I strive at making my crime novels realistic. My characters aren’t super-heroes and my cops investigate crimes the old-fashioned way, using their head and a lot of leg-work. They don’t have wall-sized monitors which display live and recorded footage captured by security cameras strategically placed all over town. They have intelligence, experience and cop-savvy. Any scene which I create in any of my novels could actually happen. Like I mentioned at the start, it must be realistic.

That said, what really frustrates me is when I read novels by other authors, often big names, and wind up disappointed because some elements or sometimes the whole book is not believable. I don’t appreciate a scene that could not actually, physically be reproduced in real life. I dislike when a crime is solved on loose concepts and wild guesses. I’m disappointed when I can see holes in the storyline.

I work hard at making my crime thrillers real, yet entertaining. It frustrates me when others don’t.

Claude Bouchard in response to Dr. Shellie Hipsky 11 months ago