Now with all of that, think about getting back on that high wire with the same character time and time again. Six shows a week and two on Sunday. It is not for the faint of heart, I can tell you that. It is hard to do it once. It is harder to do it time and time again. And that’s what writing a book series is like.

And that is what Michael Lister has done for 20 years with the character of John Jordan and what he has been able to do for 20 years with his own muse. Not just sustain. Not just keep his balance on the wire. Not just go back to the well again and again. He has filled the well, he has expanded the boundaries of what he does with character. He has gotten better. He has somehow been able to find within him the inspiration to get back on the wire and do it again, only better.

It may be that the challenge and accomplishment of this can only be fully known and understood by the one who does it. No matter. Take my word for it. Michael Lister has become a master storyteller in his first 20 years and he’s only getting started.

Michael Connelly

January 2017

Real Blood: John Jordan and his Counterpart

By Aaron Bearden

If you are reading this, it is possible you count yourself as a John Jordan fan. Perhaps you have followed him through all of his cases, navigating crimes both real and fictional across several towns and multiple states, through ups and downs in his personal life.

You may be a casual admirer of Mr. Jordan’s, one who has read a few stories about him, but are still working your way through all twelve (and counting!) novels in his series. Should time allow, you may get caught up on them before too many more are published, turning your reading list into a Sisyphean endeavor—albeit a very satisfying and noble one.

You may have followed him for years, awaiting each new book with the polite patience only a dedicated lover of art anticipating the next foray into the unknown territory of a favorite artist’s mind can know, and finishing it in less time than it took for the font of the title on the cover to be selected (not that there’s anything wrong with that).

There is a slim chance you have enjoyed reading about John Jordan for twenty years now, having started with Power in the Blood upon its release in 1997. If you have remained a member of Michael Lister’s audience throughout, know that you share in something rare in any artistic medium: a twenty-year relationship between artist and audience is not something that happens often to either party.