Lenny Kleinfeld

As people with experience of the entertainment industry will tell you, there is no truth in the adage a star is born. Stars aren’t born; they’re made. They’re constructed, role by role, sound bite by sound bite, press release by press release. The more famous an actor becomes, the more press coverage (and the more plum roles) he or she is likely to get.
Talent, contrary to popular belief, has little to do with stardom. Many unknown actors have talent, while many famous stars, particularly movie stars, have none at all.
It’s much the same with writers.
Take the case of Lenny Kleinfeld.
Lenny who?
Yeah, that’s exactly my point.
Lenny isn’t new to writing. He’s done plays and screenplays. He was a columnist for Chicago magazine. His articles have appeared in Playboy, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. And, a while back, he sat down and wrote a mystery novel, Shooters and Chasers.
The book is chock-full of witty one-liners, terrific dialogue and memorable characters. Lenny told a cracking good story and told it superbly well. It’s the kind of book any writer would be proud of.
His struggle to publication was the usual path-of-thorns. Rejection followed rejection. At long last, the happy day arrived. He got picked up by Five Star. Kirkus praised his work (spellbinding…wit, style, suspense plus all the authenticity of an Ed McBain procedural. Lose yourself in it.) and awarded him a star. The book went on to sell…wait for it…1,377 copies.
Yes, I’ll be happy to repeat that number.
One-thousand-three-hundred-and-seventy-seven, one of which was mine.
I have never met Lenny Kleinfeld face-to-face.
I hope to, someday, but he and I live on the opposite sides of the world.
When I read Shooters and Chasers, I thought it was so darned good that I wrote to say so. I did more. I shared my opinion all over the internet, as I’m sharing it with you now.
Lenny wrote back to thank me, which is how I found out about the 1,377 copies.
That kind of success, or rather the lack of it, is enough to make a grown man cry. As a matter of fact, two of them did when they heard about it.
Lenny and myself.
Undaunted, Lenny dried his tears and got to work on his second.
Which is as it should be. It’s the profession we’ve chosen, and it isn’t for wimps.
But, if you’re a reader do yourself a favor: try to score one of the few copies of Shooters and Chasers, most of which are in libraries.
But, if you’re an aspiring writer as well, take heed from the example of Lenny Kleinfeld: the fact that people aren’t buying your books doesn’t mean they aren’t good.… (mais)

SHOOTERS & CHASERS by Lenny Kleinfeld has everything one would want in a thriller. The shooters are (sort of) identified right at the beginning. The chasers, Chicago Homicide detectives Mark Bergman and John Dunegan enter the scene soon after. The shooters are sociopaths and the chasers are the kind of characters that I want to meet again.

The book opens in August, 2002 with Meelo Garcia prowling restlessly in a motel room. He can’t leave because Oscar told him he can’t.

In the second chapter, Naguib Darwahab, a Chicago cabbie originally from Cairo, picks up famed architect Wilson Willets. As Willets is walking toward his house, he is killed by a mugger. Darwahab risks his life by scratching the mugger down his left arm but the murderer runs off and there is nothing that can be done to help Willets.

From that point the books takes off, introducing a cast of characters that is large but who are so distinct that the reader has no problem keeping everyone straight. The plot moves from street crime to the very richest of the rich in Los Angeles and a contest sponsored by the Los Angeles Fine Arts Museum. Along the way there are other murders, a mysterious Englishman, assassins, a public defender who suggests that the murder has elements of the Kennedy assassination, Oscar, and two police forces, Chicago and Los Angeles, that are not made to look crooked or inept. And…the book is funny. Kleinfeld writes wonderful dialogue even when the dialogue is interior. I don’t know how many times I had to stop reading and laugh.

This is a book that will appeal to just about anyone who likes mysteries and thrillers. This is an author who deserves a wide readership. SHOOTER & CHASERS is a wonderful way to spend a day.… (mais)