Chatting with the author

On the experience of writing The Hunted

Q. THE HUNTED tells the tale of a gifted, though troubled psychologist whose husband mysteriously vanishes one day. During her search, she finds out some troubling things about her husband. What inspired you to write such a story? I mean, has such a thing happened to you?

A. (laughs) Well, indirectly it did. I was sitting in my office one day and started thinking, what if I had done some horrible thing in my life and had repressed it psychologically? I was musing on that concept when I became intrigued by the thought of alternate identities. The “what if” part of my writer’s brain snapped on and began playing scenarios across my keyboard. What if a man took on a new identity and didn’t tell his wife? Or, what if someone did it for him and he was the unwitting subject of someone’s distorted agenda? I looked into it a bit and discovered it’s amazingly simple to change one’s identity. I started running with these thoughts and recalled a situation where one of my neighbors had gone missing one day. He was never found. Everyone wondered what had happened to him. Did he leave because he wanted to? Was he kidnapped? Killed? Beyond the obvious tragedy for the family, the thought intrigued me. It kept popping into my mind until finally I started outlining a story in great detail that ultimately became THE HUNTED.

Q. THE HUNTED is a great title. How did you come up with it?

A. I like titles that have a double meaning. Of course, the reader won't realize the depth of its meaning until she gets into the story. In the case of FALSE ACCUSATIONS, after a few chapters she may think she knows why it's called FALSE ACCUSATIONS, but as the story unfolds, she realizes there’s a lot more to it than she initially may have thought. In THE HUNTED, again the reader will think she knows what the title refers to, but it isn't until later in the novel that the full meaning becomes clear.

Q. This story is filled with wonderful multidimensional characters. Are they based on people you know?

A. Some are composites of people I know, or people I met while doing research. One of the main characters, Michael Chambers, is a reflection of myself. During my two years of research for THE HUNTED (as well as during my research for FALSE ACCUSATIONS), I interviewed numerous FBI agents, attended several of their training seminars, and spent time at the FBI Academy in Quantico. As a result of my work with them, I realized how much I would've enjoyed being an agent. So, in creating the character of Michael Chambers, I was living vicariously through him. I thought to myself, if I were Michael Chambers, and I was suddenly welcomed into the Academy and given credentials and a gun, and schooled in forensics and law enforcement techniques, I'd really get into it. Actually going to the Academy, walking the halls, shooting in the indoor range, disassembling, cleaning, and assembling the weapon, as well as visiting the places that Michael works in, put me "there," right in the heart of the action. Suddenly, Michael Chambers came alive to me.

Q. What do you hope readers get out of your book?

A. Most important is that they close the book and are satisfied. They’re reading THE HUNTED to escape from the daily grind, to curl up and lose themselves in an entertaining tale that keeps them turning the pages, wondering what's going to happen to the family of characters. In intellectual terms, I think an underlying theme of THE HUNTED is that you can never really know a person completely unless you've been with him every moment of his life. Take the person living next door to you, for example. Or your roommate. Or your spouse. How much do you know about what his life was like before you met him?

As I said, it's really not that hard to change your identity, both in a figurative and a literal sense. When you meet someone, there's really no way for you to know what skeletons are in his past, unless he wants you to know. If anything, I'd say THE HUNTED might leave you with a little dash of paranoia. And according to the FBI, a little paranoia can be healthy.

Q. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

A. I had a junior high school teacher (Louis Brill) who turned me on to English. Since that time, I've loved writing. Though I never intended to earn a living with my English degree, I knew I’d use it in every aspect of my professional career. My command of the English language helped me build a very successful chiropractic practice.

I did start a novel while in college, and I thought one day it would be fun to finish it. I never had any thoughts of publishing it, and because of my busy practice I never did have time to work on it. It's still buried in the original envelope I’d put it in twenty-plus years ago. (And that's probably where it belongs.) Honestly, it wasn't until I'd suffered an injury to my wrist, which prevented me from practicing, that I started thinking about writing creatively again.

Q. Do you intend to continue your trademark turn-on-the-dime endings?

A. They're fun to do, and I think after FALSE ACCUSATIONS and THE HUNTED, people are going to expect it of me. My agent wants me to become a modern day O'Henry. But the most important thing is for my readers to feel immensely satisfied when they finish one of my novels. If that requires a twist, and the story lends itself to it, then there'll be a twist. But I'm not going to do it just for the sake of doing it.

Q. FALSE ACCUSATIONS was a national bestseller. How did that make you feel?

A. In my literary career, it was the second most exciting event. It was a tremendous feeling. I told Michael Connelly about it and, given the enormous success he’s had, I remarked, “This may seem like small potatoes to you.” His response was that in publishing, “There are no small potatoes.” And he’s right, of course.

Q. What modern day writers do you most admire? Why?

A. There are so many. Some I admire for their ability to tell a compelling story, and others for their ability to create fascinating characters. Some authors stimulate my own creative process. It's like a verbal laxative for me: I'll be reading Stephen King and suddenly have to run to my keyboard to create. I'm sure King wouldn't appreciate being called a verbal laxative, but he has that effect on me. 

Q. THE HUNTED takes us down into the bowels of the FBI Academy. What type of research did you do there?

A. I knew that if I was going to write a story about an FBI agent, and the bureau as a whole, with the organization and Academy as a backdrop, I'd need to go through the paces with the agents: see their offices, talk with their personnel, and tour their facilities. The first time I was at the FBI Academy, it was like an orientation. My eyes were wide open, taking in everything and everyone. The second time I went back, a year or so later, I had refined my plot enough to know where my character was going to be sitting, sleeping, eating, working. We went back to those specific rooms so I could see and hear and smell things. 

By taking the reader behind the scenes, I tried to convey the majestic feel of the Academy as my character walks through the corridors, goes through mock training maneuvers, shoots in the indoor range, and so on. There are pictures in the Photo Gallery from the Academy, along with corresponding excerpts from THE HUNTED.

Q. As a writer, how important are contacts in conducting your research?

A. Contacts are invaluable. Other than the obvious—providing you with information you wouldn't otherwise be able to access—they sometimes think of something or say something that takes your story in an entirely different direction. For example, while researching FALSE ACCUSATIONS, my FBI contact took me to the Department of Justice's Division of Law Enforcement indoor shooting range and showed me a variety of handguns. It was his opinion that in order to write about guns, I'd first have to experience what they felt like. Of course, he was absolutely right. And though I don't think the word "gun" is even mentioned in FALSE ACCUSATIONS, guns played a role in THE HUNTED in terms of reality and believability. His instruction and the experience he gave me was invaluable in understanding the power a character holds in his or her hand when he or she points the weapon at someone.

I believe anytime a writer can experience something in life, it's enormously beneficial. You may not be writing a book that involves guns, or skydiving, or even meat packing. But once you experience it, you'll carry that memory around with you forever. And it'll inevitably end up in a book.

Click here to read an Internet Chat with Alan Jacobson from the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Click here for Alan's Q&A with the Internet Writing Journal's Claire White.

On the experience of writing False Accusations...

Q. You had the right background to write False Accusations. But you also had extensive help outside the medical field, from crime lab technicians to police and other criminal investigative specialists. What helped you in tracking those people down and getting them to work with you?

A. Just before I sold my chiropractic practice, I began work on my first novel. I received a call from the director of the California Criminalistics Institute, an arm of the Department of Justice (DOJ) that trains criminalists (forensic scientists) and other law enforcement personnel. One of my receptionists had applied to enter their program, and the director was calling me for a reference on her. After answering his questions, I had an opportunity to ask mine...which dealt with a character I was creating for the novel I was writing. The man was extremely helpful, and I kept his contact information. When I started writing False Accusations, I re-established contact with him. I was invited to audit a week-long class on blood spatter pattern analysis. During that class, I met many experts in the field of forensics, as well as an FBI agent, who has since become a good friend of mine. This experience opened my eyes to this fascinating area of law enforcement, and provided me with all the contacts, texts and research articles I needed to write False Accusations.

Q. Tell us about The Hunted. Is it written in a style similar to False Accusations? When will it come out?

A. All I can say about The Hunted at the moment is that nothing (and no one) is what it (or he/she) appears to be...The Hunted is in the same genre as False Accusations--mystery/thriller/ psychological suspense. Its style is somewhat similar to False Accusations, but it's also very different. There's more action and it's more linear in terms of time progression as it proceeds from beginning to end. You can click here to read a synopsis of the plot, or you can click here to read the first chapter.


Archived interviews:

November 1999:
Q. What's your professional background, and how did this experience aid your writing?

A. I received my bachelor's in English writing from Queens College in New York. I then went to chiropractic school and built a successful practice. During that time, because of my work as a disability examiner, I was appointed by the state to the position of Qualified Medical Evaluator. I did a lot of expert witness testimony, which provided a great deal of perspective for the courtroom scenes and legal haggling that I wrote into False Accusations. Aside from this courtroom experience, my professional background did worm its way into my writing in other ways: in False Accusations, the main character, Dr. Phillip Madison, is an orthopedic surgeon. Not only is the orthopedic and practice territory innately familiar to me, but I worked closely with many surgeons and I knew some of the stresses and problems they faced daily.

Q. When did you first realize you were a writer?

A. Twice. The first time was when I was in the midst of getting my English degree; I was writing so much that it became a part of my daily existence. I was writing short stories, poetry, teleplays (unsolicited and ultimately unsold scripts for M*A*S*H). The second time was some time after I'd sold my practice and was writing regularly. I don't recall exactly when it was, but probably after I'd finished my first two novels and had received raves...that's when I felt I was a writer again.

Q. Who were some of your mentors?

A. I really didn't have many mentors per se; however, my seventh grade English teacher, Louis Brill, who "turned me on" to the subject would qualify; so would Richard Schotter, my playwriting workshop professor at Queens College, who taught me the finer points of writing dialogue.