inspiration?

I’ve got very varied tastes in books and rarely feel the need to read an author’s compete works.  In terms of thrillers, I loved FALLING ANGEL by William Hjortsbeg.  It’s a satanic noir novel that Alan Parker made into the movie ANGEL HEART.

Thank you very much Richard for taking the time to answer my questions!

If you would like more information about Richard, you can find it at his website / facebook / twitter / YouTube / myspace.

 

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.  Every week I’ll post about what books I have received that week – either through the mail for review, borrowed from the library or bought.

For Review:

Michael Scott – The Necromancer

Sophie and Josh have returned to San Francisco.  They must protect themselves from the Dark Elders, but they’ve not yet mastered the magic they’ll need to do so.  Their trust in Nicholas Flamel is shaken, and their friend Scatty is missing.  Unbeknownst to the twins, John Dee has amassed an enormous army of foul creatures, with which he plans to battle Nicholas and his wife, Peronelle.  In order for his plan to work, he must train a necromancer to raise the Mother of the Gods from the dead.  The twins of legend will make the perfect pupils in his diabolical scheme.

Richard Jay Parker – Stop Me

Forward this email to ten friends.  Each of those friends must forward it to ten friends.  Maybe one of those friends of friends of friends will be one of my friends.  If this email ends up in my inbox within a week, I won’t slit the bitch’s throat.
Can you afford not to send this onto ten friends?
Leo Sharpe’s life is shattered when his wife Laura suddenly disappears.  His desperate need to find her turns to obsession when he becomes convinced she’s the latest victim of The Vacation Killer who has claimed eleven lives already – is Laura going to be the twelfth?  The MO is the same every time – a woman disappears and within hours inboxes around the world receive a threatening email.  A few days later, grim evidence of the victim’s death is delivered to the police.  But in Laura’s case, nothing is sent.  Has the killer spared her life?  Why?  And for how long?  For Leo, the clock is ticking – he needs to do everything in his power to stop the killer before it’s too late.

Library:

Kresley Cole – No Rest for the Wicked

A vampire warrior who yearns for death…  Three hundred years ago, Sebastian Wroth’s brothers forced him to become a vampire – a nightmare in his mind.  Shamed and alone for ages, he longs to die.  Until an exquisite creature comes to kill him, inadvertently saving him instead.Â
A beautiful assassin dispatched to destroy him…  When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow – accidentally extinguishing all of her emotions.  Yet whenever she encounters the vampire with his grave eyes, her feelings – particularly lust – emerge multiplied.  For the first time, she’s unable to complete a kill.  The prize is a key powerful enough to resurrect her sisters.  Not understanding the key’s import, Sebastian hinders her against other opponents by using her new feelings to seduce her and earn her love.  But when Kaderin is forced to choose between finally killing Sebastian and reuniting her family, how can she live without either…?

What was in your mailbox this week?