If we did the math, we'd have to say that Richard Hawke has not yet even reached his fifth birthday. Prior to the publication of Speak of the Devil in 2006, the writer known as known as Richard Hawke did not even exist.

But his doppelganger did.

Before Hawke, there was Tim Cockey , born back in the middle of the last century in the very large village of Baltimore, MD. Baltimore bards feature prominently among Tim's early literary influences, even including crib-side exposure to the doggerel of the city's own Ogden Nash. As Tim began leaning earnestly into his pen (the lean years), the voices of numerous other local scribes (Poe, Mencken, John Barth, Anne Tyler...) sounded strongly, and Tim readily fell under their influence. It's dark...it's light...it's comic...it's not.

Determined to realize his dream of one day doing his day job barefoot and in sweatpants, Tim eventually took up residence in the city with the enormous pulse,—New York City, It was several years into this residency that the urge took hold to steer in the direction of crime fiction. Careening down memory lane, he produced a wit-drenched series of Baltimore-based mysteries (five in all), which have come to be known as 'the Hearse novels.'

In the grand tradition of cool-sounding pen names, Richard Hawke appeared on the scene in 2006, soon after the publication of the fifth hearse book. Turning his attention now to Gotham, Hawke went where no Tim Cockey had gone before. His aim was to capture the adrenaline, the mystery, and the rich palette of characters that inhabit the city where everyone has a story to tell as well as a stupendously unique voice with which to tell it.

Speak of the Devil was the firstborn of those efforts, a story that moves as swiftly as the Number 3 train on a good day. The book introduced New York PI Fritz Malone, the bastard son of a former (and missing) NYC Police Commissioner. By turns cranky and caring, Fritz is definitely the guy you want in your corner. The critics jumped all over the book (in a good way), as did readers. Next came Cold Day In Hell, another Fritz Malone exploit. Exciting. Vastly entertaining.

With his third outing, House of Secrets, Hawke has spread his wings. In a story set in the power centers of Manhattan and Washington DC, House of Secrets yanks back the curtains on the nefarious doings (and undoings) of the politicians and brutal gangsters who allow ego and greed to run the show.

Just like in real life!

So sit back, buckle up, and get those pages turning.

Read a interview with Hawke on BookReporter.com.

Hawke has also gotten himself hooked up with this crowd. Worth checking out!