article_title name years_active
g. d. baum
 g. d. baum 10 +
g. d. baum

g. d. baum is an american crime novelist whose detective thrillers are set in northern new jersey .
his novels feature detective lock tourmaline who is skilled in a hybrid form of okinawan karate and chinese shaolin kung fu which combines striking , kicking , seizing , and grappling , called shaolin kempo karate .
reviewers describe baum 's novels as having `` carefully choreographed martial arts moves '' and compare his `` clean and breezy '' style to that of dashiell hammett and raymond chandler , eliciting `` colorful characters and regaling tales . ''
dialogue is `` witty '' , `` rapid-fire '' and `` real-life '' .
critics write that baum 's novels evoke a `` tight and intriguing noir '' in a `` gritty , action-filled mystery with a dry , slightly bitter sense of humor and surprising emotional depth . ''
baum 's detective lock tourmaline is `` david carradine meets sam spade meets sin city , '' according to one critic .
baum is a graduate of the sarah lawrence college writing program .
he has also achieved a third degree black belt in shaolin kempo karate .
