ON BEING DECLARED AN "ELLROVIAN WRITER"

Over at The Venetian Vase, author Steve Powell, expert in all things James Ellroy), has written a very nice essay about myself and Stuart Neville being "Ellrovian writers."

(Mr. Powell earlier identified Megan Abbott and David Peace as also being "Ellrovian," or, in other words, writers inspired or marked in some way by James Ellroy's writings.)

In terms of my Ellrovian roots as an author, Mr. Powell knowingly and closely focuses on my Hector Lassiter novel, TOROS & TORSOS (2008; reissued 2014 by Betimes Books, and the follow up to my Edgar Award-nominated debut, HEAD GAMES).

An excerpt regarding TOROS:

"...Whether you are reading about the devastation of a hurricane or of wartime Spain, both settings feel intrinsically romantic. Here the novel became reminiscent of Ellroy’s LA, where the seduction of a locale lies in its darkness. As a writer, McDonald is very interested in the act of creating art. For Lassiter and Hemingway, words can come alive with entrancing, but also sinister possibility. The ‘exquisite corpse’ and ‘one true sentence’ games are consistently referred to until it becomes apparent that abstract concepts are being brought to life with terrifying results. Ellroy, by contrast, is more interested in the bureaucratic nature of words."

The essay can be read in its entirety here.

ONE TRUE SENTENCE: Paperback/eBook

FOREVER'S JUST PRETEND: Paperback/eBook

TOROS & TORSOS: Paperback/eBook

THE GREAT PRETENDER: Paperback/eBook

ROLL THE CREDITS: Paperback/eBook

THE RUNNING KIND: Paperback/eBook

HEAD GAMES: Paperback/eBook

PRINT THE LEGEND: Paperback/eBook/audio

BOND, JAMES BOND: RANKING 007

In just a very few weeks, Betimes Books will release the next-to-last Hector Lassiter novel, DEATH IN THE FACE.

This one's a thriller set in the early 1960s that teams Hector with 007 creator Ian Fleming on a research trip to Japan, then on to Istanbul for the filming of FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.

More on that novel to come, soon.

In the meantime, and over the next few weeks, I intend to write essays on the various Bond films and novels.

I will also live-Tweet a viewing of the 007 film canon, front-to-back.

The Aston Martin that the literary James Bond drove
in GOLDFINGER.

To give some context to all that which is to come, below is a list of my favorite Bonds, by film, actor and novel.

I'm an Ian Fleming fanatic, so that might give further insight to my rankings leading up to the individual, deeper dives in the offing. 

In the meantime, please share your own rankings, or feel free to savage my choices.

RANKING THE JAMES BOND FILMS

Daniel Craig and the classic
cinema edition of the Aston Martin.

#1 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

#2 From Russia With Love

#3 Casino Royale

#4 Goldfinger

#5 Skyfall

# Dr. No

#7 License To Kill

#8 The Living Daylights

#9 You Only Live Twice

#10 Thunderball

#11 Diamonds Are Forever

#12 Live and Let Die

#13 Quantum of Solace

#14 Never Say Never Again

#15 For Your Eyes Only

#16 Goldeneye

#17 The Spy Who Loved Me

#18 Tomorrow Never Dies

#19 The Man With The Golden Gun

#20 Octopussy

#21 The World Is Not Enough

#22 Moonraker

#23 Die Another Day

#24 A View To A Kill

RANKING THE JAMES BONDS

Sean Connery, relaxing on the set of DR. NO.
with some Red Stripe beer.

#1 Sean Connery

#2 Daniel Craig

#3 Timothy Dalton

#4 George Lazenby

#5 Roger Moore

#6 Pierce Brosnan

RANKING THE ORIGINAL JAMES BOND BOOKS

Mike Grell's vision of the literary
James Bond,
a mash-up of Hoagy Carmichael
(the vision Ian Fleming had in his head
and evokes in CASINO ROYALE),
and Timothy Dalton, with the trademark scar down the right
side of the face (a trait the film's have always evaded.)

#1 On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

#2 From Russia With Love

#3 Dr. No

#4 You Only Live Twice

#5 Goldfinger

#6 Casino Royale

#7 The Spy Who Loved Me

#8 Live and Let Die

#9 Moonraker

#10 Thunderball

#11 Diamonds Are Forever

#12 For Your Eyes Only

#13 Octopussy

#14 The Man With The Golden Gun