Reed Farrel Coleman (born March 29, 1956) is an American writer of crime fiction and a poet.
Life and career Reed Farrel Coleman, the youngest of three boys, was born and raised in the Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn. As a teenager, he heard a shot while walking to work, and saw a man lying in the street with a fatal stomach wound. That is when he realized, "People do get hurt." He started writing in high school. He has worked at an ice cream store, in air freight at Kennedy Airport, as a car leasing agent, in baby food sales, cooking at a restaurant, as a cab driver, and delivering home heating oil. Coleman met his wife Rosanne at The New School in a writing class. They have two children, Kaitlin and Dylan. He now lives on Long Island.
Coleman only considered making writing a career once taking a Brooklyn College detective fiction class. He is a multiple award-winning author, particularly his Moe Prager series. Also published are series featuring protagonists Gulliver Dowd, Dylan Klein, and Joe Serpe. The Dowd character was based on a retired police detective that he had met. The Joe Serpe novels were originally written under the pen name Tony Spinosa, but are now available as Coleman titles. He has written the stand-alone novels Tower with Ken Bruen, Bronx Reqiem with Det. (ret.) John Roe of the NYPD, Gun Church, and several short stories, essays, and poems. Coleman has won Anthony, Audie, Barry, Macavity and Shamus Awards. His books and stories have additionally been nominated for Gumshoe and Edgar Awards. The books have been translated into seven languages.
He considers William Blake, Lawrence Block, T.S. Eliot, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett to be early influences. Later he found significance in the writing of colleagues Peter Blauner, Ken Bruen, Jim Fusilli, S.J. Rozan, and Peter Spiegelman. He says, though, that his single greatest writing influence was his college poetry professor, David Lehman, who provided "permission to be a writer and...the first clues on self-editing". NPR has referred to him as "a hard-boiled poet", HuffPost says, "Coleman is the resident noir poet laureate of the United States" and The New York Times has commented, "If you dragged one (of his books) across the asphalt, you'd half-expect it to leave a chalk outline".
With a four-book contract, Coleman took over writing Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone series with the September 2014 publication of Blind Spot. His 2019 Jesse Stone novel The Bitterest Pill would win a Scribe Award for Best Original Novel. He has also been signed to a two-book deal featuring retired Suffolk County (NY) cop turned PI Gus Murphy. He is an adjunct instructor of English at Hofstra University, a former Executive Vice President of Mystery Writers of America, and a founding member of Mystery Writers of America University.
Published works
Dylan Klein series Life Goes Sleeping, Permanent Press, 1991. Little Easter, Permanent Press, 1993. They Don't Play Stickball in Milwaukee, Permanent Press, 1997.
Moe Prager series Walking the Perfect Square, Permanent Press, 2001. Redemption Street, Viking, 2004. The James Deans, Plume, 2005. Soul Patch, Bleak House Books, 2007. Empty Ever After, Bleak House Books, 2008. Innocent Monster, Tyrus Books, 2010. Hurt Machine, Tyrus Books, 2011. Onion Street, Tyrus Books, 2013. The Hollow Girl, F+W Media, Inc., 2014.
Joe Serpe series (writing as Tony Spinosa) Hose Monkey, Bleak House Books, 2006. The Fourth Victim, Bleak House Books, 2008.
Gulliver Dowd series Dirty Work, Raven Books [Orca Book Publishers], 2013. Valentino Pier, Raven Books [Orca Book Publishers], 2013. The Boardwalk, Raven Books [Orca Book Publishers], 2015. Love and Fear, Raven Books [Orca Book Publishers], 2016.
Gus Murphy series Where It Hurts, 2016. What You Break, 2016.
Nick Ryan series Sleepless City, Blackstone Publishing, 2023. Blind to Midnight, Blackstone Publishing, 2024.
Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone Blind Spot, G.P. Putnam, 2014. The Devil Wins, G.P. Putnam, 2015. Debt to Pay, G.P. Putnam, 2016. . The Hangman’s Sonnet, Penguin Random House, 2017. Colorblind, Penguin Random House, 2018. The Bitterest Pill, Penguin Random House, 2019.
Standalone novels Tower (with Ken Bruen), Busted Flush Press, 2009. Bronx Requiem: a detective Jack Kenny mystery (with John Roe), Hyperion, 2012. Gun Church, Tyrus, 2012.
Selection of essays and short stories
Fiction "Portrait of the Killer As a Young Man"Dublin Noir: The Celtic Tiger Vs. the Ugly American, ed. Ken Bruen, Akashic Books, 2006, pp. 61–66. "Killing O'Malley" (as Tony Spinosa)Hardboiled Brooklyn, ed. Coleman, Bleak House, 2006, pp. 108–115. "Bat-Head Speed"These Guns for Hire, ed. by J. A. Konrath, Bleak House, 2006, pp. 299–306. "Another Role"Indian Country Noir, eds. Sarah Cortez & Liz Martínez, Akashic Books, 2010, pp. 214–238. "Mastermind" (fr. Long Island Noir, ed. K. Jones)USA Noir: Best of the Akashic Noir Series, ed. Johnny Temple, Akashic Books, 2013, pp 170–179. "The Terminal"Kwik Krimes, ed. Otto Penzler, Thomas & Mercer, 2013, pp. 93–96.
Nonfiction "Go East, Young Man: Robert B. Parker, Jesse Stone, and Spenser"In Pursuit of Spenser: Mystery Writers on Robert B. Parker and the Creation of an American Hero, ed. Otto Penzler, BenBella Books, 2012, pp. 193–210. "Tomato Red by Daniel Woodrell (1998)"Books to Die For, eds. John Connolly & Declan Burke, Hodder & Stoughton, 2012, pp. 649–654.
Poetry The Lineup: Poems on Crime 2, ed. Gerald So, with Patrick Bagley, Richie Narvaez & Anthony Rainone, Poetic Justice Press, 2009. The Lineup: Poems on Crime 3, ed. Gerald So with Sarah Cortez, Richie Narvaez & AnthonyRainone, Poetic Justice Press, 2010. The Lineup: Poems on Crime 4, ed. Gerald So with Reed Farrel Coleman, Sarah Cortez, & Richie Narvaez, Poetic Justice Press, 2011.
Awards Anthony Award 2006 Best Paperback Original - The James Deans - WINNER 2010 Best Paperback Original - Tower (w/Ken Bruen) - finalist 2012 Best Novel - Hurt Machine - finalist
Audie Award 2013 Original Work - Gun Church - WINNER
Barry Award 2006 Best Paperback Original Mystery/Crime Novel - The James Deans - WINNER 2008 Best Mystery/Crime Novel - Soul Patch - finalist 2012 Best Mystery/Crime Novel - Hurt Machine - finalist 2015 Best Mystery/Crime Novel - The Hollow Girl - finalist 2017 Best Mystery/Crime Novel - Where it Hurts - finalist
Gumshoe Award 2006 Best Novel - The James Deans - finalist
Edgar Award 2006 Best Paperback Original - The James Deans - finalist 2008 Best Novel - Soul Patch - finalist 2014 Best Short Story - "The Terminal" in Kwik Krimes - finalist 2017 Best Novel - Where It Hurts - finalist
Macavity Award 2006 Best Mystery Novel - The James Deans - finalist 2008 Best Mystery Novel - Soul Patch - finalist 2010 Best Mystery Novel - Tower (w/Ken Bruen) - WINNER 2014 Best Mystery Short Story - "The Terminal" in Kwik Krimes - finalist
Shamus Award 2006 Best PI Paperback Original - The James Deans - WINNER 2008 Best PI Hardcover - Soul Patch - WINNER 2009 Best PI Hardcover - Empty Ever After - WINNER 2015 Best PI Novel - The Hollow Girl - finalist 2017 Best PI Hardcover - Where It Hurts - WINNER 2018 Best PI Short Story - "Breakage" - finalist
References
External links Official Web Site Mystery Writers of America University Publishers Weekly notes Robert B. Parker book deal Interview on Beaks and Geeks Podcast June 10, 2014, accessed July 29, 2014