Bruce DeSilva - A Scourge of Vipers

“What’s that?… What am I going to do about it?

“I’m heading to Begley Arena, Rosie. The guys who failed the Vipers’ tryouts are gathering for a pickup game, and they need one more to play five-on-five.”

Whatever is right about this book can be attributed largely to three remarkable women who were with me every step of the way. Susanna Einstein, my agent, is one of the best story doctors in creation. Claire Eddy, my editor at Forge, is both supportive and an exacting taskmaster. And Patricia Smith, one of the finest poets working in English, edited every line, adding musical notes to my sometimes toneless prose. Of the three, only Patricia sleeps with me.

Bruce DeSilva’s crime fiction has won the Edgar and Macavity Awards, has been listed as a finalist for the Shamus, Anthony, and Barry Awards, and has been published in ten foreign languages. His short stories have appeared in Akashic Press’s award-winning noir anthologies, and his book reviews have appeared in The New York Times Sunday Book Review, Publishers Weekly, and scores of other publications.

DeSilva was a journalist for forty years, most recently as worldwide writing coach for the Associated Press, editing stories that won nearly every major journalism prize, including the Pulitzer. He has worked as a consultant for fifty newspapers, taught at the University of Michigan and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and lectured at Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation. He and his wife, the poet Patricia Smith, live in New Jersey with two enormous dogs named Brady and Rondo. Find him online at www.brucedesilva.com, or sign up for email updates here.