FIVE QUESTIONS ... with Joel E. Turner
- Michael Bradley
- Sep 30
- 3 min read
Welcome to FIVE QUESTIONS. In this feature on my blog, you'll learn about new and exciting books from the author's themselves. You'll hear about the book, their characters, the inspiration behind the book, and other insider details. All through five simple questions.
Today, we are hearing from Joel E. Turner about his new novel, WILDWOOD EXIT.
What is your new book about?
In WILDWOOD EXIT, a deadly family vendetta at a Jersey Shore restaurant finds John McGinty (aka Ginty) tailing his boss's lying wife and junkie son into a dark world of embezzlement, drug-dealing and murder.
Ginty has just stepped in as the manager of a Wildwood restaurant owned by his friend, Lou Scolletta, after Lou fires the old manager for dipping in the till.
Ginty starts out ordering rolls of salami and bottles of Galliano, but quickly becomes Lou’s consigliere, picking up questionable packages from sketchy associates; tailing Lou’s wife Concetta on her furtive trips to Cape May; scouring the Jersey Shore for Lou’s son, Davy, a junkie on the lam; and wondering why a possibly bent State Trooper keeps showing up everywhere he goes.
Things in Ginty’s world don’t improve when a drug shipment goes wrong, a blackmail note appears…and a body is found floating in Delaware Bay.
Ginty is now the unwilling—yet trusted—confidante of all the Scollettas, and realizes that everyone in this twisted family circle is in danger—including himself.
What's the most interesting or unusual thing you learned while researching for this book?
Quebecois French is quite different from Continental French. Ginty’s love interest, Pauline, comes from Quebec and it took some work to get her dialogue straight when she threw in occasional French phrases (I hope!).
Another interesting venture was figuring out how to obtain rights for a song lyric. I wanted to use a quote from Fred Neil’s “The Dolphins” as an epigraph. First lesson: you cannot quote lyrics without permission. Second lesson: you need to find out who owns the publishing rights. Third lesson: be prepared to pay!
For any writers facing these questions, the place to start is repertoire.bmi.com.
Which is your favorite minor character and why?
Pinto is an unpredictable, small-time hood who becomes Ginty’s partner in his consigliere work for Lou. He is an experienced hand at low-level, marginally criminal activities and is impulsive and unapologetic about everything. He is a thorn in Ginty’s side but ends up being a guy you would want in your foxhole.
What was the biggest challenge (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing this book to life?
Figuring out financial costs in 1983, especially for drugs (i.e., heroin and marijuana). What were wholesale and retail prices for drugs? How did these costs relate to everyday living costs?
Of all the books out there, why should readers choose this one? (What makes your book stand out from the rest?)
While WILDWOOD EXIT is a crime story, it is also a dysfunctional family saga, a paean to the kitchens of Jersey Shore restaurants where Frialators and clams on the half-shell reign supreme, and a love story between an Irish-American bartender and a French-Canadian paralegal who have never met anyone like each other.
It’s also a buddy tale with said bartender teaming up with a guy from South Philly who has never forgiven his parents for naming him Dominic
The family dynamics, the comedic interplay of the characters, and the evocation of the contrasting Jersey Shore milieus of Wildwood and Cape May, makes it accessible to a broad readership, not just fans of crime fiction.
WILDWOOD EXIT is available now, and can be purchased at the following retailers.
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