Today on Skiffy and Fanty, Rachel Caine, part of the Dead Air team, a podcast/serial story collaboration she is doing with Gwenda Bond and Carrie Ryan, tells us about finding the darknes in thrillers and what her new project has to offer.
I started reading my dad’s books when I was, well, old enough to figure out where he kept them, which was way too young. Some of them were what would be euphemistically called “men’s adventure” today; James Bond-type books, only with more sex and violence. Some were horror. But I most remember the opening of one of Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct novels … a book about a murderer backing a woman into a corner in her apartment, and relentlessly slashing back and forth at her like a sideways pendulum. It haunted me. I couldn’t get it out of my head, no matter how much fun space exploration science fiction I read, or high fantasy, or historical novels (all of which I loved).
There was something in that Ed McBain book that made me feel like I did not understand the most basic thing I should: humanity, and the lack thereof.
Like most people, I learned fast as a teen that the world wasn’t as safe and wonderful as it was advertised; I went to a tough, violent high school, during one of the highest crime rates in El Paso, Texas’s history. I began to read horror novels, and Stephen King was like a dangerous god to me. And what 8th grade girl hasn’t read Flowers in the Attic? (Even today!)
But nothing scared me quite so much as that scene in the McBain book. When I began to pay attention to the crime stories in the newspapers and magazines, I finally understood why: it was much more true.
True crime stories are horrific. They’re often descriptions of brutal crimes. But in a way they also require readers to be incredibly empathetic, too; I’ve found as I read these case files, or listen to podcasts (so many great true crime podcasts!) that I find myself seeking to understand not just the perpetrators of these acts, but even moreso, the victims. The families of the victims and the killers. A truly violent act is like a hammer hitting glass; it shatters in all directions, destroying not one person, but everyone connected to that person to some degree.
A truly good thriller feels like a true crime account. It feels like you’re witnessing something, and riding along with those desperately trying to find a solution to the crime. There’s a real urgency and stakes to it that it’s hard to really define, but thriller readers know it when they feel it.
Though I love writing SF and fantasy, paranormal and horror … there’s still nothing quite like a good murderous thriller for me. That might be why I’m so happy I was asked to participate on Dead Air: a Serial Box project run by the amazing mind of Gwenda Bond (an unabashed murderino as well as a fearsome NYT bestselling author). Carrie Ryan (Forest of Hands and Teeth) turns out to be just as into the darkness and true crime mythology as Gwenda is, and the three of us happily sat down to hash out a different kind of thriller: one told in installments, with audio performances and serialized chapters, plus a bonus podcast by our main character, so you can hear her story, then read the chapters and listen to the audio for full and immersive experience. Serial Box is doing awesome and risky things, and I urge you to check out their amazing selection. Some things like Tremontaine, based on the books by Ellen Kusher, or Bookburners, might already be familiar to SF/F readers. But there’s a lot more out there, in a format that lends itself to on-the-go reading and listening.
Thrillers are my very favorite format, and getting the chance to be involved in this project is a real gift … and that gift is writing a twisty, tangled, richly layered thriller with two writers I love and respect immensely.
So join us for Dead Air, and remember: M is for midnight, Mackenzie, and murder.
— Rachel Caine
About Dead Air:
Welcome to Dead Air, where M is for midnight, Mackenzie…and murder. Mackenzie Walker wasn’t planning on using her college radio show to solve a decades-old murder, but when she receives an anonymous tip that the wrong man may have taken the fall, she can’t resist digging deeper. It doesn’t take long for Mackenzie to discover gaps in the official story. Several potential witnesses conveniently disappeared soon after the murder. The victim, a glamorous heiress and founder of a Kentucky horse-racing dynasty, left behind plenty of enemies. And the cops don’t seem particularly interested in discussing any of it. But when the threats begin, Mackenzie knows she’s onto something. Someone out there would prefer to keep old secrets buried and they seem willing to bury Mackenzie with them. Thankfully, she’s getting help from a very unexpected source: the victim’s son, Ryan. The closer she gets to him, however, the more important it is for Mackenzie to uncover the truth before he gets buried alongside her.
Read or listen to weekly episodes of the serial novel Dead Air from bestselling authors Gwenda Bond, Rachel Caine, and Carrie Ryan, and then check out Mackenzie’s podcast for a uniquely immersive experience. Does the truth lie in the serial, the podcast…or somewhere in-between? Subscribe to the serial here (at a discount for Skiffy and Fanty readers!). Check out the podcast on iTunes, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts.
