The Opposite of Trust by Rodger Carlyle

A Russian airman survives the crash of his bomber on an Alaskan lake. He’s flown the mission in hopes of freeing a wife he hasn’t seen since the Stalinists in Russia sent her to a gulag. The warrior is rescued by the widow of a man destroyed in the Washington, DC, anti-communist hearings. Her own intelligence career was shattered in the same hearings. Alone in a cabin, hours away from the next human being, their shared betrayal sparks feelings that each thought were forever gone.

Ellen and Anton’s impossible affair faces one major threat: Each is a trained professional and patriot who together have the key to stopping the deadly North Pacific air war between the US and Russia. Is it worth risking what they have to do what each knows is right? What do they owe their governments that in the recent past betrayed them?

Rodger Carlyle recently spent some time with The Big Thrill discussing his latest thriller, THE OPPOSITE OF TRUST:

What do you hope readers will take away from this book?

First, I hope they have a thrilling and memorable read. The political undertones are similar to today’s, with external threats compounded by distrust of government across the globe, driven by extremist decision-making, the lessons lost.

Rodger Carlyle

What attracts you to this book’s genre?

I believe that the nation’s and world’s challenges can only be overcome by ordinary people taking on seemingly impossible challenges. I love stories where no superhero is riding to the rescue. My heroes may be the primary protagonists or a girlfriend or teacher or quiet brother.

What was the biggest challenge this book presented? What about the biggest opportunity?

The biggest challenge was trying to coax the Russian side of the story from those I interviewed; and that was also the greatest opportunity. It was rewarding watching the interviewees warm up to telling a story they had suppressed for decades.

Was there anything new you discovered, or that surprised you, as you wrote this book?

Even as one who studies world politics, I was a bit shocked to see how political ideologues can drive normal citizens apart, and how this is not a new phenomenon.

Without spoilers, are there any genre conventions you wanted to upend or challenge with this book?

The whole “superhero will save us from certain doom” convention.

No spoilers, but what can you tell us about your book that we won’t find in the jacket copy or the PR material?

While vastly different beliefs can create challenges between people, they are no boundary to love.

What authors or books have influenced your career as a writer, and why?

The old adventure writers such as Alistair MacLean, Ernest Gann, Sydney Lawrence, and Hemingway and contemporary writers like Cussler, Clancy, Jack Higgins, and Brad Thor have all influenced my writing, primarily by painting such clear pictures of setting and motivation.

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Rodger Carlyle is a novelist, pilot, adventurer, political strategist, and ghostwriter who writes stories about reluctant heroes. His experiences stretch from New York to Los Angeles, from Amsterdam to Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East, and from Canada into Latin America.

To learn more about the author and his work, please visit his website.