Q&A with Robert B. McCaw

  

 

 

Robert B. McCaw is the author of the new novel Traitors. He also has written the Koa Kāne series. A retired attorney, he lives in New York. 

 

Q: What inspired you to write Traitors, and how did you create your character Robert Cooper?

 

A: “Robert Cooper” inspired me to write Traitors. Cooper arose from three personal objectives: the desire to write a thriller; create an unusual, if not unique, protagonist; and draw upon my experience practicing law in Washington, D.C., and New York.

 

Cooper, as a senior lawyer in the DOJ’s National Security Division, fulfilled all those goals. His close relationship with the president elevated his status, putting him at the center of events with access to extensive resources. The recent death of his wife introduced the opportunity for a romantic subplot.

 

With those elements in place, the story flowed from the international and political headlines that have captivated me over the years.

 

Q: The author David Morrell said of the book, “Combining the espionage thriller with the legal thriller, this riveting novel...reminds me of the classic Seven Days in May.” What do you think of that comparison?

 

A: First, I am honored by the comparison of Traitors to the classic by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II. David Morrell was the first reviewer to recognize that Traitors belongs to a rare literary genre combining the espionage thriller with the legal thriller.

 

He also saw a thematic similarity between the novels. Both feature exemplary men as presidents and demonstrate the fragility of our democratic form of government. In Seven Days in May, the threat is from our own military. In Traitors, the threat is foreign, carried out by sleeper agents long embedded within our society.

 

Both chillingly portray potentially disastrous real-world threats: nuclear arms policy in one and a Russian invasion of Europe in the other. And in both, brave men of integrity battle against the odds when time is of the essence if our democratic society is to survive.

 

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

 

A: Newspaper headlines served as a bountiful starting point for my research for Traitors.

 

From foreign spies arrested in the US (and other NATO countries) to Russian ambitions for European conquest, from a possible Prigozhin-like coup in Russia to isolationist sentiment in the US, Traitors draws authenticity from a reordering of recent events combined with a dose of imagination.

 

There are numerous other examples: Novichok, Epstein-like characters, jailed journalists, social media disinformation, etc.

 

Some legal processes, like FISA warrants and international legal assistance treaties, required more traditional research as did ferreting out details and settings for scenes.

 

The ease with which these disparate, real-life components came together into a coherent storyline was the biggest surprise.

 

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

 

A: Traitors is a work of fiction intended for entertainment. That said, the story exposes the frailties of our democratic form of government and the vital role played by the men and women who work around the clock to safeguard the freedoms that too many take for granted.

 

Traitors is thus a tribute to the Claytons and Coopers (and other towering figures of integrity) who, together with countless unheralded heroes, keep the flame of democracy alive in dangerous times.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I am hard at work on another Cooper novel.

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: One man, Starling Lawrence, the legendary editor at W.W. Norton & Company, made the publication of Traitors possible. After reading an early manuscript, before officially acquiring the book, he offered to edit the novel, marking his changes on each successive hard-copy draft with a pencil. No computers. No spell check. Just years of accomplished editorial experience.

 

Then one day, when the manuscript finally met his specifications, he said, “It’s time to take it to committee,” and he acquired the book. Only through his recognition and skillful editing did Traitors become a reality. He was one of the greats of the publishing industry, and I will miss the opportunity to work with him in the future.

 

I do, however, still hear his voice when I sit down to write: “Avoid the obvious.” “It’s often better to cut than revise.” “Use as few words as possible.”

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Robert B. McCaw.