Utter Darkness follows a former FBI agent who discovers that protecting his family will require him to confront a supernatural evil and decide where his faith truly lies. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I built the backstory for UTTER DARKNESS through my original series, Hawk McCullough Action Thrillers. In those three books, we meet FBI Agent Ryan Fletcher, who teams up with Jason (Hawk) McCullough to fight the human face of evil. Though he wasn’t the main character, I fell in love with Ryan Fletcher’s role. He is a man who, first and foremost, loves his family. Yet, as he fights dark forces in Seattle, he knows he is putting his family at risk. In UTTER DARKNESS, Ryan Fletcher flees from a supernatural threat he has yet to comprehend by taking his family to a small town in Middle Tennessee. As the new police chief, Ryan soon realizes that, regardless of where he lives, he is the focus of an evil he has only begun to understand.

Ryan has already experienced something supernatural before arriving in Cedar Grove. Why was it important that he begin the story with uncertainty about what he had witnessed?

UTTER DARKNESS begins with Ryan’s night terrors about the mysterious force he confronted on a street in Seattle. As a man more familiar with the grim, physical side of humanity—crime, criminals, justice, and punishment—he glimpses a horrifying reality: what he witnessed in Seattle was a malignant force occupying a realm most people would be glad to keep unseen. For Ryan Fletcher, that’s not an option.

The investigation begins with a missing child and gradually reveals trafficking, corruption, and supernatural forces. How did you approach connecting the human and supernatural sides of the story?

Ryan Fletcher is a lawman with an innate desire to do right, and, as a family man, the abduction of a child hits especially close to home. But that horrendously evil crime serves a larger purpose, leading to a clash between two opposing forces, fighting an age-long battle. The harsh reality of child trafficking and corruption, with its real and horrific consequences, presents the real-life consequences of the unseen supernatural battle between good and evil. Ultimately, the reader is left with a choice.

The immediate conflict reaches a resolution, but the ending makes it clear the larger spiritual war is continuing. Why was that important?

The larger spiritual war has raged since the beginning of time. It hasn’t ended, nor will Ryan’s story. Though the future will test Fletcher’s faith in unimaginable, heart-wrenching ways, he will unite with familiar and new friends who, alongside him and the spiritual forces of good, continue the battle against the forces of utter darkness. Ryan’s battle may be more visible and traumatic than those the reader faces, but it is important nonetheless. It’s mirrored in each of our lives in ways both big and small. I hope Ryan’s decision to stand on faith will help others do the same in the face of what appear to be overwhelming challenges.

Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon