Thursday, August 4, 2022

Meg Gardiner brings The HEAT--Heat 2!



HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Let me just say this. If we are picking teams for the apocalypse, I wanna be on Meg Gardiner’s team. NOT only is she the multi-super-bestselling author of however many terrific thrillers, but she was discovered by Stephen King. But wait there’s more. Past President of Mystery Writers of America. AND a multiple JEOPARDY winner. (Jeopardy!) (Read her whole bio, below. Really, do. There’s more.)

Anyway, and all that would be lovely for the apocalypse team. (Especially if there are games and time to read.)

But the reason I want Meg as my fearless leader is that she is not afraid of anything. Not anything! As is proven by her new book. Let’s just say YOU were asked to undertake the task she was offered. Would you not be terrified?

Not our Meg.



HEAT 2

    By Meg Gardiner

I’m going to tell you a secret. I’ve always wanted to write a heist novel.

I’ve written psychological thrillers. Revenge stories. Innocent-woman-on-the-run novels. Ticking clock thrillers. My UNSUB FBI profiler series.

And I have long hungered to write a big, meaty stick-up story.

Boy, did I ever get my chance.

Heat 2 is the new novel I co-wrote with legendary director Michael Mann. It’s both prequel and sequel to his epic film Heat, which starred Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, and Natalie Portman. Heat is about bank robber Neil McCauley (DeNiro) and the relentless cop who pursues him, Vincent Hanna (Pacino). It’s a cat-and-mouse story that explodes into bone-rattling action, with two protagonists on opposite sides of the law: master thief and LAPD Robbery-Homicide detective. Predator and predator. Hunter and hunter. It’s about their intense conflict but also their rapport, and—after a bank robbery turns downtown Los Angeles into a warzone—their deadly showdown.

It’s my favorite heist movie by a hundred miles.

I knew that Michael had long planned to write further stories from the Heat universe. I knew he was a brilliant and accomplished writer—he wrote the screenplays for Heat, The Insider, Manhunter, Last of the Mohicans, and Ali. He was the executive producer of Miami Vice and Crime Story. A four-time Academy Award nominee. Two-time Emmy award winner.


When he asked me to co-write Heat 2 as a novel, I threw myself at the project like a paratrooper plunging out the open door of an airplane.

Heat 2 opens one day after the end of the film, with a wounded Chris Shiherlis (Kilmer) holed up in Koreatown, half delirious and desperate to escape LA. Vincent Hanna is hunting him. Hours earlier, Hanna killed Neil McCauley—Chris’s brother in arms—under strobing lights at the foot of an LAX runway. Now Hanna is determined to capture or kill Chris, the last survivor of Neil’s crew, before he ghosts out of the city…

The action then shifts back seven years to 1988. Neil, Chris, and their highline crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the US-Mexican border, and Chicago. Hanna, a Chicago homicide detective, is hunting a gang of home invaders run by a magnetic and ruthless leader.

The fallout from McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuit cause unexpected repercussions that drive through the years following Heat. In a parallel narrative, the story moves from the streets of LA to the inner sanctums of rival South American crime syndicates and international criminal enterprises in Southeast Asia.

Heat 2 introduces new characters and new worlds of high-end professional crime, and explores the dangerous workings of international criminal organizations and the risk-drenched lives of the men and women who run them.

It dives into Hanna’s life in Chicago, where, unreconciled with his history—including the loss of a marriage and the effects of his Marine Corps service in Vietnam—he’s following his calling, the pursuit of armed and dangerous men into the dark and wild places. It reveals a younger, dangerous Neil McCauley, who’s very much bonded with other people—not yet the Neil of Heat, who says, “If you’re making moves on the street, have no attachments, allow nothing to be in your life that you cannot walk out on in thirty seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner.”

It explores how Chris Shiherlis found a brother in Neil, and how he goes on without him.

And it introduces new characters who are aspiring and driven to make their way—and to remake their worlds—by embracing or rejecting the criminal life.

On film and television projects, Michael Mann famously immerses himself into the culture of his subject and gathers detailed first-hand impressions and information. He says he wants to know and feel that culture and the lives of the people in it. He thinks there’s an authenticity discoverable that resonates with audiences as real and true. For Heat, his prep included three months of training for the actors, including firearms on the LA County Sheriff’s shooting ranges with former SAS operators including Andy McNab.

Believe me, his dedication to authenticity persists and imbues this book. I’ve written more than a dozen novels, but have never done more research in my life.

We rode along with two LAPD sergeants late one night, through some of LA’s tougher streets. And we had an illuminating discussion with a retired bank robber who had plenty of wisdom to impart to a novelist who has never done more inside a bank than endorse a check.

The research was all in the service of giving power to the story. It was about immersing readers in what feels like real, lived drama. Though if you want to know about bank tunnel jobs, hit me up.

Heat 2 will of course grab the interest of the film’s fans. It is also a stand-alone thriller. A brand new story. Readers will turn to page one and find themselves immersed in a pulse-pounding novel of escape, survival, pursuit, discovery, revenge, loss, and redemption, across a vivid landscape that spans decades and continents. 

You can pick it up cold. I hope you won’t put it down.


HANK: I loved Heat. I loved it. Such a master class in character and storytelling! And wow, the acting. But to write the prequel/sequel to an icon? SO fantastic. And HEAT 2 comes out August 9!



Two things: Meg will be in THE BACK ROOM this Sunday, so you can hear more about it, and ask her questions yourself in the special Zoom breakout rooms! Register here: www.The-Back-Room.org

(And ohh.. Also on the panel are Shanora WIlliams, Rochelle Weinstein and Megan Miranda! Pretty fabulous.)

But as Meg says: did you see HEAT? Do you have a favorite heist movie? Besides HEAT, I’d pick The Thomas Crown Affair, both versions. And The Usual Suspects. And Point Break. And…let’s see, is Charade the one about the stamp?

How about you, Reds and Readers?  (And YAY Meg, right?)




ABOUT MEG GARDINER

Edgar-winning novelist Meg Gardiner writes thrillers. Fast-paced and full of twists, her books have been called “Hitchcockian” (USA Today) and “nailbiting and moving” (Guardian). They have been bestsellers in the U.S. and internationally and have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Her latest title is Heat 2, co-authored with Michael Mann. The novel is both prequel and sequel to Mann’s 1995 film Heat, with a new story that unfolds before and after the iconic movie. Booklist, in a starred review, calls the novel “Riveting . . . . The best thing about this innovative tale is the way the fully fleshed human stories support and even transcend the often-breathtaking action.”

Gardiner’s UNSUB series features FBI profiler Caitlin Hendrix. UNSUB won the 2018 Barry Award for Best Thriller. The Dark Corners of the Night was bought by Amazon Studios for development as a television series.

The Evan Delaney novels feature a journalist from Santa Barbara, California. Stephen King calls them “simply put, the finest crime-suspense series I’ve come across in the last twenty years.”

China Lake won the 2009 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original. Later it was a finalist for NPR’s 100 Best Thrillers Ever.

The Jo Beckett series features a San Francisco forensic psychiatrist. The Dirty Secrets Club was chosen one of the Top Ten thrillers of 2008 by Amazon. The Nightmare Thief, featuring both Jo Beckett and Evan Delaney, won the 2012 Audie Award for Thriller/Suspense audiobook of the year.

Meg’s stand-alone novel The Shadow Tracer was named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2013. Phantom Instinct was chosen one of “The Best Books of Summer” by O, the Oprah magazine.

Meg was born in Oklahoma City and raised in Santa Barbara, California. She graduated from Stanford University and Stanford Law School.

She practiced law in Los Angeles and taught in the Writing Program at the University of California Santa Barbara.

In addition to her novels, Meg has published short stories in American and British magazines and the anthologies Echoes of Sherlock Holmes and Deadly Anniversaries. She has contributed essays to the Agatha Award winning How to Write a Mystery: A Handbook from Mystery Writers of America and the Anthony Award winning Books to Die For.

She served as the 2019 and 2020 president of Mystery Writers of America.

Beyond writing, Meg is a three-time Jeopardy! champion and a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation. She lives in Austin, Texas.

67 comments:

  1. I seem to lean towards less gritty heists. Pink Panther. The Sting. The Great Train Robbery. To Catch a Thief.
    Pat D

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    1. The Sting! One of my favorite movies of all time.

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    2. Oh, yes, great choices! The GreatTrain Robbery--fantastic. And I just read an article about how The Sting wasn't that good. huh?

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  2. Meg, this sounds so amazing . . . I can’t wait to read the book!

    Aside from “Heat,” one of my all-time favorite heist films is Raoul Walsh’s 1949 film “White Heat” with James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O’Brien, and Margaret Wycherly . . . . Another favorite is Hitchcock’s 1955 film “To Catch a Thief” with Cary Grant, and Grace Kelly . . . .

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    1. Classics! You can never go wrong with Cagney, Cary Grant, or Grace Kelly...

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    2. SO agree. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Always.

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  3. Congratulations Meg! I actually like the heist movies that are comedies as well. To Catch a Thief, Ocean's Eleven, Tower Heist, The Italian Job, The Taking of Pelham 123

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    1. Thanks, Dru! Tower Heist is terrific. And I love both versions of The Taking of Pelham 123.

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    2. Yes, Pelham 1,2,3. Remember how good the book was? And my college student grandson says Ocean's Eleven (the new one) is is favorite movie ever.

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  4. So many congratulations, Meg! Please tell us what is was like to co-write with Mann. Did he supply the idea and contacts and you wrote the book, or did you trade chapters back and forth, or?

    I don't tend to watch the high-suspense heist movies. Most recently I loved "The Old Man and the Gun," with Robert Redford as the gentlemanly (and well-dressed) bank robber who just can't quit.

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    1. Hi, Edith! The concept for the novel was Michael's. Once we got going, we collaborated closely, working out the entire story and then diving into the writing. By the end, we were swapping chapters, scenes, and pages back and forth.

      Like you, I really enjoyed The Old Man and the Gun!

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    2. Meg, that must have been amazing! And Edith, great question!

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  5. MEG: Congratulations on fulfilling your dream of writing a heist thriller. I am a huge fan of both your UNSUB and Evan Delaney books and am looking forward to reading HEAT2. The heist movies I love were made long ago: the original Italian job (with Michael Caine), The Sting, To Catch a Thief. The only heist movies I remember watching in the 2000s were the Ocean's 11 (& sequels) with George Clooney, Brad Pitt et al.

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    1. Thanks, Grace! It's wonderful to hear that you're a longtime reader. Like you, I love The Sting!

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    2. Maybe we should all watch The Sting again. And now I am humming Scott JOplin.

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  6. I have never seen Heat. I have to go find it now. But I did enjoy The Thomas Crown affair (both versions, but I have a soft spot for Pierce Brosnan). Would you say "Now You See Me?" is a heist story (Tom Hanks chasing forger Leonardo DiCaprio)?

    Oh, and what's the one that originally starred the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra and company) and was remade years later with Brad Pitt and George Clooney? Set in Las Vegas and they rob a casino, if memory serves.

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    1. Enjoy Heat! Like you, I love both versions of The Thomas Crown Affair. I'd say heist stories involve a burglary or robbery (a bank tunnel job, art theft, stealing jewels...) so would classify the Tom Hanks/DiCaprio "Catch Me If You Can" more as a caper movie. The film "Now You See Me" with Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine does include a complicated theft, so I would slot it into heist territory.

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    2. Well, Renee Russo in the new Thomas Crown is transcendent. AMAZING.

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    3. Renee Russo is breathtaking in that film.

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  7. Congratulations, Meg - sounds like a knock it out of the box winner!

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  8. Charade is probably my favorite, a caper heist thriller. Reggie and Peter are delicious, and the bozos out to get her are just this side of slapstick. The Sting, which I saw in a theater when it first came out, is another all-time favorite. I'm going to have to find at least one version of Thomas Crown to watch.

    The Rat Pack's Ocean's movie was Ocean's Eleven, LIZ. There are so many of those it's hard to keep track!

    How fun, Meg, to do such a deep dive into that world with Michael Mann. How did he choose you to co-write this book with him?

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    1. The Sting is such a classic. I was put in contact with Michael after he read my novel UNSUB. Our mutual literary agent connected us.

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    2. Watch both Thomas Crowns--besides being really entertaining, it's a real lesson in characterization. ONe is so cool, and the other is so hot.

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    3. Thank you both for your responses!

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  9. I agree with others who like the gentlemanly or less gritty heists. To Catch a Thief, The Thomas Crowne Affair, Pink Panther.

    On TV, the Father Brown series (books by G. K. Chesterton), often shows Father Brown matching wits with his nemesis, and sometimes ally, the thief named Flambeau.

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    1. Yes! I have quite a bit of a crush on Flambeau!

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    2. "Gentlemanly" heists, that's great. What are some with women?

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    3. Thelma & Louise, Hank! And Ocean's Eight, which is an all-female cast of crooks.

      There are others: https://movieweb.com/best-women-heist-movies/

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    4. Oh, right right right!! I cannot believe I forgot about that!

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  10. MEG: Welcome to JRW! I think I may have met you at Bouchercon in Toronto in 2017? I remember your books! Interesting that you mentioned Michael Mann because I met a man on a plane who LIED about producing a film with Michael Mann. That was the first time I heard of Michael Mann. My favorite heist film, in addition to Thomas Crown Affair, is that British ? film about elderly people who get together to rob a bank or a big insurance company because they needed the money for various reasons. I think the title was THE INSIDE? I think Michael Caine was the ringleader in this film?

    Diana

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    1. Oh, that sounds great. And he lied?? There's a story... :-)

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    2. Yes, he lied. He lied about being a paratrooper. He said he was looking for a woman who wore a size 4 and he HATES children, So I lied to him and told him that I wear a size 14 and that I have 4 children with my handsome husband. LOL. I think that he was hitting on me.

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    3. Hi, Diana! I'm guessing we met at Bouchercon in New Orleans or St. Petersburg - I wasn't able to make it to Toronto. And what a crazy story. I'm glad you went right back at him with your own fictitious biography!

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    4. Hi Meg! Was it Left Coast Crime in Vancouver or Malice Domestic? Thanks for your note of support. I am very good at making up stories. LOL. Diana

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    5. It must have been Left Coast in Vancouver. I have so many great memories of that conference.

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    6. Thank you. That was special for me because that year was my Mom's 80th birthday and we went there as part of her birthday celebrations. It was so fun to meet so many wonderful authors, I remember meeting you when you autographed your book.

      Diana

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    7. How wonderful for your family!

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  11. I love, love, love heist movies, and have been bewailing the lack of heist novels, so I am super excited for this, Meg! I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it is such a runaway best seller that publishers start looking for more novels like the wonderful 1960s ones by Donald Westlake and Chester Himes.

    One of my favorite ice movies? The often overlooked REINDEER GAMES, which has so many crosses and double crosses your head will be spinning by the end of the film.

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    1. Hi, Julia! Donald Westlake and Chester Himes - oh, yes. More heist novels, yes, please!

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  12. On my favourites list are The Sting, and Pink Panther. Great movies, actors and scores. Also, The Usual Suspects because I rarely don't know the ending before it comes, and this one was a thriller. Also, the remake of The Thomas Crowne Affair because, well, Pierce Brosnan does a better suave and debonair than Steve McQueen. I've never seen HEAT. Probably won't work too hard to change that, but I look forward to Heat 2. It sounds like fun.

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    1. Yes, The Usual Suspects. SO brilliant! And that last scene....

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    2. Loved the Pink Panther. Funny story. My father took me to see the movie 10 and I thought it was a Pink Panther movie because of the Blake Edwards name on the movie. I kept on asking where is Pink Panther? LOL

      Diana

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    3. Thanks, CD. The Usual Suspects - absolutely!

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  13. Not a movie but I recently watched a department store heist on Better Call Saul. Amazing!

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    1. Wasn't that incredible??? Wow. Terrific. "Look at ME. Look at ME." And that's the first ever with Cinnabons as a weapon. :)

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    2. I loved the entire episode. Fantastic.

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    3. And then I always go on line and see what everyone is saying. It's so fascinating to watch Better Call Saul--we as viewers are SO forgiving and patient and confident about the writers and the writing: Well, we think, I'll understand that in a minute.

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  14. Hello, Meg. Thanks for sharing story of the birth of Heat 2 with us. Liz and Hank: Thanks for letting me know that there's a new version of the Thomas Crown Affair. I obviously missed that. GREAT HEIST MOVIES: Audrey Hepburn and Peter O'Toole in How to Steal a Million. It's clever and funny, and all of Hepburn's clothes are by Givenchy and amazing. More recent and more serious, but also with its funny moments (and I can't recommend it highly enough): Inside Man, with Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster. Brilliant movie. Sorry if one of you has already recommended these--I didn't see either one mentioned, but I might have missed them. Response to copy editing of Book #2 deadline tomorrow, so only skimmed all the comments when I should have read carefully, as I usually do.

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    1. Good choices! And good luck with the deadline! (and Peter O'Toole's blue eyes, exactly, and Audrey's clothes--and hair! And that face mask thing...)

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    2. Hi, Kim! INSIDE MAN. Yes!!! A fantastic addition to the heist canon.

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    3. Good luck with the copy edit, Kim!

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  15. Hi Meg!! Just, WOW! This is so exciting and it must have been incredibly fun to write. Are there any more collaborations planned? Favorite heist movies, Hank? Both Thomas Crowns and both versions of The Italian Job!

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    1. Hi Deb! Thanks so much. Writing this novel was challenging and exhilarating and, yes, fun. It has definitely convinced me that collaborating can be wonderful... we'll see what happens down the line!

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    2. Oh, hmmm, have I seen The Italian Job? I will look that right up. And Meg, don't forget to savor THIS collaboration! Everyone is so thrilled! xx

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  16. Meg, congratulations on all your success. I have to say that I get a lot of satisfaction out of this testosterone-fueled Heat 2 being guided by a kick-ass female author, well co-guided. Good luck on its arrival in the world. I predict much praise.

    My favorite heist movie is The Thomas Crowne Affair with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo.

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  17. This sounds fantastic! Now I have to go rewatch Heat. Congratulations, Meg!

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    1. We did, too! SO great. The dialogue! The acting! And wow, the airport.

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    2. Thanks, Jenn! And yes, Hank... it lands hard. So to speak.

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