Of Cigarettes & Copulation

*Of Cigarettes & Copulation*

Author
Todd Dawson-Cooper

Universe
D-242

Country
Canada

Genre(s)
Noir
Erotica

Publisher
N/A

Publication date
TBA

ISBN
N/A

Preceded by
Blank Earth (release order)
Chuck's Big Week (chronologically)

Followed by
Snow In Summer (release order)
One More Night (chronologically)

***Of Cigarettes & Copulation*** is a hardboiled neo-noir erotic thriller and both the second novel in the *Blank Earth* trilogy and *The Placebo Effect* series by Todd Dawson-Cooper.

## Synopsis

Three years after the events of *Blank Earth*, Jacob Delsin has been faced with the death of his wife and once again finds himself withdrawn into a reclusive life of alcoholism and promiscuity. The world blurs away until one cold winter night when Jacob meets an enticing pale and sardonic young girl. After exchanging banter, the two connect for a seemingly meaningless night of sex and he thinks little when she disappears the next morning. Unfortunately, it isn't very long before some severe trouble begins to follow in her wake and interfere with Jacob's otherwise menial existence.

Forced his hand in violence; Jacob finds himself in the center of an all-out street war involving a high stakes conspiracy of political extortion, nepotism, and embezzlement under the thumb of a rich and imposing criminal empire. With a target now on his head, Jacob has sent down an unwitting path of unforgiving vigilantism, fighting alone against the world around him before he ultimately finds assistance from the elusive femme fatale herself; May Lawson.

As the gamble for their lives becomes ever higher, enemies await on every street corner, the duo is soon aided by an unlikely motley crew of others who wish the see the system of corruption collapse; such as retiring police detective Chuck Garland, alcoholic private investigator Lyla Painter, notorious street gang leader Elijah T. Cole and motorcycle club vice-president Travis Renton, who supply Jacob and May with a steady arsenal of weapons as they plan a loud, violent counterattack. But with eyes and ears in almost every corner of the Big Apple's infrastructure, it's truly on left upon Jacob and May to forge an unsteady alliance, keep their heads down and trust no one as they slowly work their way from the shadows to victory, one kill at a time.

## Plot

*Of Cigarettes & Copulation* begins on the early morning of December 18th, 2018, three years after Jacob Delsin left Seattle for a new beginning in New York with Sophia Procter at the end of *Blank Earth*, Jacob Delsin spends another night at Gordon's Bar & Grill, a local biker-owned dive bar in Brooklyn, hustling a high stakes tournament of ten-ball pool against local pimp and loan shark Simon MacGregor. As the final game narrows to a close win for both parties, Jacob wins the game, much to Simon’s dismay. As Jacob takes the money, he gives back half to Simon as a show of good will and retires over to his usual spot at the front bar to resume his night of alcohol consumption by his lonesome, he’s greeted by the usual bartender, Jennifer Antonelli, who congratulates Jacob and boasts his defeat against MacGregor. The two have been casually involved with one another for several months at this point, but Jacob remains indifferent to her flirtation, simply wanting to enjoy his drink in solitude. However, Jacob is disrupted when his eye takes notice of a new face, a solitary young woman sitting alone at a booth removed from the crowd of regulars, and - more importantly - staring right back at him. Jennifer takes notice of this as well, and much to Jacob’s surprise, encourages him to make the first move.

Hesitantly, Jacob drunkenly approaches the strange girl, who reveals herself to be an escort who apparently has some notion of who Jacob is, piquing his interest. The two engage in some sarcastic yet rather vitriolic banter, with the girl insulting Jacob for his disheveled appearance and repulsing demanor, while Jacob assumes the girl to be one of Simon’s call girls and remarks distastefully upon her occupation. The banter crosses a line when she takes notice of Jacob’s wedding ring, and states that if he’s willing to flirt with strange girls at bars that he’s either cheating or still wears it from a divorce. Jacob firmly suggests the two start over from the beginning, and cordially introduces himself, with the girl naming herself as Julia Harrison, bypassing his handshake and stealing his drink, she downs it with ease to both his surprise and chagrin. Jacob peddles back and begins talking her up and flirting, Jacob admits that Julia has managed to catch his interest and offers to buy Julia for a night as she clearly had intended. She agrees, impressed by his shift in conduction. The couple decide to leave the bar and return to Jacob’s apartment a few blocks down.

After a short walk through the cold and snowy streets, they arrive, and Jacob allows her to warm up near the radiator, while the two continue with some small talk and consume a few lines of cocaine. Finally, after much flirtation, Jacob finally presses on her prices and her limits, to which her only request is that he doesn’t go easy on her. Immediately, the two become intimate, with the otherwise accommodating Jacob suddenly and roughly taking charge, much to her surprise and delight. After an intense session, Jacob helps comfort Julia as she reels physically, grabbing a pillow for her head and handing her a smoke and lighting it before the two drift to sleep.

In his slumber, Jacob recalls a memory from years prior. Staring down the sights of a rifle in rural Virginia, Jacob fires at several ranged targets and is complimented on his handling and marksmanship by his to-be brother-in-law Derek Rainford, while the rest of the family stand back at the house for a sunny midsummer barbecue. Derek takes the rifle and takes aim at the few remaining targets, while Jacob observes his fiancé, Sophia, playing with her three-year-old niece Amelia, and questions for the first time in his life: the possibility of having children. Sophia’s mother, Brenda Rainford, calls out to Jacob and Derek, informing them that the food is almost ready, and the two retire from shooting and head back to the house.

Eager to socialize and feast, the family quickly gathers together at a large outdoor table. Present are Sophia’s parents, Brenda and Harper Procter, her elder brothers Derek and Stephen Rainford, sister-in-law Elisa Rainford, their daughter Amelia, aunt Connie Rainford and her uncle Bobby Gibson. The family sits and talks about incidents and work, neighbors, friends, and life-in-general, most of the conversations are vague or technical, with Stephen being a security attorney for the DHS and Derek becoming a well-respected member of the CIA, and many others in the family holding other jobs in the federal government (Harper working in the State Department, and another uncle mentioned as being a Maryland senator). The family particularly, but respectably, becomes interested and conversational towards Jacob, who has been relatively quiet and had much less to say about his work and social life than everybody else. Jacob shies away from the details of his upbringing and youth years, but admits to his personal struggles and a lackluster education. Jacob manages to steer the conversation towards his and Sophia’s meeting and relationship and how she had improved him for the better. While Harper is slightly critical, Brenda and Bobby are quick and easy to step in and defend Jacob, welcoming him in as part of their family now and seeing him as a clean slate to work with. Sophia, likewise, steps in, sensing Jacob’s anxiety and discomfort, and defensively speaks at length about his positive attributes and shares some of their memories. Jacob smiles.

The following morning, Jacob awakens. He looks over to find that Julia has left, and while confused, thinks little of her disappearance until he realizes that the money that he had paid her still remains sitting on the nightstand. Confused, Jacob gets up and quickly takes notice that certain things in his apartment are just slightly out of place. He quickly realizes that all of his belongings have been sifted through, but, strangely enough, nothing has seemingly been stolen. Jacob only then takes notice of the time and quickly redresses in the same clothes from the night prior, and heads out of his apartment. As he leaves, he’s encountered in the hallways by one of his neighbors, Ms. Goldfarb, an elderly woman who reprimands him for the noise he and Julia had made overnight, while she’s not particularly intimidating or aggressive about it, she threatens to call the police should it happen again, and Jacob reassures her that it won’t. Jacob leaves and heads out down the street, and quickly drops into a Seattle's Best, where he grabs two cups of coffee and a sandwich. Jacob makes his way to the nearby Hoyt Street station, where he hands the sandwich to an elderly homeless man, Hank Clemons, who he encounters playing the harmonica and quickly chats with while Jacob waits for the subway, Hank chats about the weather and crosswords, Jacob offers to let Hank stay at his apartment to escape the cold, claiming it wouldn’t be a hassle, but Hank politely refuses, stating that either the system can fix itself or he can fix himself, but that he’d rather die than rely on the kindness of others.

On the train, Jacob is haunted by strange details that make him think about Julia, including a newspaper headline detailing a string of unsolved murders as well as the general feeling of being watched and followed. He gets off in midtown, a block down from Times Square, and approaches a street vendor cart, where he greets his friend, Pablo Fuentes and hands him the second coffee. Pablo scolds Jacob for arriving fifteen minutes before he gets off, but graciously accepts the coffee and jokes about moving to the west coast to escape the winter cold and enjoy the coffee. Jacob nods to having a “busy night” and Pablo applauds his friend for getting laid. Jacob takes notice of another newspaper regarding the string of killings, and decides to read through it while Pablo deals with a few aggravating tourist customers. The article reveals to Jacob how twelve men, all seemingly unassociated aside from their financial status, had been found dead in their apartments and various hotel rooms. The police had collected DNA samples, prints and security camera footage, but while unable to identify the killer -- were able to confirm that the deaths were indeed attributed to the same person, likely using multiple identities and luring the victims from late night bars and street corners.

At night, Jacob returns to Gordon’s to drink away his worries and paranoia, but upon arrival, he finds the bar strangely closed early, doors locked, but the interior lights still on, confused, Jacob sneaks around to the back alley and enters the venue through a small window in the hallway leading to the restrooms, exiting only to find the usual bouncer has been rendered unconscious. Hearing the sound of voices in the back room, Jacob cautiously approaches and finds the bartender, Jen, has been tied to a chair and interrogated by several men. Visibly outnumbered and rusty in his fighting skills, Jacob is anxious and hesitant to intervene, but upon witnessing one of the men assault her, does so anyway and bursts into the room, quickly disarming one of the crooks, taking his gun and using him as both leverage and a protective shield, one of the others responds rashly, shooting but missing Jacob and killing his hostage instead, Jacob fires back, killing the shooter, while a third escapes, alive but injured.

Immediately, Jacob rushes to help Jen, who is reasonably shaken up and traumatized from the experience. Jen begs Jacob not to call 911 and rather to call a number which she has pinned to the wall behind the bar. Jacob follows her instructions and within a few minutes, four patched members of the Hades Legion Motorcycle Club led by Travis Renton arrive to her aid. Helping to take care of Jen and clean up the scene, they examine the bodies, quickly coming to the conclusion that the assailants in question were professionals, and not just random street thugs. One of the bikers initially assumes that they could belong to one of the Five Families, judging by their attire, but their identification efforts are contradicted with every guess and they are ultimately unable to identify who the lackeys belonged to, but acknowledging this attack as the start of a very bloody street war. Jen worryingly informs him that they were looking for Julia and warns him to keep his head low and stay safe, before giving him an address and number to contact if he feels endangered.

Jacob returns to his apartment and begins to gather his money and a few personal belongings into a suitcase, including a picture of his wife and the number given to him by Jen. Jacob then hides the suitcase behind a loose wall panel on the first floor. He leaves the apartment building only to find a black limousine outside, with several armed men who confirm his identity and insistently escort him across the river to Lower Manhattan, where he is taken to a five-star restaurant located on the upper floors of One World Trade Center and meets Michael Sacchitello.

Michael presents immediate hospitality to Jacob, offering him a drink and a high-end steak, Jacob is hesitant but takes up the offer. Sacchitello shows some immediate interest in Jacob, taking notice of the fact that he is absent from nearly every national database prior to 2016, as if he simply didn’t exist, Jacob retorts by saying that some people simply don't want to be found. Jacob is politely probed for information about his limited knowledge of Julia, which he learns is one of many aliases used by May Lawson. Sacchitello attempts to portray himself as a sympathetic victim, a simple good-willed entrepreneur and family man who has lost many of his close friends to May as an unhinged serial killer, but when it’s deduced that Jacob knows nothing, instead attempts to bribe Jacob in exchange for his silence, which immediately rubs him the wrong way. Michael informs him that the goons that attacked Jen were out of line and he is willing to look past their murder. Though longing for a return to the normality and peace of only a few days ago, and acknowledging the power differential between them, Jacob, having nothing to lose, denies the peace offering. Michael with hostility checks again if he’s aware of the possible consequences, Jacob confirms. Michael, respecting his gutsiness and conviction, lets him walk... for now.

At a subway payphone, Jacob makes a call to Pablo, light on the details and in search of a safe place to stay. Pablo and his family are welcoming and warmly hospitable, but Jacob becomes restless and over the next two days begins his own investigation and search for May Lawson. Jacob first reaches out to Simon, who he finds drinking at a different bar, Simon is initially hostile and upon questioning, inquires that if Jacob was so desperate for a fuck he could simply pay a visit to Jennifer instead of harassing him, and implies their fling as being responsible for the bar’s temporary closure. After talking with several of Simon’s sex workers for any clue of May’s identity or location, Jacob is tipped off to a possible match who works at The Looking Glass a secretive membership-only high-end strip club in the Lower East Side run by the East Village Vice Kings, which he accesses with the help of Pablo’s sister Eva, who reveals she had previously worked at the club as a dancer to support herself, much to her brother’s dismay. Eva gives Jacob her old membership card, a discreet gold card, which is designated by a membership number instead of a name, though she warns him that it had been a while since she had used it and it could be expired.

Jacob arrives at the strip club, he passes the card to the doorman who swipes it through a machine, the membership card initially declines, but the doorman rubs the card against his shirt and retries, this time the card is accepted. The doorman laughs, remarking that Jacob should always clean his cards after cutting coke with them and clears him for entry. Upon entering, Jacob immediately heads to the bar and orders a drink, surveying the club for signs of May’s whereabouts, he takes immediate notice of the “staff only” room, and after downing his drink, proceeds to enter, where he is hounded by the staff bouncer, Jacob pays him off to get access backstage. He searches through the staff lineup and set times posted on the wall, but doesn’t see May’s name listed for the main stage or any of the separate VIP rooms. Jacob remembers that she is likely using an alias, and begins searching the VIP rooms one by one, where he finds multiple dancers fellating, edging, rimming, and otherwise “privately performing” for older white men in business suits.

He continues down the hall to the last VIP room which is marked as “unoccupied” and, upon entering, is instructed to “get comfortable” by a familiar voice, after a brief moment, he turns to conveniently find a small thin pale woman in white lingerie step out from behind a nearby curtain, he immediately recognizes her as May in a white wig, having been performing under the stage name “Willow De Luna”. Jacob approaches her, but she immediately recognizes him, and competently attacks him thinking he’s a Sacchitello goon. Jacob is luckily able to redirect most of her attacks and pins her on the couch where he attempts to explain that he came not to harm her but seeking answers. Just then, real Sacchitello mobsters enter the club looking for May, having followed Jacob. The immediate shouting and tension between the unruly goons and the EVVK members alerts the two and sets off a gunfight between the two factions in the main hall, which Jacob and May use as a distraction to escape out the back to May’s van. Once in the clear, May and Jacob confront one another about their intentions.

Jacob offers to help May in her fight and offer protection, but she rejects his help. May instead drives Jacob back to his apartment building only for the duo to find it ablaze, Jacob hastily rushes into the inferno to retrieve the suitcase and ends up saving Ms. Goldfarb and her dog in the process, after witnessing the act of heroism, May reluctantly allows Jacob to stay with her and takes him back to her hideout, an old waterfront warehouse in Hunters Point, Queens.

At the warehouse, Jacob is presented with all of May's findings about Sacchitello in the last year and his connections to several business establishments and organized crime throughout the city.

Scouting for information on Anthony Sacchitello's whereabouts, the two learn that he and his friends frequent the high-end late-night café, Avery Island. Jacob and May arrive to the establishment, and notice one of Anthony's friends, Matthew Roberts, head to the washrooms at the back. Jacob and May each order a coffee with the barista and have a brief and hushed exchange on how to handle Roberts. The duo begin to head to the back of the café in pursuit, but are halted, when Jacob is noticed by one of the café's patrons who calls out to him.

Jacob would remain vague and sheltered on the details of his life since departing Seattle, while keenly listening to Emily recount her newfound life as a fashion mogul and high-end design celebrity. As they part ways, Emily kisses Jacob one last time “for old times sake”, finally recognizing him as *Justin Miller* and wishing him "the best possible Christmas".

Jacob regroups with May and the two share a cigarette, Jacob asks if she managed to get any information out of Roberts, May sighs that the info is both good and bad, she explains that they now know his location: Anthony and his friends are planning to attend an event at a nightclub called Lazarus later that evening, but that the club and it's event won't be easy to get into without pulling some strings.

## Appearances

### Characters

#### Main

* Jacob Delsin
* May Lawson (first appearance)
* Michael Sacchitello (first appearance)

#### Secondary

* Sophia Procter (flashbacks)
* Chuck Garland (first appearance)
* Lyla Painter (first appearance)
* Travis Renton (first appearance)
* Elijah T. Cole (first appearance)
* Pablo Fuentes (first appearance)
* Jennifer Mulgrew (first appearance)
* Anthony Sacchitello (first appearance)
* Quint Schraeder (first appearance)
* Rania 'Morningstar' Al-Khatib (first appearance)
* Kevin 'Gauge' Lesler (first appearance)
* Tony Santoro (first appearance)
* Vincent Akiyama (first appearance)
* Simon MacGregor (first appearance)
* Hank Clemons (first appearance)
* Violet Hewitt (first appearance)

#### Other

* Emily Kaufman
* John Roxton (first appearance)
* Ryan Stansfield (first appearance)
* Lucas 'Belphegor' Mitchell (first appearance)
* Weston Harringfield (first appearance)
* Julien 'J.L' Little (first appearance)
* Keith Tragnetti (first appearance)
* Waylon 'Combo' Carver (first appearance)
* Halford Williams (first appearance)
* Logan Benson (first appearance)
* Eva Fuentes (first appearance)
* Johnny Winston (first appearance)
* Kyle 'Orleans' Greggs (first appearance)
* Shane Cohle (first appearance)
* Émile Hart (first appearance)
* Omar 'Little O' Moreland (first appearance)
* Matthew Roberts (first appearance)
* Idania Fuentes (first appearance)
* Joshua Keene (first appearance)
* Heather Kinley (first appearance)
* Francine Goldfarb (first appearance)
* William Marsalis III (first appearance)
* Robbie Gognitti (first appearance)
* Sammy Fondozzi (first appearance)
* Victor Henderson (first appearance)
* Miguel Fuentes (first appearance)
* Sasha Fuentes (first appearance)
* Carl O'Hara (first appearance)
* Miles Kingston (first appearance)
* Iris Adler (first appearance, cameo)
* Derek Rainford (flashback)
* Amelia Rainford (flashback)
* Brenda Rainford (flashback)
* Stephen Rainford (flashback)
* Elisa Valentine (flashback)
* Harper Procter (flashback)
* Connie Rainford (flashback)
* Bobby Gibson (flashback)
* Samuel Procter (flashback)
* Zachary Richards (flashback)
* Kim Min-Ji (flashback)
* Ami Richards (flashback)
* Dawn Anderson (flashback)
* Ethan Lawson (mentioned)
* Alex Peterson (mentioned)
* Keith Stansfield (mentioned)

### Locations

* New York City, New York
	+ Brooklyn, New York
		- Jacob's Apartment (242 Lafayette Avenue)
		- Gordon's Bar & Grill (348 Franklin Avenue)
		- [Seattle's Best Coffee ()]
	+ Queens, New York
		- May's Warehouse (369 57th Avenue)
	+ Manhattan, New York
		- Stansfield Building (200 Park Avenue)
		- The Looking Glass (167 Orchard Street)
		- East Village Community Center (638 East 6th Street)
		- Painter Investigations (107 Eldridge Street)
		- World Trade Center (285 Fulton Street)
		- Santoro's Italian Bistro (84 Thomas Street)
		- 150 West 55th Street
		- Sophia's Apartment (575 Park Avenue) (flashback only)
	+ The Bronx, New York
* [[
* White Plains, New York
	+ White Plains Facility
* Seattle, Washington (mentioned, flashback only)
	+ [[]] (flashback only)
	+ 138 South Cognac Street (mentioned only)
* Virginia (flashback only)

## Development

Cooper first read *The Crow* in early 2017, after a friend (who was both a former English teacher and former bartender) had read and was impressed by an early draft of *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* (which includes a dedication to her after her passing in 2020) and lent him a copy of the comic due to it's similar noir prose and post-punk inspired aesthetic. Cooper took to reading it, as it had been the favorite of another friend of his who had committed suicide in 2016.

## Influence & Themes

* Irvine Welsh's novels *Porno, Crime,* and *The Blade Artist*. With the latter two being sequels to the 1993 novel *Trainspotting*; which itself was a major influence on *Blank Earth*.
	+ The character of Travis Renton is named after a scene in the *Trainspotting* film where protagonist Mark Renton stands in front of a mural of *Taxi Driver* protagonist Travis Bickle at a nightclub.
	+ Likewise, the character of Simon MacGregor was created as a tribute to the character of Simon 'Sick Boy' Williamson, the deuteragonist from that series, particularly his portrayal in *Porno* and it's loose adaptation *T2: Trainspotting*. He also shares the birthdate of actor Jonny Lee Miller, and the surname of Renton's actor Ewen McGregor.
		- Cooper included the character as a late inclusion in honor of a friend who served as a co-creator for the novel, after she had confided that she was afraid to continue writing a seperate story that he was invested in because she had thought the main antagonist had resembled the Sick Boy character *too much*.
* While the concept of an anarchist hacker assisting Jacob and May existed as far back as the first draft in part due to Stieg Larsson's *Millennium* novels, and the 2011 film adaptation of *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo* by David Fincher, Cooper was notably unsure of the subplot and had given much consideration to scrapping it. It wasn't until after viewing the television series *Mr. Robot* that the concept of the u/d0gs syndicate was not only revived but were given a more substantial role in the story.
	+ u/d0gs, the hacker group featured in the novel, were heavily inspired by several real-life persons and groups, including the Black Panther Party and leader Fred Hampton, Aaron Swartz, Abbie Hoffman, whistleblowers Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, journalist Gary Webb and his book *Dark Alliance*, the internet hacking group Anonymous, WikiLeaks, and famous linguist/political analyst Noam Chomsky and his book Manufacturing Consent. The novel makes several references to Chomsky and allegorically alludes to several real world government programs including COINTELPRO, MKULTRA, PRISM, the PATRIOT act, and the Five Eyes' ECHELON.
* Marvel's *The Punisher*, particularly *The Boys creator Garth Ennis' 2004 MAX imprint run, and the 2011 series by Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto.*
	+ The novel's climax (in which, the main characters surprise attack the Stansfield Building using explosives, and engage in a gunfight against private mercenaries and hitmen with the goal of reaching Michael Sacchitello) was inspired by The Punisher, a beat-em-up arcade game from 1993, where Frank Castle (and optionally, Nick Fury) fight several enemies such as Jigsaw to finally reach Kingpin, who is located at the top of the *King Building* skyscraper, which Castle ultimately destroys by detonating.
	+ Brian Michal Bendis' *Alias* and the first season of it's Marvel Television adaption, *Jessica Jones*.
		- Like Jessica, the character of Lyla Painter is an alcoholic, leather-jacket-wearing private investigator and sexual assault survivor.
	+ The first two seasons of Marvel's *Daredevil* adaptation.
		- Chuck Garland was partially inspired by show's portrayal of reporter Ben Urich, as well as Oscar Clemons, a retiring police detective who appeared as a minor character in the aforementioned *The Punisher* comics before being adapted to the screen for the first season of *Jessica Jones*.
			* Oscar Clemons was portrayed by actor Clarke Peters, who also played Detective Lester Freamon on the television crime drama *The Wire* starring alongside the late Michael K. Williams who inspired the character of Elijah T. Cole.
			* Likewise, the Clemons' character in the comics was based directly on William Sommerset; the secondary protagonist of the 1995 neo-noir thriller *Se7en*.
	+ Matt Fraction's 2012 *Hawkeye* series.
* The 1991 novel *American Psycho* by author Bret Easton Ellis (whose previous novel, *Less Than Zero*, also influenced *Blank Earth*), as well as it's 2000 film adaptation directed by Mary Harron.
	+ Bateman Palace as a nod to *American Psycho's* protagonist: the investment-banker-turned-serial-killer Patrick Bateman.
* The chapter set at *Bateman Palace* is both an homage to Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, Lazarus is loosely based on the real world Snctm and similar private sex clubs which host celebrities, models and the societal elite.
	+ This scene was intentionally included to mirror the attic orgy scene featured in *Blank Earth*, which was itself loosely based on *Shortbus*, an independent film set in a post-9/11 New York.
* James O'Barr's 1989 comic *The Crow* and it's 1994 film adaptation.
* The 1994 Luc Besson film, *Léon: The Professional*. The character Ryan Stansfield and Stansfield Industries are named after Gary Oldman's character from the film: murderous DEA agent Norman Stansfield.
* The 2011 independent short-film *Six* and  *Sherlock* episode *"The Hound of Baskerville"* served as primary inspirations for the Heisenberg Syndrome bioweapon. A subplot which was initially created for 'SuperStition', a scrapped novel by Cooper that would see several of it's plot elements later folded into *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* and *Holmes*.
	+ The plot element of 'M' is a set-up for the character of Jim Moriarty in *Holmes*. This slow build-up resembles the criminal mastermind's introduction in the 2010 television series and the 2009 film series.
		- *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* also marks the introduction of John Roxton, a major character in *The Lost World*. Both of which were created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
* Ian Fleming's 1953 novel *Casino Royale* as well as it's 2006 film adaptation.
* The title of the second chapter: *Last Exit to Brooklyn*, is a dual reference to both the 1964 Hubert Selby Jr. novel (which was a major influence for *Blank Earth*), and the song of the same name by Ben Frost.
	+ A minor character, an elderly woman named Francine Goldfarb appears in this chapter as one of Jacob's neighbors. Her name is a reference to Sara Goldfarb, a major character in Selby's other critically successful novel, 1978's Requiem For A Dream, and popularized by Darren Aronofsky's seminal 2000 film adaptation, where the character is played by acclaimed actress Ellen Burstyn.
		- The character's son, heroin addict Harry Goldfarb (portrayed by Jared Leto in the film) was also one of the primary inspiration's for Delsin's character in *Blank Earth*.
* As with *Blank Earth*, the 1976 film *Taxi Driver* also serves as a major influence, with the character of Jacob Delsin still retaining some similarities to Robert De Niro's character, however, most of the influence in this novel boils down to the similar portrayal of New York City itself.
* John Wick
* Death Wish
* The Equalizer
* Despite some overwhelming similarities, *Max Payne* and *it's sequel* were not initially influences, as the majority of *Of Cigarettes & Copulation's* characters, themes, setting and plot were actually created before Cooper had seen or played either game.
	+ Both are set in New York City during the winter, feature a cynical leather-and-suit-wearing widowed male protagonist (Max Payne) who is accompliced by a femme fatale in red whom he falls in love with (Mona Sax), fighting an Italian crime family (Punchinello), while on the run from a corrupted police force -- with the later involvement and introduction of a shadowy figure (Alfred Woden), larger government conspiracy (Inner Circle), and an anti-personnel chemical weapon (Valkyr), before a final showdown against private mercenaries (Killer Suits) in a Manhattan skyscraper (Aesir Headquarters) owned by a major corporation (Aesir Corporation).
		- The reasons for the number of similarities comes down to each work's influences, both borrow heavily from classic noir cinema, hard-boiled novels and pulp fiction, political thrillers, and Asian crime cinema. It should also be noted that while both seem identical on paper, the way that each of the aforementioned themes and plot developments are introduced, handled and resolved are notably different as to be dissimilar.
	+ Cooper would later acknowledge the similarities between the two by renaming one of the mobsters Jacob fights at the start of the novel after one of the crime bosses in the game series.

## Playlist

Like with *Blank Earth*, Cooper curated a playlist of songs that reflected the novels tone and themes, while several of the songs featured in the playlist would be used as chapter titles. As with the novel's setting, the playlist deviates heavily from Blank Earth's raw compilation of riot grrrl/grunge aesthetic into a colder mix of post-punk and new wave covers, featuring a mixture of blues rock and jazz elements to complement the novel's erotic noir tone.

Several of the songs and artists were chosen due to their association with or usage in other media that inspired *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* (Moby's cover of 'New Dawn Fades' featuring in *Heat* and *The Equalizer*, Health's cover of 'Blue Monday' in *Atomic Blonde*, '[[[wikipedia:You Know My Name|You Know My Name]]' and 'No Time To Die' being *James Bond* themes and 'The Real Folk Blues' being the ending theme of *Cowboy Bebop*), while some additions were made before/without knowledge of any prior association ('Bright Lights' featuring in *Max Payne 3 and* Luke Cage*, Manson's 'The Mephistopheles of Los Angeles' appearance in* The Punisher *or other songs featured in* John Wick *and the* Max Payne *film, New Order's 'True Faith' and Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy The Silence' in* American Psycho*, 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out' being a chapter title in the* Trainspotting *novel, and Health being the main composer of* Max Payne 3*).*

According to Cooper, the artist 'Cigarettes After Sex' was absent from the playlist. While he had been aware of the band since mid-2015, the book's title *Of Cigarettes & Copulation* had actually pre-dated both his knowledge of the band and the novel itself by several years. Several artists including Moby, Soft News, and Thalo are from New York, while Gary Clark and David Bowie mention the locale directly in their songs.