“In the Heat” is a crime novel set in Belize. But what makes this book project interesting is that the author is a Belizean. Ian Vasquez has been writing for a number of years but it is the first time that he has actually gone on to publish his work. The book has already received eager reviews when it was released in the United States where Ian presently works as a copy editor at St. Petersburg Times. Today Ian stopped by our studios to talk about his novel that will be launched tomorrow at ten in the morning at the House of Culture.
Ian Vasquez, Author
“Well it is very hard to get published. I tried 15 years, wrote creole novels and couldn’t find a publisher. So I turned this one into a crime novel and got lucky, got an agent, and got lucky. I’ve always been interested in crime novels and character above everything else; the people who commit crimes, how they think. I guess if you ask people what kind of story you like to hear, they like a mystery, it is something about the unknown, questions that are unsolved. We like mysteries, we like crime. I think that’s why crimes are consistently on the New York Times Bestseller list because it is a genre that is popular.
Myles is a boxer, he is near the end of his career and is making a comeback. He loses and after he loses, his promoter approaches him with a job to look for a runway daughter of a wealthy Belizean woman. So he accepts the job, because he needs money. He accepts the job but the job is much more complicated than he anticipates. He has a feeling there is something off with this but it becomes more of a struggle, challenge and he then gets pulled into this underworld.”
In The Heat will be launched tomorrow at ten at the House of Culture and will be sold at a promotional cost of $40. By the way Ian is already working on his second novel, ‘Lonesome point.’
