with Mike Cooper
We are delighted to welcome thriller writer Mike Cooper to Omnimystery News today.
Mike's second book to feature tough-guy financial auditor Silas Cade is Full Ratchet (Viking; July 2013 hardcover, ebook, and audio formats).
We recently had the opportunity to chat with Mike about the character and the series.
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Omnimystery News: We were introduced to Silas Cade when we read the first book in the series, Clawback, where the character is described as one whose logo might be "a green eyeshade crossed by a 9mm Glock." Is that the character we'll see in Full Ratchet?
Photo provided courtesy of
Mike Cooper
Mike Cooper: When we are young, we never expect to grow up; when we grow up, we never expect to change; and when we get old, we can't believe the children we used to be. So it is with Silas Cade. Silas has appeared in several short stories and two novels so far, and at this relatively early point of his career, I see him as exactly the same person forever. But people do evolve, like it or not. Aging, unavoidable, is the least of it. Will Silas find the right woman and stick with her? Will his martial skills fade as younger, faster, hungrier opponents appear? Will he tire of life at the shadowy margins, unable to live fully in everyone else's world?
Maybe. Maybe not. Finding out keeps the series interesting for me.
OMN: Tell us something about your new book that isn't mentioned in the publisher synopsis.
MC: What is it about Pittsburgh? When I started writing Full Ratchet my editor and I had agreed that Silas had to get out of Manhattan for a while, and western Pennsylvania seemed like an interesting destination. (I've never been there, but that's a good thing! — it frees me from the constraint of real street names, real topography, real people. I can write the setting to fit the story.)
But then it turns out that Pittsburgh is hot. Shale oil has created a boom economy, drawing workers from all over the US and abroad. The city has undergone a striking, nationally recognized revitalization, clawing itself out of post-industrial Rust Belt decay. And to top it all off, the Jack Reacher movie is set in Pittsburgh!
I wasn't jumping on a bandwagon, honest. Silas was there first, dammit.
OMN: Tweet a summary of the book.
MC: Hitman accountant!
OMN: Are any of the characters in the book based on real people?
MC: Funny you should ask that, because the first draft of Full Ratchet contained a character modeled after a famous, beloved, nationally known figure. Except in my version, he (or she — I'm not telling) was venal, corrupt and ruthless. The contrast amused me to no end, and passed my editor, but Penguin's legal department took a dimmer view. Apparently there's this thing called libel, and changing a name plus a few minor facts isn't enough to hold off the lawyers.
Silas, however, is totally me. Ex-special forces, ex-Wall Street, as quick with a quip as a gun and never at a loss for something to say … Pretty much all I need to do to write these books is transcribe my life.
OMN: What advice would you give to new writers?
MC: Here's the great thing about the ongoing publishing revolution: it's really, really easy to publish!
Here's the bad thing: it's really, really easy … okay, you know.
My books are infinitely better for being edited by smart, engaged, hardworking editors. Much as I'd like to think I can craft propulsive plots, scintillating characters and snappy dialogue all on my own, I can't — just like most other authors. If you're not one of the rare few who can, then get a good editor and take your time. Revise. Rework. Rewrite.
In the long run, you'll have more — and happier — readers.
OMN: Silas Cade is hard on bankers. Billionaire financiers are assassinated, investment-manager hot shots are blown up, private equity moguls are gunned down. Given the incredible damage these guys have done to the world economy … why aren't we seeing it happen in real life?
MC: Two reasons, I think. First, all this stuff is complicated. The mechanisms are difficult to follow, and very well-funded propaganda constantly obscures the villains. Who really understands financial derivatives? — mostly, the people who use it to rip you off, not the victimized 99%.
But second, and more important, we're still a nation of laws. We resolve issues peacefully. We don't resort to mob justice, shoot people just because we don't like them or are afraid of them, or violently attack those we disagree with.
I really hope that's true. I really hope it stays true.
OMN: What's next for you?
MC: A standalone, as it happens, quite different in that (so far) nobody dies. Silas will return, but for now I'm working with different characters, different motivations and a very different kind of crime. It's a nice diversion.
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Mike Cooper is the pseudonym of a former jack-of-all-trades. Under a different name he has received wide recognition, including a Shamus Award, a Thriller nomination, and inclusion in Best American Mystery Stories. Mike lives outside Boston with his family.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at MikeCooper.com or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Full Ratchet
Mike Cooper
A Silas Cade Thriller
Silas Cade is a tough-guy auditor, who employs a brand of financial reform that comes with plenty of firepower. Needing a respite from Wall Street, Cade jumps at a job opportunity in western Pennsylvania — but finds that Main Street is just as dirty.
The job seems easy enough — check out a Pittsburgh manufacturer and file a report — but Cade quickly discovers corruption at every level. His revelations catch the attentions of hair-trigger Russian mobsters and a blonde assassin named Harmony. Cade's estranged brother is dragged into the fray as the tension builds to bullet-riddled showdowns across defunct steel mills, forests, and Appalachian fracking fields.
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