HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Trust me :-) , this is what every single author on the planet is talking about. It is the riveting unanswerable question, the driving burning dilemma, the crazy-making decision that is affecting manuscripts, changing thought processes, and generally making authors go nuts.
I just read Reece Hirsch’s terrific Dark Tomorrow-what a chilling title, right? And it’s a true page-turner. And now, he’s offering us an opportunity to discuss and life-changing question.
And so fascinating--Reece has figured out a truly perfect way to think about it.
This Changes Everything
My new thriller Dark Tomorrow was just published, but I’m already well underway on my next book. And I’m finding it strange writing a mystery/thriller in the time of COVID-19. All sorts of new questions are arising because the pandemic has changed everything.
For example, if I set my new book in the present, how do I not address the elephant in the room – COVID-19? For novels set in the winter or spring of 2020 (and probably the coming year) then the pandemic is an inescapable reality. I’ve made the decision that my new book is going to be set approximately in the present, but in 2019 before I knew what a coronavirus was.
There will be undoubtedly be a spate of pandemic thrillers in the coming months and years, and books that explore the social, cultural and economic fallout from the crisis. But that is not the sort of book that I’m setting out to write at the moment. Actually, I’m finding it a relief to imagine a world where the coronavirus does not exist. If I set the book in 2020, COVID-19 would just end of dominating everything, just as it dominates our news coverage and our day-to-day lives.
The plot conventions of a mystery/thriller just don’t work the same way in this strange time. For example:
The Locked-Room Mystery. Locked room mysteries are clear violations of social distancing guidelines. If you attempted one, the primary mystery would be which character had tested positive for COVID-19 before the doors were locked.
The Shining, Part Deux. A family is isolated for the winter in a remote mountain resort, with plenty of food and more room than they know what to do with. No one is around for miles and miles. No masked Door Dash or Instacart drivers on their doorstep. What’s so scary about that? Scary is living in a one-bedroom apartment in the middle of the city.
The Romantic Interest. How do two people fall in love during a pandemic? Very carefully. But there are new ways for a couple to meet cute while vying for the last package of antibacterial wipes in the grocery store. Or maybe they meet when they dial in to the wrong Zoom meeting.
But some tried and true devices still work. You’re alone in the house. The phone rings and it’s a heavy-breathing call from a killer. Then you realize -- the call is coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE! And you don’t know which rooms he’s been in! You may have to disinfect the entire house! And why do you still have a landline?
Of course, with every obstacle, there are also new opportunities. The pandemic creates new possibilities for the heist thriller. A crew of mask-wearing bank robbers wouldn’t attract any attention on the street these days. They would draw scrutiny (and criticism) only if they took the masks off.
The last major crisis faced by our nation was the 2008 housing crisis and the ensuing recession.
While it was devastating and impacted millions of Americans, it didn’t produce very many memorable works of art. There was 99 Homes, the Andrew Garfield/Michael Shannon movie about a home eviction business in Florida. And there was Too Big to Fail, but that was a docudrama. Probably the best film to come out of the Great Recession was Hell or High Water, which turned that time’s economic desperation into a modern-day bank robber story.
Somehow, I suspect that COVID-19 is going to be different. The event is just too massive and its impact too visceral. I’m sure there are plenty of writers out there right now concocting compelling pandemic stories, but I don’t think I’ll be one of them.
I’m setting my next book in a very particular, remote location that I’ve never visited. I had planned to take a research trip to the place, but now I don’t know if that’s going to be possible. I have no idea when I’ll be able to get on a plane again. Fortunately, there’s always Google Earth.
And what about COVID-19’s impact on readers? Are you finding relief in getting lost in novels? Or is the stress of this difficult time making it difficult to concentrate?
Whether you’re a writer or a reader, leave me a comment if you’d like to share how COVID-19 has changed the landscape for you. One thing that has not changed is that the mystery/thriller community remains a wonderfully supportive bunch.
HANK: I’ll admit it. It’s—distracting. I just heard the amazing Scott Turow say the same thing—that it’s as if some scratchy skippy record was incessantly in the background of everything...impossible to ignore and relentlessly distracting.
I am doing my best, and persevering. As Jonathan says—It’s your job. And there you have it. Reality.
How about you, reds and readers? What do you want to read or write?
Reece Hirsch is the author of six thrillers that draw upon his background as a privacy attorney. His first book, The Insider, was a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. Dark Tomorrow, the second book in a series featuring FBI cybercrime investigator Lisa Tanchik, was published by Thomas & Mercer on May 12.
His three prior books, The Adversary, Intrusion, and Surveillance, all feature former Department of Justice cybercrime prosecutor Chris Bruen. Reece is a partner in the San Francisco office of an international law firm and co-chair of its privacy and cybersecurity practice. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation (www.VADFoundation.org). He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and an ewok-like Brussels Griffon. His website is www.reecehirsch.com.
Dark Tomorrow
FBI special agent and cybercrime specialist Lisa Tanchik faces a deadly threat in this white-knuckle thriller.
FBI special agent Lisa Tanchik is skilled at handling cyber threats, having recently taken down a Dark Web black market worth billions. But ruthless hacker NatalyaX always seems to be a step ahead.
The government calls on Tanchik’s expertise when an email attachment causes a fatal seizure at US Cyber Command. But before she can get her feet under her, the entire East Coast goes dark. A sinister plan is unfolding before her eyes—and no one knows who’s behind it.
Tanchik plunges into chaos to hunt down the true source of the attacks. Close dealings with shadowy figures both online and off expose her to extraordinary danger as the country teeters on the brink of catastrophe.
A soldier on the front line of a cyberwar, Tanchik must nullify the threat before it deals a death blow to America’s institutions—and puts millions of lives in jeopardy.
Reece is donating double his royalties for Dark Tomorrow during May to Feeding America’s COVID-19 Response Fund, which is helping to ensure food banks can feed those in need, including children who rely on school meals to eat.
Praise for Dark Tomorrow:
“Taut, terrifying and intensely realistic – with an unstoppable race to the breathtaking finish. A compelling inside look into a world of cyberwar most of us can barely imagine – and the talented Reece Hirsch reveals harsh truths about the dark web that should haunt us all.” -- (JRW’s own) Hank Phillippi Ryan, nationally best-selling author of The Murder List
“At the start of Hirsch’s nail-biting sequel to 2019’s Black Nowhere, FBI special agent Lisa Tanchik is called to a murder scene in Columbia, Md., that has the m.o. of NatalyaX, the hacker she has been tracking for a year. The action builds to a surprising twist ending. Chronically depressed and continually hung over, Lisa is a flawed heroine readers are sure to root for. Hopefully, she’ll be back soon.” —Publishers Weekly
