Unlike Darlene O’Hara, the fictional detective at the center of his novels, Peter de Jonge has opened Milano’s only once. “For research,” he said, sitting in the century-old dive bar on East Houston Street in Manhattan early one recent morning.
Read MoreNew York Police Detective Darlene O’Hara starts most workdays with an 8 a.m. vodka and grapefruit juice in a dive called Milano’s that’s not far from the Homicide South headquarters in the Lower East Side. O’Hara admires the view from Milano’s — “the delicacy of the light and the lovely sense of remove, both from pedestrians hustling by on Houston and from time” — and, more to the point, she believes that “a generous pour on an empty stomach provides a measure of perspective.”
Read MoreThere was a time when Peter de Jonge was a best-selling author, but he quit that gig.
He’s now a thriller writer with a just-released new book, “Buried on Avenue B.” As the second in a series starring NYPD Detective Darlene O’Hara, the book has been well received, but sales are nowhere in the league of, say, James Patterson.
Read MorePeter de Jonge’s first solo novel, “Shadows Still Remain,” comes with a blurb from James Patterson, who says, “This novel is an absolute knockout and a half.” That’s high praise from an author who so towers over the best-seller lists that a couple of years ago he estimated that he earned royalties on one out of every 15 hardcover books published in this country.
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