An interview with Robert Crais

[Lincoln Journal Star, 21 march 2014]

Anthony Rainone

Robert Crais will receive the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award at this year's awards banquet on May 1. The award is given for outstanding achievement in mystery writing.

Crais is not only an icon, he is also a current potent contributor to the crime fiction genre. His latest novel "Suspect" will be made into a motion picture by the same producers as "The Hunger Games." Another new tome featuring fan-favorite private investigators Elvis Cole and Joe Pike will be coming out shortly. The new series featuring LAPD K-9 Officer Scott James and his German shepherd partner, Maggie, has proved to be his biggest seller. And one can always count on a stand-alone from this prolific author.

Crais took time from his busy schedule last month to answer a few questions for Journal Star readers:

Journal Star: Your latest Elvis Cole/Joe Pike novel "Taken" is plotted around human trafficking, but it deals with the theme of family. Many of your books are centered on this subject. Why is this an important topic to you?

Robert Crais: Crime is about loss. The victim loses money, diamonds, dope, cars, freedom; someone loses their life. The most precious and devastating loss I can imagine is the loss of a child or someone I love. Those people closest to me are my family. Not all families are the same; not all are wonderful. Broken families, families filled with dysfunctional people who hate each other, that kind of thing, but most of us, I think, hunger for the warmth of a family tribe. This is what Elvis Cole is all about. So when I think in story terms, I'm drawn to threats against a family.

JS: In "Suspect," Maggie, the LAPD K-9 dog, captured a lot of hearts. Having read your book, I think I relate better to my dog. How did you come to write about her?

RC: I used to have a big dog, an Akita, and he was my guy for a dozen years. When I lost him, I couldn't shake the grief; I couldn't get another dog for the longest time. Then I got friendly with a friend's German shepherd, and this dog was great. I grew to love her and began researching the human-dog relationship. I wasn't looking for a book. I was curious. But the research and my new German shepherd pal grew into Maggie.

JS: How do you channel being in the mind of a dog?

RC: I did an enormous amount of research into how dogs think and perceive. I wanted Maggie to be real. I didn't want to create another of those anthropomorphized cartoons. I put myself into her head and tried to create her perceptions and responses as accurately as the research allowed.

JS: Will K-9 Officer Scott James and Maggie steal time away from Elvis Cole and Joe Pike? Fans have really responded to these new characters.

RC: "Suspect" was a huge success. It was my biggest seller to date and far outsold "Taken," which debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller (list). So Scott and Maggie will return, but they won't replace Elvis and Joe. That could never happen.

JS: With all the tremendous success you've already had, what makes you still get up and write every day?

RC: I'm a storyteller. I love to tell stories.