Acclaimed author Alexandra Sokoloff's latest novel, Book of Shadows, twines the classic murder-mystery with look-over-your-shoulder elements of the occult. Lee Child praises it as "A wonderfully dark thriller with amazing is-it-isn't-it suspense all the way to the end."
Homicide detective Adam Garrett is a rising star in the Boston police department when he and his cynical partner Landauer catch a horrifying case that could make their careers: the ritualistic murder of a wealthy college girl which appears to have Satanic elements.
The partners make a quick arrest when all evidence points to another student, a troubled musician in a Goth band who was either dating or stalking the murdered girl. Then beautiful, mysterious Tanith Cabarrus, a practicing witch from nearby Salem, walks into the homicide bureau and insists that the real perpetrator is still at large. Tanith claims to have had psychic visions of the killer ritually sacrificing other teenagers in his attempts to summon a powerful, ancient demon.
All of Garrett's beliefs about the nature of reality are tested when he is forced to team up with a woman he is violently attracted to, yet cannot trust. They race to unmask a psychotic killer before he strikes again on the next pagan holiday. Samhain... Halloween.
Contributing Editor Tracy March chats with Alexandra Sokoloff about her latest work and many talents.
What inspired you to write Book of Shadows?
I am fairly obsessed with gender issues and differences. For a long time, I have wanted to write a book that would pit a very outwardly rational, logic-driven man, in a very male profession (homicide detective), from a very rational city (Boston) against a very otherworldly, psychic, subconsciously driven woman (a practicing witch), in a much more mysterious town (Salem)--and play with the contrasts and the line between what is real and what is supernatural. I thought I could create some great chemistry and distrust between the characters there, a supernatural noir, as it were. Then there's also my constant theme of people, especially young people (in this case a troubled college student) opening doors that they really don't understand and having to deal with what might be supernatural consequences.
You have had some extraordinary research experiences with your previous novels The Harrowing, The Price and The Unseen. What unique research experiences did you have with Book of Shadows?
My research for this book--as with most of my books--has been going on for a long time. I'm fascinated by the modern practice of witchcraft; growing up in California I've known many practicing witches, and over the years have attended ceremonies with friends. So I have to say that being present at the "Calling of the Corners," a Craft ceremony which is one of the ritual scenes I depict in Book of Shadows, is one of the most extraordinary spiritual experiences I've ever had--it's such elemental, feminine power.
I also was very privileged to have a criminalist from the Boston Police Department give me an extensive tour of the central crime lab and answer tons of my technical and investigative questions. And I got to spend Halloween in Salem. And we get to call this work. Hah!
On your website, you write that otherworldly experiences are never as horrifying as the evil that people can do. How does that philosophy manifest itself in Book of Shadows?
Interesting question. What springs to mind is not just what the killer is doing, but the fates of some of the young characters in the book: the prostitute victim and her friend, who, like many in the sex trade, have both run away from sexual abuse at home only to land in a life of more sexual abuse. And of course, there's the fate that would befall the young musician accused of the killing if he were sentenced to prison: a life of torture and sexual abuse at the hands of older inmates. Those things, to me, and the fact that we aren't doing more as a society to prevent that kind of abuse, are true evil.
In Book of Shadows, homicide detective Adam Garrett's beliefs about the nature of reality are tested. How do your books, although fiction, challenge readers' perceptions of reality?
I do lengthy, in-depth research and personal interviews on the nature of paranormal experiences as they are reported and experienced in real life, and I try to create supernatural situations for my characters and readers that are as close to what would happen in real life as possible. Part of that experience is the suspicion that the occurrence(s) might be being faked or based in some psychological condition, and part of it is a sensual thrill of the unknown that is not really quantifiable. I really hope that by depicting the paranormal as how it is actually reported, I can get even the most skeptical reader to--well, at least ponder.
You are masterful at blending genres---mystery, romance, paranormal, horror. How do you balance the elements of several genres in one work and please fans of each?
Thanks, but I'm not sure how well I balance them! I get complaints from male readers who are more interested in straight horror when I deepen the love and sex lines in a book, and I know some romance readers who are just too spooked to read a couple of my books. Some mystery readers are probably going to be appalled at all the sex in my upcoming paranormal, Shifters (November 2010). But Lincoln was right--you can't please all of the people all of the time. I feel my job is to keep every story as suspenseful as I know how to make it, and beyond that I hope that what I'm doing in every case is being true to the story I'm telling, and to the characters in it. Also I have great faith that my readers are as eclectic as I am.
You have extensive experience as a screenwriter and are the author of Screenwriting Tricks for Authors You have said that you were driven to write novels because, "When it's all about box office, and corporate executives are making story decisions, what you get is what we've been seeing on the big screen for years now--a mind-numbing parade of sequels and remakes." How do you keep your ideas for your novels fresh?
I'm always reading about the supernatural and occult and mentally filing away incidents that I think have story potential. But since there's no such thing as a new idea, it's really about the passion you have for characters and their dynamics, and their honest responses to not-so-normal situations, and giving a reader the most complete and compelling experience of a story as you can possibly get onto the page. I've learned a terrific lot from Hollywood about visual and sensual storytelling and suspense--and from acting--about keeping things terrifyingly real. But as authors we're not subject to budgets or the compromises of that collaborative filmmaking process; we're only constrained by our own imaginations. We really do have the freedom to create whatever we want.
Alexandra Sokoloff is the Anthony and Bram Stoker award-nominated author of the supernatural thrillers The Harrowing, The Price and The Unseen, and a Thriller Award winner for Best Short Fiction for her story "The Edge of Seventeen."
As a screenwriter she has sold original suspense and thriller scripts and adapted novels for numerous Hollywood studios; her adaptation of Sabine Deitmer's psychological thriller Cold Kisses was filmed in Germany.
She is also the author of Screenwriting Tricks for Authors (and Screenwriters!), a workbook based on her internationally acclaimed blog and workshops.
Visit Alexandra Sokoloff online at www.alexandrasokoloff.com. She can also be found blogging at Murderati.com and on her own blog, Screenwriting Tricks for Authors.
Tracy March is a recovering pharmaceutical sales executive and award-winning writer. Her novels draw from her experiences and encounters in the medical field and her love/hate relationship with politics. They feature characters who face ethical dilemmas in unethical times, and powerful elitists willing to kill to keep their secrets. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband who works for NASA.
