Computer Guy Gets His Jollies Writing About Psychopaths

Ex-software consultant Dave Zeltserman has recently become one of the hottest commodities in the world of Boston crime fiction. I have yet to read him, but plan to soon. I have a soft spot for computer dudes with a jones for crime, having slung a line or two of code myself back in my career as one of the underworld’s wiliest debuggers. However, while I was Whitey Bulger’s PC doctor (at least for an afternoon), and smuggled the occasional CD-ROM full of SSN’s and Credit Card numbers out to assorted other miscreants, Mr. Zeltserman did high-class honest labor for the likes of Digital and Lucent. He struggled for years to get his crime fiction recognized by the dickheads in Big Publishing, but they tended to reject his work because it was – ahem – “too dark”. Accusing crime fiction of being “too dark” is like bawling out a T-bone steak because it has too much meat in it. Anyhow, Zeltserman is a hotshot now, an increasingly well-known go-to man for those who like their psychopaths straight-up. This is not to say he doesn’t draw from his own experience as a working stiff. One of his latest novels is Outsourced, the tale of a couple of downsized IT guys who get themselves in deep shit planning a bank heist. I can’t think of any subject trendier than that, can you?

Anyways, here's a gaggle of links about the dude to whet your interest in his work.

Boston Globe article about crime fiction
The Amazing Zeltser-Man (Bleeker Books)
Dave Zeltserman's page at CrimeSpace
Dave Zeltserman's website
"The Myth of Publishing" by Dave Zeltserman