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Beautiful Books: The “Hammerhead” Jed series, a tetralogy of covers explained
A.J. Devlin, author of the award-winning “Hammerhead” Jed pro-wrestler PI mystery-comedy novels gives us a peek into the making of the covers in the series. Designed by Michel Vrana, the striking covers evoke the fun, quirky elements of the novels and create an artful, cohesive package. Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at the process.
COBRA CLUTCH — “HAMMERHEAD” JED #1
“A professional wrestling private investigator?”
“Yes.”
“And when not sleuthing or in the squared circle, he drinks banana milkshakes?”
“Guzzles them.”
“Any input for the cover?”
“Banana yellow. And maybe a snake and some wrestling stuff?”
That’s pretty much how the first conversation with the general manager at NeWest Press went when we first discussed the cover for Cobra Clutch aka “Hammerhead” Jed #1. And I have to say—I feel like of all the covers—THIS is the one that helped to DEFINE the series.
Yes, the yellow represents bananas…but it also signifies the colourful world of pro-wrestling. And perhaps even Jed Ounstead’s inner child (as it is revealed later in the books that banana shakes have great sentimental meaning to him).
Ensuring that the cover was bright and atypical was vital to a debut crime novel introducing a grappling gumshoe because like the matches he wrestles, the cases he works, and kind of trouble he gets in, it was important to get across that when it comes to “Hammerhead” Jed, there is always going to be a lot of panache.
ROLLING THUNDER — “HAMMERHEAD” JED #2
This is where it starts to get fun.
When writing Cobra Clutch I knew humour had to be intrinsic to the series to do justice to the world of sports entertainment. But it wasn’t until I finished writing the end of the manuscript that I realized how essential comedy would need to be for the series moving forward.
Rolling Thunder was not only a chance to do some world-building, but it was also an exciting opportunity to double down on the funny (or at least attempt to). This mindset is what led to the spike of quirkiness in the narrative for the sequel, including a subplot that involves the real-life high-stakes world of wiener dog racing.
The cover process for this came about swiftly and easily—like they all do when the brilliant Michel Vrana designs all of your book art. However, for Rolling Thunder, one important note regarding the cover came from a roller derby pal of mine.
Like I do for all my books, I heavily research the offbeat sport or unique subculture against which I juxtapose “Hammerhead” Jed in the novels.
And for Rolling Thunder it was no different, which is why when a former star for the Terminal City Roller Girls suggested that perhaps one of the derby player silhouettes be more full-figured to better represent the sport, NeWest Press, Michel, and myself jumped all over the opportunity to improve the cover.
And improve it did—the cover for Rolling Thunder could very easily be my favourite of the four…
FIVE MOVES OF DOOM — “HAMMERHEAD” JED #3
…then again how can you possibly EVER count out a book cover that features a blood orange skull, the word “DOOM,” and a man delivering a mid-air Superman punch?
The way this cover came about is a bit fuzzier for me, mostly due to the pandemic stress, I think. But it didn’t take us long to zero in on the grittier elements that we collectively wanted to highlight for this threequel.
Perhaps the more sombre tone of the Covid landscape was reflected in the cover for Five Moves of Doom, which in turn was reflected the manuscript…or was it vice versa? Or Vice versa vice? Versa Vice versa vice versa?
I reckon y’all get my drift.
BRONCO BUSTER — “HAMMERHEAD” JED #4
“A horse?”
“Yep.”
“Anything else?”
“Nope.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Maybe like have it bucking.”
“Excuse me?”
“The horse. Have it bucking with a rider on its back.”
“Oh. You mean like a bronco.”
“Yeah!!! – uh, I mean…yeah.”
I’ll end it there but needless to say once I got myself caught up in that conversation, my very patient GM, as well as the entire crack staff at NeWest Press, were all in agreement that there weren’t really any other visual contenders when imagining what the fourth “Hammerhead” Jed mystery-comedy novel would look like.
And with our in-house production coordinator an authentic cowgirl herself, and since NeWest Press is based in Edmonton, Alberta, the question you should be asking yourself isn’t “Why is there a bronco on the cover of Bronco Buster?”
The question you should be asking yourself is “Why did it take this author four books to finally dress up like a cowboy?”
Thank you to the incredible Michel Vrana and my terrific team at NeWest Press as well as All Lit Up for this fun opportunity to discuss the “Hammerhead” Jed covers!
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A.J. Devlin grew up in Greater Vancouver before moving to Southern California where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from Chapman University and a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from The American Film Institute. After working as a screenwriter in Hollywood, he moved back home to Port Moody, BC, where he now lives with his family.
