Revolver (27 page)

The idea for
Revolver
was seeded in my previous novel,
Canary,
in what was basically a throwaway line. (My subconscious mind likes to play games with me, I swear.) And it blossomed into life on March 24, 2014, when I read a
Philadelphia Inquirer
piece by Barbara Boyer about the 1963 murders of two police officers in Lodi, New Jersey. The bitter anger of their families, even after all these years, was palpable. It brought to mind a murder in my own extended family—that of a Philly beat cop named Joseph T. Swierczynski, who was gunned down by a gangster outside a bar at Ninth and Christian on March 20, 1919. And while the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, wouldn't happen until I was deep into the writing of this novel, cops and race were very much on my mind from the very beginning.

I've dabbled in historical fiction before—my first novel,
Secret Dead Men,
was set in a 1976 I barely remember, and
Expiration Date
is about time travel to the early 1970s. And I've spent seven (plus) years researching a novel set in Prohibition-era Philly that I'm hoping to finish before I die. But now came an opportunity to write some historical fiction and show its visceral impact on the present. I'm a big fan of William Faulkner's line from
Requiem for a Nun:
“The past is never dead. It's not even past.”

To re-create that past, I had some homework to do. I'm hugely grateful to Michael J. Chitwood, Joseph R. Daughen, Steven Swierczynski, and Frank Wallace for spending time and sharing memories with me. Their firsthand accounts helped enormously.

I also devoured heaps of newspaper and website articles and books in researching
Revolver,
but especially useful were
Case Study of a Riot: The Philadelphia Story
by Lenora E. Berson, “That Long Hot Summer of Rage” by Will Bunch,
The Peoples of Philadelphia
by Allen F. Davis and Mark H. Haller,
Black Brothers, Inc.
by Sean Patrick Griffin,
Tough Cop: Mike Chitwood vs. the “Scumbags”
by Harold I. Gullan, and Civil Rights in a Northern City: Philadelphia, which is Temple University's amazing digital archive about the civil rights movement in Philly (northerncity.library.temple.edu).

Feedback and advice from my early readers—Lou Boxer, Robb Cadigan, Joe Gangemi, Allan Guthrie, and Robert Kulb—was very much appreciated.

That lovely map at the front of this book comes to you courtesy of Mark Adams and Jason Killinger, a.k.a. Eyes Habit. My writing area is adorned with their maps, which are a constant source of inspiration. (I'm a map nerd.) Take a peek for yourself at eyeshabit.com.

Huge thanks to my editors, Joshua Kendall and Wes Miller, who not only saw the early promise of the idea, but also helped me find my way throughout the writing process. High-fives to the rest of the team at Mulholland Books as well as Inkwell Management and the Gotham Group.

All of my love to my home team—Meredith, Parker, and Sarah—who have to put up with me when I'm staring at a corkboard littered with index cards or walking around the house, mumbling to myself. I couldn't do this without them.

The idea for this novel came literally the day after we adopted Sherlock, our Aussie shepherd–border collie mix. I plotted quite a bit of this book while walking him. He offered no special insights into the novel or its themes, but definitely thought I should include dead squirrels, if possible.

February 21, 2016

Photograph by Evelyn Taylor

Duane Swierczynski is the Edgar-nominated author of nine novels, including
Canary, Severance Package,
and the Shamus Award–winning Charlie Hardie series (
Fun and Games, Hell and Gone, Point and Shoot
). He's written over 250 comics for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Valiant, and IDW, and most recently wrote
The Black Hood,
the first comic for Archie's new Dark Circle imprint. Duane has also collaborated with
CSI
creator Anthony E. Zuiker on the bestselling Level 26 series. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and children.

 

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Revolver

Canary

 

Fun and Games

Hell and Gone

Point and Shoot

Secret Dead Men

The Wheelman

The Blonde

Severance Package

Expiration Date

 

 

Dark Origins

Dark Prophecy

Dark Revelations

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