Gregg Hurwitz has created a lot of buzz in the mystery world with his Tim Rackley series. The series is a compelling, well researched and plot driven set of adventures featuring a Federal Agent who isn’t afraid to go “balls to the wall”. THE CRIMEWRITER is more. This book offers a view into a world only its author knew before. Hurwitz has left behind the he-man feel of his series to present a view of the chaos, serendipity, absurdity and beauty that is today’s Southern California.

When we meet Drew Danner he’s leaving prison. He’s been given a not “not guilty” verdict by a jury of his peers. The crime he’s been accused of is the murder of his ex-girlfriend. It wasn’t just any trial. Thanks to Drew’s occupation (Crime writer) and his ex’s “almost” celebrity status, the media was whipped into a frenzy. All of America saw the surreal story unfold in their newspapers or with Mary Hart. He wants the truth. You see, our protagonist doesn’t remember what brought him to Genevieve’s bedroom or why he was apprehended by police standing over the body with the knife in his hand. He had a tumor. He has amnesia. When another body is found the original detectives come to call again. Hurwitz feeds his story like an engine man feeding coal to a locomotive. The more he writes the faster the story travels. The pace of the story aside, there are passages within this novel which sing like the loneliest of elegies. But with the mourning there is hope. At the very beginning of the book is a soliloquy to today’s L.A. that is inspired. Within Danner’s daily rituals we find a contemporary man living with doubt, worshipping false icons and still in search of the “Truth”. That Hurwitz’s dénouement is straightforward and yet beyond bizarre is a testament to his strength as a writer and his love for L.A.

In THE CRIMEWRITER Hurwitz marries over-the-top Hollywood with the most basic of human emotions. The evolution of writer and story is apparent on every page. He has created a California voice as stylistic as Cain’s, Chandler’s, Crais’ or Prather’s and set it in the 21st century. Like Rackley, Hurwitz isn’t afraid to go “Balls to the Wall” and the pay-off is remarkable.

Ruth Jordan