Crime Reads » David Masciotra

How the New T.J. English Reader Mines the Dark Soul of America

How the New T.J. English Reader Mines the Dark Soul of America

David Masciotra on the new collection of journalistic stories and essays, 'Blood in the Desert'

By David Masciotra | September 4, 2026

How David Mills Helped Bring 'NYPD Blue' to Its Artistic Apex

How David Mills Helped Bring 'NYPD Blue' to Its Artistic Apex

And how a phone call from Jesse Jackson to the president of ABC helped get him in the writers' room.

By David Masciotra | April 17, 2026

James Lee Burke on Chaucer, Violence, and the State of America

James Lee Burke on Chaucer, Violence, and the State of America

Burke and David Masciotra continue their long-running conversation on history and art.

By David Masciotra | February 11, 2026

Why 'Honey Don't' Is the Subversive Queer Private Eye Movie for Today's America

Why 'Honey Don't' Is the Subversive Queer Private Eye Movie for Today's America

The Ethan Coen-directed noir offers a timely take on the beloved genre.

By David Masciotra | October 27, 2025

James Lee Burke on the Highs and Lows of American History

James Lee Burke on the Highs and Lows of American History

Burke and David Masciotra continue their years-long conversation on literature and American history.

By David Masciotra | June 3, 2025

Asif Kapadia's New Film Merges Documentary and Cyberpunk Cinema to Sound a Warning

Asif Kapadia's New Film Merges Documentary and Cyberpunk Cinema to Sound a Warning

David Masciotra on the genre-defying '2073'

By David Masciotra | February 6, 2025

Best Reviewed
Books of the Week

How Kevin Costner's Maligned Epic – 'The Postman' – Offered a Glimpse into America's Future

By David Masciotra | October 18, 2024

How Gore Vidal's 1968 Blockbuster Novel About a Trans Woman Took Aim at the Patriarchy

By David Masciotra | July 16, 2024

James Lee Burke on Hemingway, Orwell, and a New Chapter in the American Battle Against Fascism

By David Masciotra | June 11, 2024

A Cultural History of the Erotic Thriller

A Cultural History of the Erotic Thriller

David Masciotra on the golden age of the erotic thriller and the direct-to-video pipeline that kept it all going.

By David Masciotra | November 2, 2023

James Lee Burke Reckons with History, the South, and the Hatred Burning Through America

James Lee Burke Reckons with History, the South, and the Hatred Burning Through America

The author discusses his newest novel, an epic of the American Civil War, with David Masciotra.

By David Masciotra | July 24, 2023

The Hot Spot: The Making of a Sweaty Neo-Noir with a Soundtrack That Stands as an American Masterpiece

The Hot Spot: The Making of a Sweaty Neo-Noir with a Soundtrack That Stands as an American Masterpiece

Dennis Hopper had a vision for the 1990 film, and it involved Miles Davis, John Lee Hooker, Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, and some strange movie magic.

By David Masciotra | July 7, 2023

Arlington Road: The Conspiracy Thriller That Foresaw the Spread of Far-Right Extremism in America

Arlington Road: The Conspiracy Thriller That Foresaw the Spread of Far-Right Extremism in America

The 1999 film was a darkly prophetic tale about suburban neighbors.

By David Masciotra | March 3, 2023

James Lee Burke on Personal Tragedy, National Trauma, and the Search for Salvation

James Lee Burke on Personal Tragedy, National Trauma, and the Search for Salvation

"The story of Eden, and how it influences my work, is not the story of a snake in a tree, but the story of what we are doing to the tree – what we are doing to the Garden."

By David Masciotra | May 24, 2022

The Existential Noirs of Fuminori Nakamura

The Existential Noirs of Fuminori Nakamura

The Japanese author is winning international acclaim for his stripped-down, psychologically complex fiction.

By David Masciotra | January 24, 2022

James Lee Burke on Organized Labor, Corporate Evils, and the Plot to Dumb Down America

James Lee Burke on Organized Labor, Corporate Evils, and the Plot to Dumb Down America

The author's newest novel is a searing portrait of the 1960s American West and corporate exploitation.

By David Masciotra | August 16, 2021

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