Post-apocalyptic novels tell you that in the future there is some great war. I would tell you that most cops say that it's going on right now.

My secret vice is Sudoku puzzles. Can't stop playing them. My parents are accountants. I blame them entirely.

It's kind of the yin and yang that fascinate me. That for all the evil men do, there are also people who work obnoxiously long hours and sacrifice their personal lives because it is a calling - if they don't keep our streets safe, if they aren't there to advocate for and save beaten women and children and murder victims, who will?

What I learned is that it's arrogant to be certain of anything. The world is a complex place and only idiots or assholes think they know it all.

When it comes to locations, I'm one of those crazy authors who has to see it, touch it, taste it, before I trust myself to recreate it for my readers. Having said that, visiting a locked-down pediatric psych ward was the most intimidating research I've ever done - and I've visited maximum security prisons, shooting galleries, bone collections, etc.

You can be the hunter, or you can be the hunted.

Expect nothing and life will be velvet.