1.
Fraser, what inspired you to co-author a thriller, Desolation
Sound? I first came
across this story while sailing up in Desolation Sound, a few years ago. I
lived in British Columbia for several years in the '80s, and have since spent a
lot of time knocking round the islands and fjords of BC’s misty, craggy coast
in boats, float planes and kayaks. Hard to believe that since 2008 fifteen
severed human feet have washed ashore in BC, with no solution to the mystery.
The RCMP claims “there is no sign of foul play” (tell that to the people who
are missing feet!), and attributed it all to “suicides” or other "natural
causes", like car accidents, but why no severed feet washing up before
2008? Why doesn’t this happen anywhere else in the world, with similar watery
geography, like Alaska? This is too good a story to ignore! When I suggested we
write it as a novel, to my writing partner Heather McAdams (with whom I have
co-authored three screenplays) we both leaped into it with (ahem) both feet.
2.
What
intrigues us about gruesome crimes? I think we are both horrified and
fascinated by gruesome crimes - from Jack the Ripper to Edgar Allen Poe to
Sherlock Holmes to Stephen King ( and I have made films based on the works of
the latter two) - murder and especially serial killers , the most coldly
dispassionate of criminals, have held a weird attraction for us all. Perhaps
because their “motives” are so far from what we understand in normal life.
3.
What kind of character is retired detective Jack Harris, the
central figure in this book?
Jack
is a washed up cop, retired early from a brilliant but tarnished career as a
Seattle Detective, specializing in serial killers, who killed a killer - a man
who definitely needed to be taken off the board - though that, and his
drinking, ruined his career. He’s a deeply flawed, depressed alcoholic
and you will love him. Our female protagonist is equally interesting, Liz
MacDonald, 20-something, blond, attractive, compulsive long-distance
runner, addicted to her work - her profile happens to match perfectly the 22
missing blond females in BC’s lower mainland. She volunteers to help catch a
sadistic rapist, and with Jack’s help, ends up tangling with a killer. They’re
a really compelling combination and we hope to continue Liz and Jack in the
series. We’ve already started the next book, set in norther BC.
4.
In your story a profiler is used to help track a serial
killer. Do such killers really have such distinct patterns that make their
capture imminent? Serial killers - both sociopaths and
psychopaths - are the hardest murderers to catch because they do not usually
know their victim (most “normal” murders are committed by people who know their
victims; serial killers often pick them out at random) and thus do not have any
of the usual connections which lead to capture and conviction. Their crimes are
also, at least at first glance, motiveless, making it doubly difficult. Their
one failing — they will kill again, and eventually make a mistake — will
eventually get them caught. Geographic profiling is a relatively new forensic
science which attempts to apply algorithms to geographic locations of crimes
committed, locations of the bodies, and residence and work place of the
victims, to narrow down the likelihood of both the killer’s home and
"place of business” as it were, within a given radius. It’s been quite
effective.
5.
Did you write it while envisioning it as a movie? Yes,
definitely! Heather and I think Desolation Sound will make a great indie
thriller, or even a limited TV series — the next "True Detective" or “The
Killing”! We’ve always planned it as such, and are in talks now to adapt it for
cable TV.
6.
What challenges or benefits are there to releasing your book
as the son of the legend, Charlton Heston?
I
have been blessed in this life in so many ways, not least of which is I won the
parent lottery. Both my parents were, first of all, loving, wonderful people,
who took my sister Holly and I all over the world, and gave us a love of life,
literature and great stories. I grew up essentially on film sets, from
Hollywood to New York, from London to Cairo, from Rome’s Cinecitta Studios to
the Yucatan’s pyramids of Chichen Itza. I began writing films about forty years
ago, at age 20, and had some early success, both in films with and without my
movie star dad (who was wonderful to work with, by the way). I think on the
whole, though there are indeed difficulties — getting taken seriously as a
filmmaker, apart from my Hollywood pedigree is one of them, obviously — the
advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Now that Heather and I have released
a stand-alone, original novel, and hope to go on with the series, I think that
issue can safely be left behind. Besides, I wouldn’t have traded my life (so
far) for anyone’s!
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