Fadeout (novel)

Last updated
Fadeout
Fadeout (novel).jpg
First ed. cover
Author Joseph Hansen
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesDave Brandstetter mysteries
Genre Mystery fiction, detective fiction
Publisher Harper & Row
Publication date
1970 (first edition)
Media typePrint
Pages187 p.
OCLC 103230

Fadeout is a hardboiled mystery novel by American crime writer Joseph Hansen, and the first to feature his popular character Dave Brandstetter, an openly gay detective. [1] The novel was first published by Harper & Row in 1970, and was reissued by University of Wisconsin Press in 2004 with an introduction from Hansen. [2] In 2022, the book was again republished by Soho Syndicate, a division of Penguin Random House, with a new introduction by Michael Nava. [3]

Contents

In 2018, screenwriting duo Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely optioned film and television rights to the entire Brandstetter series. [4]

Synopsis

Beloved pop star Fox Olson is assumed to have died when his car is found destroyed beneath a narrow wooden bridge. However, without the sign of a body, no-nonsense insurance investigator Dave Brandstetter believes otherwise, and soon finds evidence that indicates he is right. For instance, what lies behind the seemingly innocent friendship between Fox's wife and his manager? And just why has an old boyhood friend of his suddenly shown up after twenty years?

Reception

Unusual in two respects. One is that the insurance investigator, though ruggedly masculine, is thoroughly and contentedly homosexual. The other is that Mr. Hansen is an excellent craftsman, a compelling writer. - New Yorker

The most exciting and effective writer of the classic private-eye novel working today. - Los Angeles Times

Another classic private-eye novel: detailedly vivid . . . tenderly erotic. - The Times

A masterly portrayal of loneliness and sexual obsession. Hansen's writing is sharp and economical. He has an eye for the exactly relevant detail. - Gay News

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Greene</span> English writer and literary critic (1904–1991)

Henry Graham Greene was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century.

Christopher Travis Rice is an American author. Rice made his fiction debut in 2000 with the bestselling A Density of Souls, going on to write many more novels, including The Snow Garden, The Heavens Rise, The Vines, as well as the Burning Girl series. His work spans multiple genres, including suspense, crime, supernatural thriller, and erotic romance. With his mother Anne Rice, he is the co-author of the historical horror novel Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra and its sequel, Ramses the Damned: The Reign of Osiris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Notes on "Camp"</span> 1964 essay by Susan Sontag

"Notes on 'Camp'" is a 1964 essay by Susan Sontag that brought the aesthetic sensibility known as "camp" to mainstream consciousness.

Lew Archer is a fictional character created by American-Canadian writer Ross Macdonald. Archer is a private detective working in Southern California. Between the late 1940s and the early '70s, the character appeared in 18 novels and a handful of shorter works as well as several film and television adaptations. Macdonald's Archer novels have been praised for building on the foundations of hardboiled fiction by introducing more literary themes and psychological depth to the genre. Critic John Leonard declared that Macdonald had surpassed the limits of crime fiction to become "a major American novelist" while author Eudora Welty was a fan of the series and carried on a lengthy correspondence with Macdonald. The editors of Thrilling Detective wrote: "The greatest P.I. series ever written? Probably."

Michael Collins is the best-known pseudonym of Dennis Lynds, an American author who primarily wrote mystery fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gay literature</span> Literary genre

Gay literature is a collective term for literature produced by or for the gay community which involves characters, plot lines, and/or themes portraying male homosexual behavior.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred A. Knopf</span> American publishing house

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading American literary trends. It was acquired by Random House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House which is owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann.

<i>Sunstorm</i> (novel) 2005 science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter

Sunstorm is a 2005 science fiction novel co-written by British writers Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It is the second book in the series A Time Odyssey. The books in this series are often likened to the Space Odyssey series, although the Time Odyssey novels ostensibly deal with time where the Space Odyssey novels dealt with space. The first book in the series was Time's Eye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Hansen (writer)</span> American crime writer and poet (1923–2004)

Joseph Hansen was an American crime writer and poet, best known for a series of novels featuring private eye Dave Brandstetter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vintage Books</span> American publishing imprint

Vintage Books is a trade paperback publishing imprint of Penguin Random House originally established by Alfred A. Knopf in 1954. The company was acquired by Random House in April 1960, and a British division was set up in 1990. After Random House merged with Bantam Doubleday Dell, Doubleday's Anchor Books trade paperback line was added to the same division as Vintage. Following Random House's merger with Penguin, Vintage UK was transferred to Penguin UK.

<i>Cruising</i> (novel) 1970 novel by Gerald Walker

Cruising is a novel written by New York Times reporter Gerald Walker and published in 1970. The novel is about an undercover policeman looking for a homosexual serial killer in the gay New York City of 1970. The murder victims were closeted or relatively open men who came across the killer while cruising for sex. While undercover, the policeman develops feelings for his gay neighbor.

<i>The Speaker of Mandarin</i> Book by Ruth Rendell

The Speaker of Mandarin is a detective novel by British crime writer Ruth Rendell, first published in 1983. It is the 12th novel in her popular Inspector Wexford series. The plot follows the popular Kingsmarkham policeman as he returns from a holiday to China and investigates the death of another tourist.

<i>Other Voices, Other Rooms</i> (novel) Novel by Truman Capote

Other Voices, Other Rooms is a 1948 novel by Truman Capote. It is written in the Southern Gothic style and is notable for its atmosphere of isolation and decadence.

Frank Edgington Fenton was an American writer of screenplays, short stories, magazine articles, and novels.

<i>Third Man Out</i> 2005 gay-themed mystery film

Third Man Out is a 2005 gay-themed mystery film. It is the first film adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel featuring fictional detective Donald Strachey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely</span> American screenwriters

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are American screenwriters and producers. McFeely and Markus were the second and the third most successful screenwriters of all time in terms of U.S. box office receipts with a shared total gross of over $12.3 billion. However, in overall, they are the highest grossing screenwriters altogether in terms of worldwide box office with the total gross of $95.8 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Slater</span> Victim of a miscarriage of justice in Scotland

Oscar Joseph Slater was the victim of a notorious miscarriage of justice in Scotland. Wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death, he was freed after almost two decades of hard labour at Scotland’s HM Prison Peterhead through the efforts of multiple journalists, lawyers, and writers, including Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penguin Random House</span> American multinational conglomerate publishing company

Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was founded in 1927. It has more than 300 publishing imprints. Along with Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers.

Joan Kahn was a New York City-based American author, anthologist, and editor, widely regarded as the preeminent mystery/suspense editor of her time. Described variously as the "doyenne of suspense," "the doyenne of mystery editors," and "publishing's grande dame of detective stories," Kahn first came to prominence during her extended reign (1946-1980) at Harper & Brothers, much of it spent creating and overseeing the longstanding "Harper Novel of Suspense" series. The Joan Kahn imprint, instituted during her Harper tenure, soon became a sought-after imprimatur for mystery connoisseurs. Some of Kahn's more celebrated signings include John Creasey, Patricia Highsmith, Julian Symons, Dick Francis, and Tony Hillerman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Parker (author)</span> British writer (born 1954)

Peter Parker is a British biographer, historian, journalist and editor. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1997.

References

  1. "Joseph Hansen". Tangled Web UK. Archived from the original on 2015-10-30.
  2. "Fadeout (Dave Brandstetter, #1) by Joseph Hansen". Goodreads . Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  3. "Fadeout". Penguin Random House . Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  4. Smith, Kevin (June 14, 2018). "Infinity War Writers - Stephen McFeely and Christopher Markus". YouTube . Retrieved August 3, 2020.