MysteryPeople Q&A with Tom Pitts

• Interview by Crime Fiction Coordinator Scott Montgomery

Two of the greatest reading experiences I have had this year were both provided by the same author, Tom Pitts. Hustle tells the story of two male prostitutes who try to blackmail  their high-powered attorney client,  and cross a psycho speed freak with designs on the same lawyer. Their survival depends on teaming up with Bear, a biker who works for the lawyer. Knuckleball, Pitts’ recent novella, relates the murder of a police officer, played out against the backdrop of a weekend series between the Giants and the Dodgers. We caught up with Tom to discuss the books, their inspirations, and what he hopes a reader gets out of them.

MysteryPeople Scott: Hustle is drawn from your life on the streets. What did you want to get across about that experience?

Tom Pitts: The part I drew from my own life was the drug addiction. I get asked a lot if I was involved in prostitution, and the answer is no, but the sleazy hotels with the blood on the ceilings? I lived that. The relentless sickness and the insatiable need for drugs? Yeah, that was me. I was frustrated by reading novels featuring drug addicts whose addiction only played into the story when they were introduced. When the plot starts moving, a lot of writers forget their characters have habits. I wanted to be consistent with the reality of addiction. That, no matter what, after a few hours, junkies have to fix—they have no choice. The drugs are never far from their minds, no matter how much peril they’re in. They use in any situation. They find a way. That’s what it means to be a junkie.

Every job I’ve held was somehow tied directly to the streets of the city. It’s my canvas. I can visualize a block or corner with ease, if it’s a one way, or a busy street, or has a view of the bridge, that kind of thing. That being said, the current gentrification is killing SF as a backdrop for crime.

MysteryPeople Review: HUSTLE and KNUCKLEBALL by Tom Pitts

– Review by Scott Montgomery, Crime Fiction Coordinator

M any crime fiction writers look at the underbelly of society. Tom Pitts sees that underbelly as its own society. His work follows people pushed to the edges, forced to create their own collective. This can be seen in two of his latest, Hustle and Knuckleball.

Hustle might be his most personal novel work to date. It is set in the world of Tenderloin male hustlers, focusing on Donny and Big Rich, who want to break from the streets and their addiction, yet feel they are trapped in both. They see their way out by blackmailing Gabriel Thaxton, a high powered San Francisco lawyer. It turns out a psychopathic speed freak, Dustin, has a bigger bite on Thaxton, and Donny and Rich’s scheme pulls them into a the crossfire between him and Bear, an ex-biker Thaxton has hired to take care of the situation.

Crime Fiction Friday: WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS, by Tom Pitts

When it comes to depicting lowlifes in bad circumstances, few do it as well as Tom Pitts. We’re happy to have his latest novel, Hustle, in as well as as his novella, Piggyback, back in stock. This little gem from Shotgun Honey proves his strength in dialogue and a punchy twists.

“With a Little Help From My Friends,” by Tom Pitts

“You got a freezer. Part the fucker out. Every week or so you slip a foot or a hand in with the trash. Right in there with the coffee grounds and the other rank shit.”

“No good. Problem with that is you end up with maybe fifteen chances of gettin’ caught. It raises the odds, man. No, we gotta get rid of this fuck in one go. I gotta figure out how to do this, like, tonight. We can’t be sitting around cuttin’ him up and treating him like last week’s leftovers.”

“We? You mean you. I didn’t kill the guy. I wasn’t even here.”

“You’re here now, aren’t you? That’s enough. I didn’t call you over to fuckin’ complain about my predicament, I called for help.”

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