Q&A with Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

 

Jeffery Deaver, photo by Nikki Giovanni Coniglio

 

 

Jeffery Deaver and Isabella Maldonado are the authors of the new novel Fatal Intrusion. Deaver's many other books include the Lincoln Rhyme series. Maldonado's other books include the Daniela Vega series.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Fatal Intrusion, and how did you create your characters Carmen Sanchez and Jake Heron?

 

JD: We write a similar kind of book: fast-paced thrillers in the third person, past tense, shifting points of view, with many surprises.

 

Given that premise, we came up with an idea that we thought would make a good story: an apparent serial killer stalking Southern California. And we outlined the story, divided up the effort, wrote the chapters, handed off to each other, edited our work and... poof, out came a finished book.

 

For our protagonists, we wanted something different: An agent with DHS's Homeland Security Investigations, Carmen Sanchez, and a person she knows from her past--a quirky security expert, Professor Jake Heron. They form an uneasy but intense alliance.

Isabella Maldonado, photo by Skip Feinstein

IM: It was truly a collaboration from start to finish. Once we knew we wanted to write together, we came up with a completely fresh, new, and different concept for our series. It was a lot of fun, which made the work much more enjoyable!

 

Q: How would you describe the dynamic between your two protagonists?

 

JD: Easy: Love/hate; respect/distrust; plays by the rules/colors outside the lines.

 

IM: I can sum it up in one word: Tension!

 

Q: How did the two of you collaborate on the book?

 

JD: We met at a writers' conference in Chicago a few years ago. We were in the green room, getting ready for the presentation and chatting with Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl. The three of us were doing what authors do--cracking up and making up a joint book, about a baby Mafioso (think the Godfather in Pampers.) The idea died a merciful death and we moved on.

 

Then Isabella and I met at a conference a few years later and decided the idea of a joint book might be fun, since we write the same type of book, and we moved forward from there. The rest is history....

 

IM: After meeting at the Murder and Mayhem in Chicago conference in 2018, we met again at Thrillerfest in New York City in 2019. Again, we hit it off, enjoying each other's sense of humor. 

 

I think it's important for writing partners to have a basis of both friendship and mutual respect before embarking on a major endeavor such as writing a novel. Neither of us had ever co-authored a full-length work before, so we were both taking a major leap of faith. Fortunately, it turned out beautifully!

 

Q: The writer Jeff Ayers said of the novel, “This book reads like a great episode of Monk or Elementary, with law enforcement working closely with an expert consultant.” What do you think of that comparison?

 

JD: First, appreciate the kind words and it's appropriate, since Fatal Intrusion was intentionally written to be a roller coaster of a streaming story, with rich psychological elements--on the part of both the protagonists and the bad guys.

 

IM: I agree wholeheartedly, although it is a bit darker than Monk. There are some humorous moments to be sure, but the overall tone is that of an intense psychological thriller where the reader is never quite sure what is truly going on until the last reveal, which is a doozy!

 

Q: This is the first in a new series--can you tell us what's coming next?

 

JD: No.... Ha, we're suspense writers so we have to leave the world in suspense! But we can say that the title is The Grief Artist. All will be revealed in due time...

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

JD: Make sure the bowl is chilled before whipping heavy cream... Oh, you mean the book world? Just that we managed to work three surprise endings into Fatal Intrusion. We do this because our readers are brilliant and we're sure they'll guess one or two. But at least there will be one zinger to get 'em!

 

IM: Early reviews are in, and readers are loving Fatal Intrusion!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb