This episode of the Crime Cafe podcast features my interview with crime writer Chip Jacobs.
Check out our discussion of his true crime story, The Darkest Glare, as well as his debut novel, Arroyo.
Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two eBooks for sale: the nine book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy links for both on my website, debbimack.com under the Crime Cafe link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so.
Check us out on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/crimecafe
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Download a copy of the PDF transcript of this episode here.
Debbi (00:55): Hi, everyone. Today I'm pleased to have with me as my guest, a bestselling author and journalist. I love journalists, by the way, since I was a journalism major. Yes, I was
Chip (01:08): Me, too,
Debbi (01:09): All right. All right. His latest book is a true crime story. It is the latest, right? It's called The Darkest Glare: A True Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles. I've read it and it is quite the bizarre story. He has written several other books, including Strange as It Seems: The Impossible Life of Gordon Zahlar, The People's Republic of Chemicals, the international bestseller, Smogtown: The Lung-Burning History of Pollution in Los Angeles. I love these titles. Anyway, more recently he released his debut novel Arroyo, a work of serialized, I’m sorry, a work of historical fiction set around the construction of Pasadena's mysterious Colorado Street Bridge, which really intrigued me. I had to look that up. He's also worked as a reporter and written opinion pieces for a variety of major newspapers, including the LA Times, the New York Times, CNN, and several others. It's my pleasure to introduce Chip Jacobs. Hey Chip, how are you doing today?
Chip (02:27): Hey. Hey, Debbi. Honored to be here. Thank you so much for having me on.
Debbi (02:31): Oh, well It's my pleasure, believe me. Very happy to have you on. And so tell me, talk about how you ended up writing The Darkest Glare which was written a bit like a thriller with this absolutely psychotic villain in there. How did you learn about the story and what interested you in writing it as a book?
Chip (02:58): Yeah, I mean, I will never be called a true crime author cuz I'm not a true crime author. When I went into journalism I always tried to avoid getting assigned a crime story or active murder case or whatever, because that just wasn't in my DNA. And nonetheless, stories will find you. And in the mid nineties I was working at a newspaper competitor to the LA Times, having a blast getting under people's skin. And I developed a relationship with a source who just gave me tip after tip after tip, and he just had the highest batting average and he was always getting me above the fold on front page stories...
