The Plot Thickens - Lou Berney
On a December evening in 2018, OKC author Lou Berney saw a social media post praising his new book, November Road: “When people say they want to read a really good novel, the kind you just can’t put down, this is the kind of book they mean. Exceptional.” This was the author’s fourth novel, and he’s won a string of writing awards — Edgar, Dagger, Anthony, Hammett, Macavity, etc. — so he’s not entirely unused to praise, even such high praise … but the author of this tweet was Stephen King. Turns out Berney can still be bowled over when readers appreciate his craft.
That appreciation comes in many forms, sometimes less openly effusive than King’s but implicit in association. It’s obviously a good sign when you’re being held up to the greats: As much as you’d like your writing to succeed on its own merits, it’s clearly a compliment to be told you have the humor of a Carl Hiaasen or John D. MacDonald’s sense of atmosphere.
“When I hear my name next to Elmore Leonard’s or when Stephen King tweets about me, that never, ever, ever feels ordinary,” Berney says. “It’s such a rush, it’s so exciting, and both those cases just kind of blew my mind.”
Depending on the bookstore or library, his novels might be found in Mystery or Thriller — he prefers to call them “literary crime,” pointing out that readers who aren’t actively seeking textual mayhem can still enjoy his books for their multidimensionality. While all are rich with detail and well-rounded characters, his first two books are energetic capers with a palpable sense of zest and comedy amid the gunplay and getaways; the third is more somber and concerned with the psychic weight of unresolved loss; the latest escapes into the past for a poignant romance in the 1960s.
“It’s a really golden era for crime fiction because there’s such a vast variety of different authors and works, and you can do so many things under that big tent,” Berney says. “That’s why I say literary crime: You never know how much people know about crime fiction and what’s being done there, so you just want to make sure you turn them on and not away.
“I just like good stories. I’m happy to have found a nice home on the crime shelf with a good readership that also spills over into more general fiction. But I love to read, and I love to write, all sorts of stuff.”
That’s been true since his sisters taught him to read and appreciate the printed word, he said. “Those are literally my earliest memories. Every time I read a great writer, I get this jolt, this burst of inspiration and creative energy. I remember that happening since I was a kid as well — just getting excited about books and about stories.” He was a special fan of the Scholastic book catalog program: “That was the most exciting day of the month for me, to get new books.”
Speaking of new books, Berney’s fifth novel is not far away. “I’m getting near the end of a new one right now, he says. “Unfortunately, I don’t have anything to reveal yet; I’m not where I can explain it, but it’s getting close.” He did say it’s in the more thoughtful vein of Long and Faraway Gone rather than the fun-bordering-on-farce of his earlier heist stories, and he hopes to have it in readers’ hands toward the end of this year or early 2023.
And for the future beyond? “I’ve got another novel lined up that I’m really dying to write. I feel very lucky that as I’m finishing one novel that I had a great time with, I’ve got another one all cued up and ready to go that I’m just dying to get to — so that makes me happy. It’s just kind of simmering on the back burner in my brain.”
That phrasing hints at one of the fascinating aspects of the writer’s life: At any moment of the most undistinguished day, wandering around Target or waiting in line at a Braum’s drive-through, some critical element of a future hit may be coalescing in an author’s mind.
“I’ve been writing for a living for a long time, so I’m kind of in the habit of writing a lot every day, but it never gets old when you’re writing a book and it starts coming together and the sparks start flying. Every time it’s kind of like Christmas morning,” Berney says. “The process includes a lot of dark periods, for sure, but hopefully those balance out with the good moments as well. A lot of the process [of writing] is difficult and challenging, but I never take for granted those little miracles of, ‘I get to do this for a living.’”
And perhaps not so many years from now, a publisher will praise a fresh writer through association with the greats, saying, “Yeah, this new kid’s gonna be good. He writes like an Elmore Leonard or a Lou Berney.”
A Berney Bibliography
Gutshot Straight (2009)
Sparks, bullets and the storytelling pace all fly as Vegas getaway driver Charles “Shake” Bouchon meets a captivating lady … who’s also a captive of the Armenian mob.
Whiplash River (2012)
A lovelorn Shake has gone straight and runs a restaurant in Belize — until his quiet life erupts into a tangle of old friends, new enemies and an Egyptian heist that’s perilously half-baked.
The Long and Faraway Gone (2015)
Partially set in OKC, this is a sweeping, engrossing story of two strangers each working to uncover secrets from their pasts that have left open wounds on their present psyches.
November Road (2018)
As America reels in the aftermath of the Kennedy assassination, a love story unfolds amid a tangle of moral quandaries and a cross-country flight for survival.
Berney advises, “I would say probably start with Long and Faraway Gone or November Road, because that’s just more where I am right now. But it also depends on the mood you’re in; if you’re in the mood for a really fast, fun caper-type book, then one of my first two will do the trick there.”
Further Reading
If you’re caught up on Berney’s oeuvre to date, or don’t feel like it’s time for crime, he did heartily recommend a recent read: Susanna Clarke’s inventive fantasy Piranesi. “That’s the latest thing I read that I really, really loved. If you liked Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, this is different but it’s really great. It’s definitely in her spirit.”