UPDATES TO THE ZERO
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| "Andrew H. Vachss, counselor at law, and a 6-year-old client in a Met cap went to Family Court in Westchester County last week. It was the happy resolution to a series of ugly proceedings that began four years ago when Mr. Vachss represented the boy in an abuse case against his parents. Now he was about to be adopted." Click here to read Georgia Dullea's recently unearthed 1988 New York Times article documenting the early days of children's law.
(Updated 07-01-09) |
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| Last month, we pointed Zero visitors to the story of the Royal Dutch Shell oil company being brought to trial for crimes against humanity, including culpability in the execution of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. Now there's an update: that same company has settled with the claimants, including Mr. Saro-Wiwa's family, for $15.5 million, the New York Times reported on June 9, 2009. Click here to read the full story. (Updated 06-24-09) |
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| Anyone who saw the Family of Choice webcast will recall seeing Seattle Times reporter Mark Rahner, who was one of our three hosts. He's a witty, insightful journalist, and he puts those skills to use in his new comic, Rotten. Click here to learn all about it!
(Updated 06-17-09) |
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| "On the international front, Cambodia was still selling its children as prostitutes, and the Sudan was selling its children, period." That quote is from Only Child, page 88, published in 2002. And this was published May 13, 2009, by Scripps News Service: "[Jack Louis Sporich] has been charged in Cambodia with indecent acts against minors in a case involving four young Cambodian boys, according to an official in Phnom Penh whose organization helped investigate Sporich." (Updated 06-10-09) |
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"[Rev. Gerald M. C. Fitzgerald,] founder of a Roman Catholic religious order that ran retreat centers for troubled priests, warned American bishops in forceful letters dating back to 1952 that pedophiles should be removed from the priesthood because they could not be cured. [He] delivered the same advice in person to Vatican officials in Rome in 1962 and to Pope Paul VI a year later ... . Father Fitzgerald, who died in 1969, even made a $5,000 down payment on a Caribbean island where he planned to build an isolated retreat to sequester priests who were sexual predators. His letters show he was driven by a desire to save the church from scandal, and to save laypeople from being victimized." Click here to read Laurie Goodstein's complete article, as published April 2, 2009, by the New York Times. Then go back and read Dead and Gone ... and especially page 222. (Updated 06-03-09) |
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There's no question where Andrew Vachss stands regarding Megan's Law. In 1994, he wrote, "[Politicians] know (from long experience) that the public is easily appeased by naming (still another) hollow law after (still another) dead child." In 1998, in an interview with Amazon, he responded "Megan's Law is saying this to the public: there's a beast among you that we, the politicians, never should have let out. But we did. We're going to make it up to you by giving you his address. Of course, we promise you he's never going to dye his hair, grow a mustache, move without telling us. You're perfectly safe, now." And just this past January, during the Family of Choice webcast, he addressed the issue on camera, calling it a "clinically insane piece of legislation." And each time he criticizes the law, someone always responds with the usual rant of those who get federal money to do nothing: "You can't prove it doesn't work." Well . . . now we can. Check out "Megan’s Law: Assessing the Practical and Monetary Efficacy," a study published by the US Department of Justice. Read how Megan's Law has had zero effect on sexual offenses against children. How the majority of sex offenses against children occur within the child's Circle of Trust. How almost half all criminal convictions are for incest (!) ... and ask yourself how many cases of incest never reach the criminal courts (it being a "family matter" more responsive to "counseling" than it is a crime, of course ... what do you think about closing the incest loophole now?). Read how 77% of all such offenses occur within the child's own home or the home of the perpetrator to whom the child was entrusted. How the dozens of millions the Feds spend every year is totally wasted (except for the political impact, which is all that is really wanted ... as Mr. Vachss wrote 15 years ago). Bottom line: If we continue to accept on faith that we are "preventing" child abuse or "stopping Internet child pornography" or finding all those children kidnapped by monsters who jump out of vans wearing ski masks, or having lay volunteers "represent" children in abuse and neglect cases, we will continue to spend a fortune (literally) on air-pumped blather as we "outsource" those governmental services to which we are entitled as citizens. What do we want? More laws named after dead babies? Or actual, accountable protection of our children? Is Obama offering the American people any "hope" on that subject?
(Updated 05-27-09) |
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Andrew Vachss dedicated his 1996 novel, False Allegations, to Ken Saro-Wiwa, with the following message: a warrior, murdered by jackals whose voice, unstilled scars their dishonor into our souls marking our path Now, almost a decade and a half later, the jackals may finally be held accountable for their crimes. Read the story by clicking here. (Updated 05-20-09) |
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"Journalism is the one thing that protects us. There's a history of crusading, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may journalists. But that's given way to 'advocacy journalists,' who have left- or right-wing biases. That doesn't make sense. The only thing a journalist should worship is the truth." Click here to read Duane Swierczynski's entire interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published July 7, 2005, in the Philadelphia CityPaper.
(Updated 05-13-09) |
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Deacon was a kind and gentle soul that made fast friends with everyone he met. The Zero is honored to be able to induct him posthumously into Dogs of the Zero.
(Updated 05-13-09) |
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The Sacramento Bee called Another Life "a winner." They also say of the series finale they'll "miss the noble but violent Burke." Read the review here, and learn more about Another Life here. (Updated 05-06-09) |
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Bud Bilanich is a success coach, motivational speaker, author, and blogger. And he finds substance for his advice in what might be considered some unlikely places. Click here to read what he has to say about Andrew Vachss and the Burke novels!
(Updated 05-06-09) |
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"The priests had taught us that each man has a personal haiku, a haiku that must emerge from within his own spirit. A master of haiku might be commissioned to produce thousands in his lifetime. But only one could truly express his own spirit." Click here to catch a first look at the cover of and read an excerpt from Andrew Vachss' forthcoming novel, Haiku, to be published November 3, 2009! (Updated 04-29-09) |
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If you're one of the many readers who scans each of the Burke novels for musicians and songs, then we have a treat for you. Zero regular Jamie Burg and the Zero staff have put together a "playlist" for each of the 18 Burke books. Click here to start the music! (Updated 04-29-09) |
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"When author Andrew Vachss looks into the crowd at a book reading, he'll spot bright red T-shirts claiming readers 'finished three bowls at Mama's Restaurant.' Only, Mama's Restaurant doesn't exist. At least, not outside Vachss' novels featuring Burke, a lone-wolf vigilante with no first name." Read the entire story about Protect's Novel-Tees program, as published April 14, 2009, in the Chicago Tribune. (Updated 04-22-09) |
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| A great horse deserves a great tribute. Click here to read about Little Walter! (Updated 04-22-09) |
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| If you've been to Pansy's MySpace page recently, you've probably noticed that one of her top friends is a pony named Andrew. We've been getting questions about Pansy's new friend, so ... click here for answers. (Updated 04-15-09) |
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| Social Workers are horribly misperceived, and the stereotype of the young white woman doing "counseling" with people from another planet (experientially) has deep roots. But the whole profession just got a desperately needed upgrade, with the University of Denver's appointment of Frank R. Ascione, Ph.D., to the inaugural American Humane Endowed Chair in their School of Social Work. This honor will also bring greater light to the ties between animal abuse and child abuse. And if you don't know what that means, you can read Dr. Ascione's guest dispatches to The Zero here, here, and here. Congratulations, Dr. Ascione!
(Updated 04-08-09) |
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| One more time! Dave Marsh will speak with Andrew Vachss on his Sirius radio call-in show, "The Land of Hope and Dreams," this Sunday, April 12. The show runs from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM Eastern on Left Sirius 146, XM. Listeners can call in to ask their questions, at (866) 997-4748 (and unlike last weekend's show, this one is a regular call-in show, so ... any Zero visitors who got the never-ending busy signal on the 5th won't have the same problem this time around). Don't have a subscription to Sirius? You can get a free weekend pass and listen online. Click here to find out how!
(Updated 04-08-09) |
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| Dave Marsh will host Andrew Vachss for an hour of "Kick Out the Jams," his Sirius satellite radio show, this Sunday, April 5. The show starts at 10:00 am Eastern and runs two hours. Mr. Marsh has asked Zero visitors to help--he's looking for you to send in your questions, along with how you'd like to be identified, and he'll ask three of those questions on the air. Click here to send in your question, then be sure to listen this Sunday! Don't have a subscription to Sirius? You can get a free weekend pass and listen online. Click here to find out how!
(Updated 04-01-09) |
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| From Andrew Vachss' final Burke novel, Another Life, published December 30, 2008: "You can usually turn stupidity into money, but any good 419 man knows it takes more than stupidity alone to sell the heavier schemes. That recipe always needs at least a pinch of greed to make it palatable enough to swallow. Nigeria originated this con: '419' is a section of their criminal code, so they get scam-trademark status, like 'Ponzi scheme.' " And from CNN.com, published March 17, 2009: "Scammers in Nigeria have gained a reputation for using the Internet to con foreign nationals out of money. Some of the scams have earned the name '419' after the clause in the Nigerian criminal code that deals with obtaining property under false pretense."
(Updated 03-25-09) |
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| Castration is again being trumpeted as a means to rehabilitate violent sex offenders. So we're again trumpeting Andrew Vachss' 1992 article from the ABA Journal, as well as his New York Times article from 1993. (Updated 03-18-09) |
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| CNN is reporting on the "debate" over using GPS ankle-bracelets on risky offenders. What debate? Andrew Vachss wrote the truth of the situation in Terminal (p. 23, published 2007): "Some other geniuses are pushing GPS cuffs for the freaks. Won’t stop them from doing what they do, but it’ll save a lot of money on cadaver dogs. It's
just a matter of time." (Updated 03-18-09) |
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| Join us in welcoming Ginger, a malamute/shepherd/wolf mix, to the Back-Up Pack! (Updated 03-18-09) |
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| Raina Kelley at Newsweek made a call to all media this week to Watch Your Language. Read her article by clicking here, and read Andrew Vachss' 2005 article on the subject by clicking here. (Updated 03-11-09) |
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| "I made a commitment when I started writing the series that it wasn't going to be this stupid, plastic private eye crap where somebody stays 35 or 40 years. ... This is a family of choice, which means that their highest commitment is to protect their children, and the only way to do that is to make their children go on to another life. They cannot bring those children into the family business. That's where that decision has to be made and that's where the series ends." Click here [pdf 211 KB] to read the entirety of Ross Thompson's interview with Andrew Vachss, as originally published February 2009 by Scottish entertainment magazine AU. (Updated 03-04-09) |
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| For all you Protect members who visit The Zero ... congratulations on your $50 million victory last week! And for all of you who have not yet joined ... click here to read how the members of America's first political lobby for child protection managed to badger their politicians into finally funding our nation's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force. And then watch the video to hear what Andrew Vachss thinks of Protect.
(Updated 02-25-09) |
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| If you read pages 40 and 41 of Another Life, then you'll also want to read "Outsourcing of Drug Trials Is Faulted," an article from the February 18, 2009, issue of the New York Times. (Updated 02-25-09) |
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| Hillary Clinton says human rights aren't as important as business. Yahoo! (Updated 02-25-09) |
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| "To say that Vachss' writing is 'hard boiled' is a bit like saying that Raymond Chandler once made a wisecrack or that Volkswagen once made small family cars." Click here to read Mike Ripley's entire review of Another Life, as originally published February 2009 by Shots: The Crime and Thriller eZine. (Updated 02-18-09) |
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| Tomorrow is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, author of On the Origin of Species. We're 150 years past the first publication of that ground-breaking book, and what have we learned? Depends on who you ask. (Updated 02-11-09) |
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| A couple of regulars, Patricia Jarnigan and Angie Jenkins, sent a treat for all you Pansy fans. Click here to check it out! (Updated 02-11-09) |
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| The Calgary Herald says, "If an egg were this hardboiled, it would obliterate plate glass." The Free Lance-Star says, "Burke is the most likable criminal you'd ever want to meet." To read these two reviews of Another Life, the 18th and final Burke novel, click here and here. (Updated 02-04-09) |
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| Get shut out of the Family of Choice webcast? We're trying to make good in a small way to the many who were. We have ten copies of Another Life signed by Andrew Vachss that we're raffling off to those who were shut out. We'd like to send one to each of you, but it's just not economically feasible. If you were unable to log in (and, really, if you are not one of those who were violated by this error, please be respectful) click here to go to an entry form. We will not ever use the information for anything other than this make-good. Once done, we'll destroy your information. Again, we extend our deepest apologies. (Updated 01-28-09) |
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| If you've never understood what Family of Choice means, click here to see a picture. (Updated 01-28-09) |
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| Pansy has made a new friend, and brought her to join the pack here at The Zero. Click here to learn about Chilly! (Updated 01-28-09) |
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| One of Pansy's Top Friends and someone special to The Zero needs your vote(s)! Kasey Lansdale needs to remain in the top four, click here to help her do so! Once you're on the page, click on the yellow button "Demand it!" You can vote once a day, as many days as you can stand. (Updated 01-28-09) |
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| Do you use Flash or QuickTime? Because we finally have an archived version of the Family of Choice webcast that so many of you were shut out of. The key is, to access it, you need to read the instructions very carefully and choose based on your system. There are low-bandwidth and high-bandwidth options for both Flash and QuickTime. Click here to view the archive, and if you've read the instructions carefully and you still can't access it, click here to send an email to The Zero's webmaster, and be sure to include which program you're using, which version of that program you're using, on what operating system, with what kind of connection. Enjoy! (Updated 01-21-09) |
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| "Over the course of 18 novels and 24 years, this lawyer, child protection activist, rescuer of dogs and keen social commentator has been shining a torch into the darkest areas of human depravity. And, in Burke, he has created the perfect avenging, fallen angel. And now, it's all come to an end." Click here to read Ian O'Doherty's article about the end of the Burke series, as originally published January 19, 2009, by The [Irish] Independent. (Updated 01-21-09) |
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| If you're one of the many people who attempted to log on to the Family of Choice webcast and was unable to get in, you have our deepest apologies. More people logged in than we ever expected, overcrowding the server. We were able to change servers, but not until almost the second hour. The entire event was recored, and is being parsed out into smaller pieces that will be accessible to all. We'll update everyone once available. (Updated 01-19-09) |
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| If you're one of the people who was able to tune in to the webcast ... click here for a list of links referencing the many points Andrew Vachss made during the event. (Updated 01-15-09) |
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| NOTE TIME CHANGE: Andrew Vachss is interviewed by German journalist Martin Böttcher in a one-hour radio show, which will air at 5:00 p.m. German time on Monday, January 19, on byte.fm. Much of the music referenced in the Burke novels is featured, and Mr. Vachss talks about why the blues is important to him, why he finished the Burke series, and how that affects his primary work fighting predators. If you can make heads or tails of the time difference, click here to go to byte.fm. If the time issue hasn't already chased you off ... don't let the German confuse you: just click the "play" button in the upper left corner of the main page and the sound will start.
(Updated 01-14-09) |
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| Why is there no tour for this book release? What's this webcast all about? Hear Andrew Vachss explain it all, on "Conversations Live!" with C. A. Webb, by clicking here! (Updated 01-07-09) |
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| Another Life, the 18th and final novel in Andrew Vachss' Burke series, went on sale yesterday. That's led numerous people to ask if it's also Mr. Vachss' final book. The answer is, it's not. And for a glimpse into what is coming next, click here to read "Sure Thing," the short, short story Andrew Vachss wrote to help him develop a voice for a character in his next project. "Sure Thing" appears in the January 2009 issue of Esquire. (Updated 12-31-08) |
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| "I, along with the rest of the civilized world, believe that child pornography is a Bad Thing (TM), and those who create or traffic in it are evil people. However, just as one can still support the troops while criticizing the war, I too have an objection to the way we're fighting this war. Actually, to be more accurate, I support the war on child porn, but object to the fact that it's been outsourced to (Updated 12-31-08) |
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| The large-print edition of Another Life is available now! Click here to order a copy of the Thorndike Press publication. (Updated 12-31-08) |
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| "Several years ago, CPS removed children from a home in Brazoria County. The father, a Mr. Gates, went on a crusade to punish CPS and filed a civil suit against CPS because he felt CPS abused its power. Gates lost in trial court, lost on appeal and lost again in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals three months ago. That's where the case went terribly wrong." Click here to find out what went terribly wrong, in a guest dispatch from Justice For Children founder Randy Burton, originally published December 8, 2008, by the Houston Chronicle. (Updated 12-24-08) |
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| Janie Jones, JD and Harley--the Deluxx Pack--join *our* Pack! Click here to view our newest members. (Updated 12-24-08) |
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| Mikey paid his dues--won money for his former owner by running around a track at 45 mph. And when he stopped winning, well ... the owners weren't interested any longer. They discarded him and replaced him. But Maria was quick to pick him up. Click here to read about the newest member of the Pack. (Updated 12-24-08) |
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| "[Andrew] Vachss has surpassed Ian Fleming in the serial department by four novels--there are 14 original Bonds. ... Now it's the eve of his 18th and final Burke novel's release--Another Life. Why end it now?" For the answer to that question, read the entirety of Mark Rahner's profile of Andrew Vachss, as published in the seventh issue of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' crime-fiction comic book, Criminal, on sale now. Click here to see the cover. (Updated 12-17-08) |
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| Looking for the perfect holiday gift for the Andrew Vachss reader in your life? How about a signed, limited-edition Hard Looks print? Or a Mama's Restaurant T-shirt? (Updated 12-17-08) |
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| Longtime Zero stalwart Antoinette Ledzian has a new book--another ideal holiday gift, ideal for anyone who has ever lost a loved one. It's a beautiful book about grieving, fashioned as a children's tale in a comforting manner that will help anyone dealing with loss. And contributions from the sale of the book are being donated to the National Association to Protect Children. Click here to preview or order this beautiful book. (Updated 12-17-08) |
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| On Wednesday, January 14, Andrew Vachss will do his biggest book-release event yet: a three-hour Webcast that will have him answering questions from readers from all over the world. For years, we've received email to The Zero asking when Mr. Vachss will visit Mississippi, Montana, or New Mexico; or when he'll make it to Puerto Rico, Canada, or England. So, to commemorate the close of the Burke series, Mr. Vachss has decided to make this book-release event as democratic as possible by making it accessible worldwide. It's not a reading, and it's not an online chat--it's a live broadcast, and you'll be able to watch and listen to Andrew Vachss answer your questions and everyone else's questions, about anything. It will be hosted by Mark Rahner, pop-culture writer for the Seattle Times, up-and-coming comic-book writer, and the man who has written more about Mr. Vachss in the last ten years than any other journalist. The first hour of the event will begin at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time; the second hour at 8:30 Central; and the third hour at 7:30 Western. Click here to register to attend this free event. Click here to submit a question for the event. And just like a regular book-release event, you can purchase signed copies of the new novel, as well as personalized copies; click here to order a copy for yourself or as a special holiday gift. (Updated 12-10-08) |
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| We're proud to announce that one of our own, Trey Bundy, has just been awarded the Hearst Journalism Award! You can read about that award here, and you can read the piece that earned him the honors by clicking here. In an age when journalism is on a resuscitator, our man Trey is summitting mountains--and he's only just beginning. (Updated 12-10-08) |
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| Edward Kastenmeier has been editing Andrew Vachss' books for almost as long as he's been writing them. Now Mr. Kastenmeier is the Vice President/Executive Editor at Vintage Anchor Books. Click here to watch a video of Mr. Kastenmeier discussing his favorite authors, originally produced for Amazon.com. (Updated 12-10-08) |
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| Before Andrew Vachss writes a novel, he'll often develop the voices of new characters by writing short stories. If you want to read one of those shorts--an extremely short short--to get a taste of what's coming after Another Life, you'll want to pick up the January cover-date issue of Esquire. (Updated 12-03-08) |
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| Jeff Steen has sent in a tribute to his beloved Jake, who passed in 2005. Click here to read about this Lab/Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. (Updated 12-03-08) |
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| Last we heard from Minnie the Pit Bull, she was not quite five months old. That was six years ago. Click here to see how more than half a decade can change a puppy to a dog. (Updated 12-03-08) |
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| SAVE THE DATE! Readers in Defiance, OH; Germantown, TN; Edina, MN; Overland Park, KS; and Holmen, WI, will finally get to attend an Andrew Vachss event and ask a question ... and get a book signed. In fact, readers everywhere will be able to do this. To celebrate the final chapter in the Burke series, Pantheon is hosting a three-hour live Web cast featuring Andrew Vachss. The event will be held Wednesday, January 14, starting at 8:30 PM Eastern time, with the second hour launching at 8:30 PM Central, and the third at 7:30 PM Pacific. It's absolutely free to tune in, and absolutely free to ask a question. In two weeks, we'll have the pre-registration set up; you'll want to come back here to find the link to that pre-registration page. Pre-registrants will be able to send questions in advance, and will get special pricing on a signed or inscribed copy of the book. (And with this worldwide event taking the place of a tour, this is the only source for signed copies of Another Life.) So enjoy your Thanksgiving, and be sure to stop back in two weeks to register! (Updated 11-26-08) |
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| For those who have been asking about the audiobook adaptation to Another Life, the final chapter in the Burke series, here's the scoop: It's been adapted by Christopher Lane, and will be released by Brilliance on December 30--the same day that Pantheon releases the novel. You can listen to a sample by clicking here. (Updated 11-26-08) |
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| What will you wear when you're reading the final chapter in the Burke series? We suggest two options: a revised version of the classic Mama's Restaurant T-shirt (now available in red), or the brand-new Peligro's Automotive. Both shirts are being offered in women's sizes as well as men's, and either can be obtained for just the cost of shipping when you become a member of Protect, America's first political lobby for child protection. All of this is available from the same place that's selling the signed print by Geofrey Darrow and Andrew Vachss. It's a one-stop holiday shop! (Updated 11-19-08) |
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| We're celebrating the signing of the PROTECT Our Children Act with a signing of our own! It's a limited-edition print of Geofrey Darrow's cover to Andrew Vachss' Hard Looks graphic novel, hand-signed by both Mr. Darrow and Mr. Vachss. Measuring 13.75" x 18.5", it's printed on 65# Bright White Sundance Cover Felt Finish stock made from 30% recycled fibers by a Kodak NexPress 2100 digital production color press. The profits from the prints will be donated to Protect, America's first political lobby for child protection--so that they have funds to get them through the next lobbying effort. Click here to get your print! (Updated 11-12-08) |
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| "[A]nybody who has served in combat in any way understands that words are weapons. And I'm in a war. The war hasn't stopped. I've always used the books as a blunt instrument." Click here to read Dan Webster's entire interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published June 19, 2005, by the Spokesman Review, during the release of Two Trains Running. (Updated 11-05-08) |
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| We're two months away from the release of the final chapter in the Burke series, Another Life, so you'd expect we'd have news about the events we have in store to promote the book. But ... hang tight. You can click here to see the catalog page from Pantheon, and we can tell you that there will be audiobook and large-print versions released. And we can tell you that Pansy will be making a special offer to her friends. Come back here in a couple weeks, though, and we should be able to tell you plenty more. (Updated 10-29-08) |
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| Not a week on the books, and the PROTECT Act is already having an impact. Click here to read "ISPs are pressed to become child porn cops," published October 16, 2008, by msnbc.com. (Updated 10-22-08) |
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| PROTECT Our Children Act is law! President Bush signed into law this week the PROTECT Our Children Act, which will direct $60 million toward investigating and prosecuting the hundreds of thousands of individuals identified as trading child pornography over modems, and will require the federal government to establish its own internal division to pursue child pornographers on the Web. It's the latest--and biggest--victory for Protect, America's first political lobby for child protection. If you haven't joined yet, join this successful group now and be part of the force that is changing the way this world treats children! Click here for more information.
(Updated 10-15-08) |
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| Looking for a good horror book to get you in the mood for Halloween? The Horror Writers Association has forty suggestions, listed here alphabetically by author. Be sure to make your way to the end of the list, for authors whose last name starts with "V."
(Updated 10-15-08) |
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| In testimony before the United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science on November 10, 1998, Andrew Vachss warned that "the greatest danger of the Internet to vulnerable children is not the display of kiddie porn ... it is the very real potential for enticement." So The Zero has always promoted such precautions as keeping your identity undisclosed on "social networking" sites like MySpace. But not everyone is vulnerable. Check out the new MySpace page for Pansy by clicking here! (Updated 10-08-08) |
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| PROTECT Our Children Act passes Congress! America's first political lobby for child protection has made incredible strides since its formation in 2002, including closure of the incest-exception laws in California and New York. Yet as incredible as those successes were, this latest victory is greater still. The PROTECT Our Children Act, among other things, will direct $60 million toward investigating and prosecuting the hundreds of thousands of individuals identified as trading child pornography over modems, and will require the federal government to establish its own internal division to pursue child pornographers on the Web. It's passed the House and the Senate, and now is simply waiting for President Bush's signature.... Click here to read the detailed breakdown of the benefits of the PROTECT Our Children Act!
(Updated 10-01-08) |
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| Andrew Vachss wrote, "What we see reveals us. And what we do with what we see distinguishes us." Tasha distinguished herself, and her person continues to do the same. Read Connie's tribute to her beloved German shepherd by clicking here. (Updated 09-24-08) |
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| Zero visitors learned about the new T-shirt from the world of Burke back on August 27--and Publishers Weekly told the rest of the world on September 2. Click here to read that story ... and click here to see the revised Mama's Restaurant T-shirt!
(Updated 09-17-08) |
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| Just unearthed! A 1989 article about Andrew Vachss. Enjoy! (Updated 09-10-08) |
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| In 1995, Thailand was the world center for child-sex tourism. Today, they've refused entry to Gary Glitter, who was convicted of child sexual abuse. A number of things occurred in the intervening years--including the Don't! Buy! Thai! boycott. Before that campaign, Thailand would have been this creature's natural habitat--that much is indisputable fact. Can we prove the campaign caused the change? Not possible. But to regard such things as "coincidence" strains even the meaning of the word "logic." If you punch a wall long enough, either you'll drop trying, or the wall will fall. So pick a wall. (Updated 09-03-08) |
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| With a new Burke novel on the way, the Novel-Tees program has a new shirt on the way, too. This one features the out-of-gas service station where Burke parks his car: Peligro's Automotive. Click here for a sneak preview of the design, which will be offered for sale later in the year, with all proceeds going to Protect.
(Updated 08-27-08) |
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| You ever see that movie The Bad Seed? Most people don't get it. Patty McCormack, who played the little girl, certainly does. (Updated 08-20-08) |
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| A belated tribute to a beloved dog. (Updated 08-20-08) |
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| Frank Caruso, who has long been featured on The Zero, was just featured in Central New Jersey's Courier News. Click here to read their interview with him—and read closely for the announcement of a new project he's doing with Andrew Vachss. (Updated 08-13-08) |
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| German visitors take note: Andrew Vachss' The Getaway Man has just been published in Germany by Rowohlt, under the title Der Fahrer, and is being well-received. Eselsohren says, "[Vachss'] raw style takes us into the world of characters we usually meet only in newspaper clippings ... very authentic," and Radiofeuilleton, a national radio show on Deutschlandradio, names it a Book of the Week, calling it "A masterpiece of crime fiction literature." Listen to the radio show by clicking here, or read the printed review by clicking here.
(Updated 08-06-08) |
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| Miramar Police Sgt. Jeff Armiento says, "[T]here's no doubt in my mind that Aaron Mohanlal is a dangerous person." Yet Mohanlal, convicted in the summer of 2007 of 13 counts, including child abuse, molestation, and lewd battery, and sentenced to 43 years in prison, is a free man. Why? The judge who presided over the trial, Broward County Circuit Judge Marc Gold, granted Mohanlal "a rare bond that allows him to remain free while his case is tried on appeal, a process that could take years." Click here to read the full story--a lesson in knowing who your elected officials are, how they perform, and holding them accountable--as published July 24, 2008, on CNN.com. (Updated 07-30-08) |
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| Since the announcement of Another Life, some Zero regulars have looked up the title on Amazon and seen the listing for the audiobook ... and noticed that, while the novel has a publication date of December 30 of this year, the audiobook is listed as shipping September 1. For the record, no, audio will not have a four-month lead on the print edition. We don't know yet what the true release date is for the audio edition, but we know it will be either at the same time as or after the book--and will let you know once we know. (Updated 07-23-08) |
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| There's been a schedule change! The trade-paperback edition of Mask Market, the 16th Burke novel, will be released by Vintage on August 19, 2008. If you've not already picked it up in the hardcover edition or the mass market edition, here's your chance to read what Publishers Weekly calls "sharp-edged prose and cutting insights into New York's underbelly." Click here for more information. (Updated 07-16-08) |
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| Next time someone tells you that the U.S. ought to boycott the Olympics in China, ask them if they have a Yahoo email address--then send them here. (Updated 07-16-08) |
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| If you've been following the news out of Memphis recently, no doubt police brutality is on your mind. Frequent Zero contributor Dr. Joel Dvoskin—one of America's leading forensic psychologists—has filed this Guest Dispatch on the matter. (Updated 07-09-08) |
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| The ground-breaking work of Dr. Frank Ascione has made the connection between animal abuse, child abuse, and domestic violence. But neither the US government nor the Canadian government have yet caught up with Dr. Ascione. Click here to read how one human received a 25-percent steeper sentence for distributing marijuana than he did for dogfighting, and click here to read the story of another human, this one a Canadian facing a maximum of six months behind bars for killing a dog with a machete. (Updated 07-02-08) |
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| Click here to see the cover of Another Life. (Updated 06-25-08) |
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Another Life is the end of a journey that began with Flood, Andrew Vachss' first novel featuring career criminal Burke and
his Family of Choice. "I didn't set out to write a series. Who but a
terminal narcissist would?" the author says of his 1985 debut. But
twenty-three years--and seventeen Burke novels--later, Andrew Vachss
is finally bringing down the curtain on a series that has been
described as "urban nightmares" by Publishers Weekly, and
"strong, gritty, gut-bucket stuff" by the Chicago Tribune.
Anyone who has felt a part of the family that includes recurring
series characters Max, the Mole, Michelle, the Prof, Terry,
Clarence, and Mama--characters the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
says "are as sharply defined as if they were etched in steel"--will
want to be there for the end of the journey, as best-selling, award-
winning author Andrew Vachss ties up the loose ends, and sends his
Family of Choice off to ... Another Life. (Updated 06-18-08) |
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| If you're interested in mental health issues, child development, or developmental psychopathology, you'll be interested in this. Dr. Frank Ascione, the world's leading authority on the connections between animal abuse, child abuse, and domestic violence, has edited a handbook containing articles on animal abuse and cruelty, written by more than two dozen leaders in the field. To learn more about The International Handbook of Animal Abuse and Cruelty: Theory, Research, and Application, just published last month by Purdue University Press, click here. [pdf/1.5M] To purchase the book, click here. (Updated 06-18-08) | ||
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| He looks like a bag of rope, but he's a pedigree toy poodle with the heart of a terrier. He's Coco, and he's the latest addition to Dogs of the Zero! Click here to read all about him. (Updated 06-18-08) |
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Flower came from inside Immaculata's body; Michelle had
taken Terry's shivering little body into her arms and never let him
go. That happened in the backseat of my car, as I was driving away
from what I'd left of the pus-sack who'd been renting the kid out.
Come from, come to--no difference. They're both ours.
Our blood. How you look at it doesn't matter to us. Citizens
think a trial verdict depends on the evidence; we know all that
counts is who's on the jury. Some of you get to visit our world, but
none of you really see it. Some of you try too hard, stick your nose
in too deep. Then you don't get to leave. (Updated 06-11-08) |
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| With the news that Terminal, the seventeenth Burke novel, is to be released this December as a trade paperback in the series format, we've received questions about plans for Mask Market, the sixteenth novel in the series. Released last year in mass market paperback, some readers were concerned that they'd be unable to obtain the entire Burke series in a single series format. So we're glad to be able to announce that in 2009, Vintage will release a trade-paperback version of Mask Market. Click here to see the cover. (Updated 06-11-08) |
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| Jim Adams checked in to give us the sad news that his beloved Alex-- one of our beloved Back-Up Pack--passed away recently. Click here if you want to read the news; and click here if you want to see the work Jim is doing on behalf of the North Mecklenburg Animal Rescue. (Updated 06-11-08) |
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| At 135 pounds of sculpted muscle, and with a mechanical brain, we (belatedly) welcome to our pack Ina the Rottweiler! (Updated 06-11-08) |
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| In 2006, Andrew Vachss wrote, "Today's children are creatures of the media. What they see in the movies must be 'what other kids do,' and the predatory pedophile skillfully introduces child pornography ... during the 'grooming phase.' This allows him to gradually lower the child's resistance." In 2008, CNN reports that "[Todd B.] Barkau began training the girl in 2000, when she was 12, and forced her to engage in sex acts with him and with other men. According to the indictment, he also had the girl watch pornography on the Internet as a teaching tool." Click here to read Andrew Vachss' 2006 Parade article, and click here to read "Feds: Girl, 12, trained to work as dominatrix," as published May 13, 2008, by CNN.com. (Updated 06-11-08) |
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| "Only thing that's true is what you do." I live that.
That's how I found the one place I rightfully belong. My heart and my
life. Your life doesn't mean any more to me than I ever meant
to any of you. Trespassers should bring their own body bags. (Updated 06-04-08) |
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| "I can no more accept a child pornographer saying he is a victim of censorship than I could a mugger claiming his field of activity was performance art." That's what Andrew Vachss wrote in 1994, in an opinion piece for the London Observer. Now, in 2008, the Supreme Court has seconded that opinion. In the matter of the U.S. v. Williams, the Supreme Court upheld a provision of the 2003 PROTECT Act, which made it a crime to offer child pornography, even when those images advertised turn out not to be actual child pornography. In upholding the law, Justice Scalia wrote, "Offers to engage in illegal transactions are categorically excluded from First Amendment protection." Read the article, "Supreme Court Upholds Child Pornography Law," as published by The New York Times on May 20, 2008, by clicking here. And learn about Protect's crusade in Congress to win funding to combat the proliferation of child pornography by clicking here. (Updated 06-04-08) |
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| Behavior is the truth--always the truth. So while a non-profit may say in their mission that their goal is to help children, you can only measure the veracity of their words by objectively viewing their behavior. There are a number of such organizations that do not even perform proper background checks on their volunteers, thus allowing predatory pedophiles access to vulnerable children. In their May 27, 2008 report, "No One to Turn to," Save the Children documents allegations that members of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the United Nations Volunteers, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, and the United Nations World Food Programme, among others, are sexually abusing children in several war-ravaged and food-poor countries, such as Sudan and Haiti. A 15-year-old Haitian girl said, "My friends and I were walking by the National Palace one evening when we encountered a couple of humanitarian men... . They offered us 100 Haitian gourdes and some chocolate if we would suck them." Read the story, as reported May 27, 2008 by CNN, by clicking here, and read Save the Children's report by clicking here. (Updated 06-04-08) |
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| I don't walk the mean streets, I live below them. I'm not an ex-cop with friends on the force; I'm an ex-con who knows the cops for what they are. I'm not a war hero; I'm a man for hire. (Updated 05-28-08) |
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| You know why we hate you? Not because you don’t know what we know, but because, if you did, you wouldn’t give a damn. So I’m sitting here, waiting to commit extortion, and planning a lot worse. I’m what you’d call a criminal. That’s why I’ll never be you. And I’m proud of it. Time Out calls it "a propulsive, cleanly limned thriller." The Associated Press describes it as "taut and street-wise." It's Andrew Vachss' 17th Burke novel, Terminal, and it will be released in trade paperback by Vintage on December 2, 2008. Click here to read about--and read an excerpt from--the story that prompted author Joe R. Lansdale to declare, "[Andrew Vachss'] books never graphically display abuse, never wallow in it, but they always force us to look at the results of that abuse, how it changes, demoralizes, and destroys the innocent. Long may this man write. Long may he protect children." (Updated 05-28-08) |
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| From the May 15, 2008, The New York Times: "New York City has enacted a tough new policy that allows the authorities to remove newborns from their parents' homes ... if the parents previously had children taken from their custody and their case is still open." That may be a tough new policy for New York City, but it's some twenty years old for Andrew Vachss. Click here to read "The Story of Unborn Baby B.", and then click here to read "Child Welfare Tightens Law on Removal," as published in May 2008 in The New York Times. (Updated 05-28-08) |
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| Humans who could flat-line a polygraph wouldn't get past
the first round with me. All it takes is a few minutes of
conversation, and I know you. Not because I have X-ray eyes. Not
because I have powers. Because, whoever you are, I've met you before. (Updated 05-21-08) |
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| "Members of the loose-knit group, which investigators have nicknamed 'the Spanking Club,' harshly beat children--often their own--with paddles, canes or other devices, and then exchanged videos of those spankings through the mail, officials said. The videos also featured close-ups of genitalia and other pornographic elements." This 2002 article is six years old--but Andrew Vachss' novel Down in the Zero warned of this in 1994. Click here for the whole story. (Updated 05-21-08) |
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| Revenge is like any other religion: There's always a lot more preaching than there is practicing. And most of that preaching is about what not to practice. "Vengeance is mine" translates to: "It's not yours." The karma-peddlers will tell you how doing nothing is doing the right thing, reciting, "What goes around comes around," in that heavy-gravity tone reserved for the kind of ancient wisdom you find in comic books. Every TV "counselor," every self-help expert, every latté-slurping guru ... they all chant some version of the same mantra: "Revenge never solves anything." Their favorite psalm is Forgiveness. And their hymn books are always open to the same page. Get it? When you crawl away, you're not being a punk; you're just letting the cosmos handle your business. Whoever hurt you, they'll get theirs, don't worry. Just have a little faith. Down here, we see it different. We don't count on karma. And you can count on this: hurt one of us, we're all coming for you. (Updated 05-14-08) |
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| In 1995, the Thai government would not enforce its child-protection laws. A grass-roots boycott of the country was put in place, under the banner Don't! Buy! Thai!. And now, in 2008, the Thai government is behaving entirely differently. Click here to read the latest update on Thailand. (Updated 05-14-08) |
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| "With the Burke series, Vachss chronicles a world as harsh as any imagined by Jim Thompson and a character more intelligently brutal than those created by Dashiell Hammet, Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald . . . put together. If Vachss leaves no other legacy behind him, he has secured his niche in the pantheon of noir novelists. But if that happens, you can bet he'll be very damned pissed-off." Click here to read Chuck Thurman's recently discovered interview with Andrew Vachss, originally published April 16, 1998, by Monterey County Weekly. (Updated 05-07-08) |
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| The stereotype of the child rapist trolling online for eight-year-olds has been debunked, and the face of the real online predator has been revealed. Click here to read the "news," published February 19, 2008, by the American Psychological Association; then click here to read Andrew Vachss' testimony before the United States National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, presented November 10, 1998. (Updated 05-04-08) |
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| Seems like everyone's got something to say about the Olympics in China. We said our piece back in 1999: "The next morning was so bright and crisp it made the badlands look pretty through my window. Until you looked close. Like those magazine photos of Tibet. The ones that don't show the Chinese troops." Choice of Evil, p. 140. (Updated 04-25-08) | ||
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| "Andrew Vachss ... wants to raise the stakes for people who look at child pornography online. He wants mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of possessing child porn. He wants the government to negotiate treaties with foreign countries to shut down servers that host child-porn sites. He wants child abuse to be part of the debate in this year's presidential race. What Vachss does not want is to hear arguments like the one made by the attorney for former Pfizer executive Alan Hesketh, who ... said at a bond hearing that his client should be released from prison to get help for a 'sexual disorder.'" Read the whole story, as published April 11, 2008, by The Day, by clicking here. (Updated 04-15-08) | ||
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| If you read Andrew Vachss' Only Child, you read about "noir vérité.” And if you read about that, then you weren't surprised to read this. (Updated 04-10-08) | ||
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| Another presidential election is upon us, and we already know where each of the candidates stands on the issues of healthcare, gun control, taxes, and the war in Iraq. For that matter, we know where a bunch of also-ran candidates who already dropped out of the race stand on those issues. But child protection? Literally dozens of debates into the process, and that issue hasn't been raised in any meaningful way. All we know is that every candidate "loves kids," and believes in "the importance of family"—whatever the hell that means. If you really care about child protection, you have an opportunity to force that issue into the national debate. The only reason the candidates are talking about healthcare, gun control, taxes, and the war in Iraq is because each of those issues is important to a group of lobbyists, and those lobbyists are cornering the candidates and delivering their messages—and making it clear that the candidate's response will deliver votes: either to that candidate, or to his opponent. Well, there's a very real child-protection lobby now—has been, since 2001—and the voice of that lobby gets stronger every year. And it will be loud enough to bring the issue to the national agenda. But the sooner you join—the sooner you add your name and money to that lobby—the sooner we'll achieve that goal. Every day we delay is another day that a child who deserves protection is not receiving it. So click here, join Protect, and count yourself among those who could be counted on. (Updated 04-04-08) | ||
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| He's been called everything from the next Charles Dickens, to the king of slasher porn; an investigative novelist, to a writer with a twisted imagination; a queer lover, to a homophobe. But we're pretty sure this is the first time anyone has referred to him as a "self- help guru." (Updated 03-19-08) | ||
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| German visitors take note: This August, Rowohlt will be publishing a translated edition of Andrew Vachss' The Getaway Man. The 224-page trade paperback has been translated by the incomparable Georg Schmidt, a favorite among German readers. Click here for more information. (Updated 03-06-08) | ||
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| "I would never put 'family' in quotes. My family is the one I chose … and the one that chose me. The only DNA Burke cares about is what might be left at a crime scene. Me, too. In my world, you are what you do. If you ever run across one of my brothers or sisters, you'll understand that. Quickly." Read Tony Black's extensive interview with Andrew Vachss, as published originally in four parts on PulpPusher.com. (Updated 02-08-08) | ||
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| Audio feature! "[Burke's] a thief. He hates people who prey on children. Not because he loves children—because he was preyed on. He wants to get even, that's his revenge. And his revenge and his religion are exactly the same thing. He sees it as an 'us and them' world. He's not really concerned if you're rich or poor, black or white—if you prey on children and you cross his path, it's going to be bad for you." Click here to listen to Ed Goldberg's 26-minute interview of Andrew Vachss, broadcast January 1, 2008, on KBOO radio. (Updated 01-31-08) | ||
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| Audio feature! "We're the only species on the planet that not only tolerates predators of our own kind, but fails to protect our young ... [A]ll the things that you see happening that are being blamed on this, that, or the other all trace to the same tiny little group, which is ... the family—the sacred family that no politician talks about except in very globalized terms. Child abuse is the greatest single danger to every American." Click here to listen to a twelve-and-a-half minute interview with Andrew Vachss, produced by Barnes & Noble as part of their Meet the Writers series for 2007.(Note: link will open a new browser window) (Updated 01-25-08) | ||
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| Shelby was the nemesis of the squirrels that dared venture into her yard, and tolerated the cats with an aloof disdain. She passed away earlier this week, and belatedly joins The Zero Pack. Click here to see her memorial written by Mike Black, her best friend for 10 years. (Updated 01-17-08) | ||
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| When Andrew Vachss coined the term "cyber-chumps" in 1997, he warned that "the real danger [of the Web] is to that vast army of mostly (but not exclusively) young people who affect an oh-so-blasé cynicism but are, in fact, the newest breed of volunteer victim… [who believe] if it's up there, it must be true." And ten years later, a child was killed as a result. Read it here. (Updated 01-17-08) | ||
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| On their Web site, the San Francisco Zoo professes to have designed their zoo "with the underlying belief that interaction and activity lead to conservation action." Their goal is a good one; but their strategy is horrible. An "interaction" with the zoo's tiger left one 17-year-old dead and two others severely mauled last week. There's a better way to achieve that goal—click here to read all about it. (Updated 01-09-08) | ||
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| Yeah, sure, plenty of dogs sun themselves. But in the pool? Check out Svach, a Boxer-and-something mix we're proud to add to the Dogs of the Zero! (Updated 01-09-08) | ||
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| "Dakota was an exceptional dog. He loved what he did, and he was very good at what he did." Those are the words of Clark County [WA] sheriff's Deputy Ed Bylsma, praising the police dog who was shot in the head as he tracked an armed suspect who allegedly threatened to "kill a cop." Learn more about this exceptional German shepherd, who served with distinction, by clicking here. (Updated 12-12-07) | ||
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| The prosecutor's office in Washington state's King County has two employees who are making big headlines for their work with children. Click here to read about the dogs Ellie and Jeeter—then go read about Sheba and about Vachss, two hero dogs who preceded Ellie and Jeeter in this important work. (Updated 12-12-07) | ||
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| "I like the idea of writers actually supporting each other for a change instead of kissing each other's behinds for blurbs or stabbing other people in the back." That's Andrew Vachss, speaking about fellow author Michael A. Black. Click here to read more about the pair in Dan Pearson's article, published October 10, 2007, by the Pioneer Press Group. (Updated 11-29-07) | ||
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| Following on the success of the large-print edition of Mask Market, Thorndike Press will release a large-print edition of Terminal on December 5, 2007. It's a great gift for anyone in your life who loves reading crime fiction, but has limited choices due to limited vision. It's also a great opportunity to help people with visual impairment connect with Andrew Vachss' novels: Ask your local library to order a copy. They're a public institution, and they're supposed to react to public demand. So make your demands heard! (Updated 11-29-07) | ||
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| The ordering window for the Mole's Junkyard T-shirt is closed! T-shirts will ship out December 3, for arrival before December 25. Did you miss out? If you want to ensure you don't miss the next shirt, sign up for the Zero email list by clicking here. (Updated 11-27-07) | ||
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| If you missed Dave Marsh's two-hour show with Andrew Vachss, you missed a tremendous event. But, thanks to the folks at Sirius Satellite Radio, you didn't miss out forever. The interview portion of the show is available for free download on this site. Dave Marsh—the renowned music critic, cofounder of Creem magazine, columnist for Rolling Stone, and author of biographies of Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Bob Dylan, and Elvis Presley—interviewed Andrew Vachss for almost an hour, for broadcast on his Sirius Satellite Radio show, Kick Out the Jams. It's a great interview, and a great introduction to Mr. Marsh's unique radio program. Click here to listen to this tremendous show! (Updated 11-21-07) | ||
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| Michael O'Sullivan, chairman and CEO of the Humane Society of Canada, is an internationally respected figure on the matter of dogfighting. While the Michael Vick case is old news, dogfighting is an ongoing issue. Mr. O'Sullivan was kind enough to allow The Zero to feature his writing on the matter. If you care about dogs, click here to read his call to action. (Updated 10-31-07) | ||
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| Three dogs, one mission: to annihilate chipmunks. Meet Sophie, Maverick, and Ilsa Sabrina, the latest members of the Dogs of the Zero! (Updated 10-24-07) | ||
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| "Reading an Andrew Vachss thriller is like a surprise slap in the face: It stings, the ache lingers, and it definitely wakes you up. The pleasure comes from a renewed clarity when you realize just how polished a writer Vachss has become. His prose has teeth; his dialogue has bite. Together they bury themselves deep inside your brain. ...Whether skittish publishers will allow new voices to be as dark as Vachss's is something that only time will tell. For now, Vachss stands alone as a unique voice in a troubled, battle-scarred landscape." That's what Grant McKenzie wrote in his review of the 16th Burke novel, Mask Market, for the Vancouver Sun. That book has just been released in a $7.99 paperback format, so, if you haven't already been "slapped in the face," now's your chance to do so at a very low price. (Updated 10-17-07) | ||
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| Last night's tour event in New York City was not cancelled! Unfortunately the management at Barnes & Noble had incorrect information and turned away several fans before they could be corrected. For what it's worth, click here to read Barnes & Noble's apology for their "mistake." (Updated 10-12-07) | ||
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| "Those who have read Vachss's previous Burke novels will find [Terminal] a more-than-worthy successor, and for those who haven't yet made the acquaintance of this unrelenting, frightening and compelling character, there's no better time to start." Click here to read Chet Williamson's entire review on Rambles.net—and click here to read more information on Andrew Vachss' latest novel, including tour information and an exclusive excerpt! (Updated 10-10-07) | ||
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| Want to hear David Joe Wirth's dramatic adaptation of the latest Burke novel, Terminal? Here's a way to do it that won't cost you any money: Borrow it from your local public library. If they don't have it in stock, ask them to bring it in—many libraries are happy to do just that. And if your library isn't happy to do that, ask them how they choose the audiobooks they bring in. It should be by public demand—it is a public library, after all, and your taxes pay for it. So find out how many requests they need to get the audiobook in—and then get your friends to request it, as well. If they still won't bring it in … the local library board holds public meetings, at which you can bring up any questions you might have about how they choose what books to stock. (Updated 10-10-07) | ||
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| If you're planning on going to one of Andrew Vachss' tour events, please be aware that the policy still stands: He will only sign his most recent hardcover and audiobook, Terminal, or his most recent paperback, Mask Market. Some may have interpreted otherwise from the Chicago Tribune's listing for the October 12 event. No one should even think about claiming they "drove all the way there" in the expectation of getting their eBay stock signed; it won't happen. Also, the $5-per-book fee that is being charged on books not purchased at the October 12 event is the policy of the store, not Andrew Vachss. (Updated 10-06-07) | ||
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| What kind of dogs live in Zanzibar, Africa? More importantly, what kind of dogs earn the right to protect the family of The Zero's own design guru Olaf Havnes? Click here to find out! (Updated 10-05-07) | ||
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| Bruce DeSilva, of the Associated Press, calls Andrew Vachss' writing in Terminal "as taut and street-wise as ever, drawing his readers again into an evil underworld that is at once impossible to look away from and horrible to behold." Click here to learn more about the latest Burke novel, in stores now! (Updated 10-03-07) | ||
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| Terminal goes on sale today! In his review of Terminal published in Time Out Chicago, Mike Newirth writes, "[Andrew] Vachss portrays the criminal underworld with a grimy, exacting realism matched only by 'convict writers' like Edward Bunker, and the writing is more incisive and less pulpy than earlier efforts. Although the action seems relatively restrained, Burke's verbal fury ensures a propulsive, cleanly limned thriller that illuminates both the darkest excesses of criminality and, in counterpoint, the slack-jawed solipsism of the law abiding. Vachss's literary chops continue to mature, even as his lawyerly rage remains undimmed." Click here to learn more about Terminal, the 17th book in Andrew Vachss' Burke series. (Updated 09-25-07) | ||
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| We've received a ton of emails from readers interested in our opinion of the reality-TV show, "Kid Nation." Our own Dragon Lady has the answer, in her interview with the BBC. Click here to see it for yourself! (Updated 09-21-07) | ||
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| Looking to buy a signed Andrew Vachss book? Well … then you better look real close. Click here for more information. (Updated 09-20-07) | ||
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| "[Leslie Simon is] a professor and Women's Studies chair at City College [of San Francisco] and Project SURVIVE is the peer education program she created to teach students to teach each other about preventing rape and domestic violence. Active since 1993, Project SURVIVE will visit 200 classrooms this year." Click here to read the entire article by musician, child counselor, and PROTECT member Trey Bundy. (Updated 09-20-07) | ||
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| Exclusive! We're proud to be able to bring you an exclusive excerpt from Andrew Vachss' latest Burke novel, Terminal, shipping from Pantheon on September 25, 2007. Click here to be able to tell your friends you got in on the action early! (But if your friend is on The Zero email list, they'll have beaten you to it. Click here to subscribe to the insider list that read this excerpt days ago!) (Updated 09-12-07) | ||
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| Sure, you can see the cover of Terminal all over the internet. Or … the front cover, at least. To see the whole cover (including the new author photo) weeks before it hits stores, click here! (Updated 09-07-07) | ||
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| We've had a lot of people asking what Andrew Vachss thinks of the Michael Vick case. He answered that question long before it was ever asked. And, he answered it again, before Vick was even charged. But, because of the lag time in publishing, you won't get to read it until the next Burke novel, Terminal, is published. You can, however, hear the answer by clicking here and listening to The Zero's exclusive audio excerpt from Terminal, performed by David Wirth and due from Brilliance Audio on September 25, 2007. (Updated 08-22-07) | ||
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| A Milwaukee date has just been added to Andrew Vachss' October book tour. Click here for more information! (Updated 08-22-07) | ||
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| The new Burke novel, Terminal, is hitting stores next month, and that means Andrew Vachss is hitting stores, as well. Click here to see if he's coming to a store near you. (And if you want to be kept abreast of any changes to the schedule, click here and you can sign up for our email updates list. Members of that list will receive a special treat tomorrow!) (Updated 08-15-07) | ||
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| Our friends at Crime Scene Merchandise tell us the Mama's Restaurant T-shirts, autographed by Andrew Vachss are almost sold out. Don't miss out on a chance to own one of these limited-edition, autographed T-shirts that include a one-year PROTECT membership. Click here for complete details and to grab one before they're all gone! (Updated 08-08-07) | ||
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| Some journalists aren't journalists—they write thinly disguised opinions. Click here to read a classic example of the "bend-to-fit" mentality of one such "reporter," as he bends Andrew Vachss' quote to fit his own agenda. (Updated 07-19-07) | ||
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| First look! Vintage will release Mask Market—the 16th Burke novel—in a $7.99, pocket-sized (or mass market) paperback edition next month. Click here for a first look at the complete cover! This is the first pocket-sized Burke paperback since Sacrifice. The smaller size will allow the book to be distributed to far more venues, and allows for the lower, introductory price. But don't worry—a trade paperback-edition in the format of the rest of the series will be released shortly thereafter. (Updated 07-16-07) | ||
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| Did you miss the latest T-shirt from Mama's Restaurant? Well … you may not be out of luck! To ensure orders could be filled, the manufacturer produced over-runs, some of which have been signed by Andrew Vachss and are available now (while supplies last)! For $65 plus shipping, you'll get one of these autographed shirts, plus a one-year membership in Protect, America's first political lobby for child protection. One hundred percent of the purchase price—all $65—goes to Protect to support the group's efforts to change child-protection legislation in the US. Click here to get your signed Mama's shirt! (Updated 07-11-07) | ||
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| Last year, we were proud to announce the release of the first Burke audiobook: David Joe Wirth's adept dramatization of Mask Market. Your response we so positive that Brilliance has contracted Mr. Wirth to adapt the next Burke novel, Terminal, as well, and will make it available on CD and as downloadable MP3s. Enjoy! (Updated 07-05-07) | ||
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| "Dark Horse publisher Mike Richardson recently wrote a column describing a meeting I was party to on March 29, 2000. Mike was a facilitator and I was a witness; the meeting was between Oregonian columnist Steve Duin and Andrew Vachss. That Duin—a journalist by trade—would 'reconstruct' an event … to make him look like a person of great importance who regally consented to 'hear out' Andrew, says everything you need to know about his character. But I have some things to add to further illustrate that character." Click here to read Lou Bank's account of the 2000 meeting, and the events leading up to it. (Updated 06-20-07) | ||
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| On Wednesday, March 29, 2000, a meeting took place between Andrew Vachss and Oregonian columnist Steve Duin. Years later, Duin wrote about that meeting for The Oregonian; you can read Duin's fabrications here. Here's the truth of what occured, as reported by Dark Horse Comics publisher Mike Richardson, who was also at that meeting. There was a fourth person at that meeting, and you'll be able to read that account by coming back here next Wednesday. (Updated 06-13-07) | ||
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| If you've got an older German shepherd, you'll want to read about Tasha, the newest addition to the Zero Pack, to learn about the amazing underwater treadmill that's helping her regain much of her mobility. (Updated 06-07-07) | ||
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| It's a couple weeks past Mother's Day, but it's never too late for a great story about motherhood—or a story about great motherhood. In Another Chance to Get It Right, Andrew Vachss wrote, "We call birth a miracle. What greater word fits adoption?" Click here for a beautiful example of that: Huani, a mixed breed dog who has adopted three newborn tiger cubs who were abandoned by their biological mother. (Updated 06-07-07) | ||
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| The seventeenth Burke novel is less than 20 weeks away! Get a first look at the cover—and a first-read of the story summary—by clicking here. (Updated 05-09-07) | ||
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| If you've already read Mask Market, and are awaiting word on the 17th Burke novel — here it is. Terminal will be released in hardcover this September, from Pantheon. Stay tuned for more details. (Updated 04-19-07) | ||
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| There hasn't been a pocket-sized (or mass market) Burke paperback since Sacrifice. But that will all change this August when Vintage releases Mask Market in a $7.99 edition. The smaller size will allow the book to be distributed to far more venues, and allows for a lower, introductory price. (And don't worry—a trade paperback edition in the format of the rest of the series will be released shortly thereafter.) (Updated 04-12-07) | ||
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| A few years back, Lisa and her family made contact to let us know the pit bull Angel—a puppy playmate for their eight-year-old Bear—had joined their clan. Click here for a sad update, with an uplifting ending. (Updated 04-05-07) | ||
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| W. Scott Fuhrman pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, but contended he was "merely viewing" the images, not creating them, and therefore requested that he should not be subject to the statutory maximum sentence of ten years in prison. In denying Fuhrman's request, Federal Court Judge William C. Lee cited Andrew Vachss' 2006 Parade article, "Let's Fight this Terrible Crime Against Our Children," and noted that, "[b]y his conduct, Fuhrman created and sustained the market for internet child pornography.—[C]hildren, the most vulnerable and innocent members of our society, are victimized. And, even a 'passive' consumer who merely receives or possesses the images directly contributes to this continuing victimization." Judge Lee certainly knew he was citing Andrew Vachss' 2006 article in his response; but he wrote, "Fuhrman admits that he is making steady progress through his counseling and thus, he will have the opportunity to continue down that road by availing himself of the treatment opportunities available to him while incarcerated," he was probably not aware that he was echoing Andrew Vachss' statement, "Let all 'rehabilitative' experiments with predatory pedophiles continue. But let them continue behind bars." (From Parade, Aug. 20, 1989) A trail may not be a search for truth but, sometimes, a sentence finds it. Read all about it here. (Updated 03-28-07) | ||
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| If you've read or watched the news in the last week, you've heard about the tragic death of two auxiliary police officers in New York. One of those officers was Nicholas Pekearo. From those reports, you'd know that he had given his life in a fight to protect the people around him. And you'd know that he was too young and full of humanity to be taken so soon from his family. But what you probably didn't know was that Nicholas Pekearo has been taken from our family, too. Nick was a card-carrying member of the National Association to Protect Children. Those of us who work on The Zero send our deepest sympathies to the family of Nicholas Pekearo. Over the coming days, PROTECT will be sharing what Nick and his legacy mean to our family and to the cause of child protection for which he fought. Click here to send your memories, tributes and suggestions for recognizing Nicholas Pekearo. (Updated 03-21-07) | |
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| Maryland House Judiciary Chairman Joseph Vallario is putting your child—and every child—at greater risk of being raped. In Maryland, possession of child pornography is a misdemeanor, like jaywalking or driving over the speed limit. Because the crime is categorized as a misdemeanor, child sexual predators have no fear of being caught with the contraband; and because they have no fear, the market demand for new images is huge; and because the market demand is huge, child pornographers everywhere have a huge monetary incentive to rape more children, to create more product. Judiciary Chairman Vallario is blocking at least 29 House members who want stronger laws. The only legislation Vallario will allow out of his committee is a weak and watered down bill (H.B. 285) that keeps child pornography a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine. Tell Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch and Majority Leader Kumar Barve to protect children, and that you will hold them responsible when you next vote. Tell them to join 45 other states by making possession of child pornography a felony. And do it now! (Updated 03-21-07) | ||
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| "[A]llegedly cured of his penchant for [homosexual sex, once-Reverend Ted] Haggard and his wife are reportedly headed out of town, because the evangelical Christian community of Colorado Springs can't seem to forgive him. As the Rev. Mike Ware of Westminster, Colorado, put it, 'It's hard to heal in Colorado Springs right now. It's like an open wound. He needs to get somewhere he can get the wound healed.' Apparently, a Christian community isn't a good place to heal. Go figure." Read all of Dr. Joel Dvoskin's guest dispatch by clicking here! (Updated 03-15-07) | ||
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| Looking for the perfect soundtrack for your next independent movie, spoken-word performance, poetry reading, or any artistic project? We suggest you check out the work of The Zero's long-time pal, Anthony Annucci. Head on over to livebodyproductions.com. Tell them we sent you and, if you're for-real about a project, they might even send you a sample CD. (Updated 03-07-07) | ||
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| In May 2006, the Social Science Research Network published a research paper by law professor Ruby Andrew that details the A to Z on the incest loophole. That paper, entitled, "Child Sexual Abuse and the State: Applying Critical Outsider Methodologies to Legislative Policymaking," was recently listed on SSRN's All-Time Top Ten download list for Legislation & Statutory Interpretation. The Zero commends Professor Andrew on her outstanding paper, congratulates SSRN on their wise decision to publish the paper, and encourages anyone interested in child protection to go check it out! (Updated 02-28-07) | ||
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| When New York's infamous incest loophole was finally destroyed last year, after decades of destroying the lives of child victims, it was the cumulative result of a whole lot of people doing a whole lot of work over a whole lot of years, and will change the future for eons to come. Once the battleground was set in New York's legislature, one woman led the charge: our very own Dragon Lady, Kim Talman, web mistress of The Zero. Ms. Talman has just been awarded the first-ever Circle of Trust Award by Protect, America's first political lobby for child protection, as recognition of "the highest individual contribution of a Protect member to the goals and ideals of our organization." Asked how proud he was of Ms. Talman's achievement, Andrew Vachss said, "I don't write well enough to even try that!" Everyone at The Zero feels exactly the same way. (Updated 01-31-07) | ||
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| The movie "Hounddog" premiered Monday night at the Sundance Film Festival, but Hollywood insiders—and the Catholic League—have been talking about it for weeks. The talk centers on a scene in which 12-year-old actor Dakota Fanning is raped. The Catholic League wants the film investigated as possible child pornography. Andrew Vachss calls that "nonsense," and asks some [unanswered] questions of his own. Click here to read the entire story, as published January 22, 2007, in Variety. (Updated 01-24-07) | ||
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| Thanks for making 2006 a great year! You helped close the incest-exception loophole in both California and New York. We look forward to working with you to make 2007 an even better year! (Updated 12-27-06) | ||
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| Do you want to help people with visual impairment connect with Andrew Vachss' Burke novels? Here's your chance. Ask your local library to order the Large Print edition of Mask Market, being released by Thorndike Core in January 2007. Click here for more information! (Updated 12-27-06) | ||
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| Publishers Weekly calls David Joe Wirth's performance of Mask Market "an insightful mixture—tough, unruffled, pensive, dangerous and, considering the character's past hard-boiled appearances, surprisingly tender at times. …Wirth rises to the challenge, softening Burke's hard edges … without turning him into a sentimental sap." Click here for more information about the audiobook! (Updated 12-20-06) | ||
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| Andrew Vachss' books have been described as investigative novels, because they often reveal news before you can read it in your newspaper. Case in point: In Dead and Gone (2001), he wrote about a shoe waiting to drop on people selling merchandise on online sites. Last month, the IRS dropped that shoe. Click here to read the details. (Updated 12-20-06) | ||
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| The O.J. book and interview may have been canceled. But, Mr. Vachss' response to the many that have asked him his opinion of the previously planned publication (and publisher), and of the "interview" remain unchanged. We wonder if any copies of this filth survived, and when some human will offer them for sale. And we remain quite confident that tapes of that "interview" were not all destroyed, too. (Updated 11-21-06) | ||
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| Thanks to all of you Zero visitors who ordered the Mama's Restaurant T-shirts! You helped raise $3,679.36 for Protect with this shirt (which makes more than $10,000 raised from the Novel-T program). (Updated 11-16-06) | ||
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| Back in 1989, Andrew Vachss took a reporter on a tour of New York: through Times Square, the Badlands, Wards Island … all the places Burke might go. Click here to join the tour! (Updated 11-16-06) | ||
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| Congratulations! You helped ensure the safety of children! With votes still being counted in a few key races, the 2007 Congress will include at least 29 House and Senate members who have pledged their support to Protect's War on Child Predators—a national commitment to build the largest law enforcement army ever created to protect children. And in California, PROTECT supported a bipartisan slate of candidates for the California Assembly and won four big victories: two Republicans and two Democrats. Click here to read the full story! (Updated 11-09-06) | ||
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| While on tour for Mask Market in September 2006, Andrew Vachss was interviewed by Peter Bochan for the radio program, "All Mixed Up," broadcast in New York City on WBAI. It's 18 minutes of conversation: the first nine are about music, the last nine are about Mask Market, the latest in the Burke series. Click here to hear! (Updated 10-25-06) | ||
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| Frequent Zero contributor Dr. Joel Dvoskin—one of America's leading forensic psychologists—visited New Orleans recently. He saw heartbreaking squalor, and it had nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina. Click here to read Dr. Dvoskin's account of the experience. (Updated 10-04-06) | ||
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| Two Trains Running—which was named the #1 mystery of 2005 by Amazon.com—is now available in trade paperback. Click here to see the cover! (Updated 10-02-06) | ||
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| "The Karr case did nothing to solve a murder, but it has shown pedophiles where to find a safe harbor for their "hobby.'" Click here to read Lyric Wallwork Winik's interview of Andrew Vachss, as published in the September 24, 2006, issue of Parade. (Updated 09-27-06) | ||
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| "Mask Market is a gypsy cab ride down the streets of New York at their most gritty. Andrew Vachss brings pathos and irony to the table, served up by bad guys who are really the good guys, seeking reparations from the vermin disguised as solid citizens." Click here to read the entirety of JC Patterson's review of the latest Burke novel. Published September 7, 2006, by The Madison County Herald. (Updated 09-27-06) | ||
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| The Mask Market Tour has ended, but autographed copies of the book may still be available at these stores. (Updated 09-20-06) | ||
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| If you've been reading Mask Market and are anxious to hear some of the music Burke's listening to, iTunes is offering the antidote! Click here to be sent to the iTunes page that offers the Mask Market soundtrack. And we find it's best to listen to the Mask Market soundtrack while wearing a Mama's Restaurant T-shirt. Click here to order yours now! (Updated 09-08-06) | ||
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| "Embedded in Mask Market ... is a political book of surprising sophistication. ... Throughout, Burke implicates just about every complicit sector of society, including the media, cops, feds and the well-to-do. That Vachss pulls this off in a pulpy, mass-appeal crime series is perhaps his greatest trick." Read Jonathan Messinger's entire review of Mask Market, as published August 31, 2006, in Time Out Chicago. (Updated 09-06-06) | ||
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| It's another first for Burke! Hot on the heels of the release of the first Burke audiobook, we're proud to announce that Mask Market will be released in a large-print edition. The large-print edition will be published in hardcover by Thorndike Press around February 1, 2007. Check back here for updates! (Updated 09-05-06) | ||
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| "I'm an American, I know what's required for Americans to take action. They need to get angry. The books are vehicles to make people angry." Click here to read the entirety of Peter Pavia's interview with Andrew Vachss, as published August 13, 2006, by the New York Post. (Updated 08-23-06) | ||
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| "Gets cold enough in this town, people die. Some freeze to death waiting for the landlord to get heat back into their building. Some use their ovens for warmth, and wake up in flames. Some don't have buildings to die in." The 16th Burke novel, Mask Market, is in stores now. Click here for more information! (Updated 08-15-06) | ||
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| Attention iPod owners! If you've always wanted to hear a real performance of a Burke novel, this is your chance. David Joe Wirth has performed the entirety of Andrew Vachss' latest Burke novel, Mask Market, as an audiobook, and the publisher, Brilliance, has made it available as an mp3 CD. Purchase the disc here, and get ready to load Burke onto your
iPod! (Updated 08-15-06) | ||
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| PROTECT's 2006 legislative victory in New York state began with a very influential Op-Ed article in the New York Times by Andrew Vachss. So PROTECT asked Mr. Vachss to write an article about the final passage of this landmark reform. To read Mr. Vachss' thoughts and reactions on this victory and what it means for children, click here! (Updated 07-31-06) | ||
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| "City people call winter the Hawk. Not because of the way it swoops down, but because it hunts. Gets cold enough in this town, people die. Some freeze to death waiting for the landlord to get heat back into their building. Some use their ovens for warmth, and wake up in flames. Some don't have buildings to die in." Click here to read an excerpt from Mask Market, the 16th book in Andrew Vachss' Burke series, due in bookstores everywhere this August. (Updated 07-26-06) | ||
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| Congratulations to Geofrey Darrow, who was just awarded the 2006 Eisner Award for Best Writer/Artist of a comics series for his work on The Shaolin Cowboy! Mr. Darrow—like Mr. Vachss—is also on the advisory board for Protect. Click here to see the wonderful endorsement Mr. Darrow developed for inclusion in The Shaolin Cowboy! (Updated 07-26-06) | ||
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| Join us in welcoming Sadee, Missee Mae and Trixee to the Zero's Backup Pack! Click here to read about Lyn Marker's pack of beautiful beasts. (Updated 07-12-06) | ||
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| Last month, The New York Times ran an Op-Ed piece supporting the notion that sex offenders should receive treatment after being released back into the community. Frequent Zero contributor Joel Dvoskin agrees, but not for the flawed reasons published in the Times, and he points out those flaws in "Sex Offender Commitment Laws: A response to LaFond and Winick." Click here to read Dr. Dvoskin's article! (Updated 06-30-06) | ||
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| Kirkus Reviews called it "dark, violent, blood-drenched, page-turning." The Wall Street Journal called it "gripping." If you missed Two Trains Running in hardcover, you'll have your chance to read Andrew Vachss' novel about two weeks in 1959 that changed the course of history when it's released in trade paperback on June 6. (Updated 06-02-06) | ||
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| A month ago we gave you the scoop on the Brilliance Audio release of the first-ever Burke audiobook. Now we're giving you a taste. Click here to listen to an excerpt from Mask Market! (Updated 05-31-06) | ||
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| For years, Andrew Vachss has described the disastrous effects of the infamous "incest loophole"—state laws that allow child rapists who are related to their victims to escape serving serious time in prison. Now law professor Ruby Andrew has written a research paper that gives you the A to Z on the incest loophole. She examines the legal history behind the incest laws and their collision with the developing law on child sexual abuse. The paper details the multiple types of special, preferential treatment that state criminal codes give to child rapists who "grow their own victims." She includes a bill specifically drafted to end the remaining preferential treatment in California, but also offers a blueprint for writing legislation to close incest loopholes in any state. Professor Andrew's paper will be published in the University of California Davis Law Review late in June, but you can download the full article now at the Social Science Research Network (free registration required). (Updated 05-31-06) | ||
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| Not only is the next Burke novel scheduled for release, but also, we have a special treat for fans: the first-ever Burke audiobook! Brilliance Audio will release both an abridged and an unabridged audiobook adaptation of Mask Market, both of which will be performed by Andrew Vachss' hand-picked actor, David Joe Wirth. The Mask Market audiobooks will be released in August, at the same time as the hardcover novel. Check back for more information soon! (Updated 04-26-06) | ||
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| Burke is back—stalking the dark alleys of his past in search of a vanished woman …
and some truths about himself. Andrew Vachss' forthcoming novel, Mask Market, will be released August 2006! Click here to view the cover and read more about the book. (Updated 04-19-06) | ||
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| When pit bulls are banned, we predict a great increase in the number of Taurus Uniquos who are licensed. Confused? Take a look here. (Updated 04-05-06) | ||
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| "Investigative journalism is, in my view, all that protects American democracy, and I believe it to be at risk. I speak to audiences all the time, and when you speak to audiences of young people and you say, 'Name a famous journalist,' you get Jason Blair, you get Stephen Glass. And when you say to them, 'For crying out loud, why do you see these people as famous icons?,' [the answer you get is,] 'Well, they made movies about them, didn't they? I mean, they wrote books, didn't they? They're actual celebrities, aren't they?' If anybody else had so grossly betrayed the credo of their profession, you wouldn't think they'd be lionized. But journalism? Hey.… So blogging, for example, which, because it's unregulated, is supposedly the antidote to 'government-controlled journalism'—and by unregulated, I don't mean the government's not involved but [that] there are no standards for it—this one's fantasy and this one's truth are indistinguishable by the blind consumer at the other end of the computer." Click here to listen to Patty Satalia's entire 30-minute interview with Andrew Vachss, originally broadcast on Take Note, November 20, 2005, on WPSU-FM, the public broadcasting station out of Penn State University. (Updated 03-30-06) | ||
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| Of all the response to Andrew Vachss' recent PARADE article, the overwhelming majority had to do with the public's disbelief that "real-time" child pornography was happening on the Internet. News out of the U.S. Department of Justice on March 15, 2006, corroborates exactly this. Click here to read that news, and an accounting of the warning. (Updated 03-16-06) | ||
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| "A 'people's' encyclopedia sounds like an egalitarian endeavor offering a degree of power to those of us without the access to influence culture and disseminate information." But the reality of Wikipedia is, in fact, ugly. Zak Mucha lays out the facts in "Expert Opinions," a guest dispatch that's an exclusive to The Zero. Click here to read the article. (Updated 03-09-06) | ||
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| Andrew Vachss' dear friend, the infamous Kelly Justice, has a treat for Zero visitors this week: a piece of art she commissioned that redefines the concept of the Dogs of the Zero. Check it out! (Updated 03-02-06) | ||
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| "[I]f we are to wage war [against child pornographers], we must know our enemy. We need to know more about those who create this unspeakable 'product,' why they do it and the various ways it is used ... The question then becomes: What can we do?" Read Andrew Vachss' latest cover feature for PARADE—and get all the information you need to take action now—by clicking here. (Updated 02-26-06) | ||
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| To read past updates, click here. | ||
"The work of Bruce Perry—healer, discoverer, teacher—has been revered by those in the child protective field, from social work to law enforcement, for many years. He has been a laser of justice in the darkness of child maltreatment, a smasher of myths, and, perhaps most important of all, a giver of hope. Bruce Perry's work has not just crossed a new frontier; it has established a unique outpost to which acolytes from all over the world travel to learn how to decode childhood trauma … not from some self-appointed guru with a new "program," but from a man of science, a compassionate genius who can prove how the human brain develops around its experiences, and that "destiny" is a lie. For all of this, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is Bruce Perry's finest achievement, because it gives us all the opportunity to unlock the deepest mystery of our species: Why do some children "turn out" to be heroes, and others to be predatory sociopaths. This book is nothing less than the Rosetta stone of childhood trauma. Although presented in clear, accessible language, this is not one of those ubiquitous "self-help" books. You won't find slogans or stories here; you will find truth. Anyone who wants to understand childhood trauma (and its multi-faceted consequences) must read this book. Any parent, professional, or politician who does not read The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog is volunteering to be ignorant. And, when it comes to our own children, such ignorance could be a fatal mistake." —Andrew Vachss
