Suspense Specialists
These three authors wrote all their novels in the mystery/crime/suspense genre.
-Linzee in 2006-
David Linzee is the youngest first novelist of the group, and he calls having his first novel published at a young age a "terrible misfortune." When "Death in Connecticut," was published, Linzee was in his mid-twenties, an age, he says, when all writers should be finding a profession that will support them during the years when their writing doesn't. But Linzee's early success led him to put all his energies into writing. "Drudgery," as far as paid work was concerned, was the result.
Linzee was born in St. Louis in 1952, graduated from Vassar College in 1974 and traveled a great deal after that. He lived in Stamford, Connecticut during the '80s and worked in a bookstore and for a literary agency and a book club. He didn't make the cut as a New York novelist, so he returned to St. Louis in 1991, to work in journalism, public relations, and teaching. He continues to publish short stories and non-fiction. Recently and belatedly, he got a Master's from Southern Illinois University and currently runs the Writing Lab at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Novels
Death in Connecticut McKay 1977, Dell pb1978* "Not very stimulating, this, and written without any real flair." --New York Times
Discretion Seaview Books 1978, Dell pb1979*
Belgravia # Seaview Books 1979, Dell pb1981* "Belgravia is the particularly entertaining product of a highly educated mind." -- Library Journal
Housebreaker* # Dutton 1987 "a breathtaking climax" -- Library Journal
As David August
Final Seconds* # Kensington Books 1998 -- by John Lutz and David August. They have "together created a pair of mismatched, very likable protagonists and placed them in a complex thriller with Unabomber overtones." -- BookList
Main sources: Personal interview
"Freelance writer is an early to rise type of scribe" in St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 28, 2002.
Written by Leeli Davidson
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-Meyer in 1977-
Lawrence Meyer is a retired reporter who wrote two suspense novels, then devoted himself entirely to nonfiction.
Born in Chicago in 1941, Meyer got his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and M.A. and M.S. degrees from Columbia. He became a newspaper reporter, quickly working his way up to the Washington Post. He was there 1969-1999, a busy and versatile staff reporter who wrote book reviews, essays, national and international politics, and other topics. He published a nonfiction book about Israel in 1982.
Meyer told LJ that he turned to the novel in order to convey the reality of political life in Washington more richly than he could within the constraints of journalism. His second book also depicted the Washington scene
Novels
A Capitol Crime* Viking 1977 Avon 1978 “Meyer has succeeded admirably at what he apparently set out to do: write a lean, well-told story about Washington and at the same time take a hard look at hose who run this country—or would like to.” Ross Thomas in Washington Post Book World
False Front* Viking 1979 1980 Popular Library “A shade less convincing than the first novel, but still better than many.” –Library Journal
Main source: Contemporary Authors
Almost 30 years passed between Mike Slosberg’s first and second novels. In the interval he was occupied with his career in advertising. With the second book, he is going it alone, using a subsidy publisher and Web sites.
Slosberg was born in Philadelphia in 1934. After serving in the Air Force, he graduated from the University of Denver in 1960. He then began a long career at Young & Rubicam in New York.
Slosberg’s first novel, a medical thriller called The August Strangers, did not sell well enough to enable to write full time, but it did quite well on the sub rights front. It was condensed in Cosmopolitan and optioned several times by movie producers. He has also written short stories and a cartoon book.
When he retired, Slosberg decided to go into writing full time. He contracted with Vantage Press, a well-known subsidy publisher, to publish his second book, a thriller, and republish his first. He has set up internet sites to publicize and sell them. Many publishing professionals look down on Vantage as a “vanity press,” and it has the reputation of not being taken seriously by book distributors. But Slosberg succeeded in getting his new novel carried by Amazon and Barnes and Nobel and considered by the Book of the Month Club, but not reviewed by Publishers Weekly or Library Journal.
Novels
The August Strangers* Dial 1977 Vantage 2006 “The story is totally convincing up to the point where these melodramatic elements enter, but the tension that has been built up and the sympathy for the characters that has been aroused carry the reader to the satisfying ending.” --Library Journal
The Hitler Error* Vantage 2006
Sources: Contemporary Authors
*Available from amazon.com #Stocked by St. Louis County Public Library