Although Presumed Innocent was a blockbuster bestseller, it took you 23 years to publish a follow-up. Did you always intend to write a sequel to tie up loose ends?
To be honest, I thought for many years that I never would write a sequel. I always thought self-imitation is an inherently limiting thing for a writer, and I was afraid of trying to equal a book whose success at the time depended in part on breaking new ground. [But] at this stage, I was no longer worried about constraining myself. And by now, enough time has passed that I thought many people would be curious about Rusty—starting first of all with me.

Some of the events in Innocent eerily echo Rusty’s experiences in Presumed Innocent. How do you approach these parallel circumstances but twist them so they are fresh and new?
Well, I think one of the deepest truths about life is that people are sometimes compelled for reasons they don’t understand to keep repeating the same mistakes. So I regarded the parallel circumstances as deeply revealing of the character, and full of a meaning that wasn’t as clearly there the first time around. All the characters in Innocent are informed by the experience of the first book, and are trying desperately, in a paraphrase of Ecclesiastes, not to step in the same river twice.

Often lawyers who become authors of legal thrillers have a difficult time developing a fluid writing style, but your writing has always been gripping and accessible. What is your secret?
I was a novelist before I was a lawyer, having been a creative writing fellow at Stanford before I headed to law school. As a result, I was not trying to “find” my narrative voice after my style had been shaped by legal writing. I see legal writing as a distinct and somewhat limited voice that I’ve mastered, but one that does not really interfere with the creative voice I’d found before.

Given that you are still a practicing lawyer, what drives you to write fiction that also deals with the law?
I always say that the great break of my literary career was going to law school—it was one of the most fortuitous decisions of my life. I was a lecturer in the English department at Stanford, and for me going to law school meant giving up a teaching career. But I realized I was passionate about the law and the questions it asks, about deciding right from wrong for an entire society, fashioning rules that are firm yet flexible enough to fit the multitude of human circumstances. Those questions continue to preoccupy me. The truth is that I became not only a much more successful writer when I started writing about the law, but also a much better one as well, because I was writing about things that gripped me to the core.

The law often relies on individuals interpreting laws and regulations as best they can. To what extent do you think your novels contain characters and actions that are subject to the interpretation of your readers?
Without subscribing too heartily to deconstructionism, there is a truth that every reader reads a book his or her own way. But art of all kinds also depends on creating universals; in the case of narrative, we seek to create a fully imagined individual, a character, to whose life readers have something of a universal reaction. There are great differences in nuance in terms of readers’ responses, but if there is not a common element, a book is probably not a success.

Thriller writer Andrew Gross honed his writing skills collaborating with James Patterson on books like Jester. Four solo novels later, he's become a best-selling author in his own right and has started a popular series starring police detective Ty Hauck, a tough guy who always tries to do the right thing. In Reckless, Gross pits Hauck against a group of unlikely terrorists whose target is America's financial system. Though Hauck is no longer a detective, he can't let this case go since in solving it he will also avenge the death of a friend.

We asked Gross a few questions about the book, the thriller genre and what sparks a writer's imagination.

In Reckless, Ty Hauk is no longer a cop. How does this change his ability to act in the story? Has it changed his character?
No, he's not a cop—or I should say, head of detectives—but he's still an investigator at heart and what he finds at the outset of Reckless hurtles him back, unofficially, into his old role. He is constrained by the fact that he has no badge, but he learns to piece things together through guile and stubbornness and by circumventing the proper authorities. And his new boss, too, who wants this investigation tabled.

In the book he's forced to weigh his own immediate interest agains the vow he has made to a dead friend to avenge her death. He never feels completely at home in his new role, but his toughness, smarts and clear sense of right and wrong are still prominent, though, as you say, he is swimming in a different pond.

You have said you try to combine the personal and the global in your thrillers. In this novel, terrorists attack America through our financial system. Do you think such a thing is likely to happen in the future? Are you surprised it hasn't already?
I don't really think of myself as a "this could happen" guy, but more of a "what if" guy. I’m not sounding any alarm bells. I'm trying to entertain. What I like to do is deal in conspiracies—with something important at stake, and with meaningful consequences worth covering up, and, of course, killing for. That's why my books always build from something local and personal to something much wider with more at stake. I would say that, for sure, financial terrorism and attempts to destabilize our economy are underway on a large scale—and there is no doubt to me, after the names of the dead have been read and read many times over, the true, lasting cost of 9/11—between two wars, global security, etc. is reflected in our national deficit and the spending of trillions of needless and unproductive dollars.

What kind of research do you do for your books?
Not as much as some, but enough to sell my characters and scenes to the readers. I'm not an information source. I don't want to be thought of as some kind of expert. Certainly not on finance. I want to be credible for sure—but I want to entertain a hundred times more than edify. You don’t exactly need an MBA to enjoy Reckless. In years of business and living where I do [Westchester, NY], I’ve known dozens of high-up financial guys, but it's the desperation and panic of someone whose once-secure world has been turned upside down I wanted to get at. And to me, panic is universal.

Before writing your own (four) books, you previously collaborated with James Patterson on six novels. What did you learn from him about the writing process?
Jeez, that's a big question. Lots. Jim's brilliant, if not as a stylist, then as a conceiver of ideas, an editor and an innovator in thriller structure. Here are three examples: short, dramatic chapters that end with a punch and insidiously draw you to the next one. Tons of surprises and plot reversals right to the end. And making sure the reader is invested in your hero's plight within the first 10 pages. I think all writers could learn from that. Oh yeah—and maybe something about keeping the story moving, too!

What scares you?
Well, my 401k scares me! And I don't do creepy well. Not in the books, and I surely don't go to "scary" movies. But if it's a serious question, what truly scares me is probably the potential deterioration of our country through polarization, divisiveness, lack of education, poor use of capital and lack of a cohesive long-term strategy that may render us non-competitive in the next decades. Not very thriller-esque perhaps, but it's at the top of the list of what worries me.

Suspense is one of the most popular genres in the world. How do you explain its appeal?
You could make the case that genre fiction crime, suspense, etc., instead of being dismissed, is actually the most relevant form of fiction being written today—dealing with the issues and events that reflect the headlines and the crises that affect the world today. I like to write about life and death matters; I like to write about everyday characters measuring themselves up to heroism; I like to write stories with large consequences at stake. I like to raise the blood pressure and keep people gripped. I like my stories to move fast. And I think those things are what captivate readers of suspense, as well.

What are you working on next?
Not a Ty Hauck book—a stand-alone. It's called One Last Thing. We had a personal tragedy in my family last summer. My 21-year-old nephew, a troubled bi-polar kid, jumped off a cliff and sadly killed himself in California. My brother's only child. So I’m working on a plotline about teenage suicide, mental illness, and a 30-year-old revenge killing that leads back to a Manson-like family. It's a very personal book for me; some of the stories, true or apocryphal, are about my family. I think it will please. Then I'll go back to a Hauck book on the next one.

Knopf publisher and editor-in-chief Sonny Mehta, who introduced the works of Stieg Larsson to American readers, talks about the phenomenal success of the series.

How did you first hear about the Millennium trilogy?
I heard about the books at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2007. At that time, they were already creating quite a stir in Europe. I bought American rights soon after returning to New York.

What was it about the books that made you want to acquire rights for Knopf?
I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in one sitting. I thought it was remarkable for both its suspense and its portrait of society. Lisbeth Salander, “the girl,” is one of the most dynamic and original characters I’ve encountered in years. I believe we had only synopses of the second and third books, but one could tell from the ambition of Dragon Tattoo that the trilogy was going to be an impressive work in its entirety.

The publication of the trilogy was a unique situation—the author was dead, the books had to be translated from their original Swedish, and they were published at different times in different languages all around the world. What was it like working with such conditions?
It’s certainly an unusual situation, but not unprecedented. We had a similar experience when we published Suite Française a few years ago. The author, Irène Némirovsky, died during World War II, and her daughter had only just discovered and decided to publish the manuscript, which was in French. So the novel wasn’t as contemporary as Stieg Larsson’s, but it was another one of those rare works in translation—particularly without a living author—that found a wide audience in the United States and around the world. It’s tragic to realize that these authors didn’t get to experience the success of their own work, but it can also be reassuring to know that publishing their books may help their legacy to endure for generations. (Read our review of Suite Française)

Were you involved with re-titling the books for an English-speaking audience? (The first book’s original title was Men Who Hate Women.)
The British editor, Christopher MacLehose, from whom we bought the books, and who commissioned the English translation, came up with the title. I wasn’t involved in that process, but I knew we wanted the American edition to use this title rather than Men Who Hate Women. There was some concern that the original title might, in English, sound like a self-help book. Also, the title The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo emphasizes the character of “the girl,” Salander, who in my opinion is one of the main strengths of the trilogy.

Why do you think the books became so successful here?
I think it was a combination of factors. We had a terrific series of jackets, the look of which has now become iconic. We did advance reader’s editions, which went out to a wide group of fellow writers who were very supportive, [and] there was a large marketing campaign. But mainly it’s the strength of the books themselves. I think they really touched a chord with American readers.

Is it true that Larsson left a partial manuscript for book four when he died?
I’ve also heard those rumors, but I don’t have any concrete information about a fourth book. I understand that as long as Stieg Larsson’s estate is in dispute, it probably won’t be possible to get hold of the manuscript, if it even exists.

RELATED CONTENT
Read our reviews of all three books in the Millennium Trilogy

Photo of Sonny Mehta © Michael Lionstar.

Chevy Stevens has received a bigger reception for her first novel than many authors will ever see: fast-paced thriller Still Missing has a first print run of 150,000 copies, and at the time of this interview, rights have been sold in 16 countries. If you start the novel, it’s easy to identify the root of the buzz: the story itself, which zips by in a can’t-put-it-down blur.

Protagonist Annie O’Sullivan is a successful real estate agent and a confident, independent woman—and in short order she’s abducted at an open house by a charming potential buyer. For more than a year, The Freak holds her captive in a cabin, dictating everything from Annie’s clothing, to her food, to her bathroom schedule. Because the narrative is told in a series of flashbacks, the reader knows all along that Annie gets out alive. She tells her story throughout appointments with her psychiatrist, although the action comes back to the present when an investigator starts to work on the case.

Readers will root for Annie’s fierce resolve—and be blown away by a shocking twist at the end. If that’s not enough to hook you, read on for more from Stevens herself, who answered questions on her early success, writing brutally violent scenes and a Realtor’s worst nightmare.

Still Missing is an incredibly intense novel with viscerally painful scenes of violence and rape. Was it difficult for you to write the graphic passages? Did you do any research to get inside the mind of a woman who has been abducted and abused?
It was very difficult to go into the more intense scenes, whether they were physical or emotional, and afterward I would feel drained for hours. When I wrote terrifying scenes my heart was racing, and when I worked on parts where Annie was sad, vulnerable or simply unable to connect with someone, I hurt along with her.

I didn’t do any research on abduction cases and tried to avoid reading about anything that was remotely related as I wanted the story to come from inside me. I did some online research about PTSD and the five stages of grief, but the majority came from my own imagination and personal life experiences.

The reader knows from the beginning of Still Missing that Annie will get away from her captor—the story is told in a series of post-abduction sessions with her psychiatrist. Why did you choose this structure?
I didn’t actually choose the structure so much as it just came out that way. When I first heard my character’s voice in my head, she was telling her story to a therapist, so when I started writing I just began with a session. It was always in first person and I never considered writing any other way.

You have said that the idea for Still Missing came to you when you worked as a real estate agent: you would imagine horrible scenarios—like being abducted during an open house. Did your dark imagination ever interfere with your work? 
I wouldn’t say it interfered with my work, but it made me more careful. When I hosted open houses I avoided showing basements and if I wasn’t sure of someone, I stood in the doorway. I always had my cell phone in hand, ready to dial, and I avoided meeting clients at homes if I hadn’t met them at my office first. In most situations I just tried to listen to my instincts and I did pass on a couple of clients who made me uncomfortable.

Have any real estate agents read Still Missing . . . then accused you of inducing nightmares?
I haven’t heard from any real estate agents as of yet, but I think it’s a fear a lot of female Realtors already have. Most of them are very careful—as all women should be when they are alone and in a vulnerable situation. Annie’s nightmare starts with an open house, but tragically many women are hurt in parking lots, walking home or simply going for a morning jog.

The tagline for Still Missing is “The truth doesn't always set you free.” Is this true for Annie? Would she have been better off if she hadn’t solved the mystery of her abduction?
Good question. It was a painful truth and she’s going to be dealing with it for a long time, but I think when there’s a tragedy a lot of people need to know why it happened before they can move on. That’s why some mothers of murder victims want to talk to the killer after he’s been caught. As horrific as the answers may be, it gives them something to move forward from.

The Freak makes Annie read him Pat Conroy’s The Prince of Tides, a book that prominently features a psychiatrist character (not to mention brutal rape). Were you inspired by that novel—or any others—when you were writing Still Missing?
I loved The Prince of Tides for its honesty, but it didn’t inspire any aspect of Still Missing. In this case, I needed a book that I felt The Freak—and Annie—might connect with and remembered The Prince of Tides as being a powerful book that dealt with family dysfunction. I’ve always been attracted to stories about twisted family dynamics and survivors of crime—of people overcoming any form of abuse.

Still Missing has a 150,000-copy first printing and rights have been sold in several countries. How does it feel for your first novel to be such an international success?
Yes, Still Missing has now sold to 16 countries in addition to North America, which has been very exciting. It means a lot to me that Annie’s story is connecting with people around the world. I feel it’s a testimony to the human spirit’s desire to overcome the injustices that so many people face in their lives. On a personal note, I love the idea of many cultures experiencing a bit of the West Coast of Canada. [Still Missing takes place on Vancouver Island.] And I’ve found it fascinating to see all the different covers.

You have said that you didn’t consider genre conventions when you wrote Still Missing. In BookPage, however, the novel is reviewed as part of a “Women in Mystery” feature—paying homage to the women writers who have been in the “vanguard of suspense fiction.” Do you consider yourself to be a successor to writers such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, or is your style something totally different?
It’s an honor to see those names anywhere near mine! I have huge respect for all the women writers who have paved the way for the rest of us, but I try not to emulate anyone or compare my style to theirs. I was just telling the story in my voice as it came to me and hoping it connected with others.

Still Missing includes a twist at the 11th hour. Were you aware of this story turn from the beginning, or did it come to you later in the writing process?
The twist wasn’t in my mind when I first sat down to write, but it did happen organically in my first draft. Subsequent rewrites were to make sure that the foundation was there all along.

You have already signed a deal to write two sequels to Still Missing. Will the plot of your next book, Never Knowing, be a direct continuation of Still Missing? Will it star Annie O’Sullivan? Can you give any details?
Never Knowing isn’t a direct sequel, but it does have the same therapist, Nadine, who we met in Still Missing. Sara, the main character in Never Knowing, has a different dynamic with Nadine than Annie did, and also a unique energy of her own, so it’s interesting for me to see how that drives the story forward.

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Teresa.

The prolific, perennially best-selling Patricia Cornwell first kicked her way into publishing 20 years ago with Postmortem, a risky little mystery that introduced the world to Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner whose grim science had heretofore been relegated to footnote status.

Seven publishers turned it down before Scribner finally agreed to let the presses roll. Did it succeed? And how! Not only did it become the first novel ever to win the Edgar, Creasey, Anthony and Macavity awards in a single year, but without Cornwell’s infectious introduction to the arcane world of forensics, the letters CSI might be just another meaningless acronym today.

“Part of the reason the publishers hesitated was, it was a world they hadn’t seen before and it was occupied by a woman, and the whole thing was a little bit scary and they weren’t sure it was a smart investment—all $6,000 they paid for it!” Cornwell chuckles. “No one was really sure anybody had an appetite for this sort of thing. Who cares about toxicology labs? Yuck!”

Who cares indeed. Fast-forward a decade to “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced television series set in Las Vegas that premiered on CBS in the fall of 2000. It would become television’s most successful mystery franchise of the new millennium, spawning two equally successful spin-offs and, not incidentally, a mini-boom in forensic-centric crime fiction as well.

The “CSI” craze has been both flattering and somewhat problematic for Cornwell.

“The biggest chalenge for me was creating a genre that then took over like kudzu, and then realizing that there is so much of this because you sort of made it accessible to people and now everybody’s doing it and what are you going to do?” Cornwell says. “Because you can’t take the approach that I did the first 10 years of my career, which was, I’m going to write a book about forensic fire investigation, or about trace evidence, or one that has Interpol and a decomposing body in it. I would pick a certain area of expertise that you’ve never seen before and then show you something that’s really fun. Well, that same approach doesn’t exactly work anymore because there’s no point in spending 10 pages explaining a scanning electron microscope when people can watch one on TV.”

With Port Mortuary, her new Scarpetta mystery and number 18 in the series, Cornwell takes her seasoned chief medical examiner out of her comfort zone in a plot that could be torn from tomorrow’s headlines. As chief of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts, a joint venture between the state and federal governments, MIT and Harvard, Scarpetta has spent months away on a fellowship at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, learning the military’s cutting-edge art of CT-assisted “virtual autopsy” at the request of the White House. During her absence from her day job, a mysterious death near her Cambridge home threatens to shut down the new venture and destroy Scarpetta’s career.

Longtime readers will welcome Cornwell’s return to first-person narration as she tells this grim tale in Scarpetta’s voice. But they may be surprised at the new elements of political intrigue, including a long-hidden secret from Scarpetta’s own military past that reverberates through her new life at the coordinates where military and domestic forensics meet.

Cornwell, who takes pride in immersing herself in field work for inspiration, felt the chill of military secrecy and anti-terrorism forensic investigation, if only from a distance, and likes it as a new flavor for Scarpetta. In truth, she says, medical examiners are often caught up in powerful outside forces.

“Medical examiners put up with a huge amount of political stuff,” she says. “I haven’t really gotten into that a whole lot, but now that Scarpetta has this affiliation with government, it gives me more of a platform to talk about some of it. Having her more involved in government gives me the license to have the flavor of not only a thriller but a spy novel. You don’t always know who the good guys are. You think you know, but maybe you’re wrong.”

Curiosity has driven Cornwell since her days as a police reporter for the Charlotte Observer back in the early 1980s, a cool job that allowed her to stick her nose where it didn’t belong. She still remembers the moment her curiosity put her on the path to becoming a best-selling novelist.

“I decided I wanted to write books about crime and I managed to get an interview with a medical examiner in Richmond, and that was the day that changed my life,” she recalls. “It was the spring of 1984, and I still remember walking into this conference room and sitting down with Dr. Marcella Fierro, who was the first medical examiner I’d ever met, and we spent three hours just discussing forensic medicine. She gave me a tour of the morgue—it was empty at that hour—and she happened to mention that there was some new technology coming down the pike, something called DNA and something called lasers. And I thought, wow, this is cool stuff! I knew at that moment that this was where I want to be; I want to be in this building and learn everything I can about the world these people work in.”

For six years leading up to the publication of Postmortem, Cornwell did just that, working as a technical writer and computer analyst at Dr. Fierro’s ME unit, soaking up the scientific know-how and love of cutting-edge forensics that still power her fiction.

“The truth is, if you walk into a lab, you don’t go, oh my God, this is cool; your first thought is, I have no idea what I’m looking at and I want to run in horror. There’s nothing sexy about any of it,” she says. “You’ve got to let your imagination take hold of it and be able to explain extremely esoteric techniques and put them in terms that they understand and humanize them. And add a dash of poetry while you’re at it.”

Cornwell refers to the plots of “CSI”-type television programs as “forensic fantasy.” As she sees it, “There’s no limit to the kind of stories you can come up with because you’re not limited by the procedures of technology. It’s like ‘Star Trek’—anything that you can imagine, you can do on television.”

That said, Cornwell has seen firsthand how quickly science fiction becomes science fact in the forensics world.

“If I had been writing Port Mortuary back in the days of Postmortem, it would have seemed like ‘Star Trek.’ What’s true about shows like ‘CSI’ is that probably some of the things that seem outrageous now may very well be used in 10 years, or even five years.” 

Describe your book in one sentence.
When he was 14, John Calvino killed the murderer of his parents and sisters, but 20 years later, as a homicide detective, he reluctantly comes to believe that the dead man's spirit has returned to murder John's wife and children.

What was your favorite book as a child?
Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. I identified intensely with Mr. Toad of Toad Hall. I still do.

What's the best writing advice you've ever gotten?
John D. MacDonald told me that most criticism a writer receives is about his style and his worldview, because the critics want you to write and think the way they do. A writer's unique style and worldview, he said, are the most important things any author has to sell and therefore he should diligently preserve them.

Have you ever been tempted to quit writing?
No. Writing talent is an unearned grace. I think it comes with an obligation to explore it and to polish the craft that supports it. I hope to die face-first in my keyboard—but only after I've written the last line of the book.

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one fictional character, who would you want it to be?
Jeeves, the butler from the series of novels by P.G. Wodehouse. I wouldn't need a butler on a desert island, but if I'm going to be reduced to eating snakes and bugs to survive, I want to share the island with someone who can make me laugh.

What was the proudest moment of your career so far?
All the proudest moments are the same—those books of mine that delight my wife, Gerda. I trust her judgment. And just as I wrote love notes and poems to her when we were dating, I write each book primarily with the hope of enchanting her.

What are you working on now?
This interview. But as soon as I finish it, I'll return to a novel with the scariest premise I've ever had. I can't talk about it because I never talk about a book in progress. I learned a long time ago that talking about a book diminishes the desire to write it.

Name one book you think everyone should read (besides your own!).
Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez.

Where do you write?
Always in the same place—bed. And always in my pyjamas.

Arguably one of the best-known authors in the world, James Patterson shows no signs of slowing down. This spring, Patterson will release the latest two volumes in his wildly popular Women’s Murder Club series. The 9th Judgment is on sale in trade paperback in April, followed by 10th Anniversary, a new hardcover on sale in May. Taking the time to speak with BookPage, Patterson tells us where he finds his inspiration and what’s next for the ladies of the Women’s Murder Club.  

You hold the Guinness World Record for bestsellers, with 63 New York Times best-selling titles and counting! After so many years and so many books, how do you keep coming up with fresh and exciting ideas?
Yeah, I guess writer’s block has never been a problem for me. I suppose that I am addicted to telling stories. In fact, I’m always trying to come up with new scenarios and plots. I’m actually running a bit behind schedule—I have at least a dozen concepts I haven’t begun to outline yet.

The Women’s Murder Club series started in 2001 with the publication of 1st to Die. Where did you get your inspiration for the series?
It seemed to me it was high time there was a female detective hero who works in the way most women, refreshingly, do work—as a team. Thriller fiction is full of lone-dog male (and a few female) protagonists who don’t play nice with others. Lindsay and company took shape out of that realization that there are other ways to solve problems, and catch criminals. There’s nothing quite like the Women’s Murder Club elsewhere in detective or thriller fiction.

What do you think it is about the Women’s Murder Club series that has resonated so strongly with readers?
Probably part of it is the collaborative group dynamic. Also, I think Lindsay, Claire, Jill and Yuki are pretty cool people. And they’re definitely great friends—the kind we all want to have. The plot twists aren’t bad, either . . . of course, I suppose I might be a little biased.

Can you choose a favorite character from the Women’s Murder Club? Or is that like asking a parent to pick a favorite child?
You must have read one of my prior interviews. I’m a good author that way. As a parent, I have no problem picking my favorite child. His name’s Jack and he’s my one and only.

10th Anniversary, the 10th entry in the Women’s Murder Club series, goes on sale in May. What can you tell us about this book?

In The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes, Marcus Sakey has written a seriously good thriller. Really good. So of course we can’t tell you too much about it.

“It drives me crazy when people [he means reviewers] give away all the stuff I worked so hard to make surprises,” Sakey says during a call to his home in Chicago, where, he reports, “life is a little chaotic.” He and his wife g.g. just moved to new digs a mile and a half west of Wrigley Field two days before our call.

Chicago’s neighborhoods have been the setting for all four of Sakey’s previous novels, including the highly regarded The Blade Itself (2007) and Good People (2008), the film version of which will be produced by and star Tobey Maguire. It gives nothing away to say the new book is, therefore, a departure, opening in Maine and ending in Los Angeles, with a crazy sort of road trip in between. Nor will it deprive readers of the edge-of-the-seat, smack-to-the-forehead pleasures of every nasty twist and turn of the plot to let them know that the title character suffers from amnesia. When the man awakens to find himself lying naked on a desolate beach, he has no idea who he is or how he got there.

Sakey’s publishers are so happy with the new book that they are calling it “a breakthrough achievement.” Sakey himself sounds more circumspect. Despite the truly scary, brutal edges of some of the characters he imagines, Sakey seems like a good-humored guy you’d enjoy having a beer with. He says he likes calling into reading group discussions about his books. He admits to “pet peeves” rather than towering rages. One of his pet peeves, he says, is discourtesy. “I’m a big fan of courtesy. I think it’s basic human decency to be courteous to one another.”

So, is his latest thriller a breakthrough? “That’s a hard question to answer. I will say that I feel it’s my most ambitious book. And it was a monster to write. It’s the book I’ve thrown away the most of. I reached a point where I realized that what I was writing was kind of bleak and joyless. I wasn’t enjoying it and I didn’t think others would either. So I had to throw out probably 150 pages. Which is pretty much a call for martinis.”

One of the biggest challenges, Sakey says, was finding a way to make all the plot twists and thematic layers of his story work together. “I wanted to make them honest surprises, where each significant discovery Daniel makes takes the book in a different direction. . . . And—I hope this doesn’t sound pretentious; I don’t think I’m pretentious—I was really trying in the way I told the story to say something about memory and about what stories mean. I think memory is just a story we tell ourselves, and if that’s true, then our identity is always malleable. There’s no certainty in who we are; it’s just the choices we make.”

But themes and ideas, Sakey acknowledges, are a touchy subject when it comes to writing a thriller. “There’s this perception that, ‘oh, you’re a thriller writer,’ pat on the head. But if a book doesn’t have ideas, I don’t understand why you’d read the book, much less write it. Without that, it’s just run, run, chase, chase, shoot, shoot. That doesn’t give me anything to anchor to as a reader and certainly not as a writer.”

Sakey grounds his ideas and twisty plots in small, vivid details. “I’m a big fan of the pull-out detail that makes you feel it. I like the little bit of verisimilitude rather than two pages of explanation.” And that tendency extends to his scariest characters. “A lot of times when people try to make things scary, they go into this weird slasher-movie mode. Like the more ridiculous and bloody harm they can make a character do while laughing the better. I just don’t buy that. I get annoyed by authors who do that.”

Which prompts Sakey to talk about another of his pet peeves. “I’ll hear some authors say that they don’t read while they’re writing. I don’t understand. Because first of all I am writing all the time, so then when is it I’m allowed to read?”

Sakey says he reads widely in his genre—Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane, Richard Price, to name a few—“but I probably read more outside the genre than within it. My tastes run to David Foster Wallace, David Mitchell, Thomas Pynchon, Michael Ondaatje, Michael Chabon, Michael Cunningham. It’s like somebody once said: There are two kinds of writing, good writing and bad writing. I don’t really care what the genre is, I read the good stuff.”

You can put Sakey’s The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes right up there with the good stuff.