Love in the Shadows follows a woman determined to escape the cycle of abuse who sets out to exact justice on the men who perpetrate it. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

During research for my Emmy-winning CBS documentary, The Abused Woman, it became apparent that marital, physical, verbal and psychological abuse had no class, race, religion or age boundaries. The powerful have preyed on the weak and helpless throughout history. This global problem was either ignored or dismissed just so long as you’re not among those being brutalized. My research for the documentary revealed a world of hidden habitats in which mostly unpaid volunteer women and men provided safe havens for victims on the run from their abusers.

It seemed like you took your time in building the characters and the story to great emotional effect. How did you manage the pacing of the story while keeping readers engaged?

The pacing was provided by the characters, all of whom were fictional representations of those I had interviewed for my book, “The Battered Rich,” published by Ashley Books and unfortunately out of print. If I couldn’t hold the interest of my readers by telling the victims’ stories truthfully along with the incisive comments from psychiatrists, therapists and police, I was the wrong author for this book.

What are some things that you find interesting about the human condition that you think make for great fiction?

I learned there was a cottage industry of cosmetologists who padded their income by teaching rich abused women how to disguise their bruises from friends and the public. A bigger surprise was to hear for the first time from a psychiatrist the term, “messiah complex,” which applied to surgeons who were non-verbal, god-like figures in the operating room but couldn’t handle highly educated wives who were socially and verbally their superiors. Physical violence often became their only recourse.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?

It is another noir, historically based crime thriller. Although Newark remains the launching pad for the novel, I am creating a fictional city in the upper Midwest that like Newark, profited greatly during WW2 but in the late-1940s was socially and economically adrift with the closure of the massive war-time industries, and as a result became easy prey for the mob-controlled labor unions whose original instructions were provided by the legendary Jimmy Hoffa. With any luck and remaining in good health, I hope to have the final completed in 2026.

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