Snakes Can't Run
by Ed Lin
Ed Lin picked the '70s as the era of his novel. Here's a blast from the past and a trip down memory lane! Thanks, Ed!
1970's Era of Snakes Can't Run
When I was
writing the first book in the series, This
Is a Bust, I restricted myself to shows, films, newspapers and books from
the 1970s. And maybe it’s not right to use the word “restricted,” because the
70s were an incredibly productive era. The times were also loose.
Listening closely
and thoroughly to the early albums by Stevie Wonder and Santana blew my mind.
Was it rock? Soul? Salsa? Blues? It was everything and things back then weren’t
in easily marketable categories.
Same with crime
films. Take The French Connection.
Gene Hackman toys with suspects that border on absurd comedy (“Did you ever
pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?") to throw them off. That menacing
playfulness of an NYPD cop could only happen in the 70s, before all these pesky
suspects’ rights started being enforced. And Hackman as Popeye Doyle, shot that
guy in the back! In his eyes (and the viewers), it wasn’t wrong because we know the guy is guilty. Why let him get
to trial where jurors could let him off on some dumb technicality? I loved the
film so much, after seeing it, I immediately watched both documentaries on the
bonus DVD.
What about the
claustrophobic confusion of Mean Streets?
It’s a film with no good guys. There’s not even okay guys. Just bad guys and worse. Who do you root for? What do
you want to happen? As a viewer, you just brace yourself from scene to
scene--as dramatic as riding in a 70s New York City subway car as it lurched
from station to station, sometimes with the lights going out in between.
I loved the book Bloods by Wallace Terry. It’s an oral
history of Vietnam veterans (my narrator Robert Chow and his partner John
Vandyne are both vets). One vivid part that I remember is that three men, back
from the front, went to church together and were invited to step up to the
podium to tell the congregation about their experiences. Each man stepped up
and each one choked up and cried without being able to say a word. I found the
documentary based on the book at the New York Public Library, and that was
riveting, as well
On the flip side,
for comic relief, there was “Barney MIller”. It was funny and yet it also
allowed discussion on prime time TV about social issues. As a kid, I remember
the show was the first time I ever heard about gay men. And who could ever
forget Fish’s formula for determining a person’s age: multiply the height by the
number of times they go to the bathroom.
America had
turned 200 and yet its identity was an open question. Vietnam had ripped the
country in half. And apart from what America was going through at the time,
China and the Chinese diaspora was at a crucial juncture in 1975-76. The old
top combattants in the Chinese Civil War were dead and dying and the Republic
of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic (Red China) were duking it for
world opinion and hegemony over Chinese communities all over the world.
New York City’s
Chinatown in the 70s seemed like such a rich time and cultural intersection,
how could I not want to write about it? Anything could have happened there, and
it did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: FICTION/Mystery & Thriller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Set
in New York City in 1976, Snakes Can't Run finds NYPD detective Robert Chow
still haunted by the horrors of his past and relegated to tedious undercover
work. When the bodies of two undocumented Chinese men are found under the
Brooklyn Bridge underpass, Chow is drawn into the case. Most of the officers in
his precinct are concerned with a terrorist group targeting the police, but
Chow's investigation puts him on the trail of a ring of ruthless human
smugglers who call themselves the snakeheads. As Chow gets closer to solving
the murder, dangerous truths about his own family's past begin to emerge.
Steeped in retro urban attitude, and ripe with commentary on minorities' roles
in American society, this gritty procedural will appeal to fans of George
Pelecanos and S.J. Rozan.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
By the time I got to Henry Street under the Manhattan Bridge
overpass, one black-and-white and one unmarked police car were already there.
Peepshow was standing at the edge of the crime scene,
twirling his baton, the one thing he could do without fucking up. "Keep
moving, keep moving!" he yelled to the murmuring Chinese people. He
touched his cap when he saw me. I nodded back.
Two bodies, Asian men in their twenties, lay on their sides.
Both had their hands tied behind them with wire. They didn't look fresh, and
one man's tattoo behind his ears stood out in sharp contrast to the white
bloodless flesh of his neck.
I walked up to English, but before I could say anything he
put a hand on my shoulde.r
"These fucking bag monkeys won't let me past the
tape," he said, pointing out the forensic team collecting samples around
the bodies.
"They're just trying to do their job right."
"I'll do their job for them right now. These guys died
from gunshot wounds and the bodies were dumped here. You can analyze for blood
type all you want, but you can't find the criminals looking down a
microscope."
"I hear you."
"You know what solves crimes?"
"What?"
"Shoe leather. Walking around and asking
questions."
"All right."
"Chow," he said, coming in closer. "You see
the guy in the crowd in the red knit shirt smoking a cigarette?"
"Yeah," I said, knowing better than to look
immediately.
"I don't like his face. Too smug."
"I'll follow him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Ed Lin,
a native New Yorker of Taiwanese and Chinese descent, is the first author to
win three Asian American Literary Awards and is an all-around standup kinda
guy. His books include Waylaid and This Is a Bust, both published by Kaya Press
in 2002 and 2007, respectively. Snakes Can't Run and One Red Bastard, which
both continue the story of Robert Chow set in This Is a Bust, were published by
Minotaur Books. His latest book, Ghost Month, a Taipei-based mystery, was
published by Soho Crime in July 2014. Lin lives in Brooklyn with his wife,
actress Cindy Cheung, and son.
Facebook:
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Website:
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER
CODE:
Ed Lin will be
awarding a limited edition print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner
via rafflecopter during the tour.
1 comment:
Thanks for hosting!
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