As the son of a book publisher, I’ve long regarded the English language as something of an art form. My pops and I like to trade literature back and forth, blathering on endlessly about whatever we’re reading at the moment. David Simon’s Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and George V. Higgins’ The Friends of Eddie Coyle have had the biggest impact on my literary point of view. As a writer, this has manifested itself in my obsession with procedure, bold dialogue, and societal plight.