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WORK TITLE: World, Chase Me Down
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1982
WEBSITE: http://andrewhilleman.com/
CITY: Omaha
STATE: NE
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2135976/andrew-hilleman *
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1982, in Omaha, NE; married; children: daughter.
EDUCATION:Creighton University, B.A., M.A.; Northern Michigan University, M.F.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Fiction writer. Taught creative writing, composition, and technical writing.
WRITINGS
Contributor of fiction to periodicals, including Fiddlehead.
SIDELIGHTS
Fiction writer Andrew Hilleman has published short stories in the Fiddlehead and was a finalist for Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Award. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1982 and earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in English from Creighton University, and an M.F.A. in fiction from Northern Michigan University. In graduate school, he taught creative writing, composition, and technical writing. He lives in Omaha with his wife and their daughter.
In 2017, Hilleman published his debut novel, World, Chase Me Down, described as True Grit meets Catch Me If You Can, a fictional account based on the true story of the first successful kidnapping for ransom in the United States. The story starts in 1939 when an elderly Pat Crowe looks back on his great escapade. In December of 1900 in Omaha, Nebraska, Crowe was a disgruntled butcher working in the stockyards of wealthy meatpacking tycoon Edward Cudahy. A salty character, Crowe was unlucky in career and in his marriage. He decides to kidnap Cudahy’s sixteen-year-old son and demand a ransom of $25,000. The book’s adventure follows Crowe through burglaries, safe-cracking, and bond-jumping, and the ensuing hunt for him spanned the Midwest, to Arizona, and even to Japan and South Africa where he fights during the Second Boer Wars. Also on board are Crowe’s accomplice, Billy, and questionable characters on both sides of the law.
Five years later, Crowe is eventually caught and goes on trial where his lawyer portrays him as a modern-day Robin Hood, drawing on animosity between the classes. Crowe becomes a political symbol to the haves and a folk hero to the have nots. Later in life, Crowe helps detectives investigating the copycat kidnapper of the Lindbergh baby. A contributor in Kirkus Reviews commented that Hilleman’s courtroom scenes are too long, quelling the story of its momentum, and added: “while Hilleman addresses issues of class, the story never quite elevates itself past exuberant adventure tale.” Nevertheless, the contributor noted that Crowe’s remembrance of his five tumultuous years on the run provide a rich back story and a fun read.
According to Jeff Vasishta online at Interview Magazine: “Violent, funny, and unpredictable with taught, authentic first-person prose and cinematic scope, World, Chase Me Down is a western that begs to see itself in film.” In an interview, Hilleman told Vasishta: “A lot of artistic license was used to develop Pat Crowe. … So much of his character is revealed through dialogue—I approached his development with a cinematic lens—and there’s no way to recover some of what he actually said in the personal moments of his life from over a hundred years ago. There’s a great deal of myself inside Pat Crowe as well.” In Publishers Weekly, a writer noted how Crowe makes for an enthusiastic narrator and that Hilleman eschews some facts and first-hand accounts to create a more inventive story. The writer added that the story ends “on a surprising note that affirms man’s infinite capacity for resilience in the face of life’s harsh vicissitudes.
Hilleman explained his creation of Crowe’s character to Steph Post online at Reactor: “What captivated me the most was the notion of turning a kidnapping story upside down. No matter the medium—be it film, television, literature, or real news—you hardly ever find yourself rooting for the kidnapper. I never have, to be certain. It’s one of the cruelest crimes in existence. Yet, in my research, I immediately fell in love with Pat Crowe.” A reviewer writing on the Real Book Spy website commented: “The writing is smooth and the plot is crisp, never getting too far off its mark. The fact that the bulk of the story is based on truth is fascinating, and Crowe quickly becomes fun to learn about—a tribute to Hilleman’s writing style.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, December 15, 2016, review of World, Chase Me Down.
Publishers Weekly, November 7, 2016, review of World, Chase Me Down, p. 36.
ONLINE
Andrew Hilleman Website, http://andrewhilleman.com (August 1, 2017), author profile.
Interview Magazine, http://www.interviewmagazine.com/ (January 25, 2017), Jeff Vasishta, author interview.
Mystery Scene, http://mysteryscenemag.com/ (July 9, 2017), review of World, Chase Me Down.
Reactor, https://litreactor.com/ (March 6, 2017), Steph Post, author interview.
Real Book Spy, https://therealbookspy.com/ (December 21, 2016), review of World, Chase Me Down.*
Andrew Hilleman
Photo of Andrew Hilleman
Photo: © Kyle Gilbertson
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Hilleman was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1982. He earned his B.A. and M.A. in English at Creighton University, in Omaha, and his M.F.A. in fiction from Northern Michigan University. He has been published by The Fiddlehead and was a finalist for Glimmer Train’s Very Short Fiction Award. He lives in Omaha with his wife and their daughter.
Andrew Hilleman was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. He earned his B.A. and M.A. in English at Creighton University and his M.F.A. in Fiction from Northern Michigan University.
During his time in graduate school, he taught creative writing, composition, and technical writing. He has been published in Fiddlehead magazine and was a finalist for Glimmer Train’s short fiction award.
His debut novel, WORLD, CHASE ME DOWN will be published by Penguin on January 24, 2017.He lives in Omaha with his wife and daughter. He enjoys black-and-white movies, jogging, cooking, single-malt scotch, college football, and 1980’s sitcoms.
THE CHASE
By JEFF VASISHTA
Published 01/25/17
As outlaw tales go, Andrew Hilleman's debut novel, World, Chase Me Down (Penguin) ranks alongside the likes of Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, and Billy the Kid. Out this week, the novel centers around the exploits of Pat Crowe, a real historical figure who, after kidnapping of the son of an Omaha meatpacking tycoon in 1900, was regarded as one of America's most wanted criminals. Violent, funny, and unpredictable with taught, authentic first-person person prose and cinematic scope, World, Chase Me Down is a western that begs to see itself in film.
Like his protagonist, Hilleman, 34, is an Omaha, Nebraska native. He received his MFA from Northern Michigan University.
JEFF VASISHTA: Kind of like Peter Carey did with his Ned Kelly novel, True History Of The Kelly Gang, you paint a very sympathetic picture of someone who committed crime after crime. From your research, was it true to life or did you use artistic license to create a new character?
ANDREW HILLEMAN: A lot of artistic license was used to develop Pat Crowe. I like to think of my portrayal of Pat Crowe as honest, but not factually true. So much of his character is revealed through dialogue—I approached his development with a cinematic lens—and there's no way to recover some of what he actually said in the personal moments of his life from over a hundred years ago. There's a great deal of myself inside Pat Crowe as well. Like an actor who takes on a hearty role, I invested a lot of my own emotion and personality into Pat. I was at a time in my life where I keenly empathized, and always will, with many of Pat's problems.
VASISHTA: Pat Crowe is someone who does a terrible thing, but the reader is so emotionally enrolled in his survival. He always redeems himself. Even when he kicks a man off a stool, he's wracked with guilt and helps him up again. He kills people along the way, some quite innocent, but the pendulum always seems to swing back to favor him. Not an easy thing to pull off.
HILLEMAN: That's kind of you to say. Pat is a villainous character that you can't help but root for because he doesn't want anything to do with wickedness. Even when he kidnaps Edward Cudahy Jr., he gets no satisfaction from the act. His heart isn't in it. A truly evil character would take immense pleasure in accomplishing what Pat does, but his criminal success only brings him more pain and sorrow. Even the fact that he later becomes an inspiration to the poor and destitute of the nation gives him little joy, and certainly not redemption. In that way, he's much more Tom Joad than he is Robin Hood.
VASISHTA: How did you research the dialogue of the day?
HILLEMAN: That was a hodgepodge effort. My research was all over the map to create period-authentic dialogue. More than anything else, I wanted to get the tone of the dialogue right—more than making it 100 percent accurate to the first five years of the 20th century. I watched a ton of old movies, a lot of classic Westerns and gangster flicks, to help create that kind of conversational music in my own head space.
VASISHTA: How long did it take for you to write it? It seems like it must have been meticulously plotted?
HILLEMAN: About two years. But it would've been longer had I not already worked on a previous, and failed, novel that takes place in historic Omaha about the city's political boss, Tom Dennison. I was able to salvage a lot of that manuscript for scraps that helped build World, Chase Me Down. The plot wasn't nearly as hard to craft as the novel's structure. The big plot elements already existed in history. The real work came in how to arrange them on the page for a novelistic retelling. Almost all of my revision effort dealt with the narrative blueprint. Originally the novel was much longer. I left nearly 300 pages on the cutting room floor. I approached my revisions with the mindset of a screenwriter to glean the fat: If this story was being made into a movie, what absolutely has to be on the screen?
VASISHTA: Pat's got an incredible sense of humor. The way he talks about Billy's STD: "You ain't got the itches for her. You got them from her." You must have been chuckling away when you wrote some of this.
HILLEMAN: A lot of the book is quite funny. I'm glad you enjoyed those moments. I love deadpan humor and adore stand-up comedians who can deliver their jokes in that vein. My father is a master of deadpan and some of that rubbed off on me to be certain. But, here's the thing with the humor in the novel: it all stems from a place of deep agony. The funniest moments in the book are often some of the saddest in the same breath. Pain and jest are born of the same germ. Take the line you mention about Billy's STD, for example; it's also a commentary on his loneliness and heartbreak. What follows on the next page is this insight from Pat: "As if just in case the syphilis didn't stick with him long enough, that damn crazy bastard had it in his head to go off and wed the source. The penance the lonely suffer for their sins is far greater than that of the wicked."
VASISHTA: It's a brutal world, but one of the morals of the story seems to be stealing never pays off.
HILLEMAN: I hope it's not quite that simple. The old clichéd relic I desperately wanted to avoid: crime doesn't pay. It certainly didn't for Pat. But it's more complicated than that. His crime mutated into inspiration for the poorest of the city. It gave them hope: we are not all alone in this mess. There's a small comfort, even optimism, in knowing your pain is communal rather than solitary. God, if that doesn't resonate with America today, I don't know what does.
VASISHTA: Did you make up any of the destinations Pat visited when he was on the run? South Africa was an interesting choice.
HILLEMAN: Most destinations during his five-year long manhunt were places he really visited. He actually joined up with the Boer rebels in South Africa during the Second Boer War. His escape across the Missouri River also really did happen, but many of the details are fabricated. On the other hand, the violence depicted on the Arizona-Mexico border was pure invention. Like all else in the book, his time on the run is a concoction of both creativity and truth.
VASISHTA: Did you find it hard to get agents and publishers interested in a western? How did you get your book deal?
HILLEMAN: Finding an agent was rather easy. "Easy" is probably the wrong word. This is because my agent, Christopher Rhodes, is a godsend. Any writer out there looking for representation should only be so lucky to find an agent as devout and skilled as Christopher. I sent out the manuscript blind—I mean, I was very careful in selecting which agents to contact, but I wanted to be in the slush pile. Most writers hope to avoid the slush pile at all costs and rely on who they know, etcetera. I wanted the exact opposite. I wanted an agent who chose to represent me because of the novel itself, not from a favor owed to another client. Finding a publisher was a little more tricky. Earlier I mentioned that I cut some 300 pages from the novel. Before that, we got about 30 rejections. It was just too damned long. No one was willing to risk publishing a 700-page behemoth from a debut writer. Once I cut it down, we found a publisher pretty quickly. Like Christopher, my editor John Siciliano at Penguin has been nothing short of spectacular. I feel incredibly blessed to have both on my team.
Also, I never pitched the novel as a western. It has western tropes, but there aren't any silly duels at high noon outside the saloon or rolling tumbleweeds or genre clichés of that nature. I think that will surprise a lot of people once they start reading.
VASISHTA: How is your creative day spent? Are you a morning writer or night writer?
HILLEMAN: I wrote nearly all of World, Chase Me Down late at night. I'd come home from bartending at one or two in the morning and write until sometimes 8 or 8 A.M. It was perfect: no one else was awake, there wasn't anything else to do, and so I had no distractions. It gave me large chunks of time to create. If I had my druthers, I'd still write at night. But being a father to a toddler doesn't allow for that practice much anymore. I find time where I can. It's not optimal, but I make do.
WORLD, CHASE ME DOWN IS OUT NOW.
The Tale Must Be Greater Than The Truth: An Interview with Andrew Hilleman, Author of 'World, Chase Me Down'
INTERVIEW BY STEPH POST MARCH 6, 2017
IN: ANDREW HILLEMAN DEBUT AUTHOR HISTORICAL FICTION INTERVIEW LITERARY WESTERNS
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An Interview with Andrew Hilleman, Author of 'World, Chase Me Down'
Andrew Hilleman’s Western/Literary/Thriller (we’ll discuss this) World, Chase Me Down was on my radar long before it hit shelves this past January, and I’m happy to say that the novel was anything but a disappointment. Neither was this interview. I pitched Hilleman some curveballs on everything from genre to point of view to pacing to structure and he took them like a literary champ.
World, Chase Me Down is a fictionalized account of the very real Pat Crowe, a folk/anti-hero living at the turn of the twentieth century who kidnaps and ransoms the son of a meatpacking tycoon. Crowe’s story—the chase, the trial, and everything in between—is fascinating for sure, but I’m curious as to what drew you to it. What was so captivating for you about Pat Crowe and his saga? And at what point did you decide that you wanted to be the one to illuminate Crowe for modern readers?
What captivated me the most was the notion of turning a kidnapping story upside down. No matter the medium—be it film, television, literature, or real news—you hardly ever find yourself rooting for the kidnapper. I never have, to be certain. It’s one of the cruelest crimes in existence. Yet, in my research, I immediately fell in love with Pat Crowe. The story itself was an enormous challenge: creating a central character who kidnaps a child and having the audience empathize with the criminal more than his victim or the victim’s family. Pat’s story really had everything: revenge born of desperation and economic inequality, courtroom pyrotechnics, a worldwide manhunt, romantic heartbreak, fierce friendship, gunfights, you name it.
If you’re doing it right, strong prose creates a stronger plot. Plot must come from your characters and your characters must be built through the quality of your prose.
Where it all started for me, though, was the setting: historic Omaha. Being born and raised in the city and a huge fan of its often dark history, I knew I wanted to write about its past. Discovering Pat Crowe, Omaha’s greatest forgotten criminal, was a lightning strike.
I’ve always thought of first person narratives as dicey. If it’s well-written, a first person voice can carry an entire book. But if it isn’t, the whole book can tank. Inauthentic first person style has made me do everything from drop a book to throw it across the room: it’s my biggest turn-off when it comes to reading fiction. That being said, World, Chase Me Down is in the former category and I found Pat Crowe’s voice to be not only sharp and lyrical, but genuine. My question to you, then, is how do you write in the first person style convincingly? How can you keep a character’s voice pure, but still encompass the scope of a story?
The book wasn’t always in first person. It was originally told from an omniscient third-person point of view. I only changed the narration to Pat’s voice long after the first draft was complete. You’re right—first person narratives are very dangerous terrain for writers because they are so hard to execute properly. Not just because of the voice, but also the limited scope. You can only show the story through one set of eyes. That being said, I put a lot of myself into Pat Crowe. His voice, to a large degree, is my own. The only way I was able to interject so much of myself into his character is because I was at a point in my life where his pain keenly resonated with my own.
World, Chase Me Down begins at the end. We meet Pat Crowe as an old man, recounting his tale, and the story jumps around a fair bit from there. What was behind the decision to play around with the chronological structure? Did the historical nature of the story, the fact that there doesn’t need to be a mystery because the story is already true and known, have any influence on how you presented Crowe’s tale to the reader?
The structure, like the point of view, also changed in revision. I had to make massive cuts to a rather large manuscript, and the only way to do that and keep the plot moving forward in every scene was to rearrange the narrative blueprint. The historical nature of the story wasn’t a factor. As a historical novelist, the tale is more important than the truth. I reminded myself of that a lot: This isn’t nonfiction. Tell a good story, damn you, first and foremost. That being said, I stayed true to the three main aspects of the actual history: the kidnapping, the manhunt, and the ensuing criminal trial.
The way you use language to manipulate pacing very much reminded me of Daniel Woodrell or Taylor Brown’s style. How do you keep a hard edge to the story, and keep the reader turning the pages, while still writing in a highly stylized, descriptive and, yes, poetic, way? How do you balance plot and language, two elements that are often at odds with one another, and make it appear effortless?
I’ve never found plot and language to be at odds with each other directly. If you’re doing it right, strong prose creates a stronger plot. In most cases, if a writer relies on tired imagery, stock character development, clichéd metaphor, etc., then that writer also usually has a predictable or slow plot. Here’s the key: plot must come from your characters and your characters must be built through the quality of your prose.
On the other hand, a lot of people can write very pretty sentences. But very few can string all those pretty sentences together into a story that keeps readers riveted. It takes a tremendous amount of practice. If it seems effortless on the finished page, it was anything but to create those pages.
I’ve written one historical fiction novel myself and am in the trenches with another, so I completely understand the importance of research to writing in this genre. What were your go-to sources for accurately crafting the backdrop of World, Chase Me Down? And what is the research process like for you?
My research process was an absolute joy. I never really thought of it as research, but discovery. I was discovering something new about Omaha and the country during this time period almost every single day. In that respect, I fancied myself as a sleuth. I enjoy research almost as much as I enjoy writing. I found a lot of my material in old newspapers. Back then radio was still twenty years away, so everyone relied on the printed press. Not just for news, but for entertainment and advertisements—everything.
The cover of your novel is so striking and clearly sets it in the Western genre, but I found World, Chase Me Down a little hard to peg as far as genre goes (and this is a compliment!). Where would you shelve your book at the local library?
That’s a good question, and a difficult one. I never pitched World, Chase Me Down as a Western. It certainly has Western tropes, but it also bends the genre and hardly ever settles for its more traditional conventions. A large part of the second half of the book also takes place in the courtroom, but I wouldn’t label this novel as a courtroom drama, either. There’s an action-packed manhunt, but it’s not a true thriller. I also put a great deal of energy into crafting prose that would place the novel squarely in the category of Literature with a capital L. I’m not sure where that leaves us. In the end, it will probably be shelved as a Western and I can certainly live with that.
ANUARY 23, 2017
Exclusive Interview: World, Chase Me Down Author Andrew Hilleman
We’ve all heard the cliche about how real life is stranger than fiction. But if it’s true, where does that put fiction that’s based on real life? It’s a question I pondered, to no avail, after interviewing writer Andrew Hilleman about his new novel World, Chase Me Down (paperback, digital), a fascinating and fictionalized account of a kidnapping that took place in 1900.
I always like to start with the basics. So, what is World, Chase Me Down about?
In a nutshell: the first successful ransom for a kidnapping in the history of the United States. If the book had a tag line, that would be it. In 1900, Pat Crowe kidnapped the teenage son of Omaha’s wealthiest meatpacking tycoon for a ransom of $25,000 in gold, and got away with it scot-free for five years before returning to Omaha to face the music.
At its core, it’s a revenge novel about an honest man who lost everything — his butchery business, his home, his wife and daughter — and turns criminal in the aftermath of his world falling apart. Pat Crowe, the kidnapper and antihero, definitely has some shades of Walter White. A frontier Robin Hood you could call him. There are a lot of kidnapping stories out there in both literature and film, but I’ve never come across one before where the audience roots for the kidnapper. If I’ve done my job right, readers will be pulling for Pat Crowe until the end, despite his villainous turn.
It’s historical fiction that takes place during the first five years of the twentieth century, but it’s also a tale that has resonance today. It’s history that matters to us now and our current political discourse about the divide between the haves and the have-nots. Beyond the kidnapping, it’s part Western, part chase thriller, part courtroom drama. Add in some political overtones and a heartbreaking romance, and you start to get an idea of how many genres are blended in the novel.
How close is your novel to what really happened?
Pretty damn close. I stayed as true to the main events of Pat Crowe’s story as I could. I felt an obligation to do so as a writer even though this is fiction. The kidnapping and ransom exchange are very near to the actual history. The ensuing five-year long manhunt for Pat and his federal trial are also genuine, but certainly not 100% factual. Everything in the novel has some measure of invention. There’s only so much you can discover in research. The rest must be created from scratch while remaining true to the essence of what really occurred.
My understanding is that you came across the real-life story of Pat Crowe while doing research for another novel you were going to write. What was it about the Pat Crowe kidnapping that made you drop what you were doing and write World, Chase Me Down instead?
I was actually writing another historical novel about Omaha while in grad school at Northern Michigan. That story centered around Tom Dennison, Omaha’s political boss for the first thirty years of the twentieth century. But in my research I kept coming across information about Pat Crowe. The more I read about him and the kidnapping, the more I thought: Wow, this is the story I really want to tell about Omaha. I’d never approached a story before as a writer that made me mad. His pain is something I’ve felt acutely in my own life. I think many Americans are going through this kind of pain and hopeless frustration right now. I didn’t immediately drop the Tom Dennison novel, though. I saw that novel through to the end. I don’t like to abandon projects. Plus, I was able to fit Dennison into World, Chase Me Down. He’s an important secondary character. So that first book wasn’t a total loss. In many ways, writing the novel about Tom Dennison was prelude.
So how much research into the real incident did you do?
A ton. I love to do research. I was born and raised in Omaha, and I like to consider myself an amateur historian about the city. Especially its vice elements. In terms of actual time spent, I’d say that two-thirds was conducting research and the other third was writing.
Is there one book about this case that sticks out for you? Maybe something you’d suggest someone read if they’re still curious about the case after reading World, Chase Me Down.
There’s more than one to be sure. I’ll give you two. Pat Crowe actually wrote an autobiography in 1927 entitled Spreading Evil. It’s a hard find, a rare book. A much easier find is The Last Outlaw: The Life Of Pat Crowe by John Koblas. It’s a good, quick read that covers most of his escapades in just under 100 pages.
What do you think was the biggest thing your research added to your novel?
Authenticity about the time and place. Historical fiction is a lot like science-fiction and fantasy in terms of world-building. Every detail must be de novo and antiquated at the same time, if that makes sense. I wanted to recreate the city of Omaha at the turn-of-the-century as vividly as possible. That meant researching everything from what types of jackets men wore in old Montgomery Ward catalogues to common slang circa 1900 to how slaughterhouses operated in the South Omaha stockyards.
Did you ever run into a situation where the truth would’ve made your novel less exciting?
I wouldn’t say “less exciting” as much as I would “bloated.” The original draft of the novel was almost twice as long as what is being published. No editor wanted to take a chance on a 700-page debut novel. So a lot of very exciting and true material had to be cut. Crowe’s escape from prison by inducing his own temporary paralysis, his many bank and train robberies, a few gunfights, and some of his backstory leading up the kidnapping were all left on the cutting room floor. That part of the revision was tough. Getting rid of those moments, despite their truth, was essential to focusing on what really mattered: the kidnapping itself.
Was there every any thought of going even further with the fiction, like maybe turning it into a science fiction story or setting it in the modern world?
Never. Even though the story is set a little more than a century ago, it’s still a modern story about our world today in many ways. This is an epic tale about Omaha’s dark past and to change that would be a disservice to our history. Crowe’s tragedy isn’t a relic. It’s fresh. It still resonates for me like breaking news.
World, Chase Me Down has been compared to such gritty Western movies as The Magnificent Seven, True Grit, and The Hateful Eight, as well as to the TV series Deadwood. Do you think those comparisons are fair?
They might not be fair, but I will gladly take them. The comparisons are humbling. It’s hard as a writer to judge and compare your own work alongside giants. To quote King Lear: that way madness lies. There are certainly similarities between World, Chase Me Down and those titles.
But I wouldn’t call this novel a Western in the traditional sense. It pays homage to Western motifs, but it also draws inspiration from classic chase thrillers and courtroom dramas. Still, if readers place this novel among those masterpieces, you won’t hear any argument from me.
But do you consider any of those things to be influences on the way you wrote World, Chase Me Down?
Absolutely. I adore all of those aforementioned titles. While I was writing World, Chase Me Down, I watched and read the same movies and books to the brink of obsession.
Though the biggest literary influence on the novel was, oddly, Lolita. The mastery of the prose, the uniqueness of the voice, the darkness of the narrator Humbert Humbert and his redemptive qualities despite his wickedness: all were chiefly influences during my writing process.
The film I watched the most was On The Waterfront. God, I watched parts of that movie every night for nearly two years. It’s embarrassing. And drove my wife a little bonkers. Marlon Brando’s character, Terry Malloy, is Pat Crowe in so many ways.
The strange thing is that neither Lolita nor On the Waterfront are Westerns. It just goes to show that what inspires your writing is hardly ever what your finished product resembles despite all of your mania otherwise.
So, has there been any talk of making a movie or TV series based on World, Chase Me Down?
There has been quite a lot of talk about a film adaptation ever since the news broke on day one that Penguin was publishing the novel. There’s actually something in the works as we speak, though it’s very early in the process.
Which do you think would work better, a movie or a TV show? Or do you think it would work better as a video game? Maybe like a Western version of Fallout 4 or Skyrim.
I think a movie would work best. If the novel was adapted for television, it would probably be a mini-series. Something akin to the first season of True Detective or The Night Of. Eight episodes at an hour apiece. The novel is finite in that regard. It couldn’t sustain multiple seasons.
A video game would blow my mind. Fallout 4 and Skyrim are so near and dear to my heart. I also spent far too much time playing Red Dead Redemption. Still, that will never happen. I’ll give you 1,000-to-one odds it doesn’t. It just wouldn’t make sense.
So, if World, Chase Me Down was going to be made into a movie or TV show, and the producers or director asked you for casting suggestions, who would you like to see play Pat Crowe and the other major characters?
Tough call. I’ve never fainted in my life, but if Tom Hardy [Mad Max: Fury Road] were cast as Pat Crowe I just might. There’s also a relatively unknown actor who is about to blow up in the next couple years if there’s any justice in the world: Boyd Holbrook [Gone Girl]. He’d be a spectacular Pat Crowe as well. Ben Foster [3:10 To Yuma] would be a great Billy, Pat’s partner in crime. Pat’s wife, Hattie, is destined for someone like Carey Mulligan [Suffragette] or Emma Watson [the Harry Potter movies]. I’d love to see the role of Pat’s lawyer as a Colin Firth type. Or Colin Firth himself. Stellan Skarsgard [Thor] would be an inspired Edward Cudahy, the owner of the Cudahy Stockyards who forces Pat out of business. His son, the kidnapped Edward Jr., is a role that Tye Sheridan [X-Men: Apocalypse] could knock out of the park.
If it sounds like I’ve spent a lot of time daydreaming about casting, I have.
Now that it’s done, do you know what you’re going to write next?
Yes, I’m getting deep into my second novel. It’s a thriller set in the upper peninsula of Michigan during the early 1990s. I fell in love with the U.P. during my three years in the MFA program at Northern Michigan and have wanted to write a novel that takes place there ever since. That’s all I’m really comfortable divulging about it now.
What about the book you were working on before you got sidetracked by this one?
The novel I worked on before World, Chase Me Down, centering around Tom Dennison, will remain in my proverbial desk drawer for the foreseeable future.
Has there been any suggestion of writing a sequel to World, Chase Me Down? Y’know, World, Chase Me Down II: Still Can’t Catch Me or something? Or maybe another fictionalized account of another kidnapping, like the Lindbergh baby or Patty Hearst?
None. Pat Crowe’s story is complete in World, Chase Me Down. If I were to attempt any kind of sequel, it would only be a sequel in terms of another historical novel that takes place in Omaha. Something akin to what William Kennedy has done with his Albany novels. Or Dennis Lehane with Boston. Chronicling an entire century of crime in Omaha was once a grand idea of mine, but it would be a hefty feat to undertake. The material and the history is there. I just don’t know if I have the ambition or the stamina for such a conquest. Still, never say never. Who’s to say how I will feel in three or five or ten years. It’s certainly an epic notion I will keep on the back burner.
Finally, if someone enjoyed World, Chase Me Down, what would you suggest they read next and why?
Where to begin? There are so many. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt, Red Sky In Morning by Paul Lynch, Fallen Land by Taylor Brown, The Son by Philipp Meyer, The Swan Gondola by Timothy Schaffert, Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich, The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon, any of the Wyoming Story collections by Annie Proulx, or anything by Larry McMurty, Cormac McCarthy, Ron Hansen, Daniel Woodrell, and Tom Franklin.
Hilleman, Andrew: WORLD, CHASE ME DOWN
Kirkus Reviews. (Dec. 15, 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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Hilleman, Andrew WORLD, CHASE ME DOWN Penguin (Adult Fiction) $16.00 1, 24 ISBN: 978-0-14-311147-4
A fictionalized tale about Pat Crowe, whose real-life abduction of an affluent Nebraskan's son was the first successful kidnapping for ransom in the U.S. At the dawn of the 20th century, Crowe, down on his luck after failing at business and marriage, kidnaps the son of wealthy Edward Cudahy, who briefly employed Crowe in his stockyards. Told from the perspective of an elderly Crowe, "near ruin" in 1939, Hilleman's action-packed debut tracks the loquacious outlaw from his earnest beginnings to his descent into crime and to his trial, during which his lawyer exploits populist fervor to portray his client as a latter-day Robin Hood. (Crowe's crime would go on to inspire copycats, including the abduction of the Lindbergh baby.) The novel is nicely structured--chapters alternate between the kidnapping and its aftermath and a rich back story--and Crowe's remembrances of his five wild years on the run are especially fun, with memorable scenes set everywhere from a cantina in Arizona to South Africa during the Second Boer War. The supporting cast is pleasingly despicable, including Pat's hapless accomplice, Billy, and an assortment of scoundrels on both sides of the law. The attention to historical detail is illuminating throughout. Hilleman runs into some trouble during Crowe's trial, spending too much time on lengthy courtroom exchanges, draining the narrative of some well-earned momentum. And while Hilleman addresses issues of class, the story never quite elevates itself past exuberant adventure tale. But elevation can be overrated: as Crowe's story proves, sometimes the best view is from the ground floor. A bit slow going toward the end, but for readers looking for a diverting escape into the Wild (mid-) West, this one's a winner.
World, Chase Me Down
Publishers Weekly. 263.45 (Nov. 7, 2016): p36.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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World, Chase Me Down
Andrew Hilleman. Penguin, $16 trade paper
(352p) ISBN 978-0-14-311147-4
In this lively first novel, Hilleman reimagines the life of a turn-of-the-20thcentury kidnapper who committed the first "crime of the century." On Dec. 18, 1900, Pat Crowe and his accomplice, Billy Cavanaugh, abduct the 16-year-old son of Edward Cudahy, owner of a meatpacking plant in Omaha, Neb. During the abduction, Cudahy recognizes Pat, forcing the kidnapper to go on the lam-to Japan, then South Africa, where he fights with the Boer army. Arrested after more misadventures back in the U.S., Pat is put on trial, finding himself a political pawn of the haves and a folk hero to the have-nots. In flashbacks we see Pat's marriage to a woman named Hattie and what transpired with Cudahy to inspire the kidnapping. A framing device places Pat in the 1930s, where, among other things, he tries to make himself useful to detectives in Hopewell, N.J., investigating the Lindbergh baby kidnapping. Although the story is based on a variety of firsthand accounts, the author refuses to be bound by facts alone, and the result is a raucous example of narrative invention. Pat makes for an enthusiastic narrator, and he ends his story on a surprising note that affirms man's infinite capacity for resilience in the face of life's harsh vicissitudes. (Jan.)
DECEMBER 21, 2016
A Book Spy Review: ‘World, Chase Me Down’ By Andrew Hilleman
world-chase-me-downAndrew Hilleman’s debut novel tells the story of the first recorded kidnapping and ransom in United States history, set in the gritty Wild West.
Who is Pat Crowe? Believe it or not, he really existed. Crowe was an American pioneer who rose to prominence in the 1900s after he pulled off a plot to kidnap the son of a wealthy family and demanded $25,000 for his safe return. He was a man so famous that when he was brought back to Omaha in police custody many years later, he drew a larger crowd than Theodore Roosevelt did when he made a campaign stop to the same area.
His actions and the ensuing investigations and media coverage were dubbed “the thrill of the nation.” While the character is real, Hilleman’s story is a fictional account, though it does remain fairly accurate.
The book opens with a letter from an aging, somewhat frail Crowe who then reflects on his past actions, which are broken down into separate flashback scenes that together make up the novel.
While kidnapping the sixteen-year-old son of a wealthy businessman named Edward Cudahy, along with his accomplice and friend, Billy Cavanaugh, things don’t go according to plan. Cudahy recognizes Crowe, who must then go on the run to avoid being arrested.
His journey takes him all around the globe–including a lengthy stay in Japan before leaving footprints in London and South America–where he engaged in numerous eye-raising escapades. Through the first-person narrative, all that led up to Crowe’s decision to kidnap Cudahy’s son is eventually revealed. And while the story bounces around, that remains the focal point of the plot.
Eventually, Crowe returns back to the States, where he continues his bad-boy ways until he’s arrested and put on trial to answer for past sins. However, in a turn of events, Crowe realizes that the public opinion is split between two groups of people: those who consider him to be a thuggish outlaw, and those who imagine him as a Robin Hood-like folk hero.
Capitalizing on those who support him, Crowe manages to turn the trial into a chaotic showdown. Those pages are actually some of the strongest parts of the book and the most fun to read.
As the pages turn, Crowe, serving as the narrator, opens up about his life and even offers a somewhat surprising ending that is both insightful and emotional.
The writing is smooth and the plot is crisp, never getting too far off its mark. The fact that the bulk of the story is based on truth is fascinating, and Crowe quickly becomes fun to learn about–a tribute to Hilleman’s writing style. I do think the story itself lacked the explosive or high-tension moments that readers look for in a great thriller, but overall, World, Chase Me Down is a solid, fun read.
Fans of historical fiction and westerns will especially enjoy Andrew Hilleman’s impressive, entertaining debut that reads like a mash-up of Catch Me If You Can and The Magnificent Seven.
Book Details
Author: Andrew Hilleman
Pages: 352 (Paperback)
ISBN: 0143111477
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release Date: January 24, 2017 (Order Now!)
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World, Chase Me Down
by Andrew Hilleman
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World, Chase Me Down, Andrew Hilleman’s fine debut novel, is a fictional retelling of the exploits of kidnapper Pat Crowe. In the early hours of a cold December Omaha, Nebraska, morning in 1900, Crowe and an accomplice, Billy Cavanaugh, kidnap the teenage son of the wealthy owner of a meatpacking plant, Edward Cudahy. The plan is simple. Snatch the boy, Eddie, Jr., send a ransom letter demanding $25,000 in gold coins, secure the ransom money, release the boy. And it works perfectly until Pat is recognized by his former employer, Mr. Cudahy, while the ransom is delivered.
Crowe spends the next five years running from wanted posters, lawmen, and detectives. He scrambles around the globe finding trouble in every corner. He fondly recalls looting an entire New Mexico town while the marshal was locked in a cell, and a visit to South Africa during the hardest fighting of the Boer War. The narration style is easy with a humorous slant and a comfortable structure; chapters alternate between the kidnapping and Crowe’s backstory, a backstory that explains more than a little about Pat Crowe’s descent into crime.
World, Chase Me Down is an exciting adventure tale told with style and humor. It’s a campfire tall tale with an antihero protagonist as interesting as he is despicable. Crowe is a dime-novel villain with a reputation far larger than its reality could ever be, towering above the stage where he performs. He, the real Pat Crowe, died in 1938 and the date of this fictional telling is 1939, adding a layer of tongue-in-cheek to this welcome tale.
Ben Boulden