Rick Blechta Books In Order
Book links take you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.Publication Order of Marta Hendriks Books
The Fallen One | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Roses for a Diva | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Pratt & Ellis Mystery Books
Orchestrated Murder | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Boom Room | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Rundown | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
Knock on Wood | (1992) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Lark Ascending | (1993) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Shooting Straight in the Dark | (2002) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
Cemetery of the Nameless | (2005) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
When Hell Freezes Over | (2006) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
A Case of You | (2008) | Description / Buy at Amazon |
The Canadian author Rick Blechta is particularly noteworthy due to his engaging characters and entertaining premises. With reviewers around the world singing his praises, he’s an able and highly versatile novelist with a sharp and incisive writing style. Getting straight to the heart of the matter with any story, he has been able to hone himself as an erudite and articulate writer of modern contemporary mystery novels.
Early and Personal Life
Born in New Rochelle in New York City, in the United States, the future author to be Rick Blechta would harbor creative passions from a very young age. Growing up deep within the heart of Westchester County, he would harness these passions through both music and literature. Becoming a musician at the young age of just fourteen, he would embark on a career in rhythm and blues, something which would shape much of his outlook to come.
Attending McGill University based in Montreal, he would go on to get a Bachelor of Music degree after emigrating there in 1971. Composing compositions of his own, he would go on to become highly regarded for the music that he scored during his time there. This would then in turn feed back into his work as an author, as he fully explored himself and what he had to offer as an artist.
Forming a progressive rock band following his graduation from university, he took the band ‘Devotion’ nationwide. Gaining a following all across Canada he would bring his music to a wide audience, gaining a following for himself in the process. It would also allow him to draw from a whole range of different experiences when coming to write his novels in the future.
Still working in music as well as writing, the author and musician Rick Blechta continues to put out work at a regular pace. Maintaining a strong presence in both the music and literary scene, he currently lives with his wife Vicki Blechta and their two sons Karel and Jan. With a lot more projects planned on the horizon, it would appear that he doesn’t have plans to stop any time soon either.
Writing Career
It was all the way back in 1992 that Rick Blechta would release his first debut novel, making his mark on the literary scene. Releasing ‘Knock on Wood’ he would bring out a stand-alone title, followed in 1993 with another stand-alone book ‘The Lark Ascending’. He would also bring out a non-fiction work in 1995 titled ‘In Cold Blood’, which was a directory of Canadian crime authors.
Later he would follow also bring out some series as well, with such titles as ‘Pratt and Ellis’, along with ‘Marta Hendriks’ too. These would both take up his time from 2011 onwards, as he started to focus upon more expansive narratives and ideas. Building upon his backlog of work, these would become his primary franchises, as he moved towards developing them.
Winning awards and various nominations for his work he is at the forefront of his genre and his art-form as a whole. With reviewers and critics all across the world singing his praises, he has amassed a large following in a relatively short amount of time. It is also his versatility as an artist that manages to shine through, as he understands a number of different practices and styles.
Still performing as well, he is no stranger to large crowds, whether it be staging his music or readings of his novels. Getting a direct response from them, he sees how they interact with his work, allowing him to better tailor it to his readers. This is clearly reflected within his writing, as he manages to write for a wide audience, making it relatable on a universal level.
Focusing on writing now, he still writes on a regular basis, as he puts out work consistently whilst maintaining a strong profile. With his engaging characters and engrossing story-lines, he has an almost poetic quality to his work that is unrivaled. This is expected to continue for many years to come, as he carries on building a legacy that many writers will aspire to.
The Fallen One
Brought out through the ‘Dundurn’ publishing label, this was first released in 2012 on the 22nd of September to much acclaim. Working as a stand-alone title it was to be a self-contained story that followed the template of a contemporary thriller mystery. It would also show a major development for Blechta as an author, in that he would come a long way from his first novel.
Taking to the stage in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera, Marta Hendriks discovers her husband has perished in a house fire. This leads to her collapsing onstage as she’s carried away, which then leads to her undertaking two years of therapy, followed by her return to the stage. It then seems she has gotten her life back on track, when suddenly she believes that she sees her thought to be dead husband at a bus-stop in the rain. Did she really see him? Is she losing her mind? What happened to the fallen one?
When Hell Freezes Over
This stand-alone title was released in 2006 on the 1st of September through the ‘Napoleon and Co’ publishing outlet. Working as another mystery thriller novel, it manages to follow in much the same vein as his other titles, keeping the reader guessing throughout. Its usage of character is also something to admired here, as Blechta writes on the subject of musicians, which is something close to him.
Turning his back on a band that was just about to break into the big-time, Michael Quinn is a former rock star who’s now hiding from what he once was. That’s when a woman jumps into his car after being chased by a group of thugs, followed by his best friend getting murdered and the girl disappearing. The thugs are then on the path of Quinn as he hopes to make his way out of this darkened maze and find the girl with the answers. Will he find her? Can he face up to who he once was? How will he escape the thugs when hell freezes over?
Book Series In Order » Authors »