How thrilling!

Hank Schwaeble has authored his first novel, Damnable. He was kind enough to take the time to interview with yours truly.

The interview opens with the four words: "What are you reading?" Hank is currently reading A Spectacle of Corruption by David Liss. It's a historical thriller set in 18th century England. "David Liss writes incredibly authentic historical novels, filled with rich imagery and fascinating detail", Schwaeble tells me. "I'm working my way through all his novels." Prior to reading A Spectacle of Corruption, he finished A Twisted Ladder by Rhodi Hawk. Up next is Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry.

Hank remembers liking Stephen King's Salem's Lot as a teenager, a lot more than more books. As a young boy in elementary school, he enjoyed Encyclopedia Brown and Stuart Little! "The first actual novel I ever read was Jaws when I was about seven or eight yers old, so that one certainly stuck out." I am starting to see a pattern: thrillers, detective novels and adventure themes.

Yes, Hank admits that he can't get enough of hard-boiled detective novels and thrillers. "I like the dark, gritty realism the good ones are imbued with, the clean, dry prose that tends to mark the style." Schwaeble frequently recommends Dope by Sara Gran. "It's an outstanding piece of noir." This is perfect since I have been looking forwrad to reading more noir novels. Gran also wrote "a nifty horror novel called Come Closer." (Extra points for using the word "nifty" in the interview!)

His recommendations don't end there. "Fans of southern gothic fiction with a supernatural twist will love A Twisted Ladder. I picked up Beat by Josh Bazell after reading a review somewhere online and I loved it."

We move on to talk about his own writing. He fills me in a bit on his latest book, Damnable. "It is about a disgraced ex-special forces interrogator who assumes he's going to Hell and realizes he may be the only chance everyone else has of not joining him. When I began it, I sat down with only an idea for a prologue. By the time I finished the scene, I had a general story in mind and a main character, so I plotted out the rest of the book and wrote it. It took about a a year from start to finish, give or take a month." Schwaeble was set to write a hard-boiled horror novel, a book that was part noir and part supernatual thriller, embodying the genres he most enjoys. However he was keeping his audience in mind. "I wanted readers to be able to like it even if they didn't necessarily go in for horror."

Book settings always play a huge role in any novel. I was curious to know why he set his novel in New York. "I wanted to start with a place people could readily identify with no matter where they were from, and thought the anonymity offered by that urban setting would lend itself to the cast of characters I was intending to populate the book with. I also needed a place with ready access to underground tunnels." Functionality - I like it! Hank is already working on his next novel. It's a mainstream thriller, and then will begin a sequel to Damnable.

Growing up, Edgar Allan Poe was a huge influence on him as were Stephen King and Clive Barker. "I'm an eclectic reader, though, so it's hard to narrow my inspirations down to a single work or author. I should give a nod to Dennis Lehane and Lee Child, also, as I aspire to write as well as they do."

As a matter of fact, if he could spend some time with one of these authors and ask them one question he would probably ask Poe if he had any idea he would eventually be credited with creating two separate genres of fiction, the detective story and the modern horror story, and whether he thought he'd be studied in literature classes a hundred and fifty years after his death.

Some of his favourite books? He would have to say 1984 and Atlas Shrugged. Moby Dick also deserved a mention and so does The Old Man and The Sea and The Maltese Falcon. These books stick out because of the themes they explore, powerful ones that provoke thought and raise questions.

And how thrilled was I when Schwaeble shared that he actually had his own "odd shelf"!

"I have numerous books dealing with the golden age of magic, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, books about magic and magicians at the time, biographies of Houdini, Chung Ling Soo, and the like. Novels set in that general time or dealing in that milieu, such as Carter Beats the Devil. Don't ask my why. It just fascinates me. Magicians have always been so far ahead of their time in understanding human psychology, I find the concept of them plying their trade a century or so ago using principles that still fool people to this day intriguing."

Want to find out more about Hank Schwaeble? Visit his website: http://www.hankschwaeble.com/