{Character Interview} Frank Swiver of 'Last Puffs'
We’re thrilled to be talking to Frank Swiver from Harley Mazuk’s, Last Puffs. It is a pleasure to have him with us today at Pimp That Character!
Thank you for your interview, Mr. Swiver. How old are you and what do you do for a
living?
You can call me Frank. Last
Puffs opens in 1938 when I was in Aragón, fighting with the Loyalists
against Franco’s army. I was 25 and had been unemployed when I signed up with
the Abe Lincoln brigade. At the end of the book in San
Francisco in 1949, I’m 36. I’m a private investigator,
doing business as Old Vine Detective Agency. I’ve only been in business for
myself for a few years, but I started working as an unlicensed p.i. back in
1942, mostly investigative work for my college pal, Max Rabinowitz. Max is a
mouthpiece, and a good one.
What would I love the most about you?
It’s hard to say; I hardly know you. But what I’m most proud
of is that I’m a pacifist. Believe me, it takes courage to be non-violent in
world like ours, especially working as a private eye, a job where you meet
ruthless, nefarious characters.
Where do you go when you are angry?
The easy answer is I like to go to the Black Lizard Lounge,
a dive bar south of the slot with a good wine list. I can walk there from my
office, and you’ll usually find me there for lunch or after work two or three
times a week.
But when I really think about your question, I remember
something I once read about General Grant. What did he do that enabled him to
defeat Robert E. Lee where so many others—McDowell, McClellan, Ambrose
Burnside, Joe Hooker—failed? He went after Lee, and then, win or lose, Grant
stayed in contact with the Army of Northern Virginia until he defeated it. I go
after the cause of my anger and I keep after it until the anger’s gone.
What is your idea of a perfect day?
I’m sitting in my office and a client, a dame, comes in. She
has dark hair, dark eyes, long legs, a knockout figure. Maybe she’s scared,
lost, and needing help. She comes in tentatively and says, "Are you the
detective?"
"That’s me, sister. Frank
Swiver, at your service."
"I'm in awful trouble, Mr. Swiver."
"Sit down, sweetheart,"
I'd say. "You've come to the right place. Trouble is my specialty. Tell me
about it." I reach into the “R” drawer of my filing cabinet and take out a
bottle of “Red” and pour us a couple glasses. I listen, I speak to her soothingly,
confidently. Soon she’s calm, she trusts me. Now if it’s really a perfect day,
she’ll be carrying plenty of cash and she pays me for a week’s work in advance.
What are three must haves when shopping at the grocery
store?
I always buy bacon, eggs, and coffee. I’m a breakfast guy. I
know it would be four items, but can I grab a loaf of sourdough bread too, for
toast?
Are you a loner or do you prefer to surround yourself with
friends?
There’s no question that I’m a lonely guy. There’s the
occasional dame who helps me forget my loneliness for a few hours, or a night.
I’d love to have some friends to sit with me, to drink wine, to smoke, to
laugh, but I don’t.
Who is your best friend?
There’s only Max. I met Max Rabinowitz in college at Berkeley.
In 1934 my lover, Cicilia Ricci, dumped me and married an ex-gangster Rusty
O’Callaghan. I started slipping into darkness at the bottom of a bottle of red
wine, until Max finally saved me. In ’37, Max, who’s a Red, by the way, took me
to a meeting at Berkeley about the
Abe Lincoln brigade. By the end of the night we’d both signed up and we spent
the next year and a half in Spain.
Max save me from drinking myself to death here, and I saved his life when he
was wounded in Spain.
We’ve had our ups and downs since them, but our bond is a strong one.
Do you have children?
Funny you should ask. I didn’t see Cicilia from the time she
left me in ’34 until we met again during the Thursby case in ‘48, (White with Fish, Red with Murder http://www.harleymazuk.com/books-and-other-writings.html).
Cici was a widow by then, having disposed of Rusty with a poison mushroom
omelet, and we got back together for about a week. Then the night she died, she
told me she’d been pregnant when we split up, and that I was the father of her
daughter, Brigid, who was going on 14 then. I’m also raising Rusty’s kid,
Brigid’s younger sister, Meaghan.
What is your favorite weather?
I like sun and mild temperatures with low humidity. The San
Francisco climate is good. One time in July, I spent
the night in Max’s cabin, about 7,000 feet up in the Sierras. When I woke up,
there was frost on the ground. Frost in July! But it felt great.
What’s your idea of a perfect meal?
Well, you know about the bacon, eggs, sourdough toast, and
java. But that’s just breakfast. For dinner, I like a rib-eye steak, a side of
spuds, and a bottle of Zinfandel.
Thanks for having me on your blog!
Title: Last Puffs
Genre: Mystery (private eye)
Author: Harley Mazuk
Website: http://www.harleymazuk.com/
Publisher: New Pulp Press http://www.newpulppress.com/bookpage/lastpuffs.html
About the Author
Harley Mazuk was
born in Cleveland, the last year
that the Indians won the World Series. He majored in English literature at Hiram
College in Ohio,
and Elphinstone College,
Bombay, India.
Harley worked as a record salesman (vinyl) and later served the U.S. Government
in Information Technology and in communications, where he honed his writing
style as an editor and content provider for official web sites.
Retired now, he likes to write pulp fiction, mostly private
eye stories, several of which have appeared in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. His first full length novel, White with Fish, Red with Murder, was
released in 2017, and his newest, Last
Puffs, just came out in January 2018.
Harley’s other passions are his wife Anastasia, their two
children, reading, running, Italian cars, California
wine and peace.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK
About the Book:
Title: LAST PUFFS
Author: Harley Mazuk
Publisher: New Pulp Press
Pages: 293
Genre: Mystery/Crime/Private Eye
Author: Harley Mazuk
Publisher: New Pulp Press
Pages: 293
Genre: Mystery/Crime/Private Eye
BOOK BLURB:
Frank Swiver and
his college pal, Max Rabinowitz,
both fall in love with Amanda Zingaro,
courageous Republican guerilla, in the Spanish civil war. But the local
fascists murder her and her father.
Eleven years later in San Francisco in 1949, Frank, traumatized by the violence in Spain, has become a pacifist and makes a marginal living as a
private eye. Max who lost an eye in Spain but owes his life to Frank, has pledged Frank eternal
loyalty. He’s a loyal communist party member and successful criminal attorney.
Frank takes on a case for Joan Spring, half-Chinese wife of a wealthy banker. Joan seduces
Frank to ensure his loyalty. But Frank busts up a prostitution/white slavery
ring at the Lotus House a brothel in Chinatown, where Joan was keeping refugees from Nanking
prisoners.
Then Max sees a woman working in
a Fresno cigar factory, who is a dead ringer for Amanda, and
brings in Frank, who learns it is
Amanda. She has tracked the fascists who killed her father and left her for
dead from her village in Spain to California. Amanda wants Frank to help her take revenge. And by the
way, she says the ten-year-old boy with her is Frank’s son.
Joan Spring turns out to be a Red Chinese secret agent, and she’s
drawn a line through Max’s name with a pencil. Can Frank save Max again? Can he
help Amanda avenge her father when he’s sworn off violence? Can he protect her
from her target’s daughter, the sadistic Veronica Rios-Ortega? Join Frank
Swiver in the swift-moving story, Last
Puffs.
Praise:
February 10, 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
Frank
Swiver is a detective. Murder investigations are his specialty. He likes wine,
loose women and fast cars. Not necessarily in that order. Swiver inhabits an
earlier world that is archaic and, without doubt, politically incorrect by
today’s standards. Harley Mazuk recreates in Swiver a character from another
era whose story is fun and entertaining. Mazuk has an impressive knowledge of
wines and cars which permeate his narrative. As to his knowledge of women, I am
not competent to judge. I do know that the geography and time period portrayed
is well researched. There are many twists and turns to the plot as well as an
injection of espionage that keeps the reader guessing. Fans of old fashion
detective novels will enjoy this book. I know, I did.
-- Amazon Reviewer
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting Last Puffs. Of all the interviews and guest posts we did for our blog tour, I enjoyed this one the most.
Frank