We are delighted to welcome author Trace Conger to Omnimystery News today.
Trace's debut mystery, the first in a series and a finalist for the 2015 Shamus Award for Best Indie P.I. Novel, is The Shadow Broker (Black Mill Books; October 2014 trade paperback, audiobook and ebook formats) and we recently had the opportunity to spend some time with him talking about it.
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Omnimystery News: Tell us a little more about Mr. Finn, your new series character. What is it about him that appeals to you as a writer?
Photo provided courtesy of
Trace Conger
Trace Conger: The Shadow Broker is the first novel in the "Mr. Finn" series, which follows Finn Harding, an ex PI who lost his license and now works for criminals who don't care if he's licensed or not.
To me, Finn is a fascinating character because he constantly struggles with right and wrong. He knows the difference, but as the rewards become more lucrative, Finn is willing to take greater risks to get back his old life. As always, things don't go as planned for Finn and he gets pulled deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld.
Finn is joined by a cast of characters including Little Freddie, a psychopath and a killer for the mob; and Dunbar, a Detroit mob boss with "a square head and knuckles the size of half dollars." Readers also meet Albert, Finn's father, who is kicked out of a nursing home for assaulting the staff, as well as a host of other characters who stand in Finn's way.
OMN: How do you expect him to evolve over the course of the series?
TC: Finn changes, but on a small level. He doesn't experience an epiphany that makes him a new person with a new outlook. He is more of a classic noir character (though not as tough or invincible) or a Jack Reacher-type (again, not as invincible). You know he's going to be the same person, with the same traits, from book to book, but he learns from his experiences, which shape him as a person.
I've created the character arc for Finn across three Mr. Finn novels, and what changes the most are his desires, what he wants out of his family, his former career, and his own situation.
OMN: Into which mystery categories would you place The Shadow Broker?
TC: I'd classify it as neo-noir and suspense, but it also has elements of a procedural. I've also included more hard-boiled-type characters. The writing is tight, something you might expect from Raymond Chandler, but with more modern themes.
Every author learns that they need to be able to slot their work into certain categories, because that's how bookstores are organized and that's what agents and publishers want to know when they consider the work. But today, there are so many novels that cross genres, which to me, is fantastic, because you can take the best elements of each.
OMN: Tell us something about the book that isn't mentioned in the publisher's synopsis.
TC: One thing that isn't mentioned is that it's loosely based on a real person. The idea for Finn came from a conversation I had with a retired PI who explained that she used to work as a black market information broker for a very short time (to make ends meet). In that role, she acquired illegal personal information for her clients who paid top dollar. After learning that these shadowy individuals exist, I was intrigued and disturbed at the same time. This was the genesis of the novel.
OMN: Describe your writing process for us.
TC: I do outline. I have to know where the story is going before I even begin writing it. I respect those who do not outline, but that process doesn't work for me (except for short stories, which I don't outline). Most of the time I won't start writing unless I have the ending in mind.
That mindset comes from my past as a corporate writer, where I had to outline everything and get approvals before putting pen to paper.
I typically will plot out a novel on index cards. I only write a few sentences on each, and it's never more than what will fit on a standard index card. An example might be "Character A kills Character B."
Each card represents a chapter. Once I have most of the story plotted out, I try to organize it into a logical order. This is the story skeleton. From there I get to writing and put flesh on the bones. I do find that the story deviates from my original outline, and I add minor characters where needed, but having that roadmap is very valuable for me.
While outlining I also develop the main cast of characters, and since I'm writing a series, several of those characters continue from book to book.
OMN: How important is the setting to the story?
TC: For me, setting is very important and I try to be as realistic as possible. Most of the locations I include in the novel are actual places, and I've tried to be as precise and accurate in their description as possible. I set a scene in the FBI building in Cincinnati, and tried to get a tour of the building to paint an accurate picture. As you can imagine, they didn't go for it, but they did agree to speak with me on the phone and answer questions I had. Through that conversation, I got a good layout of the areas I wanted to include in the book, and the descriptions were more vivid and accurate than they would have been otherwise.
I understand that 99 percent of my readers won't know what the inside of the FBI's Cincinnati field office looks like, but as an author, I strive for accuracy and it would drive me insane to know I falsely represented something.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found their way into your book?
TC: I'm an avid woodworker, when I have time, which isn't as available as it once was. The hobby has worked its way into my work. One of the antagonists, Dunbar, in The Shadow Broker uses a woodworking business as a front for his illegal activities. There is also a graphic interrogation scene that employs a few woodworking tools, though I have no personal knowledge of that experience.
OMN: Was The Shadow Broker always the title for the book?
TC: The working title of the book was The Bang Bang Club, which is admittedly horrible! Absolutely horrible. I'm actually embarrassed to admit it, even though it was never to be the actual title. I settled on The Shadow Broker, as this is an actual term for an information broker who traffics in illegal information.
OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?
TC: I've met with a lot of book clubs to discuss the novel and they always ask, "what happens to Albert and Daryl." Theses characters seem to be fan favorites, for different reasons. They serve important roles in The Shadow Broker, but they are secondary characters. These groups get excited when I tell them that both Albert and Daryl play major roles in the second book in the series, Scar Tissue.
OMN: Have any specific authors influenced how and what you write today?
TC: One of my biggest influences is Joe Lansdale, especially his Hap and Leonard series. They're a great combination of action, violence, and humor. I think Lansdale is one of the best writers out there. I also credit Elmore Leonard as a key influence to me. His language is flawless and his plots are fantastic.
OMN: What's next for you?
TC: I'm almost finished writing Scar Tissue, the second novel in the series. While The Shadow Broker revealed much of Finn's backstory, it also introduced a variety of characters. Scar Tissue picks up where The Shadow Broker ends. It dives deeper into Albert's past and introduces a new set of problems for everyone who survived the first book.
I've also started outlining the third "Mr. Finn" novel.
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Trace Conger was born in Cincinnati and earned a degree in creative writing from Ohio University. From there he moved to New York City where he became a public relations consultant helping to shape the public's perception of large technology companies and making them appear more exciting than they actually were. Tiring of 60-hour workweeks, he left the agency life and was born again as a freelance writer, where he wrote copy for several great companies (and some lousy ones too) and sweated deadlines from various publications. Now, back in Cincinnati, he writes in the suspense and thriller genres.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at TraceConger.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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The Shadow Broker by Trace Conger
A Mr. Finn Novel
Publisher: Black Mill Books
When finding criminals is your business, it's easy to make a killing …
Finn Harding — Mr. Finn to his clients — specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. Stripped of his PI license, Finn begins working for the type of clientele who operate in the shadows, pay in cash, and don't care if he's licensed or not. As Finn becomes ensnared in a plot to take over a black market information brokerage, he finds himself and his family straddling the thin line between life and death.
With his own clients gunning for him, Finn must evade a psychopathic killer, special agents from the FBI's cybercrime unit, and a Detroit mob boss. Finn is about to find out that working with criminals has its advantages. Staying alive isn't one of them.
— The Shadow Broker by Trace Conger
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