DIRT ROAD RECKONING received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author RJ Shaw.
What is the name of the book, and when was it published?
DIRT ROAD RECKONING by RJ Shaw, Published July 2024.
What’s the book’s first line?
When Gus Wallace heard the words, “A female body has been found,” his heart jumped a little.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Sheriff Gus Wallace, a no-nonsense retired FBI Agent, has only been in office a few months when a woman is murdered on a remote running trail in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, leading him into the most dangerous case of his career.
As he investigates the murder, Wallace soon realizes the MO is similar to a string of murders from the early 2000s. Piecing together the evidence, he becomes convinced the same hand committed all the crimes. The only problem with his theory is that a man confessed to the past murders and is now locked up in prison. As he seeks justice for the victims, he learns not everyone wants to achieve the same thing.
With threats to his life and violent attacks that leave him hospitalized, he discovers a conspiracy straight from the heart of Washington DC and the highest levels of the FBI.
Wallace tries to unravel this mystery and answer the question: How far would the FBI go to keep an innocent man in prison and let a serial killer go free?
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
DIRT ROAD RECKONING was inspired by a serial killer case I investigated as an FBI Special Agent 20 years ago in Buffalo, New York.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, a series of rapes and murders of young women occurred in Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs. A man was accused and convicted of the rapes and murders. In 2006, on the anniversary of the last murder 16 years earlier, another woman was murdered with the exact MO as all of the previous murders. What appeared to be a copycat murder case turned into a complex investigation with multiple twists and turns with a conclusion no one saw coming.
I have always believed that this case would make a great novel because of its unique circumstances and how it was finally resolved. Of course, many of the obstacles I created for Wallace in the pursuit of the killer were fictionalized.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
The most obvious is escapism. In the crazy world we live in, we all need a respite from the constant news cycle. Nothing is better than a story that transports you to a place you may not know about and becoming invested in a challenging quest with relatable characters.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Gus Wallace is pragmatic in his approach to investigations. He is not bound by conventional thinking and is willing to do things most people think won’t work. His philosophy is if everyone is thinking the same thing, then someone is not thinking.
Gus Wallace is a lot like Harry Bosch. Highly experienced, dogmatic, and gruff, but deeply invested in bringing justice for the victims and catching the bad guys regardless of who they are. Gus and Harry have the same philosophy: Everyone counts, or no one counts.
When did you first decide to become an author?
After I retired from the FBI, I worked overseas in the Middle East and had a lot of downtime. So, I decided to write my first book, a non-fiction quasi-true crime book called Lies People Tell: An FBI Agent’s Toolkit for Catching Liars and Cheats. I had spent several years teaching criminal investigators how to use Deceptive Language Analysis to formulate interview strategies. I thought everyone could use the same methods to know when they are being lied to or conned in their everyday lives. It became a bestseller, making it #1 on Amazon, and it won several literary awards.
How much time do you generally spend on your writing?
I don’t go by time; I go by word count. When I write, I work until I get at least 1000 words on paper daily. They may not always be good, but they are there. Sometimes, if the muse is with me, it will be more. I can go back and fix any mistakes and clear up bad writing. The most important thing for me is getting it down on paper. That keeps the momentum going.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
The best part is the freedom to pursue projects that mean a lot to you as the author. You can gamble on a story that you know in your gut will speak to people.
The hardest part is not having the distribution reach that the big traditional publishing house has. Even though you have written a story that you believe will resonate with readers, you still need to get in front of them. It’s a much steeper hill for Indie authors.
What’s a great piece of advice that you can share with fellow indie authors?
Writing may be your passion, but publishing is a business. Traditional publishing is one business model, and indie publishing is another. Both are legitimate business models. Don’t feel like you are not a legitimate, accomplished author just because you chose the Indie business model. Everyone has their reasons for the route they take. Teddy Roosevelt said it best, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”
Would you go traditional if a publisher came calling? If so, why?
Yes, for the right amount of money. But after 40 years in government service, between the Army and the FBI, I treasure the freedom of being independent.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
Never chase the money, and fame is fleeting.
I write to entertain people. My reward is when they read something I wrote and lean forward because they are caught up in the action or chuckle at something funny; I’ve entertained them. That’s my payoff.
Which writer, living or dead, do you most admire?
Michael Connelly. For my money, he is the best crime novelist in the modern era and a heck of a nice guy.
Which book do you wish you could have written?
Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer. It is an epic novel spanning 50 years, covering two world wars, Korea and ending in Vietnam. The best leadership book ever written.