Eugene Izzi
Eugene Izzi (March 23, 1953 – December 7, 1996) was an American
Izzi, a lifelong resident of
Background
Although few details are known of Izzi's early life, most accounts describe a trouble-prone youth. Izzi himself dropped out of high school and enlisted in the
Writing career
Izzi began his career as a form of personal therapy, writing during periodic layoffs from the steel mills. His hard work allowed him to repair his relationship with his wife, and quit drinking. After several years of steady rejection, St. Martin's Press published The Take in 1987. Bad Guys followed in 1988 and The Eighth Victim in the same year.
As his book sales increased and the positive reviews continued, Izzi landed a lucrative deal with
Reviews of Tribal Secrets were poor, as were sales. Bantam quickly
Izzi adopted the pseudonym Nick Gaitano and published three novels under that name.
His most successful title was The Criminalist, published posthumously in 1998.[2]
Suspicious death
On December 7, 1996, Izzi was found hanged, his body dangling outside the 14th-story window of his writing office in downtown Chicago. When his body was discovered, Izzi was wearing a bulletproof vest. In his pockets, investigators found brass knuckles, a can of "disabling spray" (likely mace or pepper spray), and a computer disc containing an unfinished manuscript.[3][4]
Although officially ruled to be
Bibliography
All United States publication dates are per Library Of Congress catalog.
Written as Eugene Izzi
- The Take (1987)
- Bad Guys (1988)
- The Eighth Victim (1988)
- The Booster (1989)
- King Of The Hustlers (1989)
- The Prime Roll (1990)
- Invasions (1990)
- Prowlers (1991)
- Tribal Secrets (1992)
- Tony's Justice (1993)
- Bulletin from the Streets (1995, UK only; no American edition)
- Players (1996, UK only; no American edition)
- A Matter Of Honor (1997)
- The Criminalist (1998)
- Safe Harbor (1999)
Written as Nick Gaitano
- Special Victims (1994)
- Mr. X (1995)
- Jaded (1996) (Spent Force in the UK edition)
References
- ^ http://www.essortment.com/all/eugeneizzichic_rgcp.htm Archived 2008-06-12 at the Wayback Machine Writer biography from essortment.com
- ^ Chicago Tribune "Books" section, September 20, 1998 (archived)[permanent dead link]
- ^ http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,286382,00.html Archived 2008-10-13 at the Wayback Machine Entertainment Weekly, January 10, 1997
- ^ Chicago Tribune, December 10, 1996 (archived)[permanent dead link]
- ^ Chicago Tribune, January 16, 1997 (archived)[permanent dead link]
- ^ People v. 47, no. 6, 17 Feb. 1997
- ^ "Printed Matter - Eugene Izzi - Page". Dcn.davis.ca.us. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
- ^ Chicago Tribune, January 8, 1997 (archived)[permanent dead link]