DEVIOUS MEASURES

Short Description

Devious Measures follows investigative journalist Tierra Campos and FBI Special Agent Victoria Larsen as they uncover evidence of a conspiracy surrounding the New Hampshire presidential primary.

When a rising presidential candidate becomes the target of intimidation, arson, and cyberattacks, suspicion falls on a political rival. However, Victoria's investigation into the suspicious death of a wealthy political donor raises questions about whether the campaign attacks are part of something much larger.

With the primary approaching, Tierra and Victoria must uncover the truth before the conspiracy influences the presidential race.

Genre

Devious Measures is a political thriller combining investigative journalism, political suspense, cybercrime, conspiracy, and FBI investigations. The story incorporates elements of a traditional mystery while exploring the increasingly dangerous intersection of political campaigns, wealthy donors, digital technology, and institutional power.

Inspiration

The inspiration for Devious Measures began with a straightforward mystery: Who is attacking a rising presidential candidate, and what do they hope to accomplish? I wanted Tierra and Victoria to enter the investigation believing they were pursuing an identifiable adversary with a clear political objective. As the evidence begins pointing in conflicting directions, however, the mystery expands beyond the attacks themselves and raises a more troubling question: What happens when the people manipulating an election are powerful enough to control the information investigators depend upon?

That premise allowed me to explore political influence as something more dangerous than money or access. Information can be altered, withheld, manufactured, and deliberately placed where investigators are certain to find it. Tierra and Victoria must therefore determine not only who is responsible, but whether the evidence guiding them can be trusted at all.

At its heart, Devious Measures examines a political contest in which discovering the truth becomes every bit as important as identifying the people determined to conceal it. The closer Tierra and Victoria move toward an answer, the more difficult it becomes to distinguish genuine evidence from another carefully constructed deception.

Behind the Book: Devious Measures

• Devious Measures is where the larger conspiracy driving the rest of the series truly begins to emerge. I really wanted to mess with a presidential election, but didn’t want it to be the typical political parties pulling the strings.

• I chose the New Hampshire presidential primary as the political backdrop because of its outsized influence. A relatively small number of voters can dramatically reshape a national campaign, making it an ideal target for someone attempting to manipulate an election.

• The attacks against the presidential campaign: intimidation, arson, and cyberattacks, were designed to represent three different forms of political sabotage: psychological, physical, and digital.

• The suspicious death of a wealthy political donor and the attacks against a presidential candidate initially appear to be separate cases by design. Connecting seemingly unrelated events is one of the central challenges facing Tierra and Victoria.

• The title Devious Measures refers not only to the illegal tactics used against the campaign, but also to the layers of deception intended to make innocent people appear guilty and guilty people appear untouchable.

• I wanted Senator Alicia Standish to remain morally complicated. She is ambitious and politically calculating, but those qualities do not automatically make her responsible for every accusation directed at her.

• Tierra and Victoria approach the investigation from opposite professional perspectives. Tierra wants to uncover information and make it public, while Victoria must gather admissible evidence and protect the integrity of an official investigation.

• The growing friendship between Tierra and Victoria is important because journalists and FBI agents do not naturally operate by the same rules. Their different obligations make them valuable partners, but they also create tension over what information can be shared.

• Tierra enters the novel with greater recognition after the events of Justifiable Deceit. That success creates new opportunities, but it also forces her to decide what kind of journalist she wants to become.

• Victoria’s investigation places her in conflict with assumptions made by people inside her own institution. I wanted to explore how difficult it can be to pursue the truth when the convenient explanation has already been accepted.

• The approaching primary provides the novel with a built-in deadline. Tierra and Victoria are trying to solve a mystery, but they also must do it before voters make a decision that cannot easily be undone. It creates the desired sense or urgencies that the “ticking clock” accomplishes in many thrillers.

• Although the novel deals with presidential politics, the conspiracy is not intended as an argument for or against a particular political party. The larger issue is how money, technology, ambition, and misinformation can and are used to influence public perception.

• Devious Measures expands the scale of the series. What begins with a targeted political attack gradually reveals a threat that will continue affecting Tierra and Victoria throughout the remaining books.