Author puts himself into thriller mindset

For his eighth thriller, Gregg Hurwitz has produced "The Crime Writer," which has his own unique stamp. It's the story of Drew Danner, a writer of crime fiction who is accused of murder.

Hurwitz — a 34-year-old native of San Francisco with degrees from Harvard and Oxford, who now lives in Los Angeles — said by phone from his home that "The Crime Writer" developed as he wondered what it would be like if he personally were to "end up in a situation like one of my own thrillers.

"Not all my skills are totally useless. I know something about interrogation techniques. I've talked with forensics experts. I've been at crime scenes. I've gone along on ride-alongs. But a little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

Essentially, Hurwitz wrote a crime novel in which he imagined himself the alleged perpetrator. "It's the most personal book I've written — and the first one I've written in the first person. In some ways, it's harder to do it that way. I wanted to write a book in which a crime writer has to use all his skills as a crime writer to solve the crime.

"I've done tons of research for most of my books — you know, like going up in helicopters and going to demolition ranges, I spent time with Navy SEALS, familiarized myself with firearms and hand-to-hand techniques. So I didn't do those things for this book — I thought the most important thing was to get the characters right."

Hurwitz also intended "The Crime Writer" to be "a tip of the hat to the great city of Los Angeles." Which is a tradition that other crime writers, such as Raymond Chandler, have also done in their work. "Mine is a different take or a new slant on that tradition, a sort of love song to the city. I didn't try to come up with pretentious descriptions — the city just inspired what I wrote."

In fact, Hurwitz's writing vocabulary is substantially richer than most crime novelists — and when he's talking about Los Angeles, he waxes poetic: "L.A., for the most part is in on the joke that is itself. It's superficial as hell, sure, but it also knows how to enjoy it. ... Here, superficiality is our business, and we all — all — believe we're in on the show.

"Some visitors find L.A. an insider's city. The contrary is in fact true. ... Shallow it is, but also captivating, if you can just hold on to your sense of humor. Every now and then, an earthquake will crack the city open, just to ensure that things stay interesting, or someone will threaten to blow up LAX, or raging fires will sweep through the West Valley and everyone will lionize firemen for a week. Santa Monica waters will turn toxic. A mercury scare will put everyone off sushi. Carbs will be vilified, or Pilates, or the caloric content of Jamba Juice."