Article and Interview by Elise Cooper
The Fallout series by Lisa Harris currently has five books out, The Last Day, Survival, Hunted, Frequency, Deception, and Shattered, which will be out the end of this month.
The plot has the electric grid sabotaged, with technology suddenly no longer available. No one in the small, west Texas town of Shadow Ridge knows what took down the power grid, or when it’s going to be back up, but everyone knows exactly where they were the moment it went down. And now, with no electricity, no internet, and no modern technology, the men, and women responsible for keeping the town safe are going to have to learn how to fight crime all over again. Each book has a different hero and heroine where they meet over some criminal activity.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the series?
Lisa Harris: In the past I have written police procedurals. I started thinking, with all this talk about the electrical grids, what happens if the grid goes down and how would it affect law enforcement. The police must go back to the old-fashioned way of policing where they cannot call for backup, have no DNA testing, and no forensics, basically no technology. Plus, the characters lost people they loved. All the books are centered around the McQuaid family, three brothers and two sisters.
EC: Without technology it seems this generation would go nuts?
LH: I depend on it. I do everything from my phone. I order items from Walmart and Amazon. I call my children. For me, it would be horrible as a mother if I could not communicate with my children. We would miss this modern easiness.
EC: Did the stories have a western feel?
LH: Yes. It takes place in West Texas so there were horses instead of cars. More like a contemporary western, like the series “Jericho” and “Longmire” mixed. People had weapons to protect themselves, their family, and their town.
EC: How would you describe the hero, Jace McQuaid, from the book, Survival?
LH: He was broken. He did not want to step up to become law enforcement, but realizes that if the town did not come together, it would not survive. He is intense, protective, former military, and is used to being a leader so he stepped up to the plate.
EC: How would you describe the female lead of Survival, Morgan?
LH: This book takes place a year after the grid goes down. She is also broken because she lost her husband in the beginning of the incident. She supports Jace who interacts well with her son, Noah. Jace realizes he wants Noah and Morgan in his life.
EC: In the next book, Hunted, you describe sex-trafficking?
LH: Because all the towns were totally off the radar, in some ways, the criminals have the upper hand. Law enforcement must catch up.
EC: How would you describe Ava, the heroine in Hunted?
LH: She steps into a role she is not prepared for, becoming a mother to her teenage sister, Josie. The relationship between the sisters have changed. She is spirited, smart, resourceful, and reserved. Her job is to break codes, which she had to use to help find her sister who was taken by the sex-trafficking ring.
EC: What was the role of Josie in the story?
LH: She is argumentative, stubborn, a typical teenager who cannot communicate. She is having a hard time in this new situation and makes some bad choices.
EC: How would you describe Levi McQuaid, the hero in Hunted?
LH: Before the grid went down, he was in the police academy. He does not have the experience of his brother Jace. He is pushed into a situation where he had to grow. He was a classmate of Ava so this story became a friend to lover’s story.
EC: Tess McQuaid, the heroine of Frequency?
LH: She is the youngest of the siblings. She is an artist and now does some crime scene sketches. She must grow up very fast. Tess is smart, resourceful, funny, determined, creative, an artsy type, and a free spirit.
EC: How about the hero, Kellan?
LH: He works for the Sherriff’s department in another town. He is strong, a fast learner, suspicious, protective, and stands up to a challenge. He sometimes ratches down a situation by using humor.
EC: How would you describe Rebecca, the heroine in Deception?
LH: She is a Sherriff in yet another town, in New Mexico. She is very strong, guarded, vulnerable, yet anxious because of her depression, and loneliness. I intentionally wanted to make sure there was a woman in law enforcement in this series and made sure that early on she puts her career over any relationship. She is not sure she can ever trust the hero, Sam.
EC: How would you describe Sam McQuaid, the hero?
LH: He was not very settled, loved adventure, and is a part of search and rescue. He also does not think about settling down until he meets Rebecca. He can be daring, stubborn, and brave.
EC: Do they have a lot in common?
LH: Yes. They are both fixers and have been affected by losing someone close.
EC: What about the book coming out this month, Shattered?
LH: Book 5, Shattered, will go into more detail about the bad guys, The Realm. They were cyber-attack bandits from multi-countries. They are thugs, enjoy chaos, and are into drugs, guns, and sex trafficking. They use the criminals to get control of what they want. In the prequel at the very end Chase, the hero, left to do a prisoner transfer. He has not come back and is missing. His fiancé, Hope McQuaid is the doctor of the town and is optimistic they will be reunited.
EC: How about the next book?
LH: In June there will be a new psychological series. Book 6 will come out in the fall, focused on the family.
EC: THANK YOU!!
