I recently had the pleasure of asking suspense/thriller author James Hayman a few questions about his writing, inspirations and other aspects of life. As a lover of this genre, I was thrilled to delve into the mind of such a creator as Mr. Hayman.
First of all, could you tell us a bit about The Cutting? What is the story about, who are the characters, etc.
The Cutting is the first in a series of thrillers featuring Portland, Maine homicide detective Michael McCabe. McCabe is a single father who moved to Portland with his daughter Casey after 10 years in the NYPD. He thought the smaller city would provide a safer and more wholesome environment in which to bring her up. But when he’s called in to investigate the killing of a teenaged girl whose nude body has been dumped in an abandoned scrap yard and whose heart has been cut from her body, McCabe quickly realizes that there are no safe places and that violence can strike any time, anywhere.
Do you have a favorite excerpt from The Cutting? Could you share that with us, please?
“Standing here in a scrap yard in Portland, Maine, McCabe suddenly had the feeling he was back in New York. It wasn’t like he was imagining it. Or remembering it. It was like he was really there. He could hear the rush of the city. He could smell the stink of it. A hundred bloodied corpses paraded before his eyes. His right hand drew comfort resting on the handle of his gun. Mike McCabe, once again drawn to the chase. He knew with an absolute certainty that this was his calling. That it was here, among the killers and the killed, that he belonged. No matter how far he ran, no matter how well he hid, he’d never leave the violence or his fascination with it behind.”
What do you want readers to take away from reading The Cutting?
First and foremost, an exciting and riveting story that will keep them glued to their seats until they’ve reached the very last page. Second, since The Cutting is the first in the series, I want readers to become so involved in the lives of the key characters that they keep coming back book after book.
What was the most fun about writing The Cutting?
If you mean in the writing process itself, the most fun came when I was really “in the groove,” when the words were flowing easily and the story was going exactly where I wanted it.
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