For Feature & Promotional Use Crime / Mystery / Sci-Fi Thriller
Q1. Dead Threads blends gritty crime investigation with futuristic sci-fi technology. What first inspired you to pair a detective thriller with memory-diving tech like Chronolink?
The initial idea came as a pair of my time as a detective, and my grandmother having dementia. I wondered initially what it must be like to live in their head for a day. That kind of expanded into what it would be like to solve a mystery with someone who couldn't remember anything.
Q2. Detective Aaron Kline is chasing murders that mirror a case from thirty years earlier. What drew you to the idea of crimes echoing across time?
I'm a huge fan of the concept of repetition and history repeating. I think it's kind of inevitable. The reader, if they are paying attention throughout the whole story, will see there are mirrored actions and concepts that follow all the characters. I love writing for readers who can see those patterns and mirrors I'm holding up.
Q3. Chronolink allows detectives to relive another person’s memorie, a dream tool or a nightmare? What were the biggest ethical or psychological questions you wanted to explore through this technology?
So, the first and big one I address is if having memories on demand is even ethical to allow. I don't know if I have the answer, but I think I provide a realistic thought to the question in the world, as I feel more likely than not, we as people will fuck it up 😂 I will say, it was a blast to figure out the logistics of the technology and how to present it in a way that wasn't alienating to audiences…mostly because I'm not as smart of the characters I wrote are half the time.
I will say also, the book is broken up into two parts and the second half that follows the female main character on the cover, Aurora, delves deep into the ethics of memory for profit.
Q4. A major thread of the story involves Kline diving into the fragmented mind of a retired detective with dementia. What made you choose memory decay as a central element, and how did you approach writing such fragile, unreliable recollections?
Dementia is something that's touched my families life many times over, and I think it's something we all have seen in someone. At the same time, it's also kind of a comment on the idea that half the time we remember things, we probably aren't as reliable as we think. And, as time progresses, that gets worse.
Q5. You’ve shared that you worked as a detective yourself, investigating nearly every type of case. How did those real-world experiences shape the tone and authenticity of Dead Threads?
It was a major tool I used to shape not only Aaron, but many aspects of the first half of the book. Aaron, in certain ways, was the worst parts of me as a detective. He is work obsessed and all the things I learned I shouldn't be. Thankfully, I'm not him anymore. I'll also say, the very first part of the first chapter, before it introduces the crux of the story, is actually a true story about my first call as a cop.
Q6. Many crime thrillers focus on the external puzzle, but Dead Threads also digs into obsession, identity, and the cost of uncovering truth. What emotional core or question sits at the heart of this story?
Dead Threads at its core is about learning from mistakes. From beginning to end, we learn and see mistakes happen, again and again. It's the lengths we choose to go to so those mistakes aren't repeated that's the key to the story, and what you're willing to give up along the way to learn.
Q7. In the book, the past “fights back.” How do you balance supernatural-feeling tension with grounded, procedural realism?
Without revealing too much, I try to make my world feel real and lived in. Like all the tech that does exist can be visualized. At the same time, I think the balance really comes from the characters reaction to their circumstances. Any story worth it's weight is grounded in it's characters. Their choices have to feel logical for their circumstances and their POV in that moment of the story. It may not make sense to the reader, who can't see the train rushing at them on the tracks, but to the character, it's real.
Q8. New York City in 2068 is still recognizable but clearly changed. What future details did you enjoy building most, and what aspects of the city did you intentionally leave familiar?
I wanted NYC to be recognizable to anyone whose been and lived there. I reference at several points real locations in the city, and even in NY proper. In my world, most of the future aspects that inhabit the world come from the tech, like Chronolink. I do delve into two sections of NY that have especially been touched by future vibes such as a place in the Bronx and Attica State Prison.
Q9. A detective chasing ghosts from someone else’s memories is such a compelling idea. What was the most challenging part of writing the narrative tension around what’s “real,” what’s “remembered,” and what’s unreliable?
Honestly, the hardest part was more to balance what was important for the long term of the story and what was purely just violence for the sake of it. The story, being able a killer, is inherently violent, and we learn that early. However, I didn't want it ever to feel like it was violence being relished over. All the violence and memories I show have a purpose, and they are all clues to the greater story as a whole. All of it's “real”, and that's the hard part that Aaron has to overcome.
Q10. Without giving spoilers: which moment in Dead Threads hit you hardest while writing it?
So, as I said, Dead Threads is broken into two parts. The first called Dead Threads and the second called Threadbreaker. Both stories are held within this book like a mini duology. I'd say the hardest emotional scenes are in the second half for sure. There's one scene, that's essentially a memory from childhood that touches on a trauma I experienced as a cop. And, if I'm being honest, writing the last chapter made me cry.
I can't tell if it's because I was emotional at the story or that I was done 😂 at any rate, it was emotional, and I hope the reader agrees!
Craft, Process & Worldbuilding
Q11. You’ve experienced firsthand the psychological toll of investigative work. How did you translate that into Kline’s mindset, especially as he starts losing pieces of himself in the memories?
I think it's inevitable as a cop to not begin to lose pieces of yourself along the way. My wife and I have spoken many times about how the man I was prior to being a cop and the man I am now are not the same. Thankfully, I'm not a cop anymore!
I think instilling those hard realties into him, and that cold callousness was vital to his side of the story to make him believable.
Q12. What’s your approach to weaving in futuristic elements without losing the raw, grounded feel of a crime procedural?
I built NY to be what I foresaw it to be in the next 30 plus years. The world is gritty enough, as is the story, so mirroring that in a city that already feels like it could be futuristic, noir, and gritty was much easier. I wanted it to feel grounded and not, like, Uber scifi if that makes sense.
Q13. When you’re building a mystery, do you start with the killer, the crime, the tech twist… or something entirely different?
This book started with me knowing the killer and the tech, and filling in the blanks after. The hardest part was the code the killer uses! That took FOREVER!
Q14. The book deals heavily with truth, how we seek it, distort it, and lose it. What does “truth” mean to Kline, and how does that perspective evolve through the story?
Truth to Kline means something very different than it does to Aurora. I don't want to give too much away on this one, but I'll say, What he learns, she grows from.
Q15. Did any particular cases or experiences from your career directly influence scenes or themes in Dead Threads (without revealing anything confidential, of course)?
Thankfully, the bulk of DT does not come from any of my cases - that would be scary lol there is one case I was a part of, Mariah Woods, that inspired a flashback, unrelated to Aaron.
The themes are mostly derived from my own lessons I learned of what police work does to a person and how you can't let it change who you are.
Fun & Lighthearted Questions
(Still on brand for a thriller author!)
Q16. If Chronolink existed in real life, what is one memory you’d love to revisit, and one you’d avoid at all costs?
I think the biggest memory I’d love to relive is either a trip I did to Japan, or my honeymoon with my wife. We went to Disney and it was a flawless trip with perfect weather. I want Japan just because I need more sushi. WE ALL NEED MORE SUSHI.
A memory I'd probably avoid would be any involving police work lol not too many good ones there worth doing again.
Q17. What’s the strangest, funniest, or most unexpected moment from your time as a detective that could fit right into a thriller novel?
Oh God, I have two stories, but feel free to use the one that's actually appropriate. The REAL funniest and weirdest, was that one time I arrested a prostitute and she had a purse full of mayonnaise packets. When I asked her what they were for, she replied, “honey, when you have my job, you gotta find some way to stay ready down there.”
I may have died a little inside.
IF that story was too much for your readers lol I worked a triple attempted homicide once and got to track down and arrest my suspect with the US Marshalls, which was very fun.
Q18. If Dead Threads were adapted into a limited series, who would you dream-cast as Detective Aaron Kline?
I was told by an agent once that rejected me that the story would do great in a movie setting…That being said, I have two choices. One is a tad more niche than the other, but both are solid, I think.
One would be a voice actor, actually, names Ben Starr. He has the visual look of him and I think he's a fabulous actor. If I had to choose a current big name, I think a solid choice would be Jacob Elordi.
Q19. What futuristic tech do you secretly wish we already had, crime-solving related or not?
As an old fuddy that it seems I'm becoming, a lot of these current techs coming out make me nervous. However, a great tech I would love is a robot that does and folds all my laundry and puts it away, because that is for the birds!
Q20. Which fictional detective (from any book, movie, or series) would Kline absolutely hate working with?
I'm almost positive he'd hate Sherlock Holmes because Aaron wants recognition and Sherlock would not have that in the least!
Rapid-Fire Round
(Short, snappy, instinctive answers encouraged.)
Q21. Tech-enhanced detective work or old-school grit?
GRIT ALL DAY.
Q22. Thriller nights or mystery mornings?
THRILLER NIGHTS FOR SURE. I LIKE MY MORNINGS PREDICTABLE.
Q23. Favorite writing fuel: coffee, energy drinks, or adrenaline?
COFFEE IS LIFE BLOOD!
Q24. Plot twists: shocking, slow-burn, or psychological?
YES.
Q25. One word that captures the soul of Dead Threads?
