Interview with Crime Writer Bill Brier – S. 5, Ep. 5

Debbi Mack interviews crime writer Bill Brier on the Crime Cafe podcast. Check out the show notes below, or if you’re in a rush, download a copy! Debbi [00:00:13]: Hi, everyone. This is the Crime Cafe, your podcasting source of great crime, suspense and thriller writing. I’m your host, Debbi Mack. Before I bring on my guest, I’ll just remind you that the Crime Cafe has two e-books for sale; the nine-book box set and the short story anthology. You can find the buy links for both on my website, www.debbimack.com under the “Crime Cafe” link. You can also get a free copy of either book if you become a Patreon supporter. You’ll get that and much more if you support the podcast on Patreon, along with our eternal gratitude for doing so. Debbi [00:01:02]: Hi, everyone. Today, we have a crime fiction author who has a most interesting background. Before he began writing books, he worked in the film industry in different capacities. He also drives race cars. Now, he writes mysteries and thrillers. I'm pleased to have with me today, the award-winning author, Bill Brier. Hi, Bill, how you doing today? Bill Brier [00:01:28]: Hi, fine. How are you doing, Debbi? Debbi [00:01:30]: Okay. Um, where are you coming from today? Bill [00:01:38]: Thousand Oaks, California. I live in California. Debbi [00:01:41]: Ah, very nice. So, let's talk about your books. I'm in the midst of reading The Devil Orders Take-out, a standalone thriller. Was that your first novel? Bill [00:01:55]: Yes, uh-huh, it was. Debbi [00:01:57]: Okay. And what prompted you to write that particular story? Bill [00:02:02]: Well, that story started with—I was actually going to do a story about a talking dog, and I wrote maybe 50 pages of a young teenaged golfer who had this dog that would retrieve golf balls. And after about 50 pages, I realized this was working very well, so I scrapped it and started all over again. And I kept the character, the young boy, he was actually a teenager and eliminated the dog and the story went from there. Debbi [00:02:44]: Hmm, interesting. And can you tell us a little bit about the story? Bill [00:02:49]: Sure. It has to do with a mob boss and a first-rate tax lawyer who get into battles; life-and-death battles. The lawyer had a son murdered and, in trying to seek revenge, he sought out this crime boss. Now, prior to this, the crime boss had come up and approached the attorney asking him to settle an IRS case because he was being audited and he knew that this lawyer was the best there is. The lawyer refused to take the case and the crime boss was very upset with him. Later, the lawyer’s son and wife get killed through circumstances and there was a person who was responsible for this death, and the lawyer wanted retribution. Well, he bought a gun but he lost his nerve, so he remembered the crime boss. He approached the crime boss and said, ”Okay, I will do your taxes, you take care of rubbing out this person.” And what happens is that the crime boss does do that, but now the man is indebted to the crime boss and a lot of mystery and other things happen. And the son of the lawyer turns out to be a gifted golfer and the crime boss threatens to kill the kid—he was only maybe eight years old at this time—because he was mad at the lawyer. So, they are in the office, the crime boss’ office, and he says, “You're gonna get it hard, Bolt. You're not gonna like it, but I'm going to kill your son.” And the lawyer looks on the wall behind the crime boss and sees a picture of him playing golf with Lee Trevino, a professional golfer at the time, so he catches on that he likes golf. So, he says, “If you kill me, you'll miss out on making millions of dollars.” “Oh yeah, you tell me how that's gonna happen”, the crime boss says. Well, thinking quickly, he says “my son is a gifted golfer” and he's gonna win what would be the Masters. Debbi [00:05:58]: By the way, you don't have to give away all the spoilers here [l...