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Jordan Dane is a fast-rising star among thriller writers. With her gritty style, smart dialogue and a dash of hot, sweet romance, Dane keeps readers on the edge of their seats until the very last page. After her highly successful novels, No One Heard Her Scream, No One Left To Tell and No One Lives Forever, Dane now embarks on a new series guaranteed to titillate fans. The first book in the Sweet Justice series arrives in bookstores in February. Today, Dane sits down with Book Addict Editor Angela Wilson to talk about the new series.

Jordan, tell us about Evil Without A Face, the first in your new Sweet Justice series.


In Evil Without A Face (book #1 – Feb 2009), an illusive web of imposters on the Internet lures a deluded teen from her Alaskan home and launches a chain reaction collision course with an unlikely tangle of heroes who uncover a terrifying global conspiracy. They’re battling a new kind of criminal. And soon their race for answers will become a dangerous struggle for survival.

I set some of the story in Alaska where I’d lived for ten years. And this first book was an ambitious undertaking with its faster pace and more complex story lines. When I was done with it and wrote THE END, I really felt like I’d accomplished something new for me.

How did the idea for Sweet Justice develop?

The initial idea came from my fascination with the way criminals have gotten smarter in how they perpetrate crimes. They taken to online criminal acts and gone more anonymous and thus harder to prosecute when their crimes overlap jurisdictions. I thought I could empower the reader to wield sweet justice through the lives of the women in my new thriller series.

And the idea behind these three women came from a conversation I had with my editor who mentioned Charlie’s Angels once. I told her I couldn’t see me doing Charlie’s Angels unless I did it my way. Charlie’s Angels on STEROIDS! I also liked the idea of writing a series about three very different women.

Jessie Beckett is my bounty hunter who operates a little outside the law. Her childhood friend and voice of conscience is Sam Cooper who is an ambitious vice cop. And Alexa Marlowe is my international operative with a mysterious past who lives life on the edge. Alexa will eventually tempt Jessie with the idea of wielding justice her own way, by utilizing the vast resources of the Sentinels, covert vigilantes who aren’t restricted by international borders or by the law. Jessie, Sam, and Alexa will give Lady Justice a whole new reason to wear blinders. And their brand of justice will be anything but sweet.



You normally love your male protagonists, but this time, Evil‘s female protagonist, Jessica Beckett is the one you were drawn to. What was different this time? Is this character like you more than other female protagonists in your stories?


With each character I create, I get more comfortable infusing them with my worldview and my life’s experiences. I don’t have to know what it’s like to be an abused kid, thankfully, but imagining the horror and being empathetic with Jessie’s horrific past was not hard to do. She touches something in me that made me want to protect her, despite the fact that as a writer, my job is to torture my characters. In writing Jessie, I forced her to face her worst demons and deal with them, which was hard for me to do as an author. I think we all have demons or imperfections we’d rather not face. Jessie is braver than I would ever be and I admire her courage in dealing with the ugliness of her childhood and her pragmatic way of dealing with life as it comes. She’s also a bit of a smart-ass, which is definitely part of me. I hope the readers will show her some love. She could sure use it.


In Evil Without A Face, Seth Harper is extremely computer savvy - something you readily admit you are not. How difficult was it to write his character?


His character was not hard to write, but his tech savvy was. I definitely needed help in that department and have a few friends who could help. The challenge in writing Harper came from how I revealed him. Every time he appeared on the page, I surrounded him with more and more mystery. And I never give the reader any hint of his back story. And since I don’t plot, I didn’t know any more than the reader. So by the end of Evil Without A Face, I had no clue what his history was. In book #2, The Wrong Side of Dead, I felt it was important to let the reader know more about him. But I knew the real Harper would only share that history if he were forced to do it. In book #2, Harper finds himself in a predicament that he can’t talk his way out of or run from. Harper was a joy to write and I think I’ve fallen in love with him. To see the actor/images I used for Harper and all the characters of EVIL, visit my website and the Story Behind the Story for Evil here
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Some of the scenes in Evil Without A Face take place in Alaska - your former home state. Did you ever think you would set a novel there?

I always wanted to write a novel in Alaska. My first book—that is still under my bed screaming for revisions—was set in Alaska. It’s a beautiful story that I’m still in love with. I have hopes to get it sold one day. And in writing about Alaska, it was a cathartic attempt to relive the many adventures I had there through the eyes of my characters.

Is Alaska one of those states you really need to live in to be able to write about it well?

Alaska is an adventure to anyone willing to live there for a while. And I’m not talking about two week vacations or even referring to folks who experience it from indoors or in controlled situations. I’ve backpacked into rough terrain, climbed mountains, experienced remote fly-in fishing trips and had canoe and kayak adventures too. I’ve also been above the Arctic Circle in the dead of winter, departed on a float plane from a frozen lake and landed on a frozen river, and was a race official along the Iditarod trail for the Iditaski race. I was charged by an angry mother moose and felt her breath on me as we stared each other down with only a slim tree between us. And I’ve been stalked by a curious grizzly bear. I think a writer can research Alaska well enough to do a good job with setting a story there, but a native Alaskan can really make the land, the culture, and the people come alive for the reader in a unique way.

This book features one of the most horrifying - and terrifying crimes - committed by online predators. What was it like for you to do the research on online predators? How did it make you feel, learning about the ins and outs of how these people think while you developed the story?

This story was inspired by a crime that really happened. Imagine the horror of going to your teenager’s bedroom one morning only to find her missing. Her bed hadn’t been slept in and her clothes are gone. In 2000, that’s what one mother in Florida faced. Her only child had conspired against her and ran away. And worse, she later discovered that her daughter had left the country—without having a passport. From the moment I read this news story, I was hooked and had to know more about how such an atrocity could happen. I was horrified by how something like this could happen.

The online predator not only manipulated the teenager in Florida, but he also convinced law-abiding adults to cooperate with his schemes. These people thought they were helping an abused kid, but they didn’t know the facts, check with her family or contact local law enforcement. This stranger duped an employee of the local phone company into arranging for a private cell phone to talk to the girl directly. His slick manipulation scored him a purchased airline ticket (without a direct connection to him) and a clandestine ride for the girl to the airport. But after he bribed a child pornographer to acquire an illegal passport for her to leave the United States, the girl was out of the country before her mother knew she was gone. And the chase to save her was on—a mother’s worst fear.

For the sake of my nieces and nephews, I wanted to shed light on this crime. We’ve all heard stories about Internet predators, but I took the scenario to the next level in creating a new kind of criminal. (To say too much more would give away the plot.) Like I said before, I’ve been fascinated by the anonymity of cyberspace and how hard it is to prosecute crimes that cross over international borders. The whole idea of my Sweet Justice series was created from this fascination and Evil Without A Face kicks off the series with this theme.


What is the most common mistake people - parents and kids alike - make when they think about online predators?


Everyone assumes that people online are like us—trustworthy. We don’t want to see the ugliness. And parents want to trust their kids so too many give them free access without the proper supervision. They trust the kids to make the right choices, but children are too gullible and trusting to be suspicious.

Cyberspace has become the new hunting ground for criminals and anyone can fall prey to their schemes. Certain online “friends” are never really known by anyone, including adults. Think about it. How many people do we all chat with during the day who are complete strangers? We “meet” strangers on blogs, in chat rooms, and on the social networks. We trust that the picture they post and their backgrounds are factual. But what if they aren’t?

An adult’s hinky barometer is much more attuned to suspicious activity than a child’s. The mother in Evil Without A Face felt like she betrayed her child’s trust by monitoring her online activity. She felt guilty and still did what she thought was best. The teen girl had resorted to conspiring against her mother online and she had a history of running away. (I also wanted to shed light on how the Amber Alert works from state to state too.) What happened to this mother and daughter was inevitable, yet the mother did everything she knew how to do and still the unthinkable happened. It’s tough for a parent to know how much of the cruel world to expose their child to, but I think we have to talk openly about what could happen and leave an open door when it comes to communication later.


How different is this series from your first incredibly suspenseful - and popular - novels?

It’s very different from an author craft standpoint, but I like to think that the reader will find comfort in how I write about the worlds and the characters I create. I shed light on specific crimes that come from our newspaper headlines. I also give voice to the many victims of crime and try to tell an emotional story that will ultimately have an element of redemption to it—even if the world restored at the end is a very different world from the beginning of the story. There are also more characters in this new series. And rather than focusing on alternating character stories, I give the reader a slice of life into the whole world I’ve created. Many times all the characters are involved in the plot, as is the case in book #2 – The Wrong Side of Dead – when the characters each have their own journeys toward self-discovery and they bond in their trust of one another. I felt this was important as far as character growth.



You have had such enormous success in a short amount of time. How do you feel about that? Are there expectations to produce something better than before?


Yes, I’ve been blessed with many great opportunities and successes. But I try to stay grounded in the writing and strive to learn more with each book. I’m not the kind of person who celebrates each new success either. I think of everything as one step in a long career. Writing is the only thing I can control, so I focus on it. I don’t worry about what other people are doing or particularly what reviewers are saying. I write to challenge myself. And as far as producing something better than before, I like to think that my best book is always the next one. Writing Evil Without A Face was a breakthrough for me as a writer. I had to juggle five different story arcs with multiple secondary characters and at a fast pace. I worried whether I could follow this book up with a second book. But each book is different and you have to approach it that way. I love each book differently. As authors we deal with our own insecurities no matter where we are in our careers. I try to avoid the self-inflicted wounds when I can.


How do you keep your ideas fresh?

I read newspapers, magazines, watch TV, and surf the net constantly thinking of ideas. My mind never stops working. And I keep a file of these ideas for future reference. I have tons of stories to tell. I never run out of ideas. I imagined a very large world in order for the Sweet Justice characters to thrive in, with layers of larger story arcs that encompass individual books as well as over the whole series. It’s been a blast writing this series and I hope readers will find a home in Sweet Justice too.



Who are you reading?


I don’t read as much as I used to since I’m writing my own novels and reserve my normal reading time—before I go to bed—for editing time. But lately I’ve been reading other debut novels. Stalking Susan by Julie Kramer, The Keep by Sarah Langan, and Double Abduction by Chris Beakey. All new friends and talented authors. I continue to read from my favorites Dean Koontz, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Allison Brennan, John Sanford, Sharon Sala, Tami Hoag, Mariah Stewart, Karen Rose, and Carla Neggers.


Where can we find you on the Web?



My website is the most comprehensive spot to learn more about my work. www.jordandane.com. Plus you can sign up on my mailing list for my quarterly e-newsletter. I offer exclusives to anyone belonging to my list. On this site, I have resources for other authors, my appearances, links to my MySpace blog, and a list of my novels with excerpts and other special features. HarperCollins also maintains a great website for me at http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/33056/Jordan_Dane/index.aspx”> http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/33056/Jordan_Dane/index.aspx. This site has fresh material that offers a Browse Inside feature to my books to allow readers to peek inside my books and buy them, of course.