I really like the idea. Nikki Benton was also close to being a primary protagonist as someone could be without actually being so in my first two books, and I really enjoyed her character as well as Anne’s in The Deadly Deal. It’s a thought that has certainly crossed my mind….
What made you decide to explore big pharma as a topic in your latest thriller, The Deadly Deal?
I worked in a tangential industry seventeen years ago when I wrote the first draft. The FDA approval process has changed since then, but the premise of the book still compelled me. I knew enough to be dangerous and had a few contacts who helped me get the research right, and when I looked at it many years later I still really liked the storyline and decided (at the time) to “dust it off, make a few minor changes,” and seek publication. What happened instead? Essentially a massive rewrite of the story including the title, even though the overlying idea remained consistent.
Did the idea for The Deadly Deal come before or after your first two novels?
It was first inked before both of my first two published novels. Back then, I’d obtained a literary agent for the story that is now The Deadly Deal and was a few weeks away from him submitting it to publishers when tragedy struck. He was diagnosed with cancer and shortly after passed away. When that happened, I shoved the manuscript in the proverbial drawer. After publishing my first two books, I decided to reread it and just couldn’t shake the idea, so I decided to give it a fresh look.
