He’s tall, dark and handsome. He knows
his way around some of Brooklyn’s more unsavory neighborhoods
as well as he does the food mecca that is Smith Street. And the
ladies love him.
Ex-cop Blades Overstreet is one cool, if at times hotheaded,
cat.
He’s also a figment of author Glenville Lovell’s imagination.
The leading man of Lovell’s hard-boiled mystery series, Blades
Overstreet pounds the pavement in Brooklyn once again, this time
in search of the killer of a friend’s son, in the new novel "Love
and Death in Brooklyn" (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $23.95).
They say you should write about what you know, so this macho,
urban noir prominently features the borough that Lovell, 48,
has called home for the last 18 years. The Barbados transplant,
now a resident of East Flatbush, has also woven a Caribbean thread
throughout "Love and Death." He explores Brooklyn’s
immigrant enclaves – especially their foods.
"The incredible thing about Brooklyn and all of New York
that makes me excited about writing this series and working with
this character is that it gives me a chance to explore the vibrant
communities of New York, especially the vibrant immigrant communities,"
Lovell told GO Brooklyn in a telephone interview this week. "Where
Blades’ record shop is, you can live in that community and get
anything Caribbean you want that you were used to back home.
I don’t get homesick anymore – except for the weather, beaches
and sun – but in terms of the food, you walk down Nostrand Avenue
and the food is always there. You can smell the roti and the
jerk chicken being cooked and smell the different kinds of pastries."
"Love and Death in Brooklyn" is Lovell’s fourth novel,
following the novels "Fire in the Canes" (1995) and
"Song of Night" (1998) and the first Blades Overstreet
mystery, "Too Beautiful to Die" (2003).
Although Overstreet has sex appeal and courage, he certainly
has been crafted with a few chinks in his armor.
"He’s streetwise and at the same time a very vulnerable
character. He can be funny, but a brooding kind of guy,"
explained Lovell. "He’s got that testosterone Americans
are famous for in sports and in daily activities. Every man in
America wants to be this superhero. It’s what young boys strive
for … It’s not easy for a normal person to be a super human.
In this culture you can get lost in that fantasy. We need to
see [Blades’] weakness. He thinks he can handle more than he
can. He’s a fairly complex character – it’s the only reason I
can keep working with him."
Overstreet can be bumbling and fallible. He gets drunk and beat
up. He’s consumed by jealousy of his wife Anais’ ex-lover – making
scenes in offices and restaurants when he loses control. He struggles
to keep his rage on a short leash.
"The hardboiled genre that I’m working in – there’s a certain
element of it that attempts to do some kind of social commentary
on the political or social atmosphere of the time in which it
is set," explained Lovell. "It also attempts to depict
the language and the people in a very realistic way. That’s why
it tends to be tough and gritty. Because it’s about real people
speaking a real language. You tend to not want to short-change
the characters by trying to soften things. You want to give them
the rawness of life."
In "Love and Death in Brooklyn" Overstreet is in search
of the killer of Ronan Peltier, a charismatic, black city councilman.
The book jacket trumpets that this is "a story ripped from
today’s headlines." When asked to confirm, the author said
that the book was written more than a year before the July 2003
assassination of Fort Greene Councilman James Davis.
"The book jacket is really an attempt to draw some attention
to the novel," said Lovell. "The truth is this book
was written a year before that event happened. This book was
handed over to my editor in July of last year, so it was kind
of odd this incident turned up. I think the publisher just decided
to use it. It is ripped from the headlines, but it was written
before the headlines It’s more of a prophecy."
Although that aspect of "Love and Death" wasn’t directly
inspired by the news, Lovell said his writing generally is.
"I cruise the headlines all the time," he said. "I’m
absolutely inspired by New York stories and not just the sensational
issue. To me, New York stories are very small and contained,
like watching the interaction between a cab driver and a passenger
and how the language barrier can create conflict It’s a city
of stories.
"I try to depict Brooklyn in an honest way. There is a Brooklyn
you can love and a Brooklyn you can hate. There is love and death
in Brooklyn."
In the book, Overstreet isn’t able to track down Peltier’s killer
alone. He enlists the help of a memorable cast of characters
including the sexy nightclub manager River Paris and the 300-pound
transvestite Toni Monday.
"Every now and then you come up with a character and all
of a sudden the character overwhelms you and demands you tell
his story – this is where Toni Monday is in my head," said
Lovell, who thinks he may bring Monday back in the next Overstreet
mystery. "I’m really thinking about exploring that character.
There is a paradox brewing inside of him as well. He also has
a violent history and a violent past that I’m trying to exhume
as I’m trying to exhume Blades’ violent past Hopefully I’ll get
to write those stories."
Among the lesser evils Overstreet must battle is his actress-wife’s
employer, the libidinous producer Pryce Merkins. Although Lovell
began his writing career as a playwright and producer in Barbados,
and later had a play staged at Theater for the New City in Manhattan,
he said the smarmy Merkins isn’t based on anyone he knew in the
theater world.
"I didn’t get to deal with producers of that high caliber,
that high finance ability," Lovell said with a laugh. "The
producers I dealt with were living out of their cars and basements
and trying to get things together. Except in Barbados – the producers
there were fairly wealthy people. No one from Theater for the
New City was as rapacious as Mr. Merkins. That character came,
perhaps, from watching too many movies of people working in Hollywood."
Lovell has already started work on the next hard-boiled Overstreet
mystery and this time hopes to weave elements of the Latino community
into its pages. Until then, the author will be on the reading
and book signing circuit, drawing attention to his crime-solving,
swaggering hero.
"I hope to appeal to all kinds of readers: black, white,
Asian, women and men. Everybody. Who am I to say?" said
Lovell. "New Yorkers will love the story because I think
it will resonate – from the social angle to the political to
racial to sexual for people who like sensuality. It’s got a lot
of things people will enjoy."
"Love and Death in Brooklyn"
by Glenville Lovell (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $23.95) is available
in local bookstores.
The author will read from his book and sign copies at the Barnes
& Noble (106 Court St. at State Street) in Brooklyn Heights
on Sept. 2 at 7 pm. For more information, call (718) 246-4996.
