Contemporary Thrillers WHAT GOES AROUND with Michael Wendroff

EVIL HAS MANY FACES

Chilling killings terrorize a town and bring together two detectives to face the hardest tasks of their lives. Jack Ludlum, who relies on his brawn to get things done, is now paired with his archenemy, Jill Jarred, a brilliant investigator with keen intuition. As they delve into the secret world of incels and white supremacists, and conflict between local authorities and the FBI rages, a media frenzy further complicates the mission.

Is there a serial killer on the loose? Or something entirely different? Will their clashing personalities be their undoing, or can they unite to stop the killer before they kill each other?

Michael Wendroff recently sat down with The Big Thrill to discuss his debut contemporary thriller, WHAT GOES AROUND.

Michael Wendroff

Can you pinpoint a moment or incident that sparked the idea for this book?

When I was born, the first words my mother said to me were “Nice to see you again.”

A novel is such a major undertaking; there’s the writing of it, of course, then you’re spending months and months revising, polishing, and then promoting it. How did you know this was the book you wanted to spend the next couple of years on?

I am a debut novelist and I always wanted to tell this story. The key part of it–the twist–emanated from my own experience, while many of the plot elements that move the story were, as they say, “ripped from the headlines.” I was interested in exploring how people can do evil things, as well as the boundaries of love.

It was covid, when I was stuck home, that I didn’t have any more excuses, so I gave it a shot (no pun intended).

Were there any particular books, movies, or songs that were knocking around in your head while you were writing this one?

Two were:
1) “Instant Karma” by John Lennon
2) I always loved the “Wow!” factor in the twist ending of the movie The Sixth Sense.

When you first created your protagonist for this book, did you see an empty space in crime lit that you wanted to fill? What can you share about the inspiration for that character?

There are two key characters, the detectives investigating the killings, that are very different from each other–actually starting out as enemies. I wanted to explore the relationship, and how they might help each other grow.

The male character, Jack, was inspired by Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, as he too is a very large and physically imposing man. He uses his fists too readily, and his partner Jill tries to teach him restraint. Jill is brainy and beautiful, but comes with some baggage. Together they must fight through issues themselves in order to fight the killer.

In addition to a great read, what do you hope readers will take away from this story?

My desire is that this book keeps them thinking long after the last page is finished.

I’d love for it to provide both insights as well as hope.

What can you share about what you’re working on next?

It will feature both of my core characters, and share some thematic similarities as well.