LETHAL

ABOUT LETHAL

It’s been several years since I returned to Louisiana for a story setting.  WHITE HOT was the last, and that was published in 2004.  Seven years is far too long to be away from one of my favorite settings, and a lot has happened to coastal Louisiana since then.  The changes that area has undergone influenced the plot for my new suspense novel, LETHAL.

Basically it’s about the increase in crime conducted along Interstate 10 which bisects the state, and the corruption of law enforcement officials who contribute to the lawlessness rather than curtail it.  But the illegal activity along that highly-trafficked route provides only the backdrop for the story. 

At the heart of the matter are a young widow and her four-year-old daughter who are held captive by a man who’s sought for murdering seven people at a local trucking company.

The morning after the brutal mass killing, suspected slayer Lee Coburn crawls out of the bayou and into the yard of Honor Gillette’s remote house.  The object of a full-scale manhunt, he’s got blood on his hands, murder in his heart, and a flippant disregard for his own survival.  However, despite his resignation to die soon, Coburn is a man on a mission which he’s determined to complete.  To Honor’s dismay, his success or failure lies largely with her.

Now, here’s where it gets really good.

Isolating the main characters from the rest of the world  is one of my favorite plot devises.  I like it so well that I’ve used it several times: FAT TUESDAY, CHILL FACTOR, ENVY.  The central characters, forced together by life-threatening circumstances, never trust each other entirely, and the tenuous trust they begrudgingly bestow in LETHAL – “I won’t harm you or your kid if you do everything I tell you to.” – wears thin around Chapter 15. 

I love writing the mental cat-and-mouse.  I love testing the characters to see if they’ll go with what their common sense tells them, or if they’ll trust their gut instinct and go with what they feel.  That’s a dilemma to which everyone can relate, isn’t it?

Poor Honor.  I put her through the wringer.  (Figuratively speaking.  Actually it’s a swamp.)  She and her daughter are at the mercy of a man driven to accomplish what he has set out to do, or die trying.  According to the media, her friends and family, local law enforcement, and even the FBI, Coburn is – you guessed it -- lethal.  She herself witnesses the violence he’s capable of.  And yet. . .

It’s that qualifier which makes for a story that’s a hair-raising adventure as well as an emotional roller coaster ride.