Former FBI Director James Comey has deal for two crime novels

NEW YORK — Former FBI Director James B. Comey is on a career path both new and familiar — crime fiction.

Comey has a deal to write two novels for The Mysterious Press, an imprint of Penzler Publishers. The first is called “Central Park West,” and it features an assistant U.S. Attorney looking into ties between the Mafia and the murder of a local politician. The book is scheduled for next spring.

“I’m excited to take readers inside fascinating worlds I’ve come to know from my time in government and the private sector,” Comey, who served an assistant U.S. Attorney from 1996-2001, said in a statement. “These stories are fiction, but, inspired by real work I’ve done, they will offer a rarely-seen view of interesting people and institutions.”

Comey is best known for his brief time as FBI director, from 2013-2017, that ended when he was fired by President Donald Trump amid the bureau’s probe into allegations of ties between Russian officials and Trump’s presidential campaign. Comey wrote about his career in the best-selling memoir “A Higher Loyalty.”