What timing. Just as Woodruff Park has been overrun by protestors upset about corporate greed, New York Times bestselling author John Sandford visits to promote his latest title, "Shock Wave," a murder mystery that takes place as mega retailer "PyeMart" bears down on a small town amid charges of political corruption. He'll be discussing and signing the book at 7:15 tonight at Georgia Center for the Book, 215 Sycamore St. in Decatur.
We asked Sandford, a former journalist, a few questions about his new work.
Q: At one point a character asks your protagonist Virgil Flowers if he's considered writing a book. He answers, "Sitting in a room, alone, for six hours a day, like a full-time pro writer...that's no way to go through life." Is this a wink at yourself or a cry for help?
A: Sort of both. I'm writing two books a year now. It's beginning to resemble newspaper work. Part of the reason I got out was because of the pressure for daily copy.
Q: You jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire?
A: Yes but this is a better-paying fire.
Q: Your book makes it seem like the bad guy, a bomber, has little trouble assembling his weapons. Was the research for this book a little unsettling to you?
A: The Internet can be unsettling. Everything you need to build a bomb, you can find on the Internet. It's like another kind of porn.
Q: The book explores the upheaval wrought in a small town as the giant retailer "PyeMart" plans to open. The town's merchants fear they'll be run out of business, many residents claim town leaders have been paid off to approve the project and the store becomes a possible motive for the series of bombings. Are you conflicted by your own relationship with big-box retailers?
A: No, not really. Walmart sells a lot of my books.
About the Author
