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This is one of my favorite stories. The idea for Without Mercy came as I was driving on a bright spring day. I remember exactly where I was, stopped at a traffic light, when from the radio an advertisement for a school for “troubled teens” came on the air. As I listened to the ad, and the mother of the girl who was acting out, the announcer, and the teen herself, I wondered what it would take for me to send my kid to one of those places. My children were no angels, but still, to ship one off, so far away? And what if the school wasn’t what it seemed? What if evil lurked within its hallowed walls? As I was ruminating, lost in thought, I heard a loud honk. I’d daydreamed to the extent that the light had turned green and I hadn’t even noticed. The guy in the vehicle behind me was upset. I hit the gas, did a quick one-eighty, and flew home. Once I’d dropped my keys and picked up my phone, I called my editor, told him I had a new idea, and then wrote it and sent it to him. That’s how Without Mercy was born. Other ideas aren’t quite that easy.
Without Mercy is a stand-alone novel. I’ve heard that sometimes you find writing stand-alone novels easy and sometimes it’s more challenging. Was the writing of Without Mercy easy or challenging?
This was one of the easier books. I was “into” it right away, and the characters grabbed me. I just had such a clear picture of what this book would be. I usually prefer to write my series books because I know the characters, but Jules and Shay spoke to me, really g
ot under my skin, and I love the setting. This was a real fun one. I loved writing Without Mercy.
Your novel Deep Freeze was written against the backdrop of a chilly winter. In Without Mercy, your characters are stranded in a boarding school due to a snowstorm. The weather plays a big part in both stories. Do you think the two books are similar in any way?
Well, as you said, both books are set in a brutal winter, and there are teenagers with problems in each story, but I think the books are very different. Jules, the heroine, doesn’t have children, and Shay is her younger sister. Her family is dysfunctional to the max, and her love interest is someone she knew from the past. In Deep Freeze, the heroine, Jenna Hughes, is an actress escaping Hollywood and its glitzy lifestyle. She’s trying to provide a more normal life for her children, and the man who becomes the hero is a lawman she’s never met before. Also, the killers are vastly different. In Deep Freeze, the killer is obsessed with Jenna, while in Without Mercy, the murders seem more random and all take place in the school.
You’ve gotten a lot of feedback on the character of Shay. You might even say she’s a fan favorite. Why do you suppose that is?
That’s a surprise. Shay is a complicated, flawed character who somehow resonated with my readers. She’s smart and pretty, and highly motivated, and oh so troubled. She’s unique and quirky, a manipulator that you love to hate. So maybe there’s a little bit of Shay in all of us.
At the end of your novel After She’s Gone, Shay makes, shall we say, a special guest appearance. Why did you do that? And did you get any sort of feedback from readers who recognized her?
I, too, love Shay, and readers are clamoring for another story involving her. I get more requests for a sequel to Without Mercy than any other book. So yes, some fans saw her in After She’s Gone, but that was just a taste, and they all indicate they want more. Who knows? Maybe someday. I love having characters or places from one book show up randomly in another. It’s fun to hear from fans who make the connection. It’s kind of a game, I guess.
Do you have any plans to bring Shay back and, if you did, would she be just as scheming/manipulative as she was in Without Mercy or would you rehabilitate her?
I would love to write her story, but it hasn’t gelled yet. I see her as kind of a tragic figure who would grow up, take responsibility, but never be able to keep all of her demons at bay; they’re too much a part of her and keep her interesting. I can’t imagine Shay being Suzie Secretary or Holly Housewife, and certainly not Tara Teacher, but maybe something a little more out there. I have another character rattling around in my brain and it would be oh so interesting if those two teamed up!
Last time we did a Q&A with you, it was October. This time around, it’s June! Any special plans for the summer?
I recently moved, and so I’m settling in and hope to have a yard by the end of the summer. I’m looking forward for my three dogs (two pugs and a beagle) to have some room to roam that isn’t all dust and dirt and mud. I’m also going to have to have a knee surgery I’ve put off for a few years, so I’ll be able to dig into that To Be Read pile that just keeps growing and growing. This summer I’m also attending Thrillerfest in New York in July and I intend to spend hours on the beach with friends before I convalesce. I’m also going to use the time to plot out some ideas for new books. I’ve got a few that keep poking at me.
What’s Lisa Jackson reading for pleasure these days?
I read what’s recommended by friends or what I see on the bestseller lists. Lately, I’ve been reading (or listening to, as I love audio books) Stephen King. I’m into Mr. Mercedes after reading 11/22/63 about the assassination of JFK, as told through King’s character and time travel. I can’t recommend that one enough. Mr. Mercedes is fabulous as well. I also read The Century series by Ken Follett. Fascinating. Three large books: Fall of Giants, Winter of the World, and Edge of Eternity. An incredible series that points out we humans just can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again. I also keep up with my sister Nancy Bush’s latest, and I’m into Liane Moriarty, Paula Jones, and Ruth Ware. Oh, and let’s not forget the Mo Willems Elephant and Piggie books for the grandkids! Should I Share My Ice Cream? is a fave, as is Those Darn Squirrels by Adam Ruben and Daniel Salmieri. Highly recommend!
And when it comes to TV shows and movies, any recommendations?
Yes! Orphan Black is fabulous, and I also am watching the new Twin Peaks and Game of Thrones, as well as Bates Motel, and I always catch Survivor, though I’m never sure why. Lately, I’ve been watching Disney movies, new and old, with the grandkids. I loved Moana, and the song has been rattling around in my head ever since seeing it for the fourth, or was it the ninth, time.
What project are you currently working on right now?
Currently I’m finishing up Willing to Die, the next book in my Grizzly Falls, Montana, series. It’s a lot of fun as Regan Pescoli (Santana) now is the exhausted mother of a newborn. Along with her older, near-adult children, husband, and job as a detective she’s practically dead on her feet and has no patience for the next killer who dares cross her path. Next up? The latest Montoya/Bentz novel, which has a working title of Die Twice (though that could change!). I’ll keep everyone posted about publication dates. I can’t tell you how great it will be to be back in the Big Easy with my favorite male cop duo. New Orleans has always held a special place in my heart!
In this riveting page-turner from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson, a woman searches for the mother she hasn’t seen in twenty years, and uncovers a nightmare of greed and deception….
In death, Didi Storm is finally getting the kind of publicity that eluded her in life. Twenty years ago, the ex–beauty queen worked the Vegas strip as a celebrity impersonator, too busy trying to make it big to spare much time for her daughter, Remmi. Shortly before she leaped from a San Francisco building, Didi’s profile was rising again, thanks to a tell-all book. To Detective Dani Settler, it looks like a straightforward suicide, or perhaps a promotional stunt gone wrong. But Remmi knows the truth isn’t so simple. Because though the broken body on the sidewalk is dressed in Didi’s clothes and wig, it isn’t Didi.
Remmi was fifteen when she last saw her mother. Their parting came in the aftermath of a terrible night in the Mojave desert when Remmi—who’d secretly stowed away in Didi’s car en route to meet her crush, Noah Scott—instead became witness to a mysterious rendezvous. Didi handed over one of her newborn twins to a man Remmi didn’t recognize. Subsequently, Didi disappeared, as did Remmi’s other half-sibling. Remmi has pleaded with the authorities to find them, but there have been no clues. Yet she’s always had the sense that someone is watching her….
If the victim isn’t Didi, who is it—and what’s the connection? Remmi is shocked when Noah resurfaces. He was also in the desert that night, and now runs his own PI firm. He too believes it’s time to find out what really happened. As they and Detective Settler dig deeper, the truth about Remmi’s missing family begins to emerge … a story of ruthless ambition and twisted lies that someone will kill again and again to keep hidden….
