A new author launched this past week. The publisher, Forge books, says this about the author and book:
"The debut
thriller DEVIL’S HARBOR by international
translator Alex Gilly, a
pulse-pounding
adventure involving drug smuggling and immigration that takes
place on the dangerous waters off the Los Angeles coast. With a fascinating,
Walter White-esque villain that turns out to be the unexpected hero, this is
most definitely NOT your average thriller!"
Here is an interview with the author:
1.
What inspired
you to write Devil's Harbor? I love
crime stories and I love sea stories, and I wanted to write a novel that brings
together the best of both genres. My aim was to blend Patrick O’Brian with
Michael Connelly.
2.
What is this
thriller about? The protagonist, Nick
Finn, is a marine interdiction agent with Customs and Border Protection. He
patrols the waters off Southern California, looking to stop smugglers. Early
one morning, he and his partner find a body floating off Catalina Island. Then his
partner is murdered, Finn is a suspect, and he gets sucked down by the
undertow of a horrific criminal conspiracy.
3.
Why should
someone put down their beach read for your book? If you’re sitting on the beach and you want to know
what’s really lurking in the water, I recommend you read DEVIL’S HARBOR!
4.
The story
revolves around drug smuggling. Is this something you know firsthand or did you
need to research it? I did a fair amount
of research. I read innumerable newspaper articles and referred to a few books.
I also researched the Mexico-US border and the CBP.
5.
What does
your book say on the themes of power and greed? Greed is the implicit motive for why most of the bad guys
in my novel do the bad things they do. As for power, I think in a thriller like
DEVIL’S HARBOR, you want to make it look like whoever is holding the gun has
the power. Then you want to flip that on its head in fun and unexpected ways.
6.
What
challenges and rewards did you receive in the process of writing it? That’s an interesting question. There were plenty of
challenges during the writing, the biggest of which was actually finishing the
book. I was a single guy when I started writing DEVIL’S HARBOR, so outside of
work I had a lot of spare time, most of which I foolishly wasted. Somewhere in
the middle of my third or fourth draft, I got engaged. My fiancée set a
deadline: finish the book before the wedding. It turned out that a deadline was
just what I needed. I quit my job, sold my flat, moved in with her and wrote
full time for about a year. I sent the finished typescript to agents a couple
of weeks before we got married. Getting a positive response from a few agents
was a nice reward. So was getting married.
7.
Any advice
for struggling writers? Your writing
time is precious! Don’t waste it doing things that aren’t writing! I’m now a
father of a small child (with another on the way) and take it from me, your
writing time is precious.
8.
Where do you
see the thriller genre heading? As the
world keeps getting smaller, I’d like to think we’ll see a greater variety of
cultures and geographies in thrillers, and heroes who go on adventures in a
more multi-faceted and less Anglo-centric world.
For more information, please see: http://us.macmillan.com/devilsharbor/alexgilly
For more information, please see: http://us.macmillan.com/devilsharbor/alexgilly
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Brian Feinblum’s views,
opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his
employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him
at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the
third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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