Robert Bailey is the author of the new novel The Boomerang. His other books include the Jason Rich series. Also an attorney, he lives in Huntsville, Alabama.
Q: You've said that your own family's experiences with cancer inspired your new novel--can you say more about that?
A: My father was diagnosed with stage IV terminal lung cancer in April 2016. Eight months later, my wife Dixie was diagnosed with early-stage III lung cancer. She was a candidate for surgery, but she’d have to go through chemo and radiation first.
For the next few months, Dad and Dixie were both treated for lung cancer, sometimes receiving chemotherapy at the same time. I actually have photographs of them sitting in their treatment chairs side by side, but I don’t ever look at them.
Dad fought hard but died on March 3, 2017. A month later, Dixie had curative surgery where her right lung was removed. My wife has been in remission since her surgery, and we are so grateful for her health.
The inspiration for The Boomerang came during those months of watching my father and wife fight for their lives. The emotional terrain covered by the James family in the story is ground I’ve walked on, and the conspiracy idea comes from conversations I had with other patients’ family members in cramped, tiny, tension filled waiting rooms where everyone’s world has pressed pause for the results of a scan.
Q: How did you create your character Eli James?
A: I am a situational writer, and, beyond the conspiracy, the horrific situation of a father trying to save his daughter is the beating heart of the story. I wanted Eli to be a deeply flawed man, whose redeeming qualities emerge in the crisis of Bella’s diagnosis and his quest for the cure.
Eli is at his best when protecting those he loves, which is hinted at a little in the beginning of the story with his loyalty to the president but becomes clearer as he chases the boomerang for Bella.
I also wanted him to be a street-smart lawyer, whose skills include the art of manipulation, which he uses to great effect once he secures the boomerang but needs to escape and protect his family.
Q: Did you need to do much research to write the novel, and if so, did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: Yes, but there was an organic quality to it. Dixie grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the family dynamic between Dale James and her stepfamily in the story was inspired by Dixie’s relationships with her own stepfamily.
However, for the story to seem authentic, I had to do some groundwork. In October 2023, we spent a week at the Tamaya Resort on the Santa Ana Pueblo reservation on the outskirts of Albuquerque for a fall break trip that was essentially all research for The Boomerang. The Tamaya is featured in the book as it is where the family hides out.
Dixie attended Menaul School, which is also referenced in the story with a powerful scene taking place in the on-campus chapel. I visited this chapel during our trip as it was also Dixie’s 30-year high school reunion.
We took a tram ride up to the Sandia Peak, which is another landmark prominently featured in the story. We also visited Santa Fe and Los Lunas, touring both places with help from Dixie’s cousin, Jeff.
As for surprises, I included several helicopters in this story as Nester Sanchez has an arsenal at his disposal, and I should have done more research.
I learned that the Apache attack helicopter can only hold two passengers. In early drafts, I had five folks in it, and several beta readers flagged this discrepancy as an issue. After a whole weekend of trying to figure out how I could rig the Apache for Nester to make it larger, I came up with a simpler solution. I just gave him a second copter that was bigger. Ha!
In actuality, I love this change, because it strengthens Nester’s position, but I was sweating it for several days.
Q: The writer Lisa Unger said of the book, “As much about the shocking secret truths buried deep in the annals of power as it is about fatherhood, friendship, and the things we'll do for the people we love most, The Boomerang is thought-provoking, riveting, and action packed.” What do you think of that description?
A: I am grateful and humbled by it. I can’t think of a better description for what I hope readers will take from this story. To have someone as respected and talented as Lisa Unger to describe The Boomerang in this way means so much to me.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: My next book, The Mediator, returns to my Southern roots and features suspended trial lawyer Max Ringo, who is trying to make a comeback as a mediator.
Max is thrilled when she is assigned to mediate a high-profile divorce case that involves two of the most powerful people in town. But her excitement turns to terror when her estranged son is kidnapped by one of the parties and she is blackmailed to negotiate the terms of the settlement on his terms.
Caught in a nightmare with the clock on her son’s life ticking, Max must use all of her skills and face down her demons to settle the case and save her son.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: The Boomerang begins on a baseball field in Lick Skillet, Alabama, and ends in the desert of New Mexico. Along the way, a reader visits the nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., the Florida panhandle, the Beau Rivage casino in Biloxi, Mississippi and M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas.
The story covers a lot of emotional ground but also just a lot of America. I love this story so much, and I hope readers will enjoy the ride.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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