The Reading Frenzy: **GIVEAWAY** Interview - Matt Coyle - Review

Today I'm taking a short break from my holiday bash to bring you an interview with Anthony Award winning author of the Rick Cahill series, Matt Coyle about #3 in his series Dark Fissures, just released today and which I'm also reviewing. So sit back and enjoy our chat then enter to win an author signed copy of your own compliments of Matt's publicist, Author Guide. Details below.
Enjoy!

Overview:
Private Investigator Rick Cahill fears the next knock on his door will be a cop holding a warrant for his arrest. For murder. La Jolla Chief of Police Tony Moretti is convinced Rick killed a missing person. No body has been found, but the evidence that s piling up says murder and it all points to Rick. With Moretti on his tail and the bank about to foreclose on his house, Rick takes a paying case that will stave off the bank, but pits him against Moretti and the La Jolla Police Department.

Brianne Colton, a beautiful country singer, is convinced her estranged husband s suicide was really murder. Rick is unconvinced, but the mortgage has to be paid. Each new piece of evidence convinces him she s right. He breaks his number one rule and falls for Brianne even, as he begins to question her motives.

As Moretti cinches the vise tighter, with Rick unable to trust the FBI, evil forces emerge from the shadows who will do anything, including torture and murder, to stop Rick from uncovering the truth."

ISBN-13: 9781608092260
Publisher: Oceanview Publishing
Release Date: 12-06-2016
Length: 416pp
Buy It: B&N - Amazon - Kobo - IndieBound

The Giveaway is for one autographed copy
of Dark Fissures US ONLY
Please use the Rafflecopter form to enter
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Interview with Matt Coyle

Matt welcome back to The Reading Frenzy I LOVED Dark Fissures!
Tell my readers a bit about what Rick Cahill’s got himself into now.
Thanks for having me and for the kind words! It’s a pleasure to be back. Rick is struggling to make ends meet as a private investigator. He’s two month behind on his mortgage and takes a case he doesn’t really believe in because he needs the money. A woman is convinced her ex-Navy SEAL and cop husband didn’t commit suicide, as was ruled, but was in fact murdered. Rick’s investigation pits him against La Jolla Police Chief, Tony Moretti, who wants to put Rick in jail, and shadowy conspirators who will do anything to keep their secret hidden.

Matt Dark Fissures read great as a stand-alone thriller but I also think reading books one and two first will give readers some essential Rick Cahill history.
Do you agree?
I think, if possible, it’s always nice to start with book one of an author you haven’t read yet. However, I’m glad you think Dark Fissures works well as a standalone. I tried very hard for it to work for both new and continuing readers. Rick has a lot of baggage that follows him from book to book. The decisions he’s made have had repercussions and can’t be ignored. The challenge is to honor his backstory for continuing fans and give away as little as possible about earlier books for new readers who may want to read book # 1 after reading book # 3 as an introduction to Rick.

I loved some of the genuine local California facts you put in your story it adds a bit of realism to your fiction.
Was setting the series in your backyard always the plan?

Thank you. Yes. I grew up in San Diego. I still live here and love it. We have a surprising number of great mystery writers in San Diego, but not that many set a lot of their books here. I enjoy letting people peek under the curtain of paradise. Things are rarely as pristine as they look from afar.

I could easily picture Bogart in the Rick Cahill role albeit he’d have all the modern trappings.
Have you ever thought of casting Rick, if so who would you chose for the role?

I have. The funny thing is, I don’t really know what Rick looks like, at least facially. I know his insides really well, but not so much the outsides. When I’m writing him, I don’t see his face. Never have. Never have tried to. I know what other characters look like, but not Rick. However, I have no problem thinking of (and hoping for) actors who could play the part. Mark Wahlberg was the first who came to mind. In his serious roles, I always get the sense that there’s a darkness and sadness in his back story. That fits Rick to a T. He also exudes the physicality Rick needs. I think Chris Pine would be a good choice, too. It would be fun to see him in something darker than his normal fare. Any movie or TV show about Rick would have to have some darkness. Chris Pine might be too good looking, though. But how would I know? I don’t even know what Rick looks like.

Matt the “fixer” in me is drawn to Rick’s pseudo-broken, dark hero persona and I wondered if maybe you have other women fans that feel the same way?
I think so. Rick does have a fair number of women fans. That might just be because more women than men read mysteries. Maybe women like him because they see goodness in him, down below all his scars. Warning though: he’d be a tough fix.

Tell us what kind of character Rick is to write, does he behave himself and stay on script or is he like his character a loose cannon?
He’s fun to write, but can also be a pain in the backside. As you observed, he is a loose cannon and tends to follow his gut into some dead ends that have to be cut upon revision. Things would be easier if I outlined, but my brain doesn’t work that way and I’ve stopped trying to make it conform. But’s that fine. I’ve learned to trust the process. The stories twist and turn with each decision Rick makes. I try to make his decisions true to his character and then follow the story where it goes.

Matt, Rick has a quote a little more than halfway through the novel “… I treasured life and still hoped to find true happiness in mine before I died…”
I know Rick is a realist, but would you say he leans more toward the optimist or pessimist side of the spectrum?

I think Rick believes in the saying that a pessimist is just an optimist with more information. Sometimes he can’t see past his scars.

A First Person POV is a tricky one and doesn’t always work for a reader. It really does for Rick for several reasons, his suspicious nature, his profession and maybe he’s just naturally nosey.
Are all the Rick Cahill novels told in 1^st person?
Yes. All Rick books are in first person. First person obviously presents challenges. The reader can only see what the protagonist sees, but do they process what they see differently? Rick sometimes gets things wrong. Does the reader ever see where he’s gone astray? I think seeing events though Rick’s eyes best gives readers a sense of the claustrophobic, slightly paranoid world he lives in.

Why did you choose this voice?
The voice sort of chose me. I was about twenty thousand words into the first draft of the first book, Yesterday’s Echo, and struggling when I started revising the beginning. A line that became the opening sentence of the book jumped into my head from somewhere out in the ether: The first time I saw her, she made me remember and she made me forget. With that sentence, I got a better sense of Rick. This was a guy who lived so much bad he wanted to forget and also had something good in his background that he needed to remember so he could have hope. That sentence was the pathway into Rick’s head and I’ve been there ever since.

Matt thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Good luck with the new novel!
Do you have a hint for us about Rick’s next adventure(s)?

My pleasure! I enjoyed it.

I’m just finishing the first draft of Rick’s next book. Those who have followed from the beginning know that Rick’s father was kicked of the LJPD police force when Rick was a child. It was Rick’s first scar and one of the deepest. Neither readers nor Rick know the real reason why Charlie Cahill couldn’t be a cop anymore. In book four everyone will find out and suffer the repercussions.

My Review

Coyle’s latest Rick Cahill novel is a gripping fast-paced, page-turner that will hook readers from page one and not let go until the end. The protagonist is a noir-ish, dark hero who’s a loner, a cynic yet a surprising romantic at heart. The to the point, decisive 1^st person narrative works well with the star’s curious, suspicious nature. Plus the author being a native of the area brings an intimate feel to every scene. This keeper shelf must read will appeal to both sexes and all fans of engaging plot driven thrillers. Fans of Michael Connelly and Nelson DeMille will love this!

Ex cop, PI Rick Cahill needs a new client to keep the wolves from the door but when that perspective client is the widow of a La Jolla cop who believes her husband’s death was a murder not suicide, he wants to send her packing because his relationship with the La Jolla PD is toxic. Then she tells him more details of her husband, his mistrust of the LJPD chief and his past and he realizes the part of him that demands justice over all has no option but to take her case and the possibility of getting more dirt on La Jolla police chief Tony Moretti is a BIG bonus.

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Meet Matt:
Best-selling author Matt Coyle is the winner of the Anthony Award, the Benjamin Franklin Silver Award, and the San Diego Book Award. Matt has a degree in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has worked in the restaurant, golf, and sports collectible businesses. Dark Fissures is the third in his Rick Cahill crime series, following Yesterday’s Echo and Night tremors. Matt lives in San Diego with his yellow Lab, Angus.