It's interesting that you say that, Will, because I have a strong feeling the greatest strength of your debut novel is based on a very strong plot. I may be wrong, but I think that's correct. On the other hand, I really like James Sallis and James Lee Burke because they do a lot with character, (I'm not implying you don't work character, but I think from the reviews, the critics are enamored with plot in your novel). I think my greatest strength is character development. I'm a bit weak on plot--mostly because I'm lazy and disorganized. My mother just read The Closers and loved it.
Yeah, my novel is definitely a typhoon of plot. However, the reviews that have come in so far have sort of picked at that, and I think one of the reasons is because people in general prefer characters over plot in novels.* I really believe that. You really can't write a decent novel -- let alone sell one -- without good characters. And while Obedience is big on plot, I think it does have believable characters. Yet, it's the puzzle of the concept that will sell the book.
Another writer I enjoy is Sue Grafton. Her novels manage to be deft character studies, but she can really turn a good plot. One of her novels, I believe
P, is resolved in the very last sentence. Not often you see mystery novels that do that.
* You can have both, of course. There are great novels that are published every week that have both tremendous, three dimensional characters and deft plots. But I almost made a conscious choice at the beginning that I was going to write something that was almost like a trick, a book that set out early on to make the reader wonder what was real and what was a deception on my part. To do that well, I almost had to stick the concept into a whirlwind plot.
I just completely derailed this thread with my rambling. Sorry!
