"Pork Pie Hat" by Peter Straub / Monday, August 20, 2012 / Reviewed by Clay Stafford

Why Clay Stafford chose this book:

From our 2012 Killer Nashville Guest of Honor Peter Straub, but that is not why I chose it. It’s one of my favorite books, which just happens to be written by Straub. This is literature and mystery at its finest. Something happened, we don’t know what it was, then over the course of the narrator’s lifetime, he uncovers the truth. I love the way Straub handles multiple plot requirements on the way to the end, leading us down one false path and then another. The ending – even the storytelling itself – is far from cliche and I’m fairly confident that whatever you guess as you go along will be incorrect when the final page arrives. That’s rare. The dialogue and prose are unmatched. If you want a well-written story with surprises, this is a great book to check out. (And if you’re going to be at Killer Nashville this Saturday, this is one I’ll be discussing with Straub in relation to plotting.) Enjoy!

From Amazon:

“Passionate about jazz, the narrator discovers that one of his greatest heroes, a saxophonist by the name of Pork Pie Hat, is still alive and playing at a club he frequents. Granted an interview by the Hat, the narrator gets a night of extraordinary stories from a man dying of alcoholism. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.”

If you want to make your own comments on this selection, we would love to hear from you. Join ourFacebook Killer Nashville group page or our blog and join in the discussion.

Remember that these books are listed at a discount through Amazon. You also don’t have to purchase the version that is featured here. Many of these books are available in multiple formats: e–book, hardcover, softcover, and audio. Enjoy!

– Clay Stafford, Founder of Killer Nashville