There’s a serial killer on the loose in Denver, and not only is their body count mounting, they’re using the identity of another serial killer – the PDQ Killer, who is Harry Kugel.
Kugel’s been out of the killing business for 15 years and finds himself in the strange position of having to expose the real killer in order to keep the police off his (old) trail. He enlists the help of Flynn Martin, a TV journalist looking for redemption.
So begins “No Lie Lasts Forever,” the latest novel by Mancos author Mark Stevens.
Stevens will be in Durango on Tuesday at Maria’s Bookshop to discuss the book, which will be published on Sunday.
An award-winning author, Stevens is a journalist by trade – it was journalism that led him from the East Coast to reporting jobs first in Boston, then Los Angeles, and then at the Rocky Mountain News in 1980. He and his wife lived in Denver for about 35 years, raising their family there. They moved to Mancos six years ago, he said.
If you go
WHAT: Mark Stevens, “No Lie Lasts Forever,” author event.
WHEN: 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
WHERE: Maria’s Bookshop, 960 Main Ave.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit https://tinyurl.com/25spez83.
For Stevens, one of the challenges of writing “No Lie Lasts Forever” was getting it published in the first place.
“I first drafted it in 2001. This book has been working in the background, living in the background of all my other projects for 24 years,” he said. “It’s absolutely crazy to me. I’d go for months and months without even thinking about it, because it was one of those early projects. I loved the idea of it, and I think finally, my ability to tell a story caught up with how I needed to approach it, to really execute it well, because it’s probably been through 40 drafts. It’s not a complicated book, but there’s a lot going on.”
Another challenge was trying to put himself in the shoes of a killer.
“I think the biggest challenge was trying to get inside the head of a serial killer who has decided to reform himself, and has stopped,” Stevens said. “It’s been 15 years since he was active. He’s hiding in plain sight as a regular member of society, and he’s just going about his business.”
It’s the structure of mystery stories that drew him to writing in the style, Stevens said, adding that it’s different from other genres that may lean more toward character-driven stories or even stories without a definitive ending: He’s all about the closure.
“The thing I liked about mysteries was there was a clean beginning, middle and end to a book,” he said. “In reading sort of traditional literary fiction, it was just character-driven, and there wasn’t as much structure. Sometimes, you couldn’t even figure out why a book was ending where it was – it was just kind of a beginning, a middle and another middle, there was just no feeling of closure. But when a friend handed me my first crime fiction novel, I thought I can see how this works, because you’ve got to wrap it up. You’ve got to deliver the goods; you’ve got to have justice served.”
Fans of “No Lie Lasts Forever,” will have reason to rejoice: Stevens said what started out as a standalone book is actually the first of a trilogy – in fact, the sequel to this book should be out next year, he said. He’s also working on other projects.
“I also have a book set in the world of rock ’n’ roll that my agent is trying to sell right now. So a couple of projects out there that I hope see the light of day eventually,” Stevens said. “And then I’ve actually got a novel in progress, about a small town reporter in Cortez. ... He doesn’t know his paper is going to be closing soon, but he’s got one last big story to tell.”
katie@durangoherald.com
