In layman's terms, what are "black operations," what might people want to know about them, and what are some examples of these missions that might be under way right now?
Shortly after 9/11, President Bush stated that the United States had entered a "shadow war" unlike any in its history. While most people expected that to include special operations forces like Delta Force (Combat Applications Group) and SEAL Team Six (Surface Warfare Development Group), they may not have known about the darker side of the war on terror. Black operations don't appear on any budget; they are not discussed by oversight committees, debated by Congress, or fully understood even within agencies. Black ops involve the most carefully selected, highly trained, and deeply backstopped professionals on earth. They are SCI (Secure Compartmented Information) classified, code-word protected, and segmented among players who know only one part of a more complex mission.
The world of black operations, also known as the "wet side," includes space-age technologies, overseas "renditions" (Third World fugitive snatches), private- and public-sector alliances, and bedfellows so strange you might not believe me if I told you. Black is a metaphor for a world where secrecy and success are the only constants. Anything is possible. Anything goes.
Black ops are under way as we speak. From intelligence-gathering projects in Dubai to Military Operations Other than War in Jakarta, brave warriors are waging a different kind of war, trying to make sure nightmares are something you'll only read about in books.
When you wrote COLD ZERO there were some facts you probably had to omit for legal/security reasons. Since BLACK is fiction, do you have free rein to write about any of your experiences in the FBI? What do your former colleagues and supervisors think about your transformation from agent to writer? How do they feel about your handling sensitive topics, albeit as fiction?
Cold Zero is a memoir, which the FBI's prepublication review board vetted for classified information and sensitive investigative techniques. BLACK is a novel, filled with stories about people who never existed and events that never occurred. Though these two books approach counterterrorism operations from two very different perspectives, the underlying truth remains the same. There are some stories that are best left for fiction -- whether or not they ever happened.
As for my former colleagues, they value discretion but prize the truth. What's the point in risking your life to protect something that no one can talk about?
Tom Clancy, David Baldacci, and Clive Cussler are all military/government thriller writers. Has your style been influenced by these or other writers in the genre? How do you see yourself in relation to these established authors, and what do you think might make your work stand out?
These are all wonderful storytellers who understand the basic premise that what you don't know is always more interesting than what you do. David Baldacci has been very helpful on a personal level and has given me a good deal of insight into character development and construction. Writers like Frederick Forsyth, Robert Littell, and Robert Ludlum have taught me form. James Patterson and Nelson DeMille suggest how to create the racing pulse that comes with walking into a world you only thought you understood.
If I can make a contribution to this genre, it would be realism. Just because the world of BLACK is fiction, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
The characters in BLACK are very vivid, and it seems like they could return. What are your plans for your next novel? Will any of BLACK's characters be back for another book, or is there a series in the works?
BLACK is just the selection process for a whole new world of gatekeepers, shooters, money changers, and spies. I have already finished the first draft of New White -- a book that will literally blow away any preconceptions of how you think the government really works. I truly believe that New White will influence public discussion about the power, authority, and veracity of government. Jeremy Waller, Sirad Malneaux, Elizabeth Beechum, and Jordan Mitchell will return for bigger and better missions. BLACK is just the beginning.
