Q&A with Richard A. Danzig

 

 





Richard A. Danzig is the author of the new novel The Collectors, the latest in his Chance Cormac series. Also a lawyer and an artist, he is based in New York. 

 

Q: How did you originally create your character Chance Cormac, and do you think he’s changed at all over the course of the series?  

 

A: Chance was an amalgam of my experience as an attorney representing clients and dealing with adversaries. I believe he embodies the best traits of a good lawyer - passion, ethics, and belief in the legal system. He changed based upon challenges in his personal life and loss of faith in the justice system.  

 

Q: What inspired the plot of The Collectors?  

 

A: The Collectors was based upon reported cases of art fraud and the harvesting of human organs before a patient died.  

 

Fine art has become a significant investment for hedge funds and family offices.  

 

There is great demand for human organs for transplant patients. The process for determining a patient's priority for an organ transplant is complex and varies from country to country. Those with wealth or celebrity status are often given preferential treatment. 

 

Q: How did you research the novel, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?  

 

A: I researched the novel by investigating the history of art fraud and organ transplants.  

 

I was surprised to learn that historically there have been expert forgers of fine art since the times of ancient Rome and Greece. Also, originally it was not illegal for a people to agree to sell their own organs. Much like selling your own blood. The practice is now illegal throughout the world.  

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?  

 

A: That ethical attorneys are now faced with an existential crisis when they are confronted by the fact that often the law cannot be relied upon to achieve justice. Self-help and coercion are often the only remedies.  

 

Q: What are you working on now?  

 

A: I am in the process of writing the fourth Chance Cormac Legal Thriller, titled Against All Odds. This book will be published in 2026.  

 

Q: Anything else we should know?  

 

A: The Collectors will be published and available for purchase on Amazon on Sept. 15, 2025. The first two books in the Chance Cormac series, Facts Are Stubborn Things and Punch Line, are available for purchase on Amazon now. A pilot script for a TV series based upon the books titled Brooklyn Law had been written and is being considered for production. 

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb