Author Interview, Excerpt & Giveaway ~ SUBTLE FELONIES by Austin S. Camacho

Subtle Felonies (Hannibal Jones Mystery, #8)
by: Austin S. Camacho
Series: Hannibal Jones
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Release Date: September 27, 2023
Publisher: Intrigue Publishing LLC

Is retired basketball star Xander Brown missing, or kidnapped? His crazy family and dangerous friends draw DC detective Hannibal Jones into a deadly chase to find – or rescue – a complex man. In public, Xander is a husband, father, partner, friend, but who is he in private? Which role took him away? The search moves at breakneck speed across the posh suburbs and angry alleys of the nation’s capital, forcing Hannibal to confront tough truths and deadly risks. Will DC’s troubleshooter save a life or lose his own?

Hi Austin. Welcome to Read Your Writes Book Reviews. How are you?
I’m having a great day, and thank you so much for having me on your blog!

You’re welcome. Congratulations on the release of Subtle Felonies, the latest book in your Hannibal Jones series. I have a lot of questions. Shall we get started?
Absolutely!

Great. How did you come up with the character of Hannibal Jones?
I’m a life long mystery reader and when I decided to write them I wanted to update the classic hardboiled detective - drag that character out of the 40s and into today in the very diverse setting of Washington DC.

Just who is Hannibal Jones and what is it about him that makes him so special?
I wanted to add one thing to the canon that I had not read - a mixed race character. His father was an American soldier who married a German woman when stationed in that country. I think it gives Hannibal a unique perspective, straddling two cultures. Aside from that he is a man obsessed with finding the truth and he’s fiercely loyal to his friends and his clients.

Tell me about Hannibal’s group of friends, and do they help him with his cases?
In his first recorded case (The Troubleshooter) Hannibal chased squatters out of an apartment building with the help of some homeless men including retired Marine Sarge, recovering drug addict Virgil, their white friend Quaker, Cuban taxi driver Ray, and his daughter Cindy who is a lawyer and Hannibal’s love interest. Now all the men have apartments in the same building and they each have special skills that help Hannibal on many of his cases. Hannibal has few friends so these people are very dear to him.

I heard that you are an outliner and that writing one of these books takes about a year. What is your writing process like?
I write every day, never less than an hour. I outline in some detail but the outline is simply a series of events. As I write I research locations and flesh out minor characters. Those things sometimes change the outline - it’s not carved in stone, just a track to run on. And even more may change during two serious re-writes.

How do you come up with your characters and their backgrounds for the books?
Hannibal was created to be my idea of a hero, otherwise loosely patterned after my son. Beyond him - as I’ve said my outline is a series of events. When I get to the character who has to do a particular thing I ask myself what kind of person would do that? And what would make them interesting? I also press for diversity so before I settle on the character I ask myself - what if this was a woman? You’d expect him to be white so what if he’s black? Or Jewish? Or gay?

I like that. Are the books in the Hannibal Jones series standalone reads, or do you need to read them in order?
I believe the books work as standalones, like the Spencer series. But after the first four I couldn’t stop things from changing so perhaps you get a richer feel for these people and their world if you do read them in order.

Tell me about your latest book, Subtle Felonies and what readers can expect from it.
In Subtle Felonies retired basketball star Xander Brown is missing… or was he kidnapped? His crazy family and dangerous friends draw Hannibal into a deadly chase to find – or rescue – this complex man. In public, Xander is a husband, a father, a partner and a good friend, but who is he in private, and which of those roles took him away? It’s high speed, and bounces from Virginia’s wealthy suburbs to dangerous clubs in Maryland. I think fans of John Sandford's Virgil Flowers series will dig this book.

The book definitely sounds interesting and intriguing. If you and Hannibal were to sit down for coffee at say… Main Street Coffee & Treats what would you each have and what would be the topic of conversation?
You know that place? Hannibal is a coffee snob, and he digs it there! We’d both have their regular coffee and their lemon pound cake kicks butt so we‘d have to have some of that. Then we’d discuss crime in DC. And dying rock stars (he’s mourning the loss of Randy Meisner - one of the original Eagles - and Robbie Robertson from The Band.) You see, growing up listening to AFN radio on Germany Hannibal is stuck on classic rock. Oh, and we’d have to talk about the flaws in recent cop shows on TV.

Austin, thank you so much for your time and for answering some questions for me.
This was great fun! I hope your readers enjoy it too, and maybe have some more questions for me.

Hannibal saw the five inches of stainless-steel arcing toward his stomach and managed to swing his right arm down fast enough to stop Cawfee’s arm, wrist against wrist. He gripped Cawfee’s knife hand with both of his own and twisted hard. It didn’t break Cawfee’s grip on the weapon, but he did release Hannibal’s jacket, waving his free arm to keep his balance.

Hannibal let go and jumped back away from Cawfee. Wrestling with a knife in the hand of a bigger man was a losing proposition. He back pedaled, trying to get more distance from that knife, but Cawfee kept charging at him.

“I seen your gun,” Cawfee said, “but I saw how you acted around the women and I figured you wouldn’t go around strapped here at the house. Not so stupid now, huh?”

At that moment, Hannibal felt stupid, thinking Cawfee might make the rational choice. Now he faced a man who looked like he knew what he was doing with a blade, making short feinting slashes at Hannibal. He would have to wait until Cawfee committed before he tried to disarm him.

Cawfee’s eyes lit up and he leaped forward faster than Hannibal thought he could. The blade swished past in front of him, but he lost his footing and fell. His back thudded into the turf and Cawfee dropped on top of him, switching his grip to stab down. Hannibal crossed his forearms, stopping Cawfee’s arm between his fists. Cawfee applied all his weight, forcing the knife down to within an inch of Hannibal’s throat. Both men panted hard with the opposing effort, Hannibal gearing up to push hard to one side.

Then there was a short whoosh and a loud crack sound. The impact sounded to him just like a man driving a ball down the fairway.

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The Hannibal Jones Mystery Series:

Austin S. Camacho is the author of eight novels about Washington DC-based private eye Hannibal Jones, five in the Stark and O’Brien international adventure-thriller series, and the detective novel, Beyond Blue. His short stories have been featured in several anthologies and he is featured in the Edgar nominated African American Mystery Writers: A Historical and Thematic Study by Frankie Y. Bailey. He is a past president of the Maryland Writers Association, past Vice President of the Virginia Writers Club, and one of the directors of the Creatures, Crimes & Creativity literary conference - now in its 10th year. The 8th Hannibal Jones mystery, Subtle Felonies, is scheduled for a September 27 release.

Places to find Austin S. Camacho:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page

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