Peter Blauner (born October 29, 1959) is an American author, journalist, and television producer.
Blauner has written nine novels, including Slow Motion Riot, which won the 1992 Edgar Award for Best First Novel from the Mystery Writers of AmericaDallas Morning News, May 2, 1992 and was named an International Book of the Year by The Times Literary Supplement.Times Literary Supplement, December 6, 1991
Early career Blauner started in journalism as an assistant to Pete Hamill, before reporting for the Newark Star-Ledger in New Jersey and the Norwich Bulletin in Connecticut.Salemy, Shirley. "Bonfire in Slow Motion," Manhattan Spirit newspaper. April 18, 1991 From 1982 to 1991, Blauner wrote for New York, covering crime, politics, and oddball city characters.Smith, Chris. "Walk on the Wild Side" New York magazine, June 10, 1991 Blauner also was the sole author of a full-length issue of the magazine, "The Voices of New York," (April 11, 1988), which was an oral history of the city from 1968 to 1988. He interviewed more than 70 famous and infamous New Yorkers for the issue."The Voices of New York," New York magazine, April 11, 1988
Novelist
In 1988, at the height of the crack epidemic, Blauner took a leave of absence from his journalism job and spent six months as a volunteer probation officer. He used those experiences as research for his first novel Slow Motion Riot.Smith, Chris. "Walk on the Wild Side." New York magazine. June 10, 1991. It won the Edgar award, and named an "International Book of the Year" in the Times Literary Supplement by Patricia Highsmith, who called it "unforgetttable."TLS, December 6, 1991 Blauner then spent several years researching a novel about Atlantic City, New Jersey. Casino Moon was published in 1994. For his next book, Blauner spent a year as a volunteer at a homeless shelter and visited the underground dwellings of "mole people" living beneath Manhattan's Riverside Park. The resulting novel The IntruderLehmann-Haupt, Christopher. "Even for a Rich Lawyer, City Life Can Be Murder," New York Times, July 4, 1996 was a New York Times bestsellerThe New York Times Book Review, February 2, 1997 and a bestseller in England as well.The Observer, London, September 14, 1997 Man of the Hour appeared in 1999: a pre-9/11 suspense novel about Middle Eastern terrorism in New York, the hysteria of modern celebrity, and the public school system. Blauner's next novel The Last Good Day, published in 2003 was a mystery story, set in the suburbs outside New York City in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.Minezesheimer, Bob. "Setting steers 'Day, Winterkill.' USA Today, May 27, 2003 Slipping Into Darkness was published by Little Brown in 2006. It told the story of a young man who spends twenty years in prison for a crime that he may or may not have committed, and the detective who put him there.Briefly Noted, The New Yorker, February 27, 2006
In his book "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft," Stephen King names two of Blauner's novels, The Intruder and The Last Good Day, on his recommended reading list.King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, 10th anniversary edition, Scribner, New York 2010
Later career
In more recent years, Blauner has been writing for television. He has been on the writing staffs of three shows in the Law & Order franchise. He served as a co-executive producer of Law & Order: SVU, where he was the writer of the show's 300th episode, "Manhattan Vigil," which was loosely based on his 2007 short story "Going, Going, Gone." A 2013 episode, "Legitimate Rape," co-written with Kevin Fox, was nominated for an Edgar award for best teleplay.Publishers Weekly, January 16, 2014 From 2015 to 2018, he wrote as a co-executive producer for the CBS show, "Blue Bloods." His first novel in eleven years, Proving Ground, was published by Minotaur/St. Martin's Press in 2017. His eighth novel, Sunrise Highway, was published by Minotaur/St. Martin's in September, 2018. It reached the Los Angeles Times bestseller list for hardcover fiction.
Blauner's new novel, Picture in the Sand, which spans sixty years and the distance from Hollywood to Cairo, was published by Minotaur/St. Martin's Press on January 3, 2023. It is his first work of historical fiction.
Novels 1991 - Slow Motion Riot 1994 - Casino Moon 1996 - The Intruder 1999 - Man of the Hour 2003 - The Last Good Day 2006 - Slipping Into Darkness 2017 - Proving Ground 2018 - Sunrise Highway 2023 - Picture in the Sand
Short stories "Going, Going, Gone," The Best American Mystery Stories 2007.The Best American Mystery Stories 2007. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, New York. 2007. Selected Shorts from Symphony Space" "The Consultant," Wall Street Noir, 2007 "Thank God for Charlie," The Rich and The Dead, 2011Mystery Writers of America Presents The Rich and The Dead, Grand Central Publishing, New York, 2011. "The Chair," Kwik Krimes, 2013 "The Final Testament," Mysterious Press, 2013Blauner, Peter. The Final Testament, Mysterious Press, New York, 2013. "The Last Temptation of Frankie Lyman," Crime Plus Music, Three Rooms Press, 2016
References
External links Peter Blauner's website