Interview with thriller author Thomas O'Callaghan

Novelist Thomas O’Callaghan is here today and we’re chatting about his police procedural thriller, No One Will Hear Your Screams.

Bio:

Thomas O'Callaghan's work has been translated for publication in Germany, Slovakia, Indonesia, the Czech Republic, China, and Italy. As an internationally acclaimed author, Mr. O'Callaghan is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the International Thriller Writers associations. A native of New York City and a graduate of Richmond College, Mr. O'Callaghan resides with his lovely wife, Eileen, a stone's throw from the Atlantic Ocean in beautiful Belle Harbor, New York.

His debut novel Bone Thief introduced NYPD Homicide Commander Lieutenant John W. Driscoll. The Screaming Room is the second in the John Driscoll series. The third book in the series, No One Will Hear Your Screams, is now available from WildBlue Press.

Welcome, Thomas. Please tell us about your current release.

No One Will Hear Your Screams, described by #1 New York Times bestselling author, Gregg Olsen, as a nuanced thriller that grabs you by the throat and never let's go, features Tilden, a sociopathic killer on the loose who’s tracking down and murdering prostitutes in New York City. The reader soon discovers this depraved misfit had been sexually abused as a child by his mother’s john. NYPD’s top cop, Homicide Commander Lieutenant John Driscoll, a man haunted by the events of an unstable childhood himself, must put aside any sympathy he may have for Tilden and put a stop to his murderous rampage. The Lieutenant soon discovers Tilden’s not the run-of-the-mill sociopath. After all, would a common murderer have taken the time to embalm his victims, an action the New York City chief medical examiner determines to be the cause of their death?

What inspired you to write this book?

I’m a mild mannered friendly gentleman with a vivid imagination. No One Will Hear Your Screams is the third in a series depicting murder and mayhem in NYC. Initially my inspiration to write in this particular genre began to simmer after reading novels by Thomas Harris, Jeffery Deaver, Dean Koontz, and Michael Connelly. Like them, I look to capture the interest of readers who were enthralled with a fast paced depiction of harrowing crime. Because the commission of murder is horrific enough I try not to compete with the terrific scribes where horror is fully on display. I’ll leave that to the likes of Stephen King and Clive Barker. I truly enjoy my craft. It allows me to depict both good and evil in the human soul and as the writer, a man armed with only a pen, I can do so without being held accountable for the crime. Writing also allows me to escape the hum drum of everyday life. Creating characters for the sole purpose of performing in a story that I’ve set in motion is exciting. I’m fueled by that. And, because it’s fiction, I’m motivated to weave memories of times in my life, some good, some regrettable, into the back story of my characters. We all have chapters we wish never to see published, but, with the right finesse, the theme of those blunders can and do add human authenticity to fictional entities.

Excerpt from No One Will Hear Your Screams:

Pearsol opened the mortuary cooler and pulled out the stainless steel tray supporting the victim. “Lieutenant, meet Jane Doe,” he said sliding the woman’s bloated body under Driscoll’s gaze. “Harbor Patrol fished her out of the muck. I’d say she was a feast for the gulls for a day. Maybe two.”

“What’s that smell? Paint thinner?”

“Phenol.”

“She was doused in phenol?”

“Injected.”

Driscoll’s eyes narrowed.

“The complete autopsy will fill in the blanks, but I’d bet my pension I already know what killed her. The who, and the why, I’ll leave to you.” Pearsol handed the preliminary lab report to Driscoll. It identifies a mixture of substances inside her vascular system.

“Phenol, formaldehyde and Chloride of Zinc?” Driscoll looked perplexed. “The same Chloride of Zinc they put in dry cell batteries?” 

Pearsol nodded. “There’s three more.”

“Myrrh, aloe and cassia,” Driscoll read aloud. “That’s a strange mix.” He glanced at Pearsol, who nodded. “Says here you drained 851 milliliters from her circulatory system. What’s that? About two pints?”

“Just under.”

“A body contains five to six quarts of blood. So the rest of this mixture?”

“Still in her.”

Using his finger, Driscoll pushed back a lock of the victim’s hair. “What could you have done to warrant this?” he whispered, eyes on the corpse.

“Right now the unofficial cause of death is phenol poisoning by arterial injection. Familiar with the German word, ‘abgespritzt’, Lieutenant?”

“No.”  

“Abgespritzt was a method of genocide favored by the Nazis in the early 1940s. Hitler’s henchmen delivered instantaneous death by injecting 15 milliliters of phenol directly into the heart.”

“What kind of syringe injects six quarts?”

“More than likely he used a centrifugal pump. And he knew what he was doing.” Pearsol pointed to the side of the victim’s neck, where a semi- translucent latex adhesive covered a two inch stretch of rippled flesh between the carotid artery and the jugular vein. “An extreme method of murder, Lieutenant. He arterially embalmed her.”

Driscoll winced.

“There’s more.” The M.E. produced a transparent evidence bag containing a locket. It was an inch in diameter and featured Saint Vitalis of Gaza; his name etched in a half circle below his likeness. “I found it under her tongue. Someone apparently placed it there before suturing the tongue to the floor of her mouth.”

“What’s that about?” Driscoll wondered aloud.

“Good question. I’m not familiar with that saint. You?”

“She‘s the patron saint of prostitutes.”

“Well, there’s a lead. Oh, and there’s one other bit of information you’re sure to find intriguing. The myrrh, aloe, and cassia injected with the embalming fluid were once embalming solutions on their own. Sort of.”

“Sort of?”

“They were the purifying fragrances applied to the linens that wrapped the crucified Christ before he was laid in his tomb.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

I’m near the completion of my fourth novel. Though it is not part of the Lieutenant John Driscoll series, it does feature a unique serial killer who, without revealing his identity or his whereabouts, convinces a New York Times bestselling author to ghost write his life story with emphasis on his string of murders. The writer sees this assignment as an opportunity to out this fiend. That’s not as easy as it sounds, but therein lies the ultimate cat and mouse saga.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

The short answer is: “Late in life.” After graduating with a liberal arts degree from Richmond College I landed a job with Allstate Insurance Company as a sales agent. When the company opted to take their sales force in another direction I decided it was time to retire and find something else to do with my time. I spent much of that time reading. On the beach in summer and on the couch in winter. One day I picked up a copy of Helter Skelter, by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry. This is an often used adage, but I couldn’t put it down. The authors’ attention to detail fascinated me. After that, I was hooked on novels depicting murder, mayhem and suspense. I soon discovered such notables as Thomas Harris, John Sandford, Lawrence Block, Michael Connelly, and Ed McBain, just to name a few. Unlike, Helter Skelter, where the storyline was based on an actual murder, Harris, Sandford, Block, Connelly, McBain and company, created murder and the intrigue that surrounded it. I was enthralled all the more. Read on, I said, and so I did. After I finished reading my twelfth 87th Precinct novel, I thought: I could do that! And so, on a gloomy, rain-soaked Friday afternoon, that happened to follow Thanksgiving, I began writing Nightkills, which would later become Bone Thief, my debut novel. Looking back, I’m happy with the course my life had taken me, bringing me to what has become my life’s passion: Writing!

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I write full time. I usually write for four hours in the middle of day, every day, though my wife will argue it’s more like my morning as I tend to sleep late. My goal is to put together two or three scenes and I allow the clock to dictate when to close the laptop. There’s never a deadline, nor do I concentrate on a word count. I’ll usually wrap up around 6pm which allows time for a pleasant dinner with my wife. It’s imperative I write every day. I had the distinct pleasure of sipping a cold one with famed author, John Lescroart, at the Grand Hyatt in New York during ThrillerFest 2008. His advice about a routine was simple. He told me if I write one page of my manuscript each day, in a year’s time I’ll have a novel. He was right.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Taller.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I’m a big fan of Post-it Notes. I prefer the canary yellow ones. Should an idea materialize inside my head while I’m, say, having dinner, or watching TV, I’ll reach for a readily available pad and jot it down. If that notion prompts a full blown scene inside my head, I’ll open my iPhone, dictate a first draft of the scene in an email and send it to myself. When I open the email on my laptop I simply cut and paste it into my work in progress.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my readers. You’re this writer’s audience and by communicating with me through my website you’ve inspired me to continue what can often be a solitary pastime.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon

Thanks for being here today!

Interview with medical thriller author John Bishop MD

Today’s special guest author is John Bishop MD. He’s chatting with me about his medical thriller, Act of Murder (A Doc Brady Mystery).

Bio:

John Bishop MD is the author of Act of Murder: A Doc Brady Mystery. Dr. Bishop has practiced orthopedic surgery in Houston, Texas, for 30 years. His Doc Brady medical thriller series is set in the changing environment of medicine in the 1990s. Drawing on his years of experience as a practicing surgeon, Bishop entertains readers using his unique insights into the medical world with all its challenges, intricacies, and complexities, while at the same time revealing the compassion and dedication of health care professionals. Dr. Bishop and his wife, Joan, reside in the Texas Hill Country.

Welcome, John. Please tell us about your current release.

Act of Murder is a medical mystery novel centered around Dr. Jim Bob Brady, an orthopedic surgeon in Houston, Texas. He witnesses his neighbor's ten-year-old son, who has Osteogenesis Imperfecta, killed by a hit-and-run driver. Was this an accident, or an Act of Murder? After the child's death, he enlists his son J.J. and his wife Mary Louise in chasing down clues from another child with the same bone disease that take them deeper and deeper into a Houston that Brady didn't know existed. They discover a macabre conspiracy stretching from the largest teaching hospital in Texas, to the upper reaches of Houston's legal community, to the shores of Galveston Bay. Soon Doc Brady realizes that the old adage remains true: The love of money is the root of all evil.

What inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired to write this book for a number of reasons. First, an old friend lost a child, and the grief around that issue was quite intense. I wanted to somehow put into words the emotions that surround that sort of cataclysmic event. At the same time, I had ended a long-lasting teaching position, and was concentrating on my medical practice only, without the teaching, or the presentations required at national meetings, or the articles that required publishing as a part of being a Professor. I found I had...gasp...free time. I had always enjoyed the writing of medical articles, but not the politics of academic medicine. So, instead of sitting down at my desk, and starting an article on the Effects of Hydroxyapatite Synthetic Bone Graft on Acetabular Insufficiency, I sat down and wrote the title, Act of Murder, and took it from there. It was like a faucet was turned on inside of me, and I just couldn't quit writing. What a feeling!

What exciting story are you working on next?

I have two other Doc Brady books coming out. The next, Act of Deception, releases June 10th. In this novel, Brady gets sued for medical malpractice when a patient whose knee he replaced ends up losing the leg to an amputation. Brady is convinced he did nothing wrong. Did he somehow commit malpractice, and this is all his fault, or is this an Act of Deception. The next book is Act of Revenge, and releases September 10th. Doc Brady is involved in a ski accident on the slopes in Aspen, and befriends the victim who happens to be a plastic surgeon in Houston. The plastic surgeon is later seen on national television threatening the President of the Insurance Company who has recently cancelled the doctor's malpractice insurance. The next day, the executive is found dead. Is this a suicide, or an Act of Revenge?

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I guess I first considered myself a writer when I wrote Act of Murder, back in 1994 or so. The book wasn't published at the time, but I had the "juice" so I kept writing. I completed two additional novels after Act of Deception and Act of Revenge, Act of Negligence and Act of Fate. Now that the first three books are being published, I've gone back to writing about Doc Brady, and hopefully I'll see all of them in print. I've completed two new novels, and am working on the third, which would be the eighth in the series.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I can't say that I write full time, although I am retired from my Orthopedic Surgery practice. I still play the piano, which has kept me somewhat sane all these years, and I am an avid golfer. So now I divide my time between my three hobbies, and juggle my daily schedule to accommodate all three.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I'm not sure this is a quirk, but I generally do not create an outline of the novel prior to writing. I mull around an idea in my head, think of a title that would fit well with "Act of,” sit down, and start typing. Sometimes the story line will flow, sometimes I back myself into a corner and have to work my way out by either changing my tack on a subject, or by creating a complete fabrication that is believable. That's the fun of writing. You don't like a character that you've created? Bam! They're gone! Too bad, so sad.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I grew up an only child in a very small town outside Waco, Texas, of very modest means. My mother was oldest of eight children, my dad the youngest of nine children. They grew up in the Depression, without an opportunity for college, so I was the first in the entire family to achieve that. Growing up my only real aspiration was to get out of town, and make my own life. I stumbled across the idea of going to medical school when I was a sophomore in college, when we used to sit around the dorm and watch the broadcast of lottery numbers of draftees for the Viet Nam War. As I remember, you had three guaranteed deferments back then: medical school, divinity school, or marriage. It was an easy choice for a kid making extra money by playing music. I didn't mind the idea of serving my country, I just wanted to serve when the timing was best for me. As it turned out, when I did get drafted, towards the end of medical school, the military discovered I had Rheumatic Fever with a heart murmur when I was twelve, and classified me as 4-F. All that worry for nothing.

Links:

Website | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Thanks for being here today!

Interview with debut legal thriller author Michael McAuliffe

Today’s special guest is debut author Michael McAuliffe to chat about his legal thriller, No Truth Left To Tell.

Bio:

Michael McAuliffe has practiced law for over 30 years. He has served as an assistant United States attorney and as a federal civil rights prosecutor at the Department of Justice. In 2008, Michael was elected as the state attorney for Palm Beach County leading an office of 125 prosecutors. After leaving public service in 2012, Michael was the general counsel for a global company. He also has been a partner at a major law firm, a senior lecturing fellow at Duke University’s School of Law and an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary’s School of Law. In 1993-94, Michael was a CEP fellow and visiting law professor in the Czech Republic.

Michael is an avid alpine mountaineer having climbed and reached the summits of Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Island Peak in the Himalayas, and many other mountains.

He and his wife Robin, a US district judge, have three children, and live in Florida and Massachusetts.

Welcome, Michael. Please tell us about your current release.

No Truth Left To Tell is a story about the feds trying to stop the Ku Klux Klan from starting a new race war in the South in the 1990s. Adrien Rush, a young, ambitious federal prosecutor from Washington, DC, is sent to Lynwood, Louisiana, to work on the Klan investigation with Lee Mercer, an experienced and skeptical black FBI agent. They must solve a series of cross burnings targeting the town’s minorities before the violence escalates. Their case becomes compromised when the feds realize a local police detective employed his own brand of justice to extract the confession from the culprit, who is the grand dragon of the Klan. The inescapable collision of right and wrong, of white and black, has deadly consequences.

The novel is about violent racist extremism and police brutality in America and the high cost of protecting the rights of us all.

What inspired you to write this book?

Early in my legal career, I was a federal civil rights prosecutor in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice. While in the section, I travelled around the country investigating and prosecuting violent extremists, corrupt law officials (many in law enforcement) and human traffickers. The novel is loosely based on those experiences including a case in which I prosecuted thirteen members of the Klan in Louisiana and their grand dragon. Also, many of the victims of racial violence I met while working as a federal prosecutor showed great courage and resolve in the face of terror. For decades, I wanted to create a fictional world that reflected their very real and inspiring bravery and determination.

Excerpt from No Truth Left to Tell:

…

Nettie Wynn awoke from a deep slumber that night to the siren calls of the fire engine. She grasped the corner post of the full-sized bed and lifted her small frame. She shuffled toward the offending noise, and as she drew back the heavy floral curtains, the cycling lights sprinted into the room and around the walls. She reached out and tried to touch the truck’s folded ladder, but her hand hit the windowpane instead.

With her sleep-blurred vision, Wynn thought she saw a tree on fire in her yard. The tree’s impending demise would be yet another unexpected loss for her. Just last month, Shirley, her neighbor of thirty years, had stopped visiting after she was moved into a nursing home. And six months ago, despite a legion of dedicated customers and decades of service, the grocer down on the corner had closed his tiny shop. The new economy didn’t have any room for him, he had said.

She stared out the window for the ten thousandth time but didn’t, or couldn’t, easily see that she was looking at the branded expression of hate. She wasn’t made that way. So she stood awhile longer before she recognized the true nature of the spectacle before her.

Oh, my—Lord, help me.

(From Chapter Two, page 16, of No Truth Left To Tell.)

What exciting story are you working on next?

I am working on two new stories. One involves the same protagonist in No Truth Left To Tell, Adrien Rush, battling a sophisticated and brutal group of human traffickers. The second story is about a quiet Czech professor who becomes a war hero while fighting in the free Czech army based in London during WWII. After the war, he must escape again when the communists take all his property in 1948 and try to arrest him as a subversive. The velvet revolution creates the chance for professor to return to his native Bohemia after over forty years in exile. He must battle the old communists––many of whom who are now the new democrats––to recover his property and to discover the life that he might have led.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I write professionally and have for thirty years. Some form of storytelling, or at least advocacy through communication, is a part of what I do and who I am as an attorney. However, I was humbled by the process of writing fiction which I started in 2016. I only recently became comfortable accepting the label “writer” without it being tethered to the legal profession.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I balance writing with teaching law school on a part-time basis and also practicing law. I write nearly every day even if for only an hour.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I wake up during the night with an idea or phrase relating to an ongoing writing project. I grab my iPhone on the nightstand, and I type in whatever has just surfaced from the creative recesses in my head. I email the typed version of a scribble to myself (often accompanied by a short grunt or other verbal confirmation of my latest inspiration and the swish of the apple email being both sent and received by me). My wife doesn’t always appreciate this ritual, but the dog at the foot of the bed seems to get it.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

An astronaut and a father. At least I accomplished the more important one.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Keep reading stories and sharing them. Sharing stories isn’t just an act of generosity, it’s also an exercise of self-preservation because we all need common experiences (real and imagined) to thrive.

Links:

Website | Book site

Thanks for stopping by today, Michael.

Interview with thriller author Peter Riva

Thriller author Peter Riva is chatting with me today about his new novel, Kidnapped on Safari.

Bio:

Peter Riva is the author of Kidnapped on Safari. He has spent many months over thirty years traveling throughout Africa and Europe. Much of this time was spent with the legendary guides for East African hunters and adventurers. He created a TV series in 1995 called Wild Things for Paramount. Passing on the fables, true tales, and insider knowledge of these last reserves of true wildlife is his passion. Nonetheless, his job for over forty years has been working as a literary agent. In his spare time, Riva writes science fiction and African adventure books, including the previous two titles in the Mbuno and Pero Adventures series, Murder on Safari and The Berlin Package. He lives in Gila, New Mexico.

Welcome, Peter. Please tell us about your current release.

The book is an armchair safari into the real East Africa – we follow the adventures of Pero Baltazar, television documentary producer and Mbuno Waliangulu, safari guide and expert. Pero is an organizer, intelligent and capable in foreign lands and with different cultures. Mbuno sees life as nature, evaluated animals—including humans—accurately. An exemplary guide and wildlife expert, his physical capabilities are unsurpassed.

Happily filming near Lake Rudolf in the desert dry northern territories of Kenya, they learn Mbuno’s son has been kidnapped and they immediately go to Tanzania to effect a rescue. What they find there, what they feel honor-bound to achieve, puts the stability of all of Africa at risk.

What inspired you to write this book?

I love writing events that are true. Maybe not calendar actually fact, but true nonetheless. Throw in two incredible capable men and their team, female and male, and you can have a rip-roaring adventure. In truth, Mbuno (a real man and safari guide, as was his father and his father’s father), is a hero of mine and nothing I write about him can ever really capture his wonderful oneness with nature.

Excerpt from Kidnapped on Safari:

As we join our heroes in the African moonlight... they are slowly following forestry truck tracks and an elephant herd

As Mbuno predicted... the forest ended at the top of the rise replaced by dense bush -- then tall grasses ran a half mile downhill to the edge of the water...

The ndovu herd wasted no time, plunging straight ahead... oldest elephants first followed by the mtotos entering the water with playful glee. Mbuno made Pero stop the Landrover... then telling Bob and Pero to join him up through the hatch.

Pero was the tallest of the three and he could just see through the rushes above the grass across the lake. He scanned with the binoculars and could see nothing, just some industrial Sodium yellow lights at a compound... across the water. Even with the half moon, there was not enough light to make out anything distinctive. Besides, there were also clouds scuttling across the moon from time to time. He explained what he could see to Mbuno who merely said to wait. Bob wanted to know where they went from here as the truck tracks they had been following ended at the lake, turning neither left nor right....

Mbuno pointed to a rock outcrop fifty feet to the right of where the elephant entered the water. Pero trained the binoculars... As he swept left to right he caught an elephant that seemed to trip and tumble over in shallow water, immediately righting itself and moving away from the place he had tripped. Pero saw a glint of metal. He peered intently through the binoculars and said, “Wire.”

Mbuno nodded. Bob asked, “What, where?” Pero handed over the binoculars. Bob focused and leaned forward, trying to see what was possible there. “Ah, got it. Big thick cable. What’s it for man?”

Mbuno answered, “It is a ferry cable.” He pointed to the flat beach, “It goes from here across the water to the other side.” Bob wanted to know why they needed a cable, there was no current in the lake, you could simply drive a boat across. Mbuno explained, “When there is no bridge for trucks, you need a strong boat…”

Pero interrupted, “A barge?”

“Yes, a barge, tafadali. A barge cannot have a motor in the water, it is too shallow. The barge has a motor that pulls along the cable.”

It appeared simple and yet effective to both Bob and Pero. No propeller to get tangled in the weeds or rocks in shallow water, the barge would simply winch itself across. Pero asked, “So I guess the barge is over on the other side, right?”

“Ndiyo.”

“So we drive around, or walk around the lake?”

Mbuno shook his head. Pero was worried. He guessed what Mbuno was going to suggest and was unfortunately right—when Mbuno explained, “We must swim. There is no path we can take without lights to drive. On foot there is great danger from hippo. No, we must swim.”

Bob was alarmed, “What about crocs?”

In the starlight and moonlight, Mbuno’s smile was radiant, “It is why we need the ndovu. The crocodiles will only be in shallow water, but not,” he pointed at the frolicking herd, “anywhere near ndovu. They would be trample-ed.” He patted Bob on the shoulder. “It will be alright.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

Fatigued from their Kidnapped adventure, Pero, Mbuno, and Nancy (who was on the Kidnapped rescue), decide to recapture the purity of East Africa and undertake a 2-week foot safari following migrating elephants into Ethiopia… and stumble on to a poaching operation which they cannot tolerate—a poaching operation with international tentacles.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I have always enjoyed writing tales, even as a child. Growing up in an artistic family, I was exposed to some of the worlds most talented authors, film-makers, television producers. Later on, as a literary agent, time did not permit that indulgence. So, when I turned 60 I felt, now or never. Since then I have enjoyed writing tales of Mbuno and Pero as well as two SF books. More to come. It’s pure hedonism I am afraid.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

Finding time is always the problem. I binge write, taking two of three weekends in a row and then re-writing late into the nights for a few months until the tale unfolds as I hope will thrill.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

Having been in East Africa as a TV producer, I have perhaps a better sense of that reality. Knowing and having spent time with Mbuno allows me to celebrate him (and his father’s tales).

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A marine biologist, a cetacean expert, then a film-maker, then an astronaut, then an experimental aircraft manager, then a documentary wildlife producer… basically anything that really fascinates me.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

If you want to go to East Africa or anywhere in Africa, always look for the one-on-one safari trip, never in tourist busses. It is the real thing that makes the lasting memory that is too rare these days.

Links:

Website | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Thank you for joining me today.

Interview with mystery author Robert McCaw

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Welcome, readers. Today’s special author interview is with Robert McCaw. We’re chatting about his new mystery, Off the Grid.

Bio:

Robert McCaw grew up in a military family traveling the world. After graduating from Georgetown University, he served as a lieutenant in the US Army before earning his law degree from the University of Virginia. Thereafter he practiced as a partner in a major international law firm in Washington, DC, and New York City—and maintained a home on the Big Island of Hawai’i. McCaw brings a unique authenticity to his Koa Kāne Hawaiian mystery novels in both his law legal expertise and his ability to portray the richness of Hawai’i’s history, culture, and people. McCaw lives in New York City and La Jolla, California, with his wife, Calli.

Welcome, Robert. Please tell us about your current release.

Off The Grid is a mystery/political thriller set on the Big Island of Hawaii—the real Hawaii, beyond the palm trees, hula skirts, and tropical drinks of tourist Hawaii. In many ways, Hawaii itself, its history, multicultural diversity, and language is a character in the novel.

My protagonist, Koa Kāne, is the chief detective of the Hilo, Hawaii police. He’s a cop with a secret past, one that gives him an insight into the criminal mind, while fueling his relentless pursuit of justice for victims. In Off The Grid, Koa’s day starts when he’s called to the scene of a staged traffic accident and escalates when a body turns up in a lava field. It doesn’t take Koa long to discover that the victims are loners living under false identities off the grid in rural Hawaii. His quest to learn their identities creates conflicts with powerful government agencies and ultimately his own police chief. The trail leads to one of the most bizarre, real-life, international events of the recent past and to a surprise ending.

What inspired you to write this book?

Hawaii inspired me to write the Koa Kāne mystery series, starting with Death of a Messenger in 2015, followed by Off The Grid in 2019, and Fire and Vengeance, to be published next year. I first visited the Big Island in 1986 and fell in love with its magic. Living there part-time for 20 years, I immersed myself in its history and culture, talked story with local friends, both haole (western) and Hawaiian, and visited most of the places where my stories take place.

Two unrelated experiences inspired significant parts of Off The Grid. My wife and I went to the home of a Big Island artist we had commissioned for a Hawaiian themed painting. After a number of twists and turns in a remote part of the island, we arrived at an isolated dwelling deep in the rain forest. Largely off the grid, it was filled with mismatched objects, artist’s supplies, and half-finished paintings. As I entered and scanned the great room, I knew I’d discovered a ready-made template for a scene in a novel. The fact that the artist’s retired husband seemed to have some clandestine military history only added intriguing mystery possibilities.

Not too much later, my wife and I drove up the somewhat more developed Kohala Coast to the picturesque town of Hāwī to dine at one of our favorite casual restaurants, only to find the place closed. We learned that the proprietor had been arrested as a fugitive from justice. A little research revealed that he was far from the only wanted man hiding out on the Big Island.

And so pieces of Off The Grid came together.

What exciting story are you working on next?

Fire and Vengeance, another unique and exciting Koa Kāne mystery, is coming next year. It begins when a volcano erupts under an elementary school, and Koa learns that the builders knew of, and concealed, the risk. The ensuing investigation leads Koa into one of the most challenging investigations of his career as he fights entrenched politicians to discover a shocking and long-buried truth.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

Given my former career as an attorney, it seems as though I have been writing most of my life. I first turned to serious fiction when I started Death of a Messenger in the late 1980s while I was still pursuing a full-time legal career. I worked on that novel off and on until I retired and finally finished it. So if “writer” means producing books for publication, you could say I’ve been “becoming” a writer for a long time.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I write regularly, but my days encompass many other activities, including time with family and friends, travel, exercise, reading, cooking, and even a video game or two, but little or no TV. That said, I try to spend some time every day working on my latest writing project. That might entail sitting down at the computer, researching, or just thinking and planning the next chapter or scene. I agree with authors who say that successful writers are voracious readers and believe that life is in many ways the best research for writing fiction. Thus, I am always on the prowl for locations, situations, or characters that might fit with my current project or inspire parts of the next one.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I avoid the word “very,” and think of my father every time that word crosses my mind. He told me that whenever I use the word “very,” I should change it to “damned,” – as in damned pretty -- and then delete it!

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

The list is endless. My grandfather worked on a railroad, and I grew up with model trains. So I wanted to be an engineer. My father was a military lawyer, so I wanted to be a soldier, but not a lawyer. That only came later. We always had tools and a workshop, and I tried my hand at cabinetry. I loved numbers and wanted to be a mathematician until I figured out that math would likely be a pretty solitary profession. Always fascinated by the stars, I seriously considered being an astronomer. At one point, I even wanted to be a professional ping-pong player.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

The luckiest people are not, as commonly believed, the wealthiest. They are instead those blessed with the power to make a life doing what they love. So go for it.

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