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Ideally, I like titles that add something to the book. This novel, Against the Law, is the third in a series that began with The Bouncer. I was hoping that first title was both simple and intriguing, since the main character, Joe, is a mysterious figure, a strip-club bouncer who is recruited by New York’s underworld bosses when they fear a terrorist in their midst. In Against the Law, Joe is tracking a heroin smuggler who is funding terrorism, so the title, on the surface, refers simply to the criminal capers unfolding in the book. However, “the law,” is also slang for police, and here the title refers to a general sense many of the books’ characters have that they live outside mainstream society and expect little or nothing from its institutions. To them the entire social system is antagonistic, and they are “against” it. In Joe’s world, people don’t call the cops, they call Joe.
What's in a name?
A lot! Choosing character names is...[read on]
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