[on Ludwig van Beethoven] The greatest artist ever given to earth by God.

I am a master of fiction. I am also the greatest crime writer who ever lived. I am to the crime novel in specific what Leo Tolstoy is to the Russian novel and what Ludwig van Beethoven is to music. Show less «

My novel The Black Dahlia (2006) will be poorly filmed in March of next year by overrated auteur Brian De Palma. Fatuously good-looking Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson will weakly star in this vehicle. The production designer is Dante Ferretti who production designed most of the great Scor-sleazy movies, so it will look very good and it will be shot by the esteemed Vilmos Zsigmond. I predict an intriguing flop...that will nevertheless sell me a shitload of books. Show less «

[on Zodiac (2007)] One of the half-dozen greatest American crime films.

I'm happy for the money. I'm happy for the exposure... Every once in a while there's lightning in a bottle like with 'L.A. Confidential (1997)' so we'll see what happens with The Black Dahlia (2006). Even bad movies create substantial readership for your books. Show less «