His entry begins:When I finished Wire to Wire, I wanted to catch up on what others in the Northwest were writing. I started with Jon Raymond’s Livability – great stories of people who manage a kind of connection in bad circumstances. Miriam Gershow’s The Local News blew me away. The writer in me kept saying, “Well, that’s not gonna work,” and then she’d make it work and more. It was full of risks that paid off in the most...[read on]Among the early praise for Wire to Wire:
"Sparling's debut is well crafted and thrilling, tying together an obvious love for both Michigan and railroads with an expert sense of timing and plot. The world he has created is both overwhelming and exhilarating, thanks in no small part to a large ensemble of memorable characters and a relentless pace...it's done so well that hopping off this runaway train would never cross a reader's mind."Learn more about the book and author at Scott Sparling's website and blog.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A dizzying, speed-laced debut novel from Portland-based writer Sparling... Technically, it’s a crime novel—there’s violence and sex and things on fire. But it’s obvious that the author is more interested in what’s bouncing around in his hero’s fractured head and spilling it out onto the page than he is in tidy endings... A strange, formidable novel about crossed signals and damage done, with plenty of peek-between-your-fingers moments for good measure."
—Kirkus"In this impressive debut, Scott Sparling lends contemporary grunge to the genre as he embraces its trademark obsessions with sex, cash and dead ends. His all-too-human cast of contemporary boxcar drifters, glue sniffers and thugs is drawn in an impressionistic style that makes for stunning emotional depth."
—Playboy, June 2011
“Scott Sparling writes like a man on fire, and Wire to Wire is the wickedly brilliant crime novel forged in the white-hot heat of his talent. It's an electrifying debut by a writer who knows the wrong side of town like the back of his hand. People, if there is a God, this book will win prizes.”
—Donald Ray Pollock, author of Knockemstiff and The Devil All the Time
The Page 69 Test: Wire to Wire.
My Book, The Movie: Wire to Wire.
Writers Read: Scott Sparling.
--Marshal Zeringue
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