Have you ever admired someone for their art or writing or tv shows, then you meet them and discover you don’t really like the person? I have. No, I’m not mentioning names.

However, this past weekend at Bouchercon, a writers’ conference this year held in Minneapolis, I met and interviewed Dennis Lehane.

You might recognize the name. Or you’ll recognize “Mystic River,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Wire,” and “The Drop,” all shows he worked on. Or perhaps you’re a fan of his Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro thriller series. His latest currently showing on Apple+ is “Blackbird,” a dark thriller I’ve watched three times, a project he did not want to do. He was vehement about not doing it. 

He told me what turned him around to take on the project and that was a big surprise to me. For you to find out, however, you'll have to read my interview with him in an upcoming issue of "Mystery and Suspense" magazine.

I won’t go into the reasons Lehane passed all my tests other than to say he's astute, down-to-earth, funny, and a regular guy, never mind a brilliant writer. But he proved his hero status when he showed me a photo of one of his daughters and looked at it with an expression of pure dad love. Yup, he’s one of the good guys.

His next book, Small Mercies, comes out in April of 2023. He said it’s the one he’s most proud of. Look it up, read the synopsis, and you’ll see the big issues he tackles. You can bet as with his other books that the story will grab you and not let go.

 I’ll let you know when my interview goes live.