Death of a Writer: A Novel

By Michael Collins

For E. Robert Pendleton, a professor clinging to tenure and living in the shambles of his once-bright literary career, death seems to be the only remaining option. But his suicide attempt fails, and during his long convalescence, a novel is discovered hidden in his basement: a brilliant, semi-autobiographical story with a gruesome child murder at its core.
The publication of Scream causes a storm of publicity and raises questions about its content-in particular, about the uncanny resemblance between Pendleton's fictional crime and a real-life, unresolved local murder. How did Pendleton know the case so well? And why did he bury Scream in his basement? A rare blend of suspense, humor and insight, Death of a Writer is "dark, disturbing and damnably good" (Baltimore Sun).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
• Release date: Dec 12, 2008
• ISBN: 9781596917477

Michael Collins

Michael Collins (1930-2021) was an astronaut, one of 24 who have flown to the moon. A West Point graduate, he was an Air Force jet-fighter pilot and a test-pilot before being recruited by NASA in 1963 as a member of the third astronaut group selected for the Apollo moon project. Lieutenant Colonel Collins flew in the Gemini 10 space mission, orbiting the earth forty-three times in 1966, and piloted the Apollo 11 module for the 1969 lunar mission which put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon’s surface. After NASA, Collins became director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, then under secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and vice president of the LTV Aerospace and Defense Company. He held the rank of major general when he retired from the Air Force Reserve. Collins recounted his experiences as an astronaut in the memoirs Carrying the Fire and Flying to the Moon.

Reviews for Death of a Writer

[bcrowl399 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was intrigued at the beginning of this book. There was enough action, atmosphere and character to make me want to read further. However, the book bogged down somewhere in the middle and I read on hoping the end would justify the means. I was disappointed. Maybe I'm dense, but I don't know who actually commited the murders. If it was explained, I missed it. I even retraced my steps to see if I missed it. I got the tortured characters and flawed heroes. I got the slams to academia and I even tolerated the run-on sentences, which weren't all that bad, as run-ons go. A lot of information was repeated ad nauseum, but the "whodunit" part was left out, I think.

[readerspeak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Pendleton tries to commit suicide and fails, a self-published novel surfaces that leads the community to wonder how he knew so much about a brutal murder that took place years before.I see this book having a limited audience, those who love literature and studied literature. Without that background, the characters may be hard for the average reader to relate to. I enjoyed the plot in the beginning, but as the story wore on, I felt myself caring less and less about the characters, and therefore losing interest.

[birdy47 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Quite enjoyed this. American thrillers aren't really my choice - in fact I had this on order from the library for over 5 months and couldn't remember why I wanted it in the first place.Wouldn't rush to read it again.

[lizzysiddal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The latest offering from one of my favourite authors. Collins once again delivers an intriguing murder mystery laced with much from the dark side of human nature. At the same time he heaps derision and scorn on both American academia and the publishing industry.