May's new releases, book reviews, and more!

Debbi Mack

May 22, 2025

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Excerpts and more from featured releases

Killer Convergence by Lee Clark. On sale now!

Guest post by Lee Clark.

Bringing the Matthew Paine Mystery Series to Life: Well-Researched Scenarios, Places and Relatable Characters

If the Matthew Paine Mystery novels are fictional, what makes them believable to draw readers in and keep them turning pages? Research is a primary facet of that answer. Accurate facts, details, and descriptions resonate with readers. Pulling a reader out of the story down a bunny trail, disengaging them, is the last thing an author wants to do. Inaccuracies are distracting.

Some information is searchable online. My husband swears we’re on the FBI watch list for some of the things I’ve researched. Many topics and questions, though, require subject matter experts to explain or validate.

Creating the Matthew character as a physician meant researching ailments and treatments. Readers in the healthcare industry shouldn’t be pulled out of the story line by inaccurate scenarios or diagnoses. My daughter helped tremendously with the Matthew character when she chose a career in medicine. She found studying odd aliments and treatments fascinating. Most of the medical issues in the first book, Dead Spots, resulted.

Adding homicide detective Danbury, meant learning about police operations. Information about stipulations when an officer chooses to carry a personal weapon on the job, for example, are readily available in police procedural handbooks. I found that for the area where the characters live, downloaded it, and studied it. Information about investigating a cold case, however, is not similarly documented. For that, I consulted a retired NC Homicide Detective.

In Prefer Death, a high-performing autistic character was inspired by someone I’d encountered, years ago. A beloved icon of the fictional town, the character was a bit misunderstood. Delving into that research, I was thankful to find a plethora of information available. The required gangsters in the storyline needed authentic voices which I found, in online street slang dictionaries!

The characters travel to Miami and begin to disappear in MIA. I took online courses in Human trafficking. Bringing people into the United States is easier than transporting them out, I learned. To create a plausible extraction situation, I consulted a former NSA agent who specialized in that specific black market. He validated and tweaked my scenario.

My husband jokes that Christmas Punch makes him nervous because I know five ways to poison him. While that’s not exactly true, this fourth book in the series did require poison research. Not the great untraceable poison, but rather one that was readily available and easily attainable was what I needed. My findings scared me, so Matthew provides a monologue about identifying and avoiding Hemlock.

Iced, the twistiest book in the series, was born of the questions, “What circumstance would achieve a lack of body decomposition? Would a body frozen and dumped in a heated pool disguise the time of death?” The answer isn’t searchable online, so I consulted the North Carolina Medical Examiner. Her description became Matthew’s hypothesis.

Years ago, I’d edited a book for a former KGB agent that I found intriguing, the inspiration for Forbidden Relics. KGB agents were being thoroughly trained and sent to the United States as pastor spies. As I researched more, I learned about the Eastern Orthodox Church and a monastic community on Mt. Athos, a peninsula in northern Greece. It’s similar to the Vatican in Rome in terms of self-governance, but no females of any species are allowed there. Did you know that the biggest Russian-born population outside of Russia is on the east coast of the US? Forbidden Relics fits all of that, and more, together.

For the final book in the series that was just released, Killer Convergence, Danbury’s story was begging to be told. It’s one of a military family. Presenting it authentically meant researching information like military insignia placement on uniforms. For that, I found an expert. Because the timeline of the continuing series placed this novel in the COVID period, I sought expertise on how medical practices handled the pandemic. The initial time period of the backstory was set before I traveled to Kenya, where I was intrigued with the language and culture. It must have been divine intervention that the time period of Danbury’s earlier storyline fit with an event in Kenya like a puzzle piece. It was so exact!

Research has taught me a lot as I created the Matthew Paine Mystery series. It’s provided a sense of realism and depth to the characters, settings, and descriptions. In this grand finale book in the series, I briefly introduced the protagonist for the next series, Red River Murders. A female, Tegan is both a medical examiner and an entomologist. The next research I’ll be conducing? Bugs! Anyone care to join me?

*****

Lee Clark is the author of the Matthew Paine Mystery series of classic murder mystery novels, including Dead Spots, Prefer Death, MIA, Christmas Punch, Iced, Forbidden Relics, and the upcoming Killer Convergence to be released in the spring of 2025.

According to multiple reviews across the book series on goodreads and Amazon, Clark "writes like Agatha Christie," and is reminiscent of Margaret Maron and Louise Penny. A North Carolina native, Clark grew up in Raleigh with family roots in Virginia. An admitted chocoholic and coffeeholic, Lee Clark still resides in North Carolina with spouse, two mostly grown children who are in and out, and a dwindling petting zoo of geriatric dogs and cats.

Lee Clark attended Campbell University, obtained a degree in Journalism from East Carolina University, and then a Master’s in Technical Communication from North Carolina State University. Following a twenty year career in the software development industry of corporate America at IBM, Clark turned to writing fiction in 2021 with the release of Dead Spots, the first in the Matthew Paine Mystery series.

The Matthew Paine character is a beloved character to the author. Though a fictional character, Matthew was inspired by two very important men in the author’s life, brother Sean and son Will. Both will catch glimpses of themselves in the character and identify with some of Matthew’s struggles.

Excerpt from No Lie Lasts Forever by Mark Stevens.

Available for pre-order.

CHAPTER 1

MONDAY

Flynn Martin balances on one foot, draws an X in the talcum-dry soil with the tip of her running shoe, and scolds herself for answering her phone. The signal, unfortunately, is solid. She can’t fake a dropped call.

“You said this gunman dude has hostages?”

“Four. Big standoff with police.”

Rick Goodman’s voice calm like he runs a spa.

“And he wants a reporter as go-between?”

“He wanted Sara first.”

Sara Cornette, longtime star anchor, currently lolling on a beachin Aruba.

“Naturally,” says Flynn.

“The police have located the store manager. He was at a franchisee meeting out in Golden. He knows the ‘gunman dude,’ as you call him, is the estranged husband of one of his cashiers, a woman named Rosa. The gunman’s name is Alfredo.”

“I’m outside Brighton. Twenty minutes would be a miracle.”

Two knife-blade clouds float next to a weak daytime moon above Longs Peak, forty-five miles to the northwest. It’s a clear January day.

“The standoff is an hour old already,” says Goodman.

“I’m second choice?”“Number two ain’t bad.”

“Nobody remembers second anything.”

“But you’ll be back in your comfort zone,” says Goodman. “So many cop cars it looks like they’re giving out free doughnuts.”

“Such a tired, cheap shot,” says Flynn. “You want me there or not?”

Among all her station’s reporters, Flynn has the best sources in the cop shop. First, due to her sheer number of years on the streets in the same city. Second, because her ex is a cop. But she has moved up to covering important issues and complicated subjects. Think pieces.

Climate change. Groundwater abuse. Or the story today, about how global warming affects the vernalization period for wheat planted in October.

Flynn jerks a thumb at their news truck. Tamica Porter unsnaps the camera from its tripod. A seasoned videographer, Tamica prefers the meaty stories too. She is also good at spotting a lost cause.

“Am I reporting or playing a role?” Goodman gives a protracted hmm. “Good question,” he says. “Let’s see how it goes.”

A rogue lunatic with a gun . . .

A horde of cops . . .

And me in the middle . . .

“Okay. Jesus.”

She shakes hands with the farmer, a string bean dressed in faded Carhartts. He has gray whiskers and a slew of angry comments for the water gods and government bureaucrats, so far all off camera.

“I’ll be back,” she tells him. “Maybe tomorrow.”

Stories about climate change and the chronic water shortage make her feel worthwhile. Tamica Porter too. They are a team. They have won one regional Emmy, having traced the Big Thompson River from its headwaters to the South Platte, showing the variety of stresses on the water supply. Flynn has developed a new brand. Crime stories are a thing of the past. Crime stories remind her of her cigarette days. Now it’s yoga once or twice a month. Now it’s reporting about withered crops, Colorado’s meager snowpack, wildfires, air pollution. She has graduated from crime.

They bomb down 85 from Brighton, Tamica behind the wheel. Yellow lights for mere mortals.

Goodman calls with a change of plans—the cops want her on the phone. She’s to be patched in to the conversation from the station.

“Fine with me,” says Flynn. “What’s Alfredo’s last name?”

“I don’t think we’ve got it,” says Goodman.

“It would be helpful.”

Flynn thinks of the four hostages, imagines how they’re feeling after a routine stop for gas or snacks turning into life and death. Waiting. Wondering. Worried. Panicked.

The mayhem around the Pump ’N Go, hard by the highway where Park Avenue West ducks under I-25, puts the interstate in parking lot mode. All the ramps at the intersection are closed, and a trio of rubberneckers have compounded the problem with a three-way fender bender.

Flynn checks her phone for updates from her competitors and the cops. The stalemate is as stuck as the traffic.

What will she say to her son? Wyatt wants to one day run for president, for the sole purpose of saving the planet from its disastrous warming trend. Wyatt is the kind of fifth grader who dampens his toothbrush with three drops of water before brushing.

Flynn pictures the slow shake of Wyatt’s head.

His conjured dismay matches her own.

The highway congestion makes Flynn feel stuck. Useless. Behind. In the wrong place. Like a bad dream where she shows up for the big college entrance test, only to discover she is hours late. Fate locked. Personal ineptness proved yet again! Does she want the traffic to get worse and make it impossible for her to get involved or clear up fast so she can try and help the cops and hostages? She isn’t sure.

Inside the station’s control room, two green pinpoint lights flash on the desk telephone.

One, explains Goodman, is their cameraman at the scene, Danny Bell.

The other, “the bozo.”

“Did you get his last name?” says Flynn.

“Sanchez,” says Goodman. “Alfredo Sanchez.”

“Thanks.”

“Bell’s the left light. Those lines are both in your headset. I’ve got the cops on my cell phone, and I’ll conference to your cell so you can hear what the cops want. Cops? I mean cop. The voice should be familiar.”

Flynn sighs. “Seriously?”

“I thought you two made divorce look easy.”

“I can’t believe he has ever uttered the word ‘negotiate.’ Not his style.”

Goodman ignores her. He’s good at that. “The guy with the gun—Mr. Sanchez—wants to hear your voice on the phone by four p.m.”

“A whole three minutes to come up with a game plan?”

On the only monitor that matters, a large sweaty man grips a prodigious black gun in one hand, a phone in the other. He towers over a rack of chips and Cheetos.

The image from Danny Bell’s camera tracks the gunman as he paces between the front door and the inside of the shop. The video shudders from the long zoom.Flynn accepts the patch-in call from Goodman.

“Max?”

Max McKenna. A cop’s cop. Born cop. Her ex. Wyatt’s father. A decent guy, but no longer her husband.

“Cutting it close,” he says.

“You’re welcome,” she says. “We were standing in a wheat field on the far side of Brighton.”

“He wants to negotiate through you,” says Max.

“And I thought you worked vice,” says Flynn.

“They thought, you know, that I could talk to you,” says Max.

She pictures him standing, pacing. A tight black pullover shirt. Dark slacks. His cheeks sport an omnipresent five o’clock shadow.

Nothing in his demeanor will project uncertainty.

“What? Do I require a special code? A handler?”

“Make sure he knows you don’t have the power to make deals. You can listen, but don’t lead him on. No coddling.”

The accusatory zinger churns up gummy residue. Yes, she wants to let Wyatt be a child. Yes, she doesn’t want him exposed to every one of his father’s work-related horror stories. But—coddling?

Four p.m.

Flynn needs time.

Doesn’t have it.

Her station switches from the whimsical closing credits of a breezy afternoon talk show to a hard open of anchor Joel Dryden, looking deadpan and inscrutable. It’s the same look he uses for drolly debriefing the weather forecasters, quizzing a celebrity chef, or interviewing the governor on set. Today, Dryden flies solo on the anchor desk while Sara Cornette orders another drink with a tiny umbrella somewhere in her sunburned oblivion.

“We’ve been monitoring a tense situation near downtown Denver that began unfolding earlier this afternoon,” Dryden tells viewers.

“This is earlier footage—the best images we have of the individual who has taken four hostages and drawn a huge police presence to this convenience store near I-25 at Park Avenue West. The gunman has asked to speak to one of our reporters, someone our viewers know well—Flynn Martin. They are due to begin talking any minute. For now, we’ll switch to reporter Andrea Caulkins, who is live at the scene and as close as police are allowing. Andrea?”

A bass drum thumps straight from Flynn’s heart. Two months ago, the station stayed with the live feed from the news helicopter as it tracked a carjacker racing at high speeds, at one point zipping the wrong way on I-25. The chase ended when the carjacker T-boned a minivan on South University, killing an innocent mother and her ten-year-old son.

Live . . .

Uncoddled . . .

No filter . . .

Andrea Caulkins wraps up her recap, which doesn’t add much to Dryden’s recap, even with the added flavor of having her feet on the ground out there in the real world. The station switches back to Dryden, who explains that they will “monitor the situation.” He starts in on a new story—a house fire in Boulder. Flynn’s view is from Danny Bell’s camera position, but her negotiations with Alfredo Sanchez won’t be broadcast live.

Good.

A glance at the bank of monitors reveals that her station is the exception. All the others show tight shots of the store. Or live shots with their reporters. Or live shots from the one helicopter that all the stations share.

Flynn pushes the button.

“Mr. Sanchez?” she says. “Can you hear me okay? This is FlynnMartin.”

“I didn’t plan it this way.”

Panicked . . .

Nervous . . .

“Don’t make it worse,” she says.

“Except I’ll be fucked. And if all you’re going to say is what the cops would say, I’ll take a shot at your fucking truck.”

The gun comes up. She hears the explosion in her ear. The picture wobbles.

Flynn pulls up Danny on speed dial.

“You okay?”

Five seconds feel like a week.

“Yeah,” he says. “Motherfucker.”

Flynn’s chest flashes with heat.

Danny: “Jesus Christ.”

Flynn switches back.

“You want to start over?” Alfredo Sanchez glowers into the camera.

“What do you want?” she says.

Pulse up, mouth like chalk.

Sanchez turns. He takes five steps toward his hostages.

“I got no chance,” says Sanchez. Poster ads on the floor-to-ceiling windows obscure the view. Soda. Chips. “My wife is screwing the manager. At my job? They dumped me. I got nothing. You know how hard it is to put together a life on eighteen fucking bucks an hour?”

“Where did you work?”

“What does it matter?”

“When did you stop working? Tell me a story.”

“This ain’t a fucking interview.”

“You don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“I got nothing to lose.”

“Flynn?” It’s Max on her cell. Flynn puts Sanchez on hold. “What?” she says.

“Keep him focused on what he wants.”

She punches the phone to bring Sanchez back. “We can find you a job,” she says. “You have to help us. Tell us what else you want so you can let these people get back to their lives.”

“You ever been fired?” says Sanchez.

“No.”

Never got the big promotion either . . .

“So you got no idea how it feels. Cheated on?”

“No.”

But—she wishes. A clichéd case of straightforward cheating would have made the split a snap. Of course it would have been Max. She would never step out on anyone. Would she?

“There you go. El número dos. You’ve ever been told to your face that you are no longer worth anything?”

Except for all the times she’s pushed for one of the anchor slots?

And run into a series of dull dismissals?

“Not really.”

“It’s a yes or no.”

He points his gun at the camera. At Danny.

At her.

“No.”

“Lucky you.”

Max on the cell: “Get him back to what he wants.”

“Help us out,” she says. “Tell us what you want. End this in a way you won’t regret.”

“One more regret don’t bother me.”

“Tell us,” she says. “How do you get us all out of this? Why did you ask for me?”

She dreads the answer.

“Here’s what I want.”

In her ear: “Finally.”

“No doubt I’m gonna die in a few minutes.”

“Not if we all stay calm,” she says.

Max: “Just listen.”

“Maybe if the cops won’t do it, I’ll do it myself.” He puts the gun to his temple, at too steep an angle. She flinches in anticipation. “Live TV don’t get much better.”

It’s a good thing he hasn’t taken hostages at a Best Buy—he’d know their negotiations aren’t on live TV.

“I need a job.”

“You need some help,” says Flynn. “We can get you help. Let those four go. There’s no need to make this worse. Those are innocent, innocent people.”

Max: “Listen. Draw him out. Focus him on what he wants, not them.”

“You don’t want to hurt those people or yourself,” says Flynn.

Sanchez: “You don’t know them.”

“They’re honest, decent people. Why hurt someone else?”

Max: “No. Stay off the hostages. Listen—okay?”

She hears an internal whisper. A voice of calm and reason.

The camera changes everything.

Her father. Loud and clear.

The TV news camera alters the equation of gathering news.

The TV wants misery—live and in color.

It’s like rubbernecking at a traffic accident, but you don’t have to leave your couch.

Flynn doesn’t need a new voice in her head. She doesn’t need her father’s print journalism purity.

Max: “Get him to focus. What he wants.”

“These people?” Sanchez waves the gun in a loose circle. On the bank of monitors, Channel 4 has found a better angle. Their view lines up with the four huddled hostages. All women.

They sit on the floor. Flynn makes out a high heel. A small black purse. A leather jacket. A purple baseball cap. Blue jeans. The woman closest to the window wears small round glasses. Her lips move as in prayer.

“These people were nothing to you before this. Nothing.”

“We care about all of you getting out of this safely. We care about them. We care about you, and we want to get out of this and let these women get back to their lives and for you to not make things worse.”

Max: “Don’t remind him of the hostages.”

“You can do this,” says Flynn. “Be as specific as you can. I’m sure the police will look favorably if you leave this with nobody hurt.”

Max: “Don’t make promises.”

“Zeros!” shouts the gunman. “Nothing to you.” He waves the gun at the four.

Channel 4’s view widens. Behind a cage of propane tanks, a cop crouches in full riot gear. An assault rifle juts from his shoulder.

“Zeros!”

Max: “He’s agitated.”

The gunman steps to the door.

He stands in a shot of sunlight.

He holds the phone above his head, then sends it skittering across the asphalt like skipping a stone across a lake.

“No!” says Flynn.

Max: “Jesus. Fuck.”

The gunman retreats inside the shop.

He turns.

He raises the gun.

His hand jerks.

The moment is eerily silent. A ghastly spritz of blood. The praying woman slumps where she sits. The screen fills with a swarm of cops.

The gunman staggers back into the candy and snacks, racks toppling like dominoes, and disappears from view.

Max: “Jesus. Fuck.”

A hot sensation surges from Flynn’s scalp to toes. She stares at the live feeds.

Her disembodied father whispers: Why did you get involved? You some kind of hero?

Her phone buzzes.

It’s a text from Wyatt.

What time will you be home?

The son of two librarians, Mark Stevens was raised in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and has worked as a reporter, as a national television news producer and in public relations. The Fireballer (Lake Union, 2023) was named Best Baseball Novel by Twin Bill Literary Magazine and named one of Best Baseball Books of the Year by Spitball Magazine.

His mystery novel Antler Dust was a Denver Post bestseller in 2007 and 2009. Buried by the Roan, Trapline, and Lake of Fire were all finalists for the Colorado Book Award (2012, 2015, and 2016, respectively). Trapline won the Colorado Book Award in 2016 and received the best genre fiction award from Colorado Authors League.

Stevens has had short stories published by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Mystery Tribune, and in Denver Noir (Akashic Books, 2022). In September 2016, Stevens was named Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Writer of the Year, and again in 2023. Stevens hosts a regular podcast for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers and has served as president of the Rocky Mountain chapter for Mystery Writers of America. Stevens is also an avid reader and regularly shares his reviews.

Today, Stevens lives in Mancos, Colorado.

Q&A from Ryan Steck, author of Gone Dark.

Available for pre-order!

How have your personal experiences influenced this story?

Oh, man. In a number of ways! I’ll touch on some of this in more detail below, but out of all my books, Gone Dark is the most personal for me. Not only does it continue to expore themes that I’m intimately familiar with—such as adoption, addiction, evolving relationships, and growing families—but it also features a new character named Jack, and I’m really excited for readers to meet him. While I love big, action-packed adventures, this book has more raw emotion than anything I’ve written before, and most of them come from my real-life experiences.

2. You have described Matthew Redd as being “with” you for a long time. How has he changed from his original incarnation until now?

Well, in a sense, Redd has always been Redd. I’ve always heard his voice, and I usually tell people that in any given situation I might find myself, I know exactly how I should handle things . . . and I also know exactly how Matty Redd would handle things. His way is usually more action-packed than mine! But one thing that has certainly changed over the years is that Redd is now a family man. He’s no longer the lone wolf operator readers first met in Fields of Fire. He has a wife and kids, and their family is still growing. He has his war dog, Rubble the Rottweiler. He has his best friends, his biological father, and—in this book, without giving anything away—his inner circle widens a bit. So that’s all pretty new, and while I like seeing the side of Redd that cares for others and has even learned to trust them, his opening himself up like that is a bit of a double-edged sword because now he has more to lose when bad guys come knocking.

3. Which of the supporting characters has changed the most over the series? Why did you want them to grow in that way?

I think if I had to pick just one character to highlight here, I’d have to go with Emily Redd, Matty’s wife. Certainly, in this book, you see just how devoted she is to her husband, and I really love their relationship. In many ways, albeit with far fewer gunfights and bad guys, their relationship and what they deal with mirrors that of my own marriage with my wife. We, too, have a big family, so I’m familiar with those dynamics, but my wife has always had my back and supported me, just as Em does Redd. And in turn, I’ve always been there for her through anything she may face, including some really tough medical issues over the past few years. So, I do draw influence from my wife when writing Emily, certainly. I’d also say that Mikey, Redd’s faithful best friend, has really come a long way, too, and more than ever, you see him step up when Matty needs him in Gone Dark.

4. What was the most exciting part of writing this story?

The entire story concept for this book came from my wanting to pair Redd with Jack, a little boy who is on his own and on the run, in need of someone to protect him. I’ve actually never been more excited for my readers to meet a character than I am for them to get to know Jack, who, in a lot of ways, reminds Redd of himself when he was a kid. So, anytime Redd and Jack share the page together, those are some of my favorite moments in the book. There’s another scene that involves a train that, without spoiling it, was also a lot of fun for me to write. I think my readers will know why when they see it.

5. Why did you choose to include real-world issues such as drug addiction and forest fires in this novel?

After writing Out For Blood, which had a lot of action and was a pretty big book, I knew I couldn’t necessarily top that story in terms of gunfights and explosions. So, I wanted to write something with a tad more heart and suspense, but I also wanted to explore themes that are important to me. I’m a recovering alcoholic and have now been sober for going on fifteen years. I’ve also struggled with accidental opioid addiction, meaning that I was prescribed pain pills following surgeries in my past, only to end up really addicted to them and had to get help. These are tough issues that I am intimately familiar with and now felt like the right time for me to finally address some of this stuff in my writing.

Beyond addiction, you see Redd grow into his faith a bit more with this book, and that was really important to me as well. I cling to my faith every single day, knowing it is only by the grace of Jesus Christ that I can get through the day sometimes (2 Corinthians 12:9 is my life verse). I’ve been blessed with each new book to hear from readers, many of whom email me, and the one constant theme I see from them is that . . . everyone is dealing with something. So, yeah, I wanted to finally hit on some issues that are near and dear to me because I think and hope they will resonate with readers while also simultaneously entertaining them and offering a fun escape from whatever they might be dealing with in that moment.

6. Gone Dark is a perfect book for new readers to join after the completion of the arc in the first three Matthew Redd books. What changes should we expect as the series moves forward?

When you dream about being an author, you never really stop to think that once you’re several books into a series, you’ll have to juggle the fact that not everyone who picks up your new book has read your previous books. There’s no question that my first three books—while they have their own beginnings, middles, and endings—all deal with the Twelve, a powerful cabal behind several government conspiracies that Redd inadvertently found himself in the middle of. So, Gone Dark marks the first book set after the Twelve trilogy within the overall series. And to be honest, I was excited to put that arc behind me so that I could move on to new threats and issues for Redd to battle.

The balancing act that you have to navigate as a writer when penning a series is how much backstory and recapping from previous books you need to include in each new book. With Gone Dark, it was almost like starting with a clean slate. I definitely packed some Easter eggs in there for my longtime readers, but really, I think newcomers can pick up Gone Dark and dive right on in, even if you never read my first three books. To that end, over the next couple of books, you’ll see Redd go through some career and life changes as he settles into a role that’s more sustainable long-term for the series as a whole. I’m excited about where things are headed, and I think my readers will be as well.

7. Many authors leave their couples in an almost perpetual will-they-won’t-they loop. But you have Matthew marry his high school sweetheart, and they are about to have another kid. What are the advantages and challenges of having a strong married couple in a novel?

I touched on the parallels between my marriage and Redd’s above, but this is a great question. I’ve covered thrillers for over a decade on The Real Book Spy, and I’ve worked as an editor for a long time as well. And I can’t tell you how many characters have had their wives or significant others killed at some point. In fact, many of them have lost several loved ones in a similar fashion, usually when the bad guys come looking for the hero and can’t get to them, so they kill the wife or girlfriend to hurt the hero and draw them out. I get it, and I appreciate those stories, but that’s not what I wanted for my series.

Now, I’m not saying that nothing will ever happen to Redd or Emily. I can’t make that promise, but I don’t ever want to leave readers hanging between books, and I sure don’t want my readers to always worry that their favorite character might be killed off. I’ll never say never, but I think Redd and Emily drive this series together, so it’s more about how will they get out of this? As opposed to will they get out of this?

All of that said, it absolutely can be a challenge to manage so many characters and relationships. I know other authors, friends of mine, who have killed off their hero’s love interest simply because they couldn’t find a role for them in future stories. And I get that, believe me, now more than ever. I’m currently writing the fifth Matthew Redd book, and trust me, It’s a challenge to account for everyone and all of Redd’s loved ones and family members sometimes, but I also think it makes for a richer reading experience.

8. This is the fourth book in an action-packed series. How do you ensure the excitement remains vibrant throughout the series?

Great question! I think I’ve touched on this a few times above, but my goal was to reset the series just a little bit with Gone Dark, introducing new threats and challenges for Redd that he’s not faced in the first three books. And to me, that’s the key—find new types of bad guys and circumstances, and don’t be afraid to go in a slightly new direction sometimes. But also, as I touched on earlier, with Redd’s inner circle expanding, there’s more at stake for him . . . and he has more to lose. He also has more to fight for, and he goes to battle for someone in this book.

9. How can aspiring authors make their characters come alive?

I would say try not to copy anyone else, but rather, create a character that is unique, who can stand out a bit. The genre is oversaturated with ex-Navy SEALs and Delta Force operators. That’s why I made Redd a Marine Raider. A lot of characters live in or around Washington, D.C., which is why I wanted to put Redd in Montana. So, create something and someone different, and then stay true to them once you start fleshing them out on the page.

10. Matthew has grown in his faith over the last four books. What do you hope readers can learn from his faith journey over the series?

Indeed, Redd is on a spiritual journey, and slowly but surely, he’s becoming the man he believes he’s supposed to be. Because I write for both a secular audience and a Christian audience, I try very hard to be mindful of injecting too many of my own beliefs. My goal is always to put enough truth in there that people who wouldn’t normally be exposed to God’s Word might pick up on things, but never—and I really work hard at this—in a way that’s too heavy-handed or feels like they’re being beaten over the head with a Bible.

I’m a big believer that no two peoples’ journeys with Christ are the same, and with Redd, I’ve always tried to portray what I believe maturing in faith might look like for someone like Matty. Redd isn’t perfect. Then again, if any of us were, we wouldn’t need a Savior. So give Redd some time. He’s coming along slowly but surely.

11. How has your faith been impacted by your writing journey?

Since becoming an author, I’ve been really blessed to live out my dream and tell stories for a living, but that doesn’t mean things are always smooth sailing. We kept it pretty private, but my wife has faced a number of challenging health issues over the last three years. As a believer, I’ve always clung to my faith, but certainly, it’s harder to keep your eyes on the Lord when you’re in the middle of a storm. I mentioned 2 Corinthians 12:9 above, and in that verse the apostle Paul writes that God told him, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (NLT). I love that verse because though many of us act tough or act like everything is okay, deep down we’re really struggling. I’ve been there. But in those moments when we are weak, God’s power works best, and that promise has been a great comfort to me.

More than anything, hearing from readers has emboldened me to speak about my faith more in an effort to share that message with those who maybe don’t know of that promise Paul wrote about. I’ve gotten emails from so many people who’ve reached out to share the personal struggles they’ve faced while reading my books, thanking me for providing an entertaining distraction from whatever they’re going through. Those letters and messages are very humbling, but they’re also a reminder that everyone has something going on in their life, and I’ve tried to remember that when interacting with others.

12. How has your work on The Real Book Spy impacted the Matthew Redd series?

I’d be lying if I said being The Real Book Spy hasn’t had a profound impact on my own writing in a number of ways. Because I’ve read so many books, I had a good feel for what I liked and didn’t like. I also know what topics have been covered at length, so I try to avoid some of those. But more than anything, because I’m a big fan of thrillers, I always write with my readers in mind, and I work really hard to deliver adventures that I think they’ll enjoy.

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Ryan Steck is an editor, an author, and the founder and editor in chief of The Real Book Spy. Ryan has been named an “Online Influencer” by Amazon and is a regular columnist at CrimeReads. TheRealBookSpy.com has been endorsed by #1 New York Times bestselling authors Mark Greaney, C. J. Box, Kyle Mills, Daniel Silva, Brad Thor, and many others. A resident of Michigan, along with his wife and their six kids, Steck cheers on his beloved Detroit Tigers and Lions during the rare moments when he’s not reading or talking about books on social media. His most recent Matthew Redd book, Gone Dark, releases in June 2025 from Tyndale Fiction.