Meeting Across the River

A new anthology is out based on an interesting premise. Edited by Jessica Kaye, and Richard Brewer (of Mystery Bookstore fame), Meeting Across the River is a collection of stories, each inspired by Bruce Springsteen's same-titled song. As Martin J. Smith points out in his compelling introduction, the tune, from BORN TO RUN, has haunting noir under(over?)tones that lend it nicely to interpretation by crime writers.

Stories from Eric Garcia, William Kent Krueger, C.J. Box, Steve Hamilton, Eddie Muller, Philip Reed, David Corbett, the inimitable Barbara Seranella, and others make up this collection.

When approaching the idea, I decided to combine noir elements with a thriller tone. My story, called "The Real Thing," a phrase I stole from the song, opens thus: "Abbud's head had been blown apart by sniper fire, his scalp lying beside the bone like a bad rug or a misplaced halo. Ebi Al-Mansouri stood frozen in place, bits of window glass embedded in his bearded face, his heart hammering so loudly it seemed to jar his vision. Bullet split the fifth-floor flat, raining in from all sides."