DEBORAH CROMBIE: Here at JRW we know we can always count on Brad Parks for a witty and entertaining post--as well as terrific thrillers. Today he's here to celebrate his latest, THE FLACK, and, well, I'll let him tell you about it!
With Friends Like These...
BRAD PARKS: Thanks, Deb! It’s
always great to be back here at Jungle Red.
Everyone here knows I’m a rascal
who likes to stir the pot, so today I’m going to ask you to think about a
friend.
And not just any friend. Your best
friend.
Hopefully you have one. Or maybe,
if you’re really lucky, even more than one.
Whatever the case, you know who the
person is: Your bestie. Your ride or die. Your rock. That person who would not
only help you move, they’d help you move a body.
You
know, like the kind of friends you have here at Jungle Red. (Especially in the
move-a-body department . . . I have it on good authority Rhys is an expert.)
My latest novel, The Flack,
features two such friends.
Curt Hinton and Angel Reddish were
college roommates at Northwestern who—despite differences in background and
temperament—turn into close companions and confidantes, the kind of friends
guys don’t always have anymore.
(It’s true: Did you know men are
fifty percent more likely than women to report that they have zero close
friends, according to the Survey Center on American Life? And people wonder why
we die sooner.)
Angel
and Curt went their separate ways after college graduation but remained BFFs.
Curt launched a career in journalism. Angel became a rising star in the
logistics industry, eventually landing a spot as chief operating officer at
Balco, the Bay Area Logistics Company.
Which
is how, at the beginning of The Flack, they are reunited. With Curt’s
newspaper sliding into financial oblivion, Angel comes to the rescue, helping
him land a job at Balco as vice president of corporate communications—a “flack”
as they’re known in newspaper jargon.
It’s
a plush gig: a $350,000 salary; plus a housing stipend, a $50,000 signing
bonus, and a free Rivian to zip around in. And it couldn’t come at a better
time, since Curt’s wife is pregnant with their first child. It has that happily-ever-after
feel to it . . .
Except—this being crime fiction—there
has to be a twist, and there has to be a crime.
It
turns out Angel has been keeping a secret from Curt.
It’s a pretty big one.
And—this isn’t much of a spoiler,
since it happens on page two—it gets Angel killed. As Curt begins to
investigate, it sends him down a very dangerous road. I can’t say too much more
(because then it would get spoiler-y), but it does make me think about friends
and secrets and leads me to that stir-the-pot question I want to ask:
What’s the biggest secret your best
friend ever kept from you?
How did it come to light? Did you
understand why they didn’t tell you? Did it cause a rift in your relationship
or were you able to forgive them?
I’ll be giving away a free autographed
copy of The Flack to one random commenter. For more about me, visit bradparksbooks.com.
For more about moving bodies, ask Rhys.
Seriously. She’s good.
International bestselling author
Brad Parks is the only writer to have won the Shamus, Nero, and Lefty Awards,
three of crime fiction’s most prestigious prizes. His novels have been
translated into sixteen languages and won critical acclaim around the globe.
The proud father of two terrific kids, he splits his time between Virginia and
California.
DEBS: Okay, I'm snickering, and wondering just exactly what bodies Rhys has moved!
Readers, confess your bestie's secret--or just say "hi"--in the comments, and you'll be entered to win a copy of THE FLACK!
Congratulations, Brad, on your newest book . . . I'm looking forward to reading it and finding out what secret got Angel killed . . . .
ReplyDeleteIf my best friend ever kept a secret bigger than a surprise party from me, I've never discovered it . . . .
Thanks, Joan! Hope you enjoy! (And maybe your friend will surprise you someday?)
DeleteI remember meeting Brad at Long Beach Bouchercon.
ReplyDeleteSo far, no big secrets have been revealed. . .
Long Beach was such a fun Bouchercon! Thanks for saying hi.
DeleteOMG, Brad, it's a secret!
ReplyDeleteI love the premise of your new book, too bad Angel has to die though, because most men don't accumulate friends. This is going on my TBR, and it sounds like one my husband will want to read, too.
Thanks, Judy. Hope you both enjoy!
DeleteBrad, congrats on your recent release.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dru Ann! Lovely to see you!
DeleteSomeone that I considered my best friend for years, up and moved away without even telling me. I found out because a different friend of hers tagged her in a Facebook post about the new home. True, we had drifted apart some due to various circumstances of life, but we still shared major events like a move!
ReplyDeleteI never gave her any Flack over it; just sent her a message of congratulations and got the new address.
Way to go high road. :)
DeleteYou’ve got me intrigued! Just ordered my kindle version and look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pam! Enjoy!
DeleteThe premise sounds great and I look forward to reading The Flack. I will confess, though, I found the name Angel confusing -- I jumped out to Amazon and read reviews until I ran into a pronoun used to describe Angel. Because for me, a two-male buddy story is just different than a male and female buddy story, and I couldn't set my expectations until I knew which I would be reading.
ReplyDeleteSo glad we got that straightened out! Angel's mom is from the Dominican Republic, and in Spanish culture "Angel" is much more likely to be a male name (with "Angela" as the female). I had never even thought about the confusion that might create!
DeleteSounds great! Unfortunately your question brought to mind secrets I've kept from best friends rather than the reverse and one I didn't keep and wish I had! I will stick with your fiction!
ReplyDeleteWell, now, that DOES beg the question: What secrets have you kept?? (And it's making me realize I should have asked both questions: Has someone kept a secret from you AND have you kept one from someone?)
DeleteBrad, congrats on the new book. It sounds great and now I want to read the whole damn story. So I guess this post did the trick.
ReplyDeleteI do have a best friend. Her name is Ann. And she rocks! Even though she's currently on Leg 2 of her World Retirement Tour and posting photos of her in sunny Mexico while I hibernate in the freezing cold of Massachusetts.
I'd likely help her move a body, but help her move? That's a bit more difficult an option given my back. But I'd carry some fluffy pillows or something.
By the way, I figure Rhys has to move the bodies of all the people who ask her to blurb books they've written that are filled with historical inaccuracies.
LOL. It's true that few in the historical realm do their research quite as well as Rhys. Enjoy the read!
DeleteIt's so intriguing! I want to know what Angel's secret was. I have a number of close friends, but I can't think of any secrets. We had dinner last night with an old college friend who was in town for a meeting--so fun to converse about everything and reconnect. It's so easy to pick up the old connections.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago (1981-2?) I was dating a guy who lied to me about his past. He told me that he had been married once and had 2 kids. He'd actually been married twice and had 4 children.
That's a pretty big whopper, Gillian!
DeleteI mean, maybe it just slipped his mind? I'm sure lots of people have had a marriage they'd like to forget. :) :) :)
DeleteMorning All ~ Paula B here. Sounds very intriguing and congratulations on writing it. Secrets shared between BFFs stay between BFFs. If one should leak it’s quite possible the friendship would be strained-for awhile at least or completely over. However, I just have to tell you this secret about … oh wait. Can’t share. It’s a BFF thing.
ReplyDeletePaula again ~ would somebody please tell me how to get “on JRW” instead of being anonymous.
DeletePaula, scroll all the way to the bottom. When Enter Comment appears tap that Comment As appears. Tap the arrow and three options appear: Google Account, Name, Anonymous. Select Name, type in your name, tap Continue. That brings you back to enter your Comment.
DeleteThanks for explaining, Emily! I just had to do that yesterday when I was answering comments from my phone.
DeletePaula B, you clearly understand how creating suspense works because now I'm dying to know. :)
DeleteI don't think my BFF ever kept any secrets from me - and if she had (and I found out), I've forgotten them.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new release!
Thanks, Liz!
Delete"newspaper sliding into financial oblivion" - how prescient you were, in view of the day's headlines. Wow.
ReplyDeleteSecrets my BFFs kept from me? How would I know. Secrets I've kept from them? Well, that's another story.
Hey, Hallie! I used to work at The Washington Post (long time ago, but still). It's heartbreaking what's happening. I was a sportswriter there--and the rumor is they're eliminating the sports section. And apparently BookWorld (which was already greatly diminished) is gone too! It's dark times for American journalism. :(
DeleteWhat's happening at the Post is so heartbreaking.
DeleteI just read that the Post's Ron Charles--who is one of the best book reviewers in the business, to say nothing of an all-around affable guy--is going to continue reviewing books on Substack. If anyone is interested in subscribing: https://substack.com/@roncharles
DeleteBrad, thanks for the info about Ron Charles. I dumped the Post in 2024, but loved Ron Charles's newsletter. So funny.
DeleteBRAD: Welcome to Jungle Reds! Your new novel FLACK sounds intriguing. Regarding the friendship between Curtis and Angel, would you call it a "bromance" like the friendship between Ben Affleck and Matt Damon?
ReplyDelete"Newspaper sliding into financial oblivion" is very timely with the current news. Just learned that the Washington Post laid off ? half ? of their staff.
No idea if my BFF kept a secret from me. I do not know if any of my friends have Secrets in their past.
Hey Diana! The dust jacket for THE FLACK refers to Curt and Angel as a Hollywood Buddy Flick come to life, so you're on the right track. :)
DeleteHi Brad! If my best friend kept a secret from me, I don't know it. Wait, maybe she didn't tell me until after the fact that she was pregnant and getting married when we were nineteen.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read about Angel and Curt!
My childhood best friend, Judy, eloped with her boyfriend,, and I didn't find out until later. To be fair, I was either away at college or living in another state by then, but come on! We had been best friends since my family moved from Philadelphia into the suburbs when I was in second grade, living on the same street, and we kept up our conversations for at time after I moved to California, but after a while that dwindled.
ReplyDeleteFast forward forty or so years, after we were both retired, and I started searching for Judy, finding her "baby brother" online. I was still in California and Judy is in Pittsburgh, married to a different man. We resumed our communications as if they had never stopped, and her friendship got me through my husband's cancer diagnosis and later death. Now I'm trying to help her get through some of her own medical problems. It would be great to get to see each other in person again, but we're resigned to the fact that it will probably never happen.
Brad, your book sounds wonderful, but I haven't been able to find it yet. I hope I win!!!
Margie, my best friend (since third grade) is in Kansas and I wish we saw each other more often. We do talk on the phone every couple of days, though.
DeleteMargie, that's such a great story. It's a reminder that the best friendships never die--they just evolve.
DeleteI didn’t realize just how many ex husbands one of my dearest friends had.
ReplyDeleteDebRo
How many did she have?? Was the dear friend Zsa Zsa Gabor by any chance? I once read a great stat--that your chances of being Zsa Zsa's ex-husband (something like 1 in 12 million) were actually greater than your chances of being killed by a shark.
DeleteSnort, Brad.
DeleteInteresting trivia about Zsa Zsa: Her niece Annette and Annette’s husband congressman Tom Lantos were rescued by Raoul Wallenberg as children during the war and they met after the war.
DeleteA very good friend did keep a secret from me. Perhaps she felt that it wasn't my business and I wasn't informed. It was hurtful when I did find out and I felt that she was no longer to be trusted. I overheard it from someone else. I couldn't allow her attitude and behavior to me to continue as she didn't value my friendship at all. We have never communicated again.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's sad, traveler. Maybe there was a reason. People are complicated.
DeleteI am wondering why we haven’t seen any comments from Rhys. Hmmmmmmm.
ReplyDeleteThis is Cheryl Slover, not “Anonymous” 😆
DeleteYou're right, Cheryl. Her silence is deafening. But that just tells you what a good friend she REALLY is . . . all those bodies moved, and nary a word to say about it.
DeleteMy besties are scattered around the country, so it'd be difficult to help with a body. But I'm up for a road trip! I guess we're a boring bunch as no electrifying secrets have leaked.
ReplyDeleteWill the book be available in audio? I’d love to read it, but almost never get to my stack of “actual” books 😬 Cheryl Slover
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling us about your book, Brad--it sounds thrilling. As for best friends and secrets, I'm someone who has to be TOLD that something is a secret. Of course, most confidences are obviously private and not to be shared with anyone. But once or twice, a friend has told me an interesting story about her life that I would never have imagined needed to be kept secret, and months or years later, when it seemed relevant to a conversation, I've told someone else. How terrible I feel when I find out she's upset! I think I've learned my lesson--such a thing hasn't happened in years. But I still feel bad about it. I wonder if it has something to do with loving good stories and wanting to share them! Maybe writers are the wrong people to tell secrets to.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a surprise to see Brad Parks on JRW today. Now I can certainly tell you a secret or two about Brad--because Brad and my son used to hang out on occasion when they were in middle school and high school. Suffice to say, what happens in West Mountain, stays in West Mountain!! Seriously, Brad--so excited about your new book. Let me know where you're touring and if you are coming "home" for a visit to Books on the Common or the library (we have great author events and sometimes authors interview other authors!! That could be fun.). I'm heading downtown right now to get my copy. Congratulations. PS: The only secret my former best friend never told me--I found out for myself. Hence the word, former!!!
ReplyDeleteThe old "Oh, didn't I mention that part? Sorry. It must have slipped my mind."
ReplyDeleteI remember a friend, whom I thought was a very good friend, “forgot “ to tell me she was expecting a baby twice! I wasn’t invited to her baby shower. It was clear that this friend didn’t trust me for whatever reasons. I had to let that friend go. Looking back, I was the person who did 90 percent of the work maintaining the friendship in terms of keeping in touch. I had forgotten until now!
ReplyDeleteThe name Angel also confused me for a few minutes!
ReplyDeleteMy (former) best friend kept it a secret that my first husband hit on her when I was pregnant, and not just once, until after he and I divorced. I'm still mad at her, more than 50 years later.