Hansen himself warrants some attention - he's a junior high school math teacher turned lawyer. Why, I asked?

"The criminals were not only easier, they paid better, plus you don't have to grade their papers or meet their parents."

I suspect he's turned to writing as a fall back in case the whole lawyer thing doesn't work out. He says juries confuse him for the defendant. They probably saw him before his morning coffee. Or after his evening beers. Or maybe it's because he once asked a courtroom full of prospective jurors if they harbored any ill-will toward his client's occupation, and everyone of them raised his or her hand. Including the judge. His client was a lawyer and a real estate developer. I guess Jim missed the law class where they teach you to never ask a question if you don't already know the answer.

One of the fascinating things about Jim's books, and there are thirteen others available including ten in the Laws series and three in the Run series, are the locations. His hometown of Denver seems to be an occasional sleepover for Detective Bryson Coventry, Chief of Denver Police Department Homicide Unit, as he circles the globe from Paris to Egypt to Hong Kong to Tokyo in his various chases, often as the chasee. Hansen got first-hand knowledge of these locations on the ten summer vacations he enjoyed while teaching. Either the job paid better than he acknowledges, or he needed to get far away from the pubescent teens and their parents.

Here's Lawrence Kane's synopsis of Wild Laws as published in his ForeWord review (before he said he wanted to strangle Hansen):

"Coventry tangles with a diabolical killer who, after ritualistically torturing victims to death in Paris, Johannesburg, and Denver, now heads to Tokyo to commit more atrocities. He taunts Coventry with an e-mail, inviting him to follow.

"How can our hero find one man in a foreign city of ten million? Simple: he agrees to fly to Tokyo, but only if the murderer promises to try to kill him once he arrives. Acting contrary to orders from his boss, unsanctioned by the Japanese authorities, Coventry risks his career and his life to solve the mystery and stop the murderer before he can strike again. Thus begins a wild ride where the fates of Kinjo, an antiquities trader; Arai, an up-and-coming musician; Teja, a model; and Rio, her long lost sister; are intertwined with that of homicide detectives Serengeti, Joost, and Coventry as they seek to unmask the murderer. To make matters worse, Coventry falls for Sin, a lovely flight attendant, and their relationship brings her to the killer's attention."

Whatever else you think of the books, you've got to love the character's names.

"I occasionally consult baby-name books for ideas, most of the names are made up on the spur of the moment, bordering on the memorable and unusual to match their owners."

In addition to those Kane mentioned, you'll find his books populated by Rain, Night, D'Asia, Tianca, Jackie Jaxx, Aspen, London, Del-Rae, and Decare.

Jim is originally from Cleveland, where he never met Drew Carey nor visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He did go to school there (Cleveland State), and teach there (Cleveland Municipal School District), and go to law school there (Cleveland Marshall College of Law), edited the Cleveland State Law Review there, passed the Bar there, and clerked for a US Court of Appeals judge there. And still, he never met Drew Carey. Huh.

He moved to Colorado in 1983, he says, on a one-way ticket paid for by the other tenants in his apartment building, and has practiced law there ever since.

To wrap this up, it should be noted that Jim's Wikipedia article is prefaced by the statement, "It may have been edited by a person who has a conflict of interest with the subject matter." When you read Wild Laws, you won't.

John Darrin is a consultant on radiological emergency preparedness for homeland security. His work has taken him all over the world, and includes many unique and first-ever projects.  A widower, John lives full-time in his RV and travels the country on the Go Places / Meet People / Do Things Tour.