Loren Swift
Created by Doug Hornig
Laid-back Vietnam vet and amateur scuba diver LOREN SWIFT hails from Charlottesville, Virginia, where he plies his trade as a private eye in a four novels and at least one short story in EQMM. Horning himself calls them "medium boiled" adventures. I just call 'em fun. They're chock full of references to the pop culture, particularly rock music, of the 1960's and 1970's. I particularly liked the short story, which dealt with the then-new technology of digital tampering of photographs. Of course, now that every graphic designer seems to have a Mac and a copy of PhotoShop, it's all rather dated, but at the time I was blown away. I met Hornig at the Bouchercon in Toronto several years ago and may have even cadged a drink off him, while embarrassing myself by gushing about how much I liked the story.
The first novel, Hardball, was nominated for an Edgar in 1984, and the sequel, Hardball, was nominated for a Shamus. Horning has also wrote two "political suspense thrillers" featuring CIA Agent Steven Kirk, as well as a few other non-mystery novels. He comments in the St. James Guide "I am a writer as opposed to a particular /kind/ of writer. I've published novels, short stories, poetry, nonfiction, two screenplays and even had a song commercially recorded." Current projects include a book on the 1975 World Series.
NOVELS
SHORT STORIES