Roger Smith

Roger Smith was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and now lives in Cape Town, a city as violent as it is beautiful. Before turning to a life of crime, he was a screenwriter, producer and director. His debut thriller, Mixed Blood, is in development as a feature film starring Samuel L. Jackson. His latest novel is Wake Up Dead.

From Smith's Q& A with PBS:

What makes a good thriller?

A flawed hero with everything to lose. A cast of enterprising psychopaths. Pace, suspense and escalating violence. Multiple points of view that allow the reader to ride shotgun with the good and the bad guys, making it impossible not to turn the page.

For your first two novels, you’ve chosen to write stand-alones. Was it a conscious decision on your part to avoid a series? If so, why?

It was a conscious decision. I believe series are better suited to mysteries, where the hero may be beaten, battered and betrayed, but he’ll always survive because the author wants the reader queuing up at the bookstore for the next installment.

Not so in a stand-alone thriller, where characters are placed in extreme jeopardy that may cost them their lives. To me this juices up the experience for the reader and raises the stakes to the ultimate. This is the level of intensity at which I like to write – an intensity that a series can’t match.

Did you always imagine that Mixed Blood would become a film? You’ve had a successful career as a screenwriter and producer. How will you be involved in bringing Mixed Blood to the screen?

A movie was...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Roger Smith's website.

Read about Roger Smith's top 10 crime novels.

The Page 69 Test: Mixed Blood.

The Page 69 Test: Wake Up Dead.

--Marshal Zeringue