Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
48 Hour Lockdown by Carla Cassidy is the first in a series of four books. The books are an anthology of sorts, but instead of having short stories in one book each plot has its own novel. Basically, the four different authors were provided by the publisher an over-reaching arc that included a unit of the FBI, The Tactical Crime Division, TCD, and the four heroes and heroines.
In this story, the hero is an FBI hostage negotiator, Evan Duran, and the heroine is a school teacher, Annalise Taylor. They were lovers and were set to get married until she left him three years ago. Now, under dire circumstances they are reunited, after the Brotherhood of Jacob cult takes four children and Annalise hostage. Evan must use all his wits to rescue the children and the woman he still loves.
This novel shows how important it is to have those in the FBI using their skills for protecting Americans.
Elise Cooper: How does this anthology of books work?
Carla Cassidy: Each author was given a basic idea, the TCD unit and the main character from that unit. Authors turned in synopsizes. It was up to the author with that particular main character to build a story around them.
EC: How would you describe Annalise?
CC: All of this is post-Evan, but protective, strong, stands on her own, brave, and bright.
EC: How would you describe Evan?
CC: He is a bit controlling, has a passion for his job. He lost his sister, Maria, and blames himself. Because of what happened he has tried to control the rest of his life. He is calm and calculating, traits needed in his job. While on the job he is a very good listener.
EC: There is a scene in the book where Annalise describes Evan as too controlling and having her lose a sense of self. These are qualities of someone who wants to overly control?
CC: He is a bit macho, but he controlled her out of fear and danger. He over compensated because he could not save his sister Maria. I hope nobody thought of him as an abuser. When she decided to leave him, he did not pursue her, but let her go.
EC: Abuse plays a role in this story?
CC: Yes, although I do not think Evan is an abusive character. It never clicked with me. An abusive character was one of the hostage takers, Gretchen Owens, who is a mean and angry person. One of the children, Sadie was also abused, but is now a survivor. She overcame because she knew how to survive in a horrible situation.
EC: How would you describe the relationship?
CC: They were separated for three years because Annalise needed to grow as a person to become stronger, independent, and courageous. The person she is today. Since they both still love each other and overcame the hurt and other issues they were able to reconnect. She told him he handled the relationship like one of his hostage negotiations. She wanted real emotions and to allow her into his life.
EC: Cults play a role?
CC: One of the FBI Agents, Hendrick Maynard, was part of a cult as a child until he and his father escaped. I was able to write something of his background because of the cult role. The hostage takers were part of the cult, Brotherhood of Jacob, led by Jacob Noble. He was obsessed with being in charge and blamed society for letting him down. Jacob felt wronged by society, but with the cult he was able to control people and felt a sense of power. Both he and his wife Gretchen were narcissists, had anger issues, agitated, volatile, and thrived on chaos.
EC: Can you give a heads up about your next book?
CC: It is about a stalker and will be out in October. The title is Stalked in the Night. It has mystery, intrigue, and romance. The hero is a rancher since I love my cowboys.
EC: THANK YOU!!
