Q&A With David Corbett

I am honored and delighted to be doing this Q&A with author David Corbett. David is the author of numerous titles. His fiction includes seven novels: The Truth Against The World, The Long Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday, The Mercy of the Night, Do They Know I’m Running?, Blood of Paradise, Done for a Dime, and The Devils Redhead; as well as the novella The Devil Prayed and Darkness Fell and the story collection Thirteen Confessions. David had also written two books on the writing craft, The Compass of Character and The Art of Character. In a past life, he worked for the San Francisco private investigation firm of Palladino & Sutherland, playing a significant part in such headline cases as the Lincoln Savings & Loan Scandal, the DeLorean Trial, the Coronado Company marijuana indictments, the Cotton Club Murder Case, the People’s Temple Trial, the first Michael Jackson child molestation case, and a RICO civil litigation brought by the Teamsters against former union leaders associated with organized crime—as well as numerous other drug, murder, and fraud cases. 

Q: David, would you give a brief description of all your books beginning first with your non-fiction and then your fiction?

A: The Art of Character is a comprehensive text on how to create compelling characters, from conception through execution on the page. It has been widely praised as a “writer’s bible.”

The Compass of Character followed up with a specific attention to complex motivation, especially how exploring a character’s moments of helplessness and how she responds to them determines behavior.

The Truth Against the World (finalist for the Foreword Review Book of the Year in the thriller category) is about how An Irish ex-soldier with a cryptic past tries to protect his dearest friend, a brilliant young writer and artist, as they trek across a country amid a bloody civil war to retrieve her stolen masterpiece.

The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday (nominated for a Lefty Award for Best Historical Mystery) is about the most notorious love letters in American history—between the gunman Doc Holliday and his cousin, the Catholic nun Sister Mary Melanie, letters supposedly destroyed a century ago—mysteriously reappear, and become the coveted prize in a fierce battle for possession that brings back to life the lawless world evoked in the letters themselves.

The Mercy of the Night concerns 17-year-old Jacqi Garza, abducted at the age of eight by a child predator, whose life since then has fallen apart. She has one last chance to reclaim her life, if she can just learn to trust the most unreliable creature of all—someone who honestly cares about her. His name is Phelan Tierney—a former litigator with ghosts of his own, who now works as a kind of “twenty-first-century handyman,” helping people who hope to start their lives over.

Do They Know I’m Running? centers on 18-year-old Roque Montalvo. Orphaned at birth, a gifted musician, he’s stuck in a California backwater helping his Salvadoran aunt care for his damaged brother, an ex-marine badly wounded in Iraq. When immigration agents arrest Roque’s uncle, the family has nowhere else to turn. He agrees to bring the old man back, relying on the criminal gangs that control the dangerous smuggling routes from El Salvador. But when he gets there, he learns he will have to transport not just his uncle but two others: an Arab whose intentions are disturbingly vague, and a young beauty promised to a Mexican crime lord.

Blood of Paradise (nominated for an Edgar Award) is also set in El Salvador. It’s where Jude McManus works as an executive protection specialist, assigned to an American hydrologist. Ten years before, at age seventeen, he watched his father, and two Chicago cop colleagues arrested for robbing street dealers. Now the past returns when one of his father’s old pals appears and asks a favor—not for himself, but the third member of his dad’s old crew. Jude agrees, thinking he can oblige the request and walk away, but he underestimates the players and stakes. 

Done for a Dime (a New York Times Notable Book and nominated for the Macaviry Award for Best Novel) is about the murder of Raymond “Strong” Carlisle, a one-time sideman for the biggest names in R&B. He’s a casualty of the war for control of Rio Mirada: a low-rent “city in transition” of clashing subcultures at the northern tip of the San Francisco Bay. Detective Dennis Murchison has two possible suspects: Arlie Thigpen, a teenage lieutenant of a local drug dealer; and Toby Marchand, the victim’s son. The harder Murchison pushes for answers, the clearer it becomes that this single, brutal homicide will reveal that small-time crime and big-time corruption are about to collide.

The Devil’s Redhead (nominated for the Anthony Award for Best First Novel) was loosely based on the takedown of the Coronado Company and the aftermath in the drug world when players like them, who were wild but not evil, got supplanted by the far more ruthless elements of organized crime. It deals with Dan Abatangelo, former head of his own crew, who exits prison after 10 years with one mission, to find his ex-girlfriend Shel Beaudry—only to discover she’s in a world of trouble all her own. 

The Devil Prayed and Darkness Fell is a novella about a veteran of the Iraq War who suffers a psychotic break and kills a much-loved police officer. Phelan Tierney reappears to help the killer’s sister, who knows the war damaged her brother in ways no one understands.

Thirteen Confessions is a collection of stories based on a variety of crimes, from bank robbery to arson to murder, and the people whose lives are forever changed because of them.

Q: What do you enjoy writing most about fiction and nonfiction? What do you enjoy the least about writing in both genres? 

A: The teacher in me enjoys writing non-fiction; the dreamer enjoys fiction. The hardest part of nonfiction is making sure you’re clear, concise, and on-point. The same is pretty much true of fiction, with the added difficulty that, since you’re making it all up, everything could be anything, and you must learn to make the most compelling choices.

Q: Would it be fair to say that your fifteen years of working for the San Francisco private investigation firm of Palladino & Sutherland helped in writing your fiction novels since many of them are mysteries?

A: Not just in providing me material, but also a world-view: I’ve seen how the sausage gets made in the justice system. But writing was also a major part of the job, and I had to learn how to write clearly, succinctly—and on a schedule.

Q: You were interviewed by Ronan Farrow for a New Yorker article and an HBO MAX documentary mini-series about the Palladino & Sutherland firm! What is the name of the miniseries and when should we expect it on MAX if its not there yet? What was it like being interviewed by Ronan Farrow and what was Ronan Farrow like? 

A: The last I heard from the folks on that project was earlier this year (2024) and that it was definitely still on track, but I’ve heard nothing since. I’ve no idea what it would be called. As for Ronan, he is utterly professional, a total gent, strikingly handsome, and very easy to talk to—which is why he’s so good at his job.

Q: What’s it like having your work appear in the New York Times, Narrative, Writer’s Digest, The Writer, Zyzzyva, MovieMaker, Bright Ideas, Crimespree, Mystery Scene, and other outlets?

A: It’s kinda the job. I’m flattered I’ve been asked to write for all of them, and hope I’ve given them material their readers enjoyed.

Q: What was it like being a part of those famous cases I mentioned above, especially concerning the People’s Temple and the first Michael Jackson molestation case? I know HBO did a miniseries titled Leaving Neverland about Jackson’s two victims. I couldn’t finish it because it made me sick to my stomach. I like Michael’s music, but I believe he was a child molester. 

A: The People’s Temple work haunted me. I had the opportunity to listen to what is known as the “Last Hour Tape,” which records the administration of the Kool-Aid and the “revolutionary suicide” of so many members while babies wailed in the background. The survivors were tortured by what they were part of and spent no small amount of their time trying to redirect their lives in meaningful ways. What he did to those people was a horrendous betrayal—and yet they must live with the fact they were taken in, and so many people they loved died because of that.

I tried to avoid the Michael Jackson Case. It had already been headlining news, and nothing about it appealed to me. When it came in, I asked Jack, “So who do we represent, the child molester or the extortionists?” After a beat, I added, “Not that it matters.” He smiled at me and said, “Good attitude.” I got dragged in eventually because there were so many witnesses to be interviewed. My bosses ended up breaking with the lead attorney on the case when he agreed to settle confidentially (for $19 million) in exchange for our client refusing to testify before the grand jury—which is unethical at least, illegal at worst.

As in the other cases, the only time I was ever in danger was when I was trying to interview a former runner for a drug ring who was now a doctor. He tried to run me over. Fortunately for me, the Hippocratic Oath kicked in at the last second.

While working on one of the Coronado Company cases I had to visit every strip club in Portland, Oregon, because that’s where the snitch liked to hang out. It became an inspiration for one of the scenes in Blood of Paradise—I likened a strip club to a desert island.

The most difficult thing I ever had to do was transport a transvestite heroin addict from San Francisco to Beaumont, Texas, to enter rehab at the demand of the person in control of his money: his mother. While we were on the plane, he looked around and said at the top of his lungs, “Boy, if it weren’t for me, you’d be the weirdest looking guy in First Class!” From one second to the nest, there was just no predicting what he would do.

Q: Are you currently writing any more books? If so can you reveal any details when it comes to them being fiction, nonfiction, plot, titles and release dates? 

A: I’m working on a follow-up to The Truth Against the World. Working title: Sovereign Criminals. It takes place in a future America that had devolved into city states run by various elements of organized crime.

Q: Does Hollywood have the rights to your work? The entertainment industry needs more original content again and would do great with more book ideas. 

A: I’ve had nibbles. Blood of Paradise was delivered to George Clooney’s home. I wrote a script with Jonathan Goldman about the Hells Angels that got bought but then the TV studio folded. I sometimes imagine my books will enjoy the same fate as Jim Thompson’s: they will become popular once I’m dead.