Sweet Release

Today, in January Magazine, contributor Cameron Hughes talks with Boston novelist--and ex-con--Richard Marinick about his books (Boyos and the new In for a Pound), the criminal life, the legend of mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, what he’s learned from Dennis Lehane, and so much more. Hughes introduces Marinick in a way that shows how warmly he responded to his subject:

Remember Eugene Izzi?

If you do, I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts -- with the odds geared to you -- that the first thing you think is: “Suicide. Weird suicide.”

Which is a shame.

Eugene Izzi was a wonderful writer, his books were full of darkness, and grim as hell, but they never lacked humanity. In fact, his books were brimming with humanity, dashed hopes, ambitions gained and lost, and innocence killed and found again. What could be more human than all of that?

It is my fear that Richard Marinick’s novels will be overshadowed by his past. You see, he was a prolific thief of armored cars. To put it in crime-fiction terms, he was the Parker of his thievery gang, the planner. But he was caught before anyone was killed by his gang and served 10 years in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Norfolk. Before getting into the robbery game, Marinick was a state trooper in Massachusetts. Now, at 56 years old, he proves that you can always turn your life around.

You can read the full interview here.

(Author photograph by Elaine Carter.)