Ben Sanders is the author of seven novels, including American Blood, Marshall’s Law and The Stakes. Sanders lives in Auckland, New Zealand, and his latest novel is The Devils You Know.
Today, Ben Sanders is on the blog to answer a few of our questions about his latest thrilling novel. Read on …
Ben Sanders
Please tell us about your book, The Devils You Know!
BS: It’s about a CIA operative—Vincent—who has a moral epiphany and decides he’s had enough of shadowy government work. He accepts what he thinks is an easy job as head of security for an elderly supermarket mogul—Eugene Lamar—in California. The problem is, Lamar and his family are being threatened by organized crime, so Vincent’s new role is not exactly the relaxing change he’d hoped for.
Where did you find the inspiration for this novel?
BS: Normally my writing process is visual: the characters and the critical scenes show up as vivid imagery in my head, and telling the story is an exercise in linking all those scenes together on the page. This book was a bit different. The first thing to arrive in my head was the first line: Before the shooting and everything else that happened, Vincent’s only problem was that Freeman didn’t like him. I knew it was a story that belonged to this guy Vincent, whoever he was, and I liked his understated tone (“the shooting and everything else that happened”). But who was Freeman? Why was there a shooting? I wrote the first few chapters as a fun exercise in answering those questions, and then my usual process of following the pictures in my head took over.
How do you maintain tension in the plot when you’re writing these kinds of high stakes crime thrillers?
BS: Tension is created when the reader needs to know what happens next. Generally my technique is to create characters the reader will hopefully find likeable, and then place them in mortal danger. The trick is structural: I’ll spend a few scenes with my protagonists, showing their motivation in the story, and then cut to my antagonists to show conflicting motivation. What I’m trying to achieve is a sense that resolving the story will necessitate a final, fatal collision between characters.
Vincent finds himself conflictingly attracted to the journalist Erin Jones. How did you approach writing the dynamic of a couple with such a fundamental ideological difference in their beliefs?
BS: Their differences of opinion actually helped me establish their relationship. Relationships in stories are obviously built on characters’ interactions, and generally the form of the interaction is dialogue. With Vincent and Erin, their views don’t make them incompatible, but they always had something to discuss, or argue about, and as a consequence they build up an interesting association.
What do you love so much about writing thrillers and crime fiction?
BS: My favourite aspects of fiction are tension and suspense—like I said above, the feeling of needing to know what happens next. To my mind, crime and thriller fiction offers suspense in its most potent form. There’s nothing more suspenseful than a compelling, sympathetic character being placed in mortal danger.
You published your first book when you were 20. What have you learnt about writing and publishing since then that you wish you knew when you were a debut novelist?
BS: It sounds obvious, but read your stuff aloud—or at least under your breath. Awkward rhythm and funny little repetitions aren’t always obvious on the page, but you can hear them.
Who would you say has had the biggest influence on your writing?
BS: My parents. Writing came as a natural extension of my love of reading, and I love reading because my parents encouraged it so strongly when I was a child. So Mum and Dad are to blame.
What is the last book you read and loved?
BS: Over the Christmas holidays I read A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking. Probably the most fascinating book I’ve ever read.
What do you hope readers will discover in The Devils You Know?
BS: Compelling heroes, charismatic bad guys who love to talk, and mayhem.
And finally, what’s up next for you?
BS: I’ve finished my 2022 book. It’s called Sometimes at Night, and it’s the third instalment in my Marshall Grade series. That should be out in February. Right now, I’m working on my 2023 book, which will be another standalone novel. It’s off to a great start, and I have no idea how it will end.
Thanks Ben!
—The Devils You Know by Ben Sanders (Allen & Unwin) is out now.
The Devils You Know
Vincent needs a change. He's spent the last fifteen years in covert operations for the US government, but after a botched and fatal mission, he decides he's done with pulling triggers.
He lucks into a dream job in Santa Barbara as head of security for supermarket mogul Eugene Lamar: nothing more than driving the boss to and from golf, with ample downtime for surfing, or sitting by the pool contemplating life - and how to live it with a zero body count. But there's a problem...
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