FaceOff
by David Baldacci, editor
We are delighted to welcome the authors of the anthology FaceOff (Simon & Schuster; June 2014 hardcover, audiobook and ebook formats) to Omnimystery News today.
The concept was inspired: Get together a group of A-list authors — members of the International Thriller Writers association — and pair them into 11 "teams". Ask each team to write a short story starring the writers' main characters, and have those characters interact in head-to-head and collaborative ways.
Legal-thriller novelist John Lescroart of Davis was teamed with T. Jefferson Parker of Los Angeles for "Silent Hunt", featuring their respective protagonists Wyatt Hunt and Joe Trona. The novelists met in 2009 when Lescroart contributed a tale to Hook, Line and Sinister, an anthology of mystery stories involving angling. (Parker was the editor.)
The Sacramento Bee checked in with the authors about their assignment and contribution.
— ♦ —
What was it like to collaborate with another author?
"Jeff is truly my favorite thriller writer, so it was a total blast," Lescroart said. "We had gone fishing together in Baja (in 2011), so we had something in common besides writing. I called Jeff and said, 'Why don't we start this (short story project) by going down to Cabo for big game fish on light tackle?' Down there, we agreed to put (our main characters) where we were, and the story just fell together. We talked about it maybe twice, then sat down and started writing and trading pages back and forth until we had enough to make the story."
Answering that same question, Parker said, "I know John well, but this was the first time I'd done (a collaboration). It turned out to be a very cool and rewarding experience, like having a conversation with a part of yourself you didn't quite know. We didn't have a master plan, it was sort of improvisational. I would finish my section and pass it to John, and later see his take on what I had written and what he had added to it, then I work on it and pass it back to him."
One more question: Who is the better writer?
Lescroart: "Jeff is. One of the great things about the project was getting to work with him."
Parker: "John is way better."
"Silent Hunt" is set in Baja California, where Lescroart's Hunt, a private investigator from San Francisco, meets Parker's Trona, a deputy for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Each man is headed there on a fishing vacation, and a chance encounter at Los Angeles International Airport brings them together.
Since they're both staying at the same fishing lodge near a Mexican village, they decide to buddy-up and fish together. Soon, a group of heavies from the Zetas drug cartel threatens the anglers' fishing guide, his family and their village. Hunt and Trona come to their rescue with a devilishly clever play that takes everyone out of harm's way — except for the Zetas.
— ♦ —
FaceOff
David Baldacci, editor
A Short Story Anthology
