Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Dead Line by Marc Cameron

Book Description

In the White Mountain Wilderness of Interior Alaska, twenty-four-year-old protected witness Sam Lujan is lonely for his old life. So much so, the young Apache not only breaks the cardinal rule of the Witness Protection Program—by revealing his whereabouts to his mother, he invites her to join him to see the Northern Lights. It’s her lifelong dream. No worries. It’ll be safe.

When Deputy U.S. Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki discover Sam has gone missing, they’re asked to make a quick trip into the remote wild to make sure the witness is indeed protected. But there’s no such thing as a quick trip. Not when they’re plunging headlong into the frozen unknown at fifty-eight degrees below zero. And not when they aren’t the only ones searching. Valeria Kot, the vengeful daughter of the criminal Sam testified against, has been waiting and watching for years for just the opportunity to strike back. She’s found it—and has dispatched a sadistic hit squad to make sure Sam pays in the most savage way possible.

Once Arliss and Lola reach the trailhead it doesn’t take long for them to realize they’re dealing with more than a witness who’s broken protocol. Tracks in the snow and tell-tale signs signal an armed team—one that’s already a step ahead of them. For Arliss and Lola, and a desperate mother and son on the run, the death-defying, frigid temperatures are the least of their worries.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Dead Line by Marc Cameron, a former US Marshal, is very realistic.  This is no surprise considering he draws upon his past experiences to create riveting storylines.

This story has Deputy U.S. Marshals Arliss Cutter and Lola Teariki chasing multiple killers. Royce Decker, a former member of the St. Louis Metro PD, is on the run in Alaska for hiring a hit man to kill his pregnant wife. Also, there is Butch Pritchard, a killer-for-hire, who ruthlessly killed the woman and her unborn baby. While this is going on, a mob hit squad is heading into their area to take out a snitch in witness protection.

Besides pursuing these killers, Cutter and Teariki must contend with the Alaskan weather. Readers feel the wind chill factor with Cameron’s vivid descriptions along with the frigid coldness that has the temperature falling to minus seventy-two degrees.

Along with these plotlines, readers get more of Cutter’s backstory. He is now trying to come to terms with his estranged mother, Ursula, who left him with his grandfather when he was five years old. She has now suddenly appeared and has hit him with a new revelation. There is also the continuing saga of how Mim, Cutter’s late brother’s wife, and he are trying to forge a relationship.  Then there is the relationship between Cutter and his partner Lola who he looks upon as a daughter, yet realizes she is too impulsive and may need to take a step back before she reacts.

All of this makes for a wonderful story that has personal relationships which humanize the characters.  But not to be forgotten is the intense action that will have readers quickly turning the pages.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: The idea for the story?

Marc Cameron: About 25 years ago I was on a training mission with the tactical tracking unit. It is like a real SWAT team that we operate in the woods. This happened right after I moved to Alaska.

EC: Did you get the ideas for weather playing a role in the story from your experiences?

MC: Yes. When I was working there it was winter. There was a case where the Marshals drove through Fairbanks, and the sign said 58 degrees below.  As we drove North it got colder. Having spent 4 days in a cabin and deployed from it in snow machines, we learned about wind chill.  Plus, the scene when I had Lola fall through the ice was realistic. I have been out on the lake ice. There is a time when people should not go out because of the cracking underneath their feet.  There were times I had to chase people across the ice and thought ‘this is pretty dangerous.’

EC:  Did you ever fall through the ice?

MC: I have never fallen through the ice.  But I did jump through a hole in the ice to know what it is like and to learn how to get out. Falling through the ice in a river is dangerous because of the current.  The key to falling through the ice on a lake is for people to relax and swim their way out, kicking their feet up, to come out of the water like a seal. It is doable if someone does not panic.

EC: Did you ever track human traffickers, one of the plot lines in this story?

MC: I have dealt with lots of human trafficking. When I first moved to Alaska in 1991 there was a bunch of exotic dancers who were pimped out and trafficked by the Russian mob.  I take bits of pieces of cases I worked on.

EC:  What about tracking law enforcement criminals, the other plot line?

MC: There is a whole new set of dangers to be aware of when trying to find a fugitive that is former law enforcement or former military  Online there is so much out there we now assume people have a lot of skills.

EC: How would you describe Alriss’s mom, Ursula?

MC: She has secrets, can be fearless, and he has a lot of her personality.  She left her sons when they were young and now Arliss has found out he has a stepsister.  She is imperfect. When she was younger Ursula realized she was not going to be a good mother for her sons. Now she is trying. She was never evil.

EC: What about the Mim/Cutter relationship?

MC: Readers will see where it is going by the end of this book.  Over the course of the next couple of books there will be some struggles, trying to figure out how to move forward.  It was clear at the end of the last book, Bad River, that they were moving forward. It will be a journey for them. 

EC: What about the next book?

MC: The next book is titled Back Track, out this time next year. There will be more of a progression in the Mim/Cutter relationship. Half of the next story will go back to 1977 when Grumpy is in his 40’s, moving from Texas to Florida.  This is the year Arliss is born. Part of the book will happen in 1977, and part will be in present day, landing in Arliss’s lap. It is sort of a Cold Case of Grumpys.

THANK YOU!!

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