Do Some Damage discussion

Benoit Lelievre did an interview with the author. Here's a Q/A on theme.

Q: THE LAST KIND WORDS is dark, but also human and heartbreaking. Terrier is taking many selfless decisions, out of love for his family. Would you say it's an anomaly in your career or is your writing gearing towards that in the future?

A: I think I drew the story from the same well I've drawn many others. The themes are ones I've tried to mine several times before: the search for identity, the killing draw of the past, the selfless act that destroys, the lost love that reemerges. These are the building blocks for a great deal of my fiction. It's difficult to revisit themes and topics and subject matter without winding up just retreading the same ground. So we shift focus, emphasize other elements, toys with the ingredients and gravy.


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I'm wondering whether Terry "finds" his identity. Also wondering about the other themes in this one.

I think the search for identity is the impetus for all my fiction. I think if my characters ever figured themselves out I'd have nothing left to write about. It's the primary theme/motif of my fiction taken as a body of work. I believe that at the end of LKW Terry is still questioning his role in life, in his family, etc. Those questions will continue to haunt him into the follow-up novel THE LAST WHISPER IN THE DARK. He's continually badgered (dogged?) by the same or similar struggles, needs, and feelings of guilt, regret, resentment.