Reader Views is talking with acclaimed mystery/thriller author I. Michael Koontz about his book "Under Cloak of Darkness: The Story of John Apparite."? I. Michael will be talking to Juanita Watson, Assistant Editor of Reader Views. Juanita: Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today, I. Michael. Your book "Under Cloak of Darkness"? is taking the mystery thriller novel to a new level. Please give an idea of the storyline of your book. I. Michael: It's the tale of a young man who joins a ruthless, ultra-secret United States espionage agency run by a legendary man known only as the "Director,"? and takes place in Washington D.C. and London in the summer and fall of 1955. Personally, I hate dull books where nothing ever happens, so I tried to keep things moving with assassinations, tricky escapes, battles for secret fuel formulas, deadly poisons, examples of spy gear, and such, though with some more serious philosophical underpinnings regarding the nature of duty and personal sacrifice included as well. Juanita: Who is John Apparite, and what can you tell us about his personality? I. Michael: First of all, it's important to know that he's just a little guy; only five foot six and 141 pounds"?he's not your typical secret agent from "Central Casting."? He's always being underestimated because of his size, and that has shaped his personality; he continually feels the need to prove himself worthy to his superiors and to himself"?he's basically addicted to doing his duty. He's had some hard knocks in his life"?both his parents were killed when he was a teen"?so at first he's tried to distance himself emotionally from those around him; his only real human connection for years was his love for the Washington Senators baseball team. It's therefore a shock to him when, as he gets deeper into his new duties, he discovers that he's opening up emotionally to others; becoming vulnerable in that particular way. The emergence of these feelings later comes back to haunt him. Juanita: What is a Superagent, and are there real-life Superagents? I. Michael: (laughs) You know what they always say: if I told you, I'd have to kill you! Actually, I have heard rumors of a secret arm of the CIA that, back in the Cold War, hired assassins to kill specific targets behind enemy lines. And there's those stories of the CIA trying to assassinate Castro with poisons, and agents torturing people, experimenting on people with drugs in Operation ARTICHOKE back in the fifties. Honestly, I'd be surprised if there weren't operatives like John Apparite in this crazy world of ours"?but I don't think they would use an archaic-sounding term like "Superagent"? in modern times. The trick would be in proving their existence beyond a doubt, which no one will likely ever be able to do since the first priority of such an agency would be to remain absolutely secret"?just as it is in my book. Juanita: Where do John Apparite's adventures take him? I. Michael: The first half of the story, which involves the recruitment, training, and initial mission of John Apparite, occurs in Washington, D.C. Events then take him to London"?which also happens to be my favorite city in the world. It's a lot of fun to set a story in such iconic cities as those; plenty of great material to be mined from them. Juanita: What is the time frame of your story, and how do the events of that time present themselves in "Under Cloak of Darkness"' I. Michael:"Under Cloak of Darkness"? takes place in 1955; setting it at that time was an important decision, and quite deliberate. I wanted to have a lot of choices in regard to current fifties events around which to set the stories; for example, J. Edgar Hoover's apparent reluctance to ferret-out the Mafia occurred at that time, as did the issue regarding the use of solid rocket fuels for ballistic missiles; both of which come into play in the book. If you're looking for hints as to what happens to Apparite in the future, check your Cold War timeline"?remember that the divided city of Berlin was still rather freely traveled in the fifties, and Sputnik was launched in 1957. That's all I'll say for now about that! Juanita: What can you tell us about the "Director"' I. Michael: He's like a lot of us might remember our fathers"?smart, strict, and sometimes harsh, but at heart, caring more about us than anything else in the world, though often too stoic and embarrassed to show it. Like Apparite, he's a guy that's had a hard life, but who has dedicated himself utterly to the service of the United States"?on his own terms, of course, which he can be rather arrogant about, actually. And like Apparite, he tries to avoid thinking of the human cost of what he makes his men do, but also like Apparite, he, in the end, cannot avoid letting his human side show. He's a very complex man. There's always more to him than meets the eye. Juanita: You have an extensive website that truly pulls the reader deeper and deeper into the story of "Under Cloak of Darkness."? Tell us about your very impressive website and why you've devoted so much additional information to this story. I. Michael: The website, www.imkoontz.com, is something I'm rather proud of. Unlike most sites, which are author-centric, I wanted mine to be character-centric; "World of John Apparite"?-centric, to be specific. I wanted the book actually to be a sub-set of a larger spy mythology which would be expanded upon on the website. So what I did was put 30,000 words of supplemental material on the site, explaining and expanding upon "Darkness"? and the Apparite spy mythology. I compiled rather detailed character bios, a book glossary of over one hundred terms, a "Conversation with an unidentified source,"? location photos, Cold War espionage facts"?even an "Easter Egg"? of secret material. Ideally, people would be entertained as well as informed. Juanita: You are elusive regarding additional information in your book. What are some of the questions readers are asking, and will all inquires eventually be answered? I. Michael: For one, everyone asks, "What are Apparite and the Director's real names"' In the book, I used the old Ian Fleming convention of obscuring the true names of some characters; I think it adds to the mystery of the story and mythology. Of course, I know what they are"?in fact, I've already written the episode where they're disclosed, along with the origin of the entire tale. But I'm saving that for"?well, for a very future book. For now, no one else knows"?not even my wife! People also ask me about Apparite's Russian nemesis, the SMERSH agent Viktor, and whether they meet again, as well as the connection hinted at between Apparite and the Belgian physician, Dr. Hoevenaers. All I'll say for now is that you haven't heard the last of any of them. By the way, readers can send me questions via the website or to imichaelkoontz@yahoo.com"?I'd love to discuss the book and answer any questions I can. I'd like this to be an interactive experience"?that's half the fun. Juanita: What has inspired you to write "Under Cloak of Darkness"' I. Michael: In 2001, I had a non-fiction book published on the WWII experiences of seventeen veterans from my town, and it struck me that these men"?just regular, normal guys from the Midwest"?had to go half-way across the globe and kill people! One day they were sitting in a cafeteria in their hometown, and three months later they might be in Belgium shooting fellow humans in the face at point-blank range. It got me to thinking: How does someone do that? What effect would that have on them? Would it make them care more, or care less about the value of human life? And I realized that there were two basic reasons why they did these things: they did them because it was their duty, and they did them to not let the other guys down. And that's where the more philosophical aspects of "Darkness"? got their genesis. John Apparite turns out to be basically a decent, nice guy"?so how is it that he can do such horrible things? How does it affect him? Juanita: You must be a huge fan of spy adventure and action adventures. What have been your influences in creating your story? I. Michael: I think all of us that write spy tales were influenced by Ian Fleming's Bond books; they're fast-moving, entertaining little morsels that contain enough spy-business to stay interesting from a technical viewpoint. But oddly, the books that influenced me the most in a direct sense were Patrick O'Brian's great Aubrey and Maturin novels, which I read in 2002 and 2003 before starting "Darkness."? I was inspired by the historical denseness of those works, and the depth and richness of the relationship between the naval man Jack Aubrey and the physician Stephen Maturin. I thought it would be fun to replicate the same sort of thing in the fifties, using a secret agent and his supervisor, and with as much historical and technical detail as I could muster. I don't know if I can write twenty of them the way O'Brian did...but I'm game to try. Juanita: There really seems to be a sub-culture surrounding spy thriller stories. Why do you think people enjoy them so much? I. Michael: One obvious reason is our general fascination with technology. A large part of the appeal of the James Bond films are the gadgets "Q"? devises for him, and even spy tales based more on reality, like mine, have their share of devices: microdot readers, poison cane-guns, and the like. Plus, the genre itself is a naturally suspenseful one, since by their very nature, spies operate covertly, often using deception and violence in their work. And the stories themselves are unusually intimate, often involving a single protagonist"?like John Apparite"?with whom the reader can identify. This emotionally involves the reader in the story, causing them to perhaps wonder things like, "What would I do if in John Apparite's place? Would I be able to do such horrible things in the name of my duty? Would I make the same tough choices he did?"? Spy thrillers operate on many different levels, so there's usually a little something for everyone. Juanita: How long was this book in the making, and what type of research did you do to prepare for "Under Cloak of Darkness"' I. Michael: I started it in April of 2004 and finished about eight months later. I had a head-start on my period research by having read dozens and dozens of books on American history and pop-culture from the 1940's to the present over the years, and then I filled in the gaps by specifically looking at areas of particular importance to a guy like John Apparite. Things like martial arts, weapons, poisons, rocket fuels, plus a lot of the historical references came out of that research. My library is now full of creepy books on hand-to-hand combat, Cold War espionage, the CIA"?and my list of website "Favorites"? probably has me on an FBI "watch-list"?! But nearly all of the historical and technical tid-bits in the book have some factual basis: for example, if I comment that Grace Kelly was on the April 1955 Life cover, then she actually was on the April 1955 Life cover, and so on. I was as careful as possible to document as many of those sorts of things as possible"?there's probably a thousand of them in the book"?but oddly, doing it was one of the things I most enjoyed about the project. I get a kick out of imagining some guy looking up a baseball score I mentioned and finding out that, for instance, the Senators did beat the Red Sox 4-3 that particular day! All the London material is quite accurate, too"?I personally went there to research that great city. But I think it paid off: the Booklist reviewer said, in effect, that there was so much detail, it almost made one believe Apparite and the Director's program were real. I took that as a very great compliment. Juanita: The synopsis of your book reads more like a movie storyline. How do you think Apparite and his adventures would translate to the big screen? I. Michael: One of my greatest passions is for the Movies, and when I wrote the book, I was often thinking cinematically. I think this is most obvious in the climactic confrontation in the Reading Room of the British Museum, which would make for a nice little film "set-piece."? The book's dialogue, I think, is also like a film's, as is the rather continuous action, one episode leading into another. I deliberately tried to keep the story moving quickly, much as a movie would. And some of the locations and scenes seem tailor-made for film; like the British Museum, or St. Paul's, or the car chase through London. Personally, I think it would make a heck of a movie"?though I'm biased, of course! Juanita: Who is the reading audience for "Under Cloak of Darkness"' I. Michael: At first, I imagined it would appeal to older men who loved and remembered the fifties, and younger men who liked action and adventure, but oddly, the story seems to have a real appeal to women, too. I think that's because of John Apparite"?he's rather an underdog; rather shy and insecure. I think women like to root for him. Despite the fact that he kills people, he's really a likable kind of guy! As I like to say, he's the smallest, deadliest, nicest spy in the world. Juanita: Does this story end with this book, or can we expect more about the adventures of John Apparite? I. Michael: I loved this character and his story so much that I've already completed books two and three, and am presently outlining and detailing book four. Expect at least eight in the series, assuming that Apparite doesn't find himself prematurely on the receiving end of a bullet, knife, or poison cane-gun. Juanita: Can you give us some teasers about what readers can expect for the next book? I. Michael: A Matter of Revenge begins in New York City in April of 1956, with Apparite recovering from his last mission. He is soon sent on a mission to eliminate KGB agents killing East German defectors, sending him to London, the Alsace region of France, and then Berlin, which was the epicenter of the Cold War at the time. He meets up with some familiar names along the way"?Dr. Hoevenaers, the Director, and, just maybe, the SMERSH assassin Viktor"?but it's a new arrival that has the most influence on him this time around. He meets a woman, Christiane Grunbach, who works for the East Berlin bureau of the KGB, and starts a relationship with her. For the first time in his life, Apparite falls in love, but he learns that, for a Superagent, love can be a painful obstacle to doing his duty. It's a story that melds the past with the present, revealing much not only about John Apparite, but also the Director, Dr. Hoevenaers, and even Apparite's father as well. It'll answer a lot of questions"?but not all of them, naturally! Juanita: I know you've mentioned it earlier in the interview, but tell your readers once again how they may find out more about you and the John Apparite adventures. I. Michael: The ideal place to go would be my website, www.imkoontz.com. After the book comes out, and as the mythology of John Apparite and the Superagent program grows, I'll be posting new information on it to further illuminate his tale"?it's not going to be static, like some sites are. And I'll be contributing to my blog along the way as well, talking about my two biggest passions, which are the Movies and, naturally, the world of John Apparite. Check it out. Juanita: Thank you so much for talking with us today I. Michael. Your fast paced thriller "Under Cloak of Darkness"? is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats, and wanting to know more about the secret life of Superagent Apparite. Do you have any last thoughts for your readers? I. Michael: Yes"?I'd like to thank everyone who's read the book so far, and to urge those who do read and enjoy it to tell their friends about it, and stop by the website. Ask me a question, contribute a little blurb on some aspect of the book you liked or were curious about"?whether it's about John Apparite, the Cold War, spy tradecraft, or the Washington Senators"?and I'll post it on the site or on my blog for others to see and discuss. As I said earlier, I'd like this to be an interactive experience"?the more the merrier! And my thanks to Juanita and Reader Views for helping me get the word out. |
