Tom Piccirilli: R.I.P.

Sad news. Tom Piccirilli, author of  over 30 novels and novellas including The Cold Spot, The Dead Spot, Coffin Blues, The Last Kind Words, and What Make Your Die, passed away yesterday at the age of 50.  Many of you who have followed his Facebook page know that he was battling brain cancer this past year.

“Over the last twenty years, Piccirilli has written in virtually every genre with the exception of hard sci-fi, but in the last decade, his voice has come to full maturity within crime fiction,” fellow writer Keith Rawson wrote in Lit Reactor, introducing his 2013 interview with Piccirilli. “His dark, at times poetic novels of lowlifes existing in the shadows of American life have consistently ranked as the very best being written in the genre.” Wikipedia adds that Piccirilli “was a two-time winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for ‘Best Paperback Original’ (2008, 2010). He is a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award. He was also a finalist for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award given by the Mystery Writers of America, a final nominee for the Fantasy Award, and he won the first Bram Stoker Award given in the category of ‘Best Poetry Collection.’”

On Piccirilli’s Facebook page, his wife, Michelle, wrote “He was the love of my life, an amazing writer, and the best person I have ever known.”

My heart goes out to Michelle, his family, and his friends at this sad time.

HT: The Rap Sheet