Leonard Chang
Bio:
Leonard Chang was born in New York City, and grew up on Long Island, where he attended the public schools in Merrick. After high school, Leonard studied at Dartmouth College, interned with the Peace Corps in Kingston, Jamaica, and continued his studies in Philosophy at Harvard University, where he graduated with honors. He attended the graduate creative writing program at the University of California at Irvine, and received his Master’s of Fine Arts.
His first novel, entitled The Fruit ‘N Food, was published in 1996 and won the Black Heron Press Award for Social Fiction that year, and is now taught at universities around the world.
His second novel, Dispatches from the Cold, won a San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie Award for Literature.
He is also the author of a popular and critically acclaimed noir trilogy, which includes Over the Shoulder, Underkill, and Fade to Clear, a USA Today Summer Reading Pick and a finalist for the Shamus Award.
Crossings, his sixth, was published in 2009, and a new novel, Triplines, was released in 2014. His latest novel, The Lockpicker was released in 2017.
His novels have been translated into French, Japanese and Korean, and are regularly studied in literature, sociology and theology courses throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia. Recently the U.S. Consulate in Berlin sponsored his multi-city lecture/reading tour of Germany.
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Media
Snowfall: Trailer (Eng)
Justified: Trailer (Eng)
Books
OVER THE SHOULDER
Genre:
Thriller & Noir
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Ecco
All
A hybrid of crime and literary novel that explores issues of honor and family history, Over The Shoulder offers a unique view of the American protagonist and reluctant investigator, shaken from the doldrums of his insulated life.
With his self-described "philosophy of removement" as his frame of reference, Choice searches for the hidden, long-buried answers, only to be outmaneuvered at every juncture. Against this backdrop of violence and deception, Choice soon discovers secrets that alter his understanding of his father, of his family -- secrets that lead him to a buried history of betrayal.
Choice and his partner, Paul Baumgartner, are security specialists for Silicon Valley executives.When Paul gets killed on the job, Choice and an inexperienced Bay Area reporter, Linda Maldonado, begin looking into the puzzling circumstances of the murder. As they work together to unravel the intricate threads of lies and half-truths, they discover that his death might be linked to an older, more personal one -- the mysterious death of Allen's father some twenty years earlier.
A new direction for noir fiction, Over the Shoulder is an examination of the past and the present, of long-simmering familiar tensions and the subtle conflicts of race and class; it is a story about the awakening of memories and an understanding of the self.
UNDERKILL
Genre:
Thriller & Noir
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Minotaur
All
"Underkill is a very fine novel. Allen Choice is back in a story even more stirring and absorbing. The key is character. Chang works like a painter, carefully brushing strokes of truth and depth on all of his characters. This portrait is a winner." --Michael Connelly
FADE TO CLEAR
Genre:
Thriller & Noir
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St. Martin's
All
In this new installment, Allen Choice, now a full partner at Baxter & Choice Investigations, finds his life in upheaval by the reappearance of his ex-lover Linda. Over the objections of his current girlfriend Serena, Allen reluctantly takes on the case of finding Linda's niece, who was abducted by her father in a bitter divorce battle.
Fade to Clear is Leonard Chang's most electrifying and riveting crime novel, following the critically-acclaimed successes of Underkill and Over the Shoulder.
As Allen delves deeper into the investigation, unearthing links to drug smuggling and money laundering, he becomes the target of larger, deadlier forces that strike a tragic blow. In the wake of personal loss, he compels himself forward in this perilous case and at the same time makes profound decisions that will reverberate throughout his life.
Once again, Chang weaves a masterful tale that is as much an edgy, fast-paced mystery as it is a deep look into the complex interior life of Allen Choice, a fallible and human character who is quickly becoming a truly memorable name in the world of noir.
THE LOCKPICKER
Genre:
Thriller & Noir
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Black Heron
All
The Lockpicker is a bit of a hybrid—a pulp crime novel that also becomes a story about the effects of a violent upbringing on an adult's choices. Entertaining and with a well-paced literary style, this simple crime story becomes something more memorable.
DISPATCHES FROM THE COLD
Genre:
Literary & General
Publisher:
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Black Heron
All
Winner of THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN Award for Literature