Mark Rubinstein served in the Army as a field medic tending to paratroopers, which led him to med school and to becoming a board-certified psychiatrist practicing in New York City. He also developed an interest in forensic psychiatry and has taught psychiatric residents, interns, psychologists, and social workers at New York Presbyterian Hospital as well as becoming a clinical assistant professor at Cornell University’s medical school. He's written nonfiction books and eight novels and novellas, including the Mad Dog trilogy and The Lovers' Tango.
His latest novel, Assassin's Lullaby centers on Eli Dagan, a thirty-nine-year-old man whose traumatic past led to his service as an assassin for the Mossad. He now lives in New York City, where under various assumed names he’s a contract killer. Anton Gorlov, the head of the Brooklyn-based Odessa mafia, has a new and challenging assignment for Eli. Gorlov wants to leave the country permanently, so all loose ends must be eliminated. He’s willing to pay $1 million for a task divided into two parts. The job involves extreme measures along with unprecedented danger for Eli, who has lived a ghostly existence over the last ten years. Is accepting Gorlov’s offer a subliminal death wish? Or is it a way to reclaim part of his damaged soul? For the first time since his pregnant wife and parents were killed by a suicide bomber years earlier, Eli Dagan faces challenges that will reconnect him with his blighted past and may yet offer hope for a new and better life.
Mark stops by In Reference to Murder to take some Author R&R about writing and researching the book:
I cannot envision a novel taking form with no research having been done.
However, I find that doing too much research can lead to a never-ending quest for more and more information. A famous author like James Rollins, limits the time he devotes to research, even though his novels are immersed in scientific themes and details.
I keep research to a reasonable minimum. I have a few specific people on whom I depend for some factual details and expertise: a gunsmith for information about weapons; an attorney for legal information; a police chief for any police procedural details (which I try to keep at a minimum); and of course, there's the Internet which I find provides plenty of the information about scientific, medical, legal and other information. Before computers and the Internet, I spent a good deal of time in libraries which was an arduous way of doing research.
I truly feel that character is mainly responsible for a novel's narrative drive, so I concentrate on the protagonist's emotions (as well as on the antagonist's angst) to provide the story with a relentless push forward. I always want the reader to question "What happens next?" and try not to let the story get bogged down in too much research-oriented description. I've known writers who label a plethora of research-oriented descriptions as "The Tom Clancy Effect" which many readers relish while others love a more quickly paced (and nuanced) approach to storytelling.
My books fall into the more rapidly paced camp. I also find that brief descriptors (often depending on some research) lend sufficient flavor and color to the story so the novel has richness yet doesn't get bogged down in minutiae.
While research is necessary for verisimilitude, too much of it can be lethal to the narrative thrust of a story, especially when writing a suspense-thriller where an author wants to reader to keep turning the pages.
You can learn more about Mark and his writing at his website and also follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. Assassin's Lullaby is available in ebook format from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo, and you can also order a print copy from your favorite bookstore.
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