Behind The Book With Tom Coffey 

Last year I did a Q&A with author and former journalist Tom Coffey which you can read here by clicking this link. https://booknotions.com/qa-with-tom-coffrey/ . This year I am doing a Behind The Book Q&A with Tom Coffey discussing his new novel titled Special Victim which is a sequel to Public Morals. I know I plan on reading both novels. I enjoy mysteries! 

Q: Welcome back Tom! It’s great that you’re here! Would you please give a brief description of Special Victim? 

A: Special Victim picks up the story of Sheila Devine, a documentary filmmaker, and her brother, Michael. At the beginning of the book, Michael is the newly appointed district attorney in Manhattan, and he’s running for a full term. But the case that made his career has returned to the public’s attention – he was the lead prosecutor in the Riverside Runner trial, when four young men of color were convicted in the brutal attack of a young woman who was on her nightly run in Riverside Park. The men say they were unjustly convicted, and they have enlisted Rolando Ortega, the most high-profile defense lawyer in the city and Michael’s frequent courtroom adversary, as they make their latest appeal.

Ortega’s legal team is aware that even if his appeal is successful, many people will believe his clients are guilty. To show they have nothing to hide, his legal team hits on the idea of commissioning a film while they work on the case, and Ortega asks Sheila to do the movie. She is reluctant, but she needs the work, and she talks herself into taking the job because she fears another filmmaker will turn it into a hatchet job against her brother. She also has some sympathy for the defendants. Her son, Dylan, is biracial, and he’s the same age the defendants were when they were convicted of the crime. Complications ensue, of course. Special Victim is based on the Central Park Jogger case, which riveted New York and much of the rest of the nation in 1989-90.

Q: Without spoiling too much, which scenes were your favorites to write for Special Victim & why?

A: I can’t say I had a favorite scene or scenes because the material is dark, but in this book, I shift point of view a lot, among many characters, and the timeline jumps around, though the plot itself is linear. Both of those techniques are a departure for me, and I liked the challenge of dealing with them.

Q: What lessons & emotions do you hope readers learn and feel after reading Special Victim? 

A: I recently read the book through a couple of times as my editors at Level Best Books and I got it ready for publication, and one thing really stood out: This is a story about the danger of jumping to conclusions. Throughout the book, many characters believe they’ve figured things out. But they haven’t.

In other words, you know what you know. And that’s all you know.

Q: If/When the novels Public Morals, Special Victim & the last book in the trilogy were to ever become a movie or television series, who would be your dream cast to play the characters you created?

A: You are indulging my favorite fantasy. The main character is Sheila Devine, and the lead sidekick is her brother, Michael. Sheila is tall, dark-haired and attractive – she has a yoga bod. She also has a lot of physicality, as well as a smartass New York attitude. I think Uma Thurman or Anne Hathaway would be great in the role. (Of course, they’re both terrific actresses who get offered lots of parts every day.)

Michael is also athletic – he came from a family that was dysfunctional and financially strapped, so he got through college on a baseball scholarship. He’s also much more reserved than his sister, and plays his cards close to the vest, though both are strivers. When I think of who could play Michael, both Jon Hamm and Edward Norton come to mind.

And thanks for asking me these questions, Bianca. They were fun to answer.