Ed Duncan

I have enjoyed writing since English composition days in high school. My teachers regularly complimented me on my writing, but my eleventh-grade English teacher Mrs. Shropshire, whom I really admired and respected, paid me a compliment that astonished me. Commenting on one of my term papers, she said that my writing was seldom, if ever, equaled among my school's students. I knew I liked to write, and I knew I wrote well, as evidenced by my grades, but I didn't know I wrote as well as my teacher seemed to think. Learning that Mrs. Shropshire held my writing in such high regard really made an impression. In fact, it made such an impression that although I memorized her comment long ago, I have kept that term paper until now, many decades later, and over the years, whenever my confidence flagged or I needed inspiration, I have gone back and reread Mrs. Shropshire's words. Despite not having acted upon them until I retired from a lengthy career as a lawyer, her words were the spark that lit my writer's flame.

It was after retirement that I finished my first novel, Pigeon-Blood Red, after many fits and starts over several years.

Actually, five years before I retired, I wrote a legal treatise, Ohio Insurance
Coverage, which I supplemented annually. However, what I really wanted to write was crime fiction. And my passion for that genre has given rise to two additional novels, The Last Straw and Rico Stays, which together with Pigeon-Blood Red, constitute my Pigeon-Blood Red trilogy.

My two favorite authors in the crime fiction genre are Dashiell Hammett and Lee Child. The Maltese Falcon by Hammett has some of the best dialogue ever written. Much of it was used without change in the 1941 movie version (there were two earlier versions) starring Humphrey Bogart, and that's a big part of why the movie is so good.

Every time I go on vacation, I take one of Lee Child's Jack Reacher novels with me on my I-Pad. He never fails to impress.

Other favorites of mine in the crime/thriller genre include classics like The Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett, Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, and Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow.

Duke Ellington used to say there are only two types of music: good music and bad music. That's the way I feel about books, so I read a wide range of books outside of the crime fiction genre. I'm a bit of a Civil War buff and two of my favorite books on that era are The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara and A Stillness at Appomattox by Bruce Catton.

I also like big period novels with a broad sweep like From Here to Eternity by James Jones and An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.

In addition, I enjoy historical/biographical books, especially relating to Civil Rights struggles, such as Devil in the Grove by Gilbert King and Just Mercy by
Bryan Stevenson.

Finally, a novel I loved that is both difficult to categorize and to describe succinctly is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The one word I would use to describe it is "magical.

Get started! They are all comparatively short and some readers have finished each in a single sitting.

A reader said of Pigeon-Blood Red, "... I have thoroughly enjoyed this nail-biting thriller which keeps you turning the pages... [N]ow my husband, who doesn't read as much as me, has asked to read it, too."

Another reader said of The Last Straw, ""[B]oy, it didn't disappoint ... Couldn't put it down.... No wasted space ... It was full on story all the way. I would highly recommend this author and this series."

Another reader said of Rico Stays, " [U]nputdownable ... I was hooked from the first page to the last! This is my official favourite crime novel EVER!"

One award winning writer has said of the series, "if you like fast paced thrillers, read Duncan's books. They leave me breathless."

Another reader said of the trilogy: "My favorite crime trilogy of the past few years. Ed Duncan does a great job with his conflicted hitman Rico Sanders in this trilogy that sustains its quality in each book."

Finally, another reader said of the series, "If you like gritty crime novels with plenty of action, a diverse, well-drawn cast of characters, and very little filler, this series is for you."

While it's best to start at the beginning, each book can be read as a standalone. So, what are you waiting for?!

The main character in each of my three novels was always meant to be Paul, a lawyer who in Pigeon-Blood Red comes to the aid of Evelyn, who, without having any idea of its provenance or of its value, is in possession of an extremely valuable stolen "pigeon-blood red" ruby necklace that Rico is seeking to recover while, at the same time, "sending a message" to the thief.

Paul was intended to be the main character because, after all, I'm a lawyer and Paul is a highly idealized version of me.

However, Paul's story, while compelling in its own right, is simply not as compelling as Rico's story. Rico, the antihero, is a "killer with a conscience." He does not kill kids; he kills women only when he has no choice; and he tries (not always successfully) only to kill people "who have it coming." He is bright and resourceful and could have succeeded in practically any profession he chose, but he doesn't apologize for how he earns his living. He is exceptional at what he does and it's a point of pride. He is loyal to a fault, yet distant and brooding. He is as deadly as a cobra but has a dry, sometimes biting sense of humor. Brutally honest, he lacks guile, hates hypocrisy, and loathes arrogance.

Every time I tried to make Paul the central focus of the novels, Rico fought me. I fought back but he fought harder, and eventually I had to concede defeat. So, while Paul remains a pivotal player in all three novels, Rico is the main character and thus, my favorite.

Only in retrospect did I recognize that although he is an antihero, Rico is, in many ways, an amalgam of the steely-eyed heroes in three of my favorite movies: Shane, Hombre, and Bullitt. (Interestingly, Hombre is based on a novel of the same name written by the estimable Elmore Leonard.) What they all have in common with Rico is that they are essentially loners who have a code of their own. But they differ from Rico in that they operate on the right side of the law and he doesn't. He has a darker side but although he is a killer, he does have a code (although the precise parameters of which are known only to him) and that makes him a killer with a conscience.

Although my Pigeon-Blood Red novels represent a self-contained trilogy, I have received some encouragement to continue the adventures of the four principal characters, Rico, Paul, Evelyn, and Jean, in another novel. I am pondering that option.

While that idea percolates, I have written screenplays for each of the novels, which have been re-worked by professional screenwriters. Most recently Pigeon-Blood Red has been re-imagined as a pilot for a TV series. Unfortunately, whether anything concrete will come of these efforts is unknown. It is safe to say, though, that the odds are long.

One project that has come to fruition is a podcast based on Pigeon-Blood Red called Mahalo with a Bullet, which is produced by Voyage Media. It stars Dean Norris of Breaking Bad fame as Rico. It can be found separately wherever listeners get their podcasts or as a part of a Voyage Media anthology podcast series called Fever Dreams, which is also available wherever listeners get their podcasts.