Vielen Dank an Blanvalet und an J. D. Barker für die wundervolle Gelegenheit mit diesem außergewöhnlich spannenden Thriller „the fourth monkey“ abzuschließen! Meine Rezension zu dem Auftakt einer neuen Thriller-Serie findet Ihr hier.
Vielen Dank an Blanvalet und an J. D. Barker für die wundervolle Gelegenheit mit diesem außergewöhnlich spannenden Thriller „the fourth monkey“ abzuschließen! Meine Rezension zu dem Auftakt einer neuen Thriller-Serie findet Ihr hier.
Meine Fragen:
Tina: What is your source of inspiration?
J. D. Barker: Inspiration can be found everywhere, you just need to learn how to look for it. That secret can be unlocked with two simple words – What If. Let’s say there is a glass of water on the table. Boring, right? What if that was the last glass of water in the world? Not so boring anymore. Your lead character is sitting in a diner. Again, boring. But, if you add a few “what ifs,” things change – What if your character notices a woman across the diner watching him? What if he realizes everyone in the diner is watching him? What if he looks out the window and people across the street are watching him? What if he looks up at the television hanging in the corner of the diner and sees a live image of himself sitting in the diner on the screen? What if there is a timer running next to his image counting down?
What if. Two of the most magical words in every writer’s toolbox.
Tina: Was währe wenn? Eine interessante Frage!
Tina: “The Fourth Monkey” will be filmed for series. Who would be your favorite actors for Porter and Nash?
J. D. Barker: I tend to envision specific actors when I write characters, particularly in a story like THE FOURTH MONKEY. This allows me to adaption mannerisms, facial expressions, verbal patterns… From the beginning (in my mind, anyway), Sam Porter has always been Michael Keaton. Not only is he a fantastic actor, he has the range to play a character like Sam Porter. Nash is a bit trickier, he’s a combination of several people in my life. When I think of actors, Joel Kinnaman of THE KILLING comes to mind. He has the perfect combination of fun and serious.
As they get deeper into the project and I hear some of the names of possible actors, I am absolutely amazed. The project is in great hands and I can’t wait to see what they do with it.
Tina: Ich bin ebenfalls schon sehr gespannt auf die Verfilmung und auch auf die ausgewählen Hauptcharaktere! Michael Keaten wäre definitiv eine gute Wahl!
Tina: Do you think that some humans are born evil?
J. D. Barker: Over the three books in the series, this is the question that will ultimately be answered. Can you take someone who is inherently good and make them evil? Can someone be born “bad”? I’ve seen some extraordinary people rise up out of horrible neighborhoods and home lives and vice versa – I’ve known several people who grew up with everything life could possible have to offer, yet they turned out bad. Many people believe we are born as clean slates, the product of our environment. I’m not so sure that’s the case. With 4MK we’ll have to wait and see if he is his parents’ child.
Tina: Es gibt ja diverse Forschungsprojekte, die mit Straftätern, Serienkillern und auch schon gewaltätigen Kindern Studien beschreiben. Bisher ist allerdings nur wenig darüber veröffentlicht. Da bekommt Ahnenforschung eine ganz neuen Antrieb.
Tina: Sam drives a Dodge Charger, I drive a Dodge Avenger. What car do you drive or rather what is your favorite car?
J. D. Barker: Sam nearly drove a Dodge Challenger until an early reader pointed out cops really can’t get by a with a two-door vehicle. Here in the U.S., most of our police vehicles are Dodge Chargers so I went with that. As for me, I have the car Sam wanted – a Dodge Challenger SRT8. It’s black with a red racing stripe down the middle. It has 470 horsepower, it’s ridiculously fast. And I love it. I constantly turn down plane tickets for book signings and conferences so I can drive instead. There is nothing more fun than a road trip in a fast car.
Tina: Ich beneide Sam und natürlich auch J. D. Barker um seinen hübschen Charger! Klassisch amerikanisch!
Tina: Will we meet a new cruel agent like Watson in the next story with Nash and Porter?
J. D. Barker: THE FIFTH TO DIE, due out later this year, delves much deeper into 4MK’s backstory. Not only do we learn who his mother truly is, but we get a better handle on the childhood events that shapped him into the killer he is today. For Sam, what was once black and white becomes varying shades of gray as he tries to piece together the past. There are far worse people out there than 4MK and in THE FIFTH TO DIE, you get to meet them.
Tina: Ich bin wirklich gespannt, was für eine Geschichte hinter der bösen Mutter steckt und kann es also kaum erwarten, bis der nächste Teil veröffentlicht wird.
Tina: The rats in this book had more than one banquet. Which animal are you afraid of?
J. D. Barker: Oh, clearly rats. Rats and sharks might be the only animals that seriously frighten me.
When I was a little boy of about eight years old, our nextdoor neighbor had horses and we would play in their barn. One summer day, we decided to take the large bales of hay in the barn and stack them into a makeshift fort. I was in the middle of it when it collapsed and I got trapped in there for about three hours. I was pinned, unable to move. My friends were too worried about getting punished to run and find an adult. Instead, they decided to get me out on their own. While I was stuck under all that hay, I could hear the rats climbing around inside the pile of hay with me. A couple brushed close enough for me to feel them. And I kept waiting for a bite that never came. The waiting, though, that terrified me. While life can be scary, the thoughts your mind can conjure can be far worse. My friends eventually got me out, and our parents never learned what happened. I grew up with a horrible fear of rats and to a lesser extent, small, tight spaces.
Tina: Mit Ratten habe ich nicht so ein Problem, ich bin kein Freund von Tieren, die mehr als 4 Beine haben!
Ich bedanke mich nochmals herzlich bei Blanvalet und bei J. D. Barker für das Interview! Gespannt erwarte ich den nächsten Teil!
