My father died when I was very young, and I decided to have Danny Beckett, the novel's protagonist, share this experience.

I did decide to allow myself one autobiographical detail.

I'll write a police procedural-I know enough about it (with a fair amount of research thrown in) to sound authoritative, and what could be further from an English grad student’s personal experience than a story about investigating homicides? And it didn't hurt that my favorite writers included the likes of James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly. Although my career goals changed, I was left with a considerable amount of background knowledge that I felt I could put to good use. My father was a Los Angeles deputy sheriff, and throughout most of my youth, I wanted to be a police officer. What, I asked myself, could I credibly write about that was very different from my own experience? One of the main reasons I've always loved reading is that it takes me away from myself and allows me to experience the lives of other people. As is the case in many such programs, there was a good deal of autobiographical introspection in the writing going on around me, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.

When I began writing A King of Infinite Space, I was in graduate school earning an MFA in fiction writing. 'synopsis' may belong to another edition of this title.Īmazon Exclusive: Tyler Dilts on A King of Infinite Space A King of Infinite Space is a riveting crime novel that serves as a memorable introduction for Danny Beckett to the ranks of fiction’s favorite hardened detectives. His hunt for the murderer soon morphs into a personal quest for atonement as he struggles to come to terms with the loss of his wife and family. What could this young woman have done to make her the target of such a violent attack? And what is the significance of the victim’s left hand, taken by the killer as a grisly trophy? Beckett delves into the case with his usual tenacious cool, yet as he pieces together the facts, long-suppressed anguish from his own past rises up with stunning force. When Danny arrives at the school, the blood-spattered crime scene turns even his veteran stomach. Long Beach, California, homicide detective Danny Beckett is pouring the weekend’s first shot of vodka when the call comes in: Elizabeth Williams, a teacher at nearby Warren High School, has been brutally murdered in her classroom.

A king of infinite space tyler dilts