Christopher Cook is probably best known for Robbers, a mystery that has so many surprises you can’t talk about the novel without spoiling some of the fun.
If you are trying to write a novel, I’d read this one and take notes.
People who are not from Texas usually think of the Hollywood version, heavy on the landscapes and cattle of West Texas. They are surprised to find that East Texas is covered in pine forests and sawmill hands.
My friend Christopher has that part of the world down: the talk, the characters, the way the cops think and the way the food smells.
Some of his short stories are in Screen Door Jesus & Other Stories. He's as good as it gets on the peculiar role religious belief plays in this part of the world. His short story "Heresies," for example, is about two guys hired as security guards for a conference of theologians who are supposed to give the Austin City Council some advice on a gay rights ordinance. One of the guards is an old hippie, and the other listens to too much talk radio.
Christopher can tell a story. Today’s his birthday, and I’m wishing him well.
• Sources: Robbers was published by No Exit Press in 2001 and then by Berkley Trade in 2002. Screen Door Jesus & Other Stories was published by Host Publications in 2006. Cloven Tongues of Fire was published as a Kindle edition in 2011.
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