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Of course, one can always find out what Pierce is reading by visiting The Rap Sheet, the blog he edits that specializes in news and short features about crime fiction, in print and other media.
For a glimpse at his recent reading, here's part of his contribution to Writers Read:
There is much more of interest on Pierce's bookshelf, so read on.To satisfy my craving for crime, I am in the midst of enjoying several recent or forthcoming novels. Right on top of that stack is Martin Cruz Smith’s new Arkady Renko adventure, Stalin’s Ghost, in which the Moscow detective (who we first met in 1981’s Gorky Park) investigates a formerly heralded fellow cop’s alleged corruption, while simultaneously dealing with his girlfriend’s decision to go back to her former lover, and looking into reports that the late Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is haunting a metro train platform. Below that, I find works by a couple of Irishmen — John Connolly’s The Unquiet, his sixth novel featuring private eye Charlie Parker; and Declan Hughes’ second P.I. Ed Loy novel, The Color of Blood — followed by Eternal, my introduction to Craig Russell’s half-Scottish, half-German detective, Jan Fabel of the Hamburg murder squad. (Earlier this year, Russell’s work won the Hamburg Polizeistern Award, or annual Police Star Award, so I’m expecting great things.)
Pierce is the author most recently of Eccentric Seattle, about the troubled, tragic, and often bawdy history of the Pacific Northwest’s most publicized city. His
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He is currently working on his first novel, a historical mystery.
Writers Read: J. Kingston Pierce.
--Marshal Zeringue