The Big Crescendo by Jonathan Brown

Lou Crasher is a black Canadian rock drummer living and gigging in Los Angeles. When not playing shows he works at the L.A. Practice Joint, a low-rent rehearsal space for musicians. Angela, the most beautiful African American woman Lou’s ever seen, puts Lou’s inner pinball machine on tilt. Her band books time at the “Joint” and with each encounter Lou pursues her with heat.

When the “Joint” gets robbed Lou volunteers to hunt for Angela’s stolen gear because to him the math is easy: get the gear = get the girl. Armed with his music contacts and detecting skills learned from television hero Jim Rockford, Lou pounds the pavement and winds up uncovering a dangerous gear-theft ring. Lou goes deep undercover and while the case heats up to the boiling point, a coke-snorting celebrity music producer hires Lou to find his prized snare drum: a colonial-era drum once owned by famous social reformer and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.

The two cases become deeply entangled, forcing Lou to duck bullets, navigate around sultry double-talking dames, and control his cocktail intake. As Lou forges ahead he finds that something may be off with Angela. Who is she really?

Author Jonathan Brown stopped by The Big Thrill for a quick discussion about the first installment of his new Lou Crasher series, THE BIG CRESCENDO:

Which took shape first: plot, character, or setting?

Setting.

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

The need to read all the way through to get the answers.

What was the biggest challenge this book presented? What about the biggest opportunity?

A) Finding a unique hook different from other books.

B) Finding a great editor and landing a two-book deal at Down & Out Books.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

The finished product was a long way from the initial draft.

How did you react when you landed your first book deal? 

I thought of my dear departed parents, hoisted a champagne glass, and wept.

*****

Jonathan Brown is the author of A Boxing Trainer’s Journey: A Novel Based on the Life of Angelo Dundee and the novella Moose’s Law: A Doug “Moose” McCrae Story about an ex-football playing bouncer and “fixer” living in Los Angeles. Brown has also written short stories that have appeared in Out of the Gutter Online and in two Palos Verdes library anthologies. He has also written, recorded, and performed an audio children’s book, KANU…A Boy’s Journey. His second book in the Lou Crasher series drops in 2020 from Down & Out Books. He currently teaches drums, is a personal trainer, and he and his wife enjoy sunny-living in Los Angeles.

To learn more about the author and his work, please visit his website.