Bring along your stake and cross--TW contributing editor Cathy Clamp talks to Lisa Jackson about her upcoming thriller Lost Souls. Every author has that favorite secondary character . . . the one who steals the show from who the book should be focusing on. Such is the case with Lisa Jackson's new thriller, Lost Souls. "From the moment Kristi Bentz first set foot on the pages of Hot Blooded and Cold Blooded, I loved writing about her. She literally stole the show." The daughter of Jackson's fictional New Orleans Detective Rick Bentz, Kristi's had a rough life. She's nearly been killed several times during her father's cases, she tossed her boyfriend, and is a survivor of Hurricane Katrina--all of which lead to a great background for her own story. "She's pushing thirty, unmarried and unsettled in a job. It seemed natural that she'd be searching for something. I loved the idea of sending her back to school at All Saints College, her old alma mater in Baton Rouge, all the while struggling to be an independent adult."
What she's searching for, though, is far from what she finds. Missing college students, the return of the boyfriend she sent packing, and . . . vampires. Yep, vampires. But of the very human variety. "What I wanted to do with Lost Souls was examine not only vampire cults, but the fascination with vampires." And Kristi isn't the only one to be surprised by vampire cults. The author was too. "What surprised me in my research was the amount of people who are really into the whole vampire thing. There are groups dedicated to vampires, whether it's serious or all in fun. I don't know if my readers will find that odd. But I did." And what about those missing girls? Aren't there runaways at every college? "The college administrators would like to believe the missing girls are runaways, but the Baton Rouge cops, who are new additions, and Kristi, believe differently." The vampires aren't the end of the paranormal angle either. "After Kristi's near death in Absolute Fear, she woke with a unique ability. She can see the color drain from a person and knows in an instant that person is soon to die. It's a very difficult 'gift' to deal with and she considers it a curse."But even as the heroine tries to solve the mystery, deal with her new-found ability, and forge her own path the future, the past comes back to haunt her. "It was natural to have her boyfriend return to All Saints as well, but this time he's all grown up and has the upper hand." Hurricane Katrina, which changed the face of New Orleans and surrounding communities, can't be discounted, either. Jackson's book faces the reality of the devastation, adding distraction and frustration to the officers trying to solve the case. "Lost Souls is my first book set in post-Katrina Louisiana. I mention it a lot as my characters are reeling--dealing with the ruination of not only buildings but stored evidence. In fact, the storm in Lost Souls provided impetus for my characters' actions."
And what about Rick and his partner, Detective Rueben Montoya? Have they been "de-fanged" by Kristi taking center stage? "Pretty funny with the fang comment. No, I don't think so. Kristi's up in Baton Rouge and out of their jurisdiction, as much as that frustrates her father." And fans need not worry that the move to the next generation of sleuth means the beloved pair are out of the picture. "I have one more book plotted out for them for certain. Malice will be my April 2009 book with Rick Bentz as the hero."
Lisa Jackson has been killing people everywhere from Savannah, New Orleans and Baton Rouge to San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest--and it's really paid off. Her novel Fatal Burn was a number one New York Times paperback bestseller. Her first hardcover novels, Shiver and Absolute Fear, broke new ground for her on national bestseller lists. Since then, Almost Dead was published as a mass market original and she has written Lost Souls. Her obsessive curiosity about the dark side of life and the vagaries of human nature has proven contagious, and her audience keeps growing from book to book.
Contributing editor Cathy Clamp is the
co-author, with C.T. Adams, of two USA Today bestselling paranormal
romantic thriller series from Tor Books. They were recently nominated
for a Career Achievement Award in paranormal romance by RT BOOKreviews
Magazine, which will be awarded in April, 2008. Their next thriller,
TIMELESS MOON, hits the shelves in March, 2008.
