Rough, Rough Country follows a former Army Ranger as he tries to rebuild his family’s outfitting business, only to be pulled back into a brutal fight with a cartel boss whose obsession threatens everything he loves. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Rough, Rough Country is the second novel about Graham. It takes place roughly eight months after No Easy Way Back where Graham returns to Utah when his older brother is framed for murder by Greg Langston. Graham’s pursuit of the truth to clear his brother’s name forces Langston to take drastic measures and call in the cartel whose money he manages (and then loses) through his real estate empire is the motivation of the cartel to strike back against Hayes.

The Utah setting gives the novel a rugged, lived-in atmosphere. What drew you to Payson and the surrounding mountain country as the heart of this story?

I’m a third generation Utahan and was raised in Payson like both of my parents were in addition to my grandfather. My friends and I drove the backroads and up the canyon multiple times a week to go fishing or simply explore. The mountain country is the beating heart of my story because its a huge part of who I am. Those roads Graham Hayes drives? Those are my memories.

Graham Hayes is highly trained and dangerous, but his family ties keep him grounded. How did you balance his tactical competence with his emotional vulnerability?

The thriller genre is full of characters who are power fantasies who kill by the hundreds and always know exactly what to say and never doubt themselves. In my own life I’ve known people who have served in the special forces, as US Marshals, etc and they’re all people like anyone else with their own quirks and demons. I strive to write people rather than tropes.

The novel blends family drama, military brotherhood, small-town legacy, and cartel violence. Which part of that mix came first for you: the character, the setting, or the conflict?

The setting for sure. I grew up wandering the foothills and imagining stories that could happen in the places I went fishing and camping with my family and things like that. There’s not many thrillers out there with Utah as a setting, so I think it’s a ton of fun to explore the underutilized place for my books.

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