In The Pure And The Hated the idea of split personality is a central theme. It relates to what identity is and how irrational impulses may drive a character. As I trace the roots of horror fiction in Gothic and look at how it has evolved, I want to look at some of the themes of the genre. The theme of the double occurs early on in works such as Poe’s story William Wilson, in which the protagonist encounters his negative doppelganger. It is … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin on the Gothic Roots of Horror
There is much that is Gothic in The Pure And The Hated, my novel about the past, about revenge and lawlessness. In many ways revenge may be seen as lawless justice. As I examine what horror fiction means to us and how it relates to crime fiction, I want to trace its roots. I want to show that the two genres are not that distinct. In the latter part of the eighteenth century there was flowering of Gothic literature in England that ran … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin’s THE PURE AND THE HATED Explores Family Relationships and the Mind of a Dangerous Psychopath
A man takes a stranger into his house only to unleash a savage lesson from the past... Synopsis: A psychological crime novel about the past, the nature of justice, family secrets, the nature of forgiveness, revenge, identity, hunting and predation. Shepherd Butler, the protagonist and narrator of the novel, and his wife Mary are grieving the death of their son Felton to a hunting accident in Vermont, when Shepherd finds a stranger … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin on Horror Fiction
In this series of posts I want to look at what links horror fiction and crime fiction. The posts are part of the launch of my Vermont based novel The Pure And The Hated. I have spent several years if my life in Vermont. My wife is from the state and the novel is set there. While it is a crime novel, it is also Noir, it is a revenge tragedy, and it is part horror. What do we mean when we talk about horror? What is it that horrifies us? The genre … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin: The Bad Guy in Crime Fiction
Savage Highway is about bad guys and the breakdown of law and why justice fails. In a lawless world revenge is justice. I want to discuss other authors here before I focus on the novel itself. Savage Highway is about the frontier. Both of the authors I will be discussing today portray bad guys in a variety of ways. In Burke we have the pairing of two lawless cops, Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell. And Purcell is an extreme example of the bad … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin’s SAVAGE HIGHWAY Receives Great Review from Dead End Follies
International bestselling author Richard Godwin's new thriller noir book, SAVAGE HIGHWAY, received a great review from the Dead End Follies blog. SAVAGE HIGHWAY follows the mystery of the disappearance of women from a truck stop on a remote highway in Arizona and was released from WildBlue Press on January 19th, 2016. Get your copy of SAVAGE HIGHWAY today! "Richard Godwin writes the extreme and the disturbing very well. He's very good at … [Read more...]
Burl Barer Interviews Richard Godwin Author of SAVAGE HIGHWAY
International bestselling author Richard Godwin is interviewed by Edgar Award winning author Burl Barer and Howard Lapides about his new thriller noir book, SAVAGE HIGHWAY, and his writing process. Richard's new book follows the mystery of the disappearance of women from a truck stop on a remote highway in Arizona and was released by WildBlue Press of January 19th, 2016. Listen to the full interview … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin’s Noir Thriller SAVAGE HIGHWAY Takes Readers On A Ride To Hell
Women are disappearing on the highway, a drifter hunts the men who raped her, and a journalist discovers law has broken down and been replaced with something far more savage. On a remote highway in Arizona women are disappearing at truck stops. Journalist Johnny Sullivan travels to the area to investigate. He encounters hitchhiker Patty, who is being hunted by violent trucker Red. Patty tells Johnny of the local myth of the maniac trucker. … [Read more...]
Richard Godwin on the Trends in Crime Fiction
TRENDS IN CRIME FICTION, Richard Godwin. Savage Highway is about lawlessness and revenge, the breakdown of justice and disorder within the human psyche. Where does it sit in the crime fiction canon? Somewhere between James Lee Burke and Elmore Leonard. It is also about the frontier and its endurance within the American psyche. In a series of posts about the novel and writing generally I will look at what Savage Highway is about, and the … [Read more...]
