Straka notes that setting is important to his story. Although Straka and his wife and five children live in Virginia, he still identifies himself as a native of upstate New York, where the novel takes place. "There's a pretty big difference between upstate New York and New York City. Although Binghamton is only 150 or so miles from the city, it might as well be in the Midwest. In terms of culture it's vastly different and in the story you've got a black man who's in a distinct minority in upstate New York and convicted of this crime by a mostly white jury. Then I've got a black cop out of the city who's been given this task by the assistant attorney general to find out what's really going on, to investigate if there were bad cops or mishandling of evidence."

Straka, besides writing, has some unusual skill sets. He's a licensed private investigator, for instance. "My licensure for a P.I. was basically something I obtained by taking the sixty hours of necessary training, but I have never actually worked as a P.I. I really did it to lend authenticity to my books, to have more factual information for what a real P.I. would be going through. I'm not as big a hands-on researcher as some, but I really like to get into people's mind."

Frank Pavlicek, in the three P.I. novels, is a falconer, a hobby that Straka took up during research for those novels. "When I was first writing the Pavlicek books I started researching the idea of falconry. It's kind of addictive. Being around falconers and going to meets and talking to the guys and going hunting with them, I just started getting into it myself." Although currently birdless, he has had three different birds.

How far would he go for his research? Well, Andy has been "footed" by a hawk, which is to say, clawed. "It's 200 pounds per square inch that a redtail can squeeze and it hurts-a  lot! Think of a hot knife sticking you and combine that with pincer pliers. It was quite excruciating."

Record Of Wrongs will be released in hardcover from Five Star in late February 2008.

"Highly recommended. A story that grips you. I dare you to tell me I'm wrong." -- Michael Connelly

“A brisk page-turner.” -- Kirkus

"Straka's elegant, understated prose perfectly fits his story of buried rage, imprisoned lives, and the evil that lies at the heart of quiet paces." -- SJ Rozan

ITW contributing editor Mark Terry is the author of the Derek Stillwater thriller series. His newest thriller, The Serpent's Kiss, is available in stores and online.