Ace Atkins's Blog, page 4

 Alvin Karpis (August 10, 1907-August 26, 1979, born Alvin Karpowicz), nickname "Creepy" , was a noted criminal in the United States known for his alliance with the Barker gang in the 1930s. He was the last "Public Enemy" to be taken, a capture which elevated J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI to national prominence. His stay at Alcatraz, a little over 25 years, was longer than any other inmate interned there.
Karpis was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and was raised in Topeka, Kansas...

In two weeks, INFAMOUS hits stores across the United States and Canada. I always look forward to spring and meeting some great people and having a few beers to celebrate. See you out there.

Thursday, April 15th: Huntsville, Alabama Alabama Library Association Convention (Awarding of Wicked City as Book of the Year/fiction)Thursday, April 15th: Birmingham, Alabama Alabama BooksmithFriday, April 16th: Atlanta, Georgia Decatur Public Library hosted by Acappella BooksSaturday, April 17th:

This is part one in a continuing blog series on the criminals you'll meet in INFAMOUS. Check back later this week to learn more on Alvin Karpis. -- Ace


Verne Miller—Sheriff, Moonshiner, Hit-man. How did the career of a small-town sheriff from South Dakota promote the creation of the modern FBI? Well, for one thing, he became a gangster.

Vern Miller's FBI PhThe earliest years in Verne Miller's biography remains unclear. It is reported that he was born in Kimball, South Dakota in 1896. Not much...

Several years ago, I was asked to appear in a series of Bacardi ads to be featured in The New Yorker. To be honest, I don't drink flavored Bacardi and don't read The New Yorker. But this being my third novel, I was glad to be included and appreciative.

I guess I wasn't a very good pitch man. I haven't been asked to sell anything since. Unlike actors or athletes, authors are rarely asked for endorsements.
 
I recently ran across this ad, thinking I had never ordered a flavored cocktail in my li...

Megan Abbott is the Edgar®-winning author of the crime novels Queenpin, The Song is You and Die a Little. Her new novel, Bury Me Deep, which is loosely based on the Winnie Ruth Judd "Trunk Murderess" scandal of the 1930s, comes out in July 2009. She lives in Queens, New York.

One might call it bold or even arrogant. An author takes on not only one of the most storied scandals of the 20th century as his subject of his new novel but, at the same time, deploys one of America's most celebrated ...

The book isn't even out until April 15th, but critics already love it.
Booklist says: It's Atkins' prodigious research that makes this novel a compelling road trip through Depression-era America.  He vividly portrays the Dust Bowl, foreclosures, the grinding poverty, gnawing hunger, desperation and the rage at bankers (most of which resonate in today's America); and he captures the imminent end of the gangsters' heyday.  Like many fine historical crime novels, Infamous offers a window on...

Last December, BFP reprinted Ace Atkins 's first Nick Travers novel, Crossroad Blues (978-1-935415-03-9; $15) , with a new foreword by music journalist Greil Marcus (Mystery Train) & a never-before-published Travers story, "Last Fair Deal Gone Down" (which went on to be nominated for the Edgar!). Now, in October 2010, BFP is proud to release a new edition of the third Travers novel, Dark End of the Street (978-1-935415-17-6; $15), with a new foreword by Robert Gordon ( Can't Be Satisfied: The...

Spring will be here soon and that means that annual road trip to promote my latest novel. INFAMOUS hits stores across the country on April 15th. More dates could be added later. Stay tuned.

Thursday, April 15th: Huntsville, Alabama Alabama Library Association Convention (Awarding of Wicked City as Book of the Year/fiction)Thursday, April 15th: Birmingham, Alabama Alabama BooksmithFriday, April 16th: Atlanta, Georgia Decatur Public Library hosted by Acappella BooksSaturday, April 17th:

White Shadow included in recent Top 10 list by St. Petersburg Times book editor, Colette Bancroft

What books should every Floridian read? You know the classics set in the state, and you might even have read them: Marjory Stoneman Douglas' The Everglades: River of Grass, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' The Yearling, Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Patrick Smith's A Land Remembered, John D. MacDonald's Condominium. You know the roster of great crime novelists who write about the sh...

Some strange mojo down in New Orleans these days. Who would have ever thought we'd see the New Orleans Saints playing to become world champs? And who ever thought we'd ever hear from our old friend, former New Orleans Saints defensive end Nick Travers, again?

But in the same week the Saints beat the Vikings in overtime, a Nick Travers short story was nominated for the Edgar Award. A person definitely has to believe some voodoo is at work here.

I have not written about Nick for almost seven year...