A Visit from Nick Petrie

INGRID THOFT

Last year I had the immense pleasure of sharing a couple of tour dates with the wonderful Nick Petrie.  The author of the Peter Ash series, heir apparent to Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, Nick is a terrific writer and friend.  One of the highlights of the Toronto Bouchercon was wandering the streets on an epic 3-hour walk with Nick, during which we discussed life, literature, and the mystifying number of vegan bakeries we passed.  

Nick's newest book in the Peter Ash Series, "Light It Up" will be out on January 16, and it's fantastic.  Nick was kind enough to chat with me recently, and he'll be here today to answer your questions.

INGRID THOFT:  “Light It Up” focuses on the legal cannabis industry in Colorado and the birth of a related security industry.  I was particularly interested in learning about the intersection of those security firms and veterans, a fact that dovetails perfectly with Peter Ash’s background.  Can you tell readers a little bit about that?  

NICK PETRIE:  I first learned about this in a series of article on the subject in the New York Times.  Because of federal banking rules, the recreational cannabis industry, now legal in six states, has little to no access to the banks.  They can’t write checks or accept credit cards.  They pay their suppliers, their employees – even their taxes – in cash. And their product is lightweight, portable, and very valuable.  

At the same time, small security companies are springing up, many owned and staffed by veterans, to help protect cannabis entrepreneurs from those challenges. I’ve talked to many veterans who really miss the sense of mission and camaradarie they had in the military, and this work checks a lot of those boxes – plus it provides badly needed jobs for veterans.  

From a crime writer’s point of view, this setup was irresistible.  Guns, drugs, and money – what could possibly go wrong?


IPT:  Is there a type of scene you particularly enjoy writing?  Action?  Dialogue?  Description of settings? 

Nick braving the Milwaukee cold

NP:  I love all of those kinds of scenes, but I think my favorite is the moment of gathering tension before the characters do something big and emotional.  That might be an act of violence, a personal confrontation, or a move toward some kind of discovery or revelation.  I really enjoy that moment when the emotion and tension are building, but still held in check.  For some reason, I often set these scenes in the dark, or in a car – or in a darkened car – where the characters are with each other, but not necessarily looking at each other.  Waiting.

Funny, I never seem to write these scenes on purpose – they just develop naturally.  At first I think I’m just killing time, but eventually I realize that something else is happening.  These scenes tend to use all the tools you mentioned above – setting and description, along with dialogue, to create that mood, which usually leads to action.  

IPT:  I loved seeing the names Jon Jordan and Ruth Jordan appear as character names.  Am I right in assuming this is in honor of our Crimespree friends?  How did that come about?

NP:  This is absolutely in honor of Jon and Ruth, the founders, editors, and publishers of "Crimespree Magazine," founders and head potentates of the Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee crime fiction conference, and multiple past co-chairs of Bouchercon.  One of the pleasures of being a writer is that you can toss in these little Easter eggs for people you love and admire.

  
I have the great luck of living in Milwaukee, just a few miles from Jon and Ruth.  Before my first book came out, they took me under their wing and gave me the best introduction to the crime fiction community anyone could ask for.  Unfortunately, as so often happens in crime fiction, Jon (the character, not the human) had to die.  But that was part of the fun.  I’m so glad and proud to be part of their community.

IPT:  What’s next for you and Peter Ash?

NP:  I’ve finished a good working draft of Peter #4, which is set in Memphis, and I’ll be diving into edits while on tour in mid-January.  Tour events are on my website, www.nickpetrie.com, and also on my Facebook page.  

Ingrid and Nick 

I’m also thinking quite a bit about Peter #5, which will be set in Iceland.  I already have a fair amount of early thinking done on it – which is very unusual for me – so I’m really looking forward to seeing that book unfold.  2018 is already getting quite full – I’ve been invited to the Tucson Festival of Books in March, I’ll be at Thrillerfest in New York in July, and of course Bouchercon in Florida in September.  Plus my son and I plan to go back to Iceland this summer, to circumnavigate the island in the name of literary research – we have a great time bumming around together.  Then there’s that book to write….

IPT:  Those pesky books!  Always needing to be written!

Not only will Nick be here to answer your questions today, but he's also giving away a copy of "Light It Up."  Just comment to enter!

Light It Up - click here to read an excerpt

In this action-packed thriller starring war veteran Peter Ash, a well-planned and flawlessly executed hijacking reveals the hidden dangers of Colorado's mellowest business, but Ash may find there’s more to this crime than meets the eye. 

Combat veteran Peter Ash leaves a simple life rebuilding hiking trails in Oregon to help his good friend Henry Nygaard, whose daughter runs a Denver security company that protects cash-rich cannabis entrepreneurs from modern-day highwaymen. Henry’s son-in-law and the company’s operations manager were carrying a large sum of client money when their vehicle vanished without a trace, leaving Henry’s daughter and her company vulnerable.

When Peter is riding shotgun on another cash run, the cargo he’s guarding comes under attack and he narrowly escapes with his life. As the assaults escalate, Peter has to wonder: for criminals this sophisticated, is it really just about the cash?

After finding himself on the defensive for too long, Peter marshals his resources and begins to dig for the truth in a scheme that is bigger—and far more lucrative—than he’d ever anticipated. With so much on the line, his enemy will not give up quietly...and now he has Peter directly in his sights.

Nick Petrie received his MFA in fiction from the University of Washington and won a Hopwood Award for short fiction while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. His story “At the Laundromat” won the 2006 Short Story Contest in The Seattle Review, a national literary journal. His first novel, The Drifter, won the 2016 Thriller Award and the 2016 Barry Award for Best First Novel, and was nominated for 2016 Edgar and Anthony Awards for Best First Novel, as well as the 2016 Hammett Prize for Best Novel. He was named one of Apple’s 10 Writers to Read in 2017, and won the 2016 Literary Award from the Wisconsin Library Association.  His books in the Peter Ash series are The Drifter, Burning Bright and Light It Up. A husband and father, he has worked as a carpenter, remodeling contractor, and building inspector. He lives in Milwaukee.

My Tour Buddy, Nick Petrie

INGRID THOFT

I had lots of fun on my "Duplicity" tour in January, largely because of my tour buddy, Nick Petrie.  Some of you may be familiar with Nick from his debut novel "The Drifter," which is nominated for the Edgar and Barry Awards for Best First Novel and the Hammett Prize for Best Novel.  The second book in the series, "Burning Bright" was released in January, hence the shared tour dates.  Nick's main character, Peter Ash, has been likened to Jack Reacher, by Lee Child himself!  His books are critically acclaimed, thought-provoking thrillers, and I have nothing but acclaim for Nick as a travel companion and friend.  He was recently in Seattle, and we caught up,

INGRID: Tell me about your main character, Peter Ash?  What inspired you to write a character who is a veteran?

NICK: Peter Ash is a highly-trained Marine Corps veteran who signed up to help his country and make a difference.  After eight years of war, he returned home with an unwanted souvenir, what he calls the White Static – an intense claustrophobia caused by post-traumatic stress that makes it hard for him to be indoors for more than a few minutes.  Like many veterans I’ve met, Peter has a deep need to be useful and a profound sense of right and wrong, which combine into a powerful drive to help others out of trouble.

I’m not a veteran myself, and for many years I didn’t think I knew many people who’d served in the military.  But in my day job as a home inspector – I’m that guy you hire to tell you (hopefully) everything wrong with your dream house – I realized during the early stages of the Great Recession that many of my inspection clients were veterans just coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan.  I’m a pretty curious guy, and I found myself having some truly fascinating conversations with my clients.  They really opened my eyes to the challenges our veterans face coming home from war.  I didn’t know I was researching a novel, but as it turned out, I’d already started writing “The Drifter” somewhere in the back of my mind.  Funny how that works.

Anyway, Peter is a lot of fun to write – he gets himself into some fairly crazy situations – and he’s a great excuse to keep learning more about the evolving lives of veterans and anything else that my oddball brain finds interesting.

INGRID: “The Drifter” takes place in Milwaukee, and “Burning Bright” is set on the West Coast, including some heart stopping scenes in a forest of giant redwoods.  Why did you change locations, and can you tell us where the third book is set? 

I love writing about place – I think of the setting of a novel almost as another character – and certain stories lend themselves to certain settings.  Milwaukee, a rust-belt city suffering hard in the Great Recession, was the perfect place for "The Drifter."  With "Burning Bright," I wanted to write about technology, and the west coast was the logical setting for that.  I also lived in Seattle for ten years, have travelled all over the west, and wanted to write about some of the places I truly love.

Another answer, to be completely honest, is that I’m deeply afraid of getting bored, and changing settings feels like a great way to keep a series fresh and evolving.  I can change the subject matter and the scale of the story easily just by dropping Peter in a new town with new characters.  Plus each new setting suggests a new plot – so the truest answer, I suppose, is that I’m kinda lazy.

My third Peter Ash book is called “Light It Up” and is set in Colorado.  Peter gets involved in the new cannabis industry – drugs, guns, and big money.  It was big fun to write, plus it gave me a great reason to go explore Denver and Boulder and spend a few days backpacking in the Rockies.  

INGRID: That's the first I've heard of the title!  Very apropos!  So what do readers think about Peter?  What kind of feedback do you get from them?

NICK: I was really nervous, writing about a veteran when I’m not a veteran myself.  This is a subject I’ve grown to care deeply about, and it was important to me to get things right.  Since “The Drifter” came out, I’ve had many conversations, both in-person and online, with veterans and their family members, telling me how much they appreciate the care I took with the emotional details.  One of my favorite conversations was at a library event.  Two sisters, whose husbands both served in Vietnam, told me the book helped them understand their husbands better.  Honestly, I can’t think of a higher compliment. 

INGRID: What has surprised you most about becoming a published author? 

Frankly, I was surprised I’d ever become a published author to begin with!  I’d written three books I couldn’t get published, and I’d given up on ever publishing anything.  I wrote “The Drifter” just for myself, writing the book I most wanted to read.  To discover not only that a major publisher wanted the book, but that so many people would actually read it and enjoy it and tell their friends about it?  Pretty much blows my mind on a daily basis.   

Another great surprise is how welcoming the crime fiction community has been.  Who’d have thought that people who write about death and dismemberment would be so nice?  (I’m from Wisconsin, so I’m required to be nice.  Otherwise the authorities make you move to Illinois.) 

INGRID: It is an amazingly supportive community.  Is there a wannabe book lurking in the back of your brain, something you would write if you didn’t have to consider agents, editors, and fans?  A romance?  Sci-fi?

Oh, I have a few ticklers in the dark recesses of my demented brain.  I’d like to write about Milwaukee again – it’s a fascinating place, with a lot of layers.  The book would be something gritty and weird and maybe internet-y.  I’d like to try my hand at writing for young adults – maybe Peter Ash’s teenage years?  I’m so impressed by good YA writers.  Those books have to be extremely tight, and I think it must be really difficult to make them look so damn easy.  But those two ideas actually seem fairly reasonable.  The true leap would be some science fiction space opera – I’m a sci-fi geek from waaaay back, so that would be loads of fun.  If I could pull it off. 

If you haven't read "The Drifter" or "Burning Bright," you're missing out on a terrific series.  Nick will be here today to answer your questions, and he's giving away a signed copy of "Burning Bright."  Be sure to include your email in your comment!

BURNING BRIGHT

In the new novel featuring war veteran Peter Ash, “an action hero of the likes of Jack Reacher or Jason Bourne” (Lincoln Journal-Star), Ash has a woman’s life in his hands—and her mystery is stranger than he could ever imagine.

War veteran Peter Ash sought peace and quiet among the towering redwoods of northern California, but the trip isn’t quite the balm he’d hoped for. The dense forest and close fog cause his claustrophobia to buzz and spark, and then he stumbles upon a grizzly, long thought to have vanished from this part of the country. In a fight of man against bear, Peter doesn’t favor his odds, so he makes a strategic retreat up a nearby sapling.

There, he finds something strange: a climbing rope, affixed to a distant branch above. It leads to another, and another, up through the giant tree canopy, and ending at a hanging platform. On the platform is a woman on the run. From below them come the sounds of men and gunshots.

Just days ago, investigative journalist June Cassidy escaped a kidnapping by the men who are still on her trail. She suspects they’re after something belonging to her mother, a prominent software designer who recently died in an accident. June needs time to figure out what’s going on, and help from someone with Peter’s particular set of skills.

Only one step ahead of their pursuers, Peter and June must race to unravel this peculiar mystery. What they find leads them to an eccentric recluse, a shadowy pseudo-military organization, and an extraordinary tool that may change the modern world forever.

 

Nick Petrie received his MFA in fiction from the University of Washington and won a Hopwood Award for short fiction while an undergraduate at the University of Michigan.  His story “At the Laundromat” won the 2006 Short Story Contest in The Seattle Review, a national literary journal.  His first novel, "The Drifter," was nominated for 2016 Edgar and Barry awards for Best First Novel, and the 2016 Hammett Prize for Best Novel. A husband and father, he has worked as a carpenter, remodeling contractor, and building inspector.  He lives in Milwaukee.  "Burning Bright" is his second novel, and the sequel to "The Drifter."

Glen Erik Hamilton--Past Crimes

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Can I just rave a little about our guest today? Glen Erik Hamilton's first novel, PAST CRIMES, comes out on March 3rd. This really is a "can't put it down" book, and one of the most polished first novels I've read in a long time. Here's a little synopsis:

When his estranged grandfather is shot and left for dead, an Army Ranger plunges into the criminal underworld of his youth to find a murderer . . . and uncovers a shocking family secret. From the time he was six years old, Van Shaw was raised by his Irish immigrant grandfather Donovan to be a thief—to boost cars, beat security alarms, crack safes, and burglarize businesses. But at eighteen, Dono's namesake and protégé suddenly broke all ties to that life and the people in it. Van escaped into the military, serving as an elite Army Ranger in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, after ten years of silence, Dono has asked his grandson to come home to Seattle. "Tar abhaile, más féidir leat"—Come home, if you can.

Taking some well-earned leave, Van heads to the Pacific Northwest, curious and a little unnerved by his grandfather's request. But when he arrives at Dono's house in the early hours of the morning, Van discovers the old thief bleeding out on the floor from a gunshot to the head. The last time the two men had seen each other Dono had also been lying on the floor—with Van pointing a gun at his heart. With a lifetime of tough history between him and the old man, the battle-tested Ranger knows the cops will link him to the crime.

Advance praise has compared Hamilton to writers like Dennis Lehane, Robert B. Parker, and John D. MacDonald, but it was Lee Child that popped into my mind when I  began PAST CRIMES. Like Reacher, Van Shaw has served in the military and is a bit of a loner, but Shaw is very much his own man. And yes, I got to read an advance copy of the book, and I got to ask Glen at least some of the things I was dying to know. Here's Glen to share!

DEBS: The setting of Seattle is so palpable in PAST CRIMES. Why did you choose to set the book in the marinas and working class bars of Seattle?

GLEN:  The marinas were an easy choice.  I grew up aboard boats, and setting scenes in and around the harbors and waterways just felt natural.  It’s also useful for fiction.  Seattle is darn near an island itself, it isn’t far from dozens of actual islands both in and out of the States, and of course it’s one of the major shipping ports of the Pacific.  Water, water, everywhere.  If you’re writing about crime in Seattle, it opens a lot of possibilities.  
 
I did not grow up in bars, happy to say.  But like the marinas, bars are useful for a writer.  They’re gathering places for friends and sometimes neutral ground for enemies.  They’re a signal of different social classes – clubs vs. pubs.   They are places of late nights, lowered guards, and grand schemes.  Not a bad way to launder money, either.  

DEBS: Your protagonist, Van Shaw, is a complex character . . . he's clearly wants to leave his past behind, but has a very strong sense of loyalty - how do these two desires play out in Van's decision to return home to help his grandfather?

GLEN:  Van has matured during the years he’s been in the Army.  He may not completely forgive or even understand his grandfather, but he also knows that he’s not blameless himself.  The two men are much more alike than either of them realize, in their faults and their loyalties. 

Part of the book’s theme, if you’ll pardon the pretension, is learning which parts of your past to embrace and which to reject.  Van had completely bought in to the criminal life as a teenager.  When he left it, he left everything from his youth along with it.  That may not be the right choice for him.  It might not even be possible.

DEBS: How long have you known Van Shaw? He's so well developed he almost walks off the page and sits next to you at the bar to down a whiskey with the reader. Kudos.

GLEN: Thank you!  I like Van a lot, and although many of his attitudes are the same as mine (most notably a suspicious eye towards authority), I’m not him.  He developed out of a lot of thinking about how his unusual background would shape his outlook and approach to problems – often an equal-parts mix of cunning and aggression.   Van often does what I wish I could do and says what I wish I would have said.  However, for all his experiences, he’s still a young man.  He makes mistakes which I hope I would be wise enough to sidestep.  Heroes are great; flawless heroes are as dull as a dowel rod.

DEBS: Van Shaw begins a relationship with Luce, the niece of his grandfather's ex-business partner. What are you trying to explore through this subplot?

GLEN:  Van and Luce had similar childhoods, and share some traits because of that.  They are both tough-minded, fiercely independent people.  But they are not the same.  Luce responded to her criminal surroundings by striving towards the straight and narrow.  Van escaped his criminal youth – removing himself from temptation – and returning to Seattle means confronting that head on.  Luce and Van can understand each other, and they are hugely attracted to one another, but that doesn’t mean they always agree.  Neither is much given to compromise.

DEBS: Kirkus Reviews recently called you "heir to the classic detective novel," first, how did that make you feel? Second, did you set out to write a detective novel?

GLEN:  It felt fantastic, of course!  It sounds like a platitude, but it’s the truth: I started writing to see if I could tell a good story.  Any ideas of publication were secondary.   To have a first novel which people enjoying reading and is getting good reviews is extraordinary.  It’s too big of a concept.  I have to digest it in very small bites.
 

I didn’t set out thinking of PAST CRIMES as a detective story, but detection – and whodunit – are major elements in the novel.  Van evolved because I liked the idea of someone solving a crime without having the clout or resources of a law enforcement officer, and who in fact was closer to the other side of the coin, without being a crook.  Van still has to adhere to certain rules and expectations in his world, even if those aren’t the laws of the land.

DEBS: I'd love to know more about your growing up on a sailboat. (My brother is a sailor and lives aboard his catamaran, currently--I think--in New Zealand. They've made the Pacific crossing a couple of times.) How did your upbringing come about?
 
GLEN: Though adventurous parents.  They caught the sailing bug when I was very young, and the condition became chronic.  Like your brother, they also wound up in New Zealand, eventually, during their own Pacific voyages.  My excursions with them were mostly during summers and school holidays, around the Northwest and along the coast of British Columbia.  I worked some in our marina, and sometimes for my Dad in his business of refinishing  brightwork on boats.  It was a great way to grow up.

But for anyone who is considering moving aboard, envisioning days spent sipping margaritas while swaying gently in a hammock, I recommend being independently wealthy. Having done it without piles of money, I can state definitively that riches are the way to go.  If that’s not in the cards for you, the next best option is having many kids or gullible friends to help with all the labor involved in maintaining your vessel.  My parents worked very hard, living that life of leisure.

Also, rocking hammocks usually lead to spilled beverages, and then you’ll have to swab the deck.  Again.

DEBS: READERS, Glen asks, "How do you feel about a protagonist who skirts, and perhaps occasionally breaks, the law?  Do you prefer your White Hats unsullied?" 

Comment and get your name in the hat, white or black, as Glen is giving away a copy of PAST CRIMES to one of our lucky readers.


A native of Seattle, Glen Erik Hamilton grew up aboard a sailboat, and spent his youth finding trouble around the marinas and commercial docks and islands of the Pacific Northwest. He now lives in California with his family, punctuated by frequent visits to his hometown to soak up the rain.

Reds take Bouchercon again: BALDERDASH!

HALLIE EPHRON: The Reds panel at this year's Bouchercon last weekend -- another game show -- packed the house and laughter rang to the rafters. My only regret was that I wasn't there to enjoy the hilarity and watch my fellow Reds nimbly come up with definitions to fool the audience.

Over to you, ladies! Please, tell us the highlights...

RHYS BOWEN: The first thing I can tell you is that the audience was super smart and really knew their mysteries. They didn't blink at the real name of John Le Carre or that Harriet Welch was really Harriet the spy. And this in spite of the fact that our Red team were really convincing liars.

Well, actually they didn't believe Hank's definition of the word ABSQUATULATE.  And the more she tried to explain it, the more than audience howled with laughter.

I think the only time we really fooled them was with the definition of the word CALLIPYGION...which really does mean having great buns, a shapely rear end.

The only disappointing part of the weekend was that Julia and Hank didn't win the Anthony, but I don't think they were unduly surprised. Kent Kruger's book was truly spectacular.

I thought it was a terrific Bouchercon and was pleased to see so many old friends there. Especially mega stars like Lee Child who don't have to come to these things but still choose to connect to the mystery community. 

And I've come away super-fit as my hotel was half a mile from the convention site. I forgot the books I needed one day and had to put in an extra mile's walk.

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Yes, it's hard to feel bad about losing out to a book like ORDINARY GRACE. However, at the Anthony Awards reception, I did manage to flip the bird to the two writers who have swept their respective categories this year: Kent Krueger and Daniel Stashower.

The best part of Bcon is always seeing old friends: Cara Black, Terri Bischoff, John Maddox Roberts and his wife Beth, Jessie Chandler and her partner Becky, Tim O'Mara -- and meeting new ones: Julia Dahl, Mette Ivie Harrison, Ellen Byron, Lauren-whose-last-name-I-forgot... way too many to recount.

The best for me? Reconnecting with my dear friend Denise Hamilton, whom I hadn't seen in person in many years.
I didn't talk with as many folks as I usually do because Ross and I brought Youngest on this trip, and we stayed at the amazing Queen Mary Hotel. It was perfect for a trio of history buffs. Ross and Youngest roamed all over the ship, she and I took the Princess Diana tour (which was as much about the royal family from King George V on as it was about Diana) we ate at the Promenade Cafe and had cocktails in the Art Deco Bar with Vicki Doudera and her husband Ed. And while our stateroom walls were thin, and the lighting was either period-authentic-dim or fluorescent, the view could not be beat.

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Yeah, and there's a certain calm to the certain knowledge that it's fabulous to be nominated but know that there is no way that anyone but Kent Krueger is going to win.  It makes attending the awards ceremony less stressful--in a "looking at the bright side" kind of way.

Bouchercon is so overwhelming--and there's no way to see everyone. My highlights were hanging out with Meg Gardiner, and Linwood Barclay, and Sue Grafton, and Kim Fay and Michael Sears and Clare O'Donohue. And so many more.

I was the Bouchercon auctioneer with the always-droll Simon Wood and raised a total of $10,000 for charity. I was part of the Women Kill at Mystery Panel, an array of 60 authors (men and women) each of whom got to recommend a book by an unknown or unsung author. I moderated Kick Ass Women which included Meg and my fellow SinC pres Laura DiSilverio. (And Sue Grafton was in the audience of our panel!).

Les Blatt moderated a really good panel on journalists as authors--and that was a fun one to participate in. The Sisters in Crime breakfast allowed me to chat with Sara Paretsky!  And the SinC Forensics day (with the amazing Jan Burke) taught me about Locard's Principle and serial-killing nurses.

And of course, the amazing Jungle Reds Balderdash event, where people believed my story that David More Cornwell was the real name of Linwood Barclay.   And I really fooled them with my definition of deuteragonist. Yay, Reds.

 All in all, an amazing and EXHAUSTING event.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Last chiming in here--still recovering!  But it was a fab Bouchercon. Well organized, relaxed, and oh, did I mention it was WARM in Long Beach????

I always have fun at Bouchercon but this one was truly super. One of the many highlights was meeting so many wonderful debut authors: my buddy Karin Salvalaggio (that does exactly count as meeting, but it was HER first B'con...), M.P. (Martha) Cooley, Julia Dahl, Glen Erik Hamilton, and Leslie Budewitz. The future is bright, I guarantee.

And of course, our brilliant (if we say so ourselves!) Jungle Red version of Balderdash! Next time we will have to try harder to fool the audience--but then I think the audience really liked winning. I only wish Lucy, Hallie, and Susan had been there to share the fun.  Next year???

HALLIE: Here's peek at what we missed. What's the right definition for...

Deuteragonist?Debs: Someone who reads the Bible intensely
Hank: The second most important person in a book
Julia: From the same root  as Deuteronomy, meaning someone who focuses on numbers

Analepsis?
Julia: Another word for flashback
Hank: The medical term for the body's reaction to arsenic poisoning
Debs: The use of two  of ellipses in one sentence

BUT BUT BUT... Hank, dying to know, what was your definition of ABSQUATULATE?

Unforgettable Characters

Jungle Red will never forget. September 11, 2001.

*********************************************************************************

HANK ON TOUR! The Wrong Girl is in Milwaukee today! Come say hello at Mystery One Bookshop at 7pm.  Hope to see you there..

And the winner of Sue Grafton's W is for Wasted is: Mary Martinez! I'll email you directly!

HANK: 

So--speaking of  unforgettable characters! Sue Grafton herself is amazing..and her creation, Kinsey Millhone, is one of a kind. (I can't help but think of the Reader's Digests I devoured at my grandmother's house. Remember that feature? My Most Unforgettable Character? Why do I remember that--but not where my phone is?)

ANYWAY--speaking of unforgettable characters--how about Jon Land? We always love having him visit--he's a whirlwind, nonstop best-selling author and reviewer and ITW big shot, and and and...He's--a character.  And that's why it's so perfect that he's here to day to talk about, what else? Characters! 

Jon Land:   When I began writing the Caitlin Strong series, the latest of which STRONG RAIN FALLING has just been released, it was with the idea of doing something new and different in the thriller genre.  That started with creating a female protagonist who was every bit as strong and capable as more traditional male heroes, a kind of female Jack Reacher (Lee Child’s wonderful hero) you might say. 

            But that wasn’t enough.  I also wanted to add layers of emotion along with personal growth and angst seldom seen in thrillers.  So I came up with the idea that Caitlin would have a love affair with Cort Wesley Masters, the most notorious outlaw in modern Texas history who she once put in prison after he was framed.  The conflict inside each of and between them is there right from the start of the first book in the series, STRONG ENOUGH TO DIE, since it appears a recently exonerated Cort Wesley is going to come gunning for Caitlin.

            The fact that he doesn’t and, quite the opposite, opts to save her life in a wild gunfight instead, is due in large part to the fact that Cort Wesley has two sons he’s never met.  He sees his release from prison as a second chance he’s not quite sure how to exploit and the last thing he wants to do is risk getting jailed again, likely for good this time.  It isn’t too much later when the mother of his boys is murdered because of him, leaving Cort Wesley no choice but to become a father and take responsibility for raising the two boys who’ve never even laid eyes on him.

            See what I’m getting at here?  In traditional tales, it’s the woman who tries to get the male gunfighter to give up his guns and settle down.  But I decided in the Caitlin Strong series to reverse that paradigm and define the relationship between Caitlin and Cort Wesley based on his struggles as a single father and her gradually acceding to her maternal instincts to become a surrogate mother for Cort Wesley’s sons.

            Thrillers especially, you see, normally have loads of action and plot, but what’s the difference if we as readers are not emotionally vested in what happens to the characters?  We need to root for them, care about them, worry that their next gunfight might be their last.  Emotional vesting derives from building characters through the relationships they form, and I personally have not encountered a stronger relationship in this kind of book than the one between Caitlin and Cort Wesley.  The struggle to get past their own natures is constant.  Caitlin wants to have things both ways, but Cort Wesley wishes she was around more.  This as he acknowledges that the times that they’re the closest, when their relationship feels the strongest, is when their lives are threatened and they need to go back to their guns.

            But STRONG RAIN FALLING brings that emotion to a whole new level.  The book opens with Caitlin taking Cort Wesley’s eighteen-year-old son Dylan to visit Brown University in my own hometown of Providence, Rhode Island—about as parental, and maternal, a thing as you can do.  But this is a thriller, of course, and before you know it both Dylan’s and his younger brother Luke’s lives are in jeopardy, and Caitlin and Cort Wesley are both gunning down bad guys to save them.  The stakes are higher and more personal here than in any of my previous books, as Caitlin comes to realize even more how much these boys mean to her.  And that, in turn, continues to showcase the wonderful push-pull that defines her character as she struggles with the conflicting impulses driving her.

So in my visit to Jungle Red today, let’s explore what makes you care about a character and root for them to triumph over adversity and bad guys alike.  I think it was P.T. Barnum who said “Always leave them wanting more.”   What do you think?

Hank: And Reds,  who's your current favorite character? Not of all time, because, well, we want to hear about someone new!