PlacesIknowwereon fireandpeopleIknow wereinthemiddleofit
him the inspiration for his latest novel. Or rather, it gave his editor an idea. is new thriller, Watch Him Die, was released yesterday and is set half in Glasgow and half in Los Angeles. Craig said: “It was actually my editor’s idea to write something partly set in the US to make use of my knowledge from being there so much, and Watch Him Die is the result. “It might sound easy but to come up with a credible plot that takes place in both Glasgow and Los Angeles took me a long time. But I think it was worth it in the end. “In the book, cops in Glasgow and LA are trying to find a young man who they can see dying on an online video feed. There’s no way to identify him, no way to find him, no way to save him. Not without the help of a killer, and the only way he’ll cooperate is if he can watch him die.
“I hope it’s a hook that can grab people. The LA part of the plot let me use a lot of locations in old Los Angeles, and that was fun as it’s a city that’s constantly changing but there are still iconic landmarks from the so-called Golden Age, if you know where to find them.
“It took me a long time to like Los Angeles, never mind get to know it.
“I think a lot of people make trips to LA and think, ‘OK where do I go?’ And wherever it is, you go slowly because it has the worst traffic in the world. It takes being with someone who knows and understands the city and how it works before you get a handle on it.
“LA works as a series of neighbourhoods, most of which are the size of a large town or small city over here. Get your head round that and you’re halfway there.
“It’s incredibly diverse in all senses. Wherever you are in LA, it’s a short distance to being in mountains, on ocean beaches or in the desert. All foods, people, cultures are here. And the weather’s not too bad either.”