So what’s it about?

Oh, you know, revenge and redemption.

I get it, the hero does terrible things in the name of revenge but then finds redemption.

You see, you don’t get it. There are two heroes. One finds redemption, the other goes to hell.

How sweet. So what gave you the idea?

The revenge part came from “The Nibelungenlied”. I read it a few years ago and wanted to write something that captured the same blinkered need for vengeance. The redemption angle came from re-reading Jane Austen’s “Persuasion”.

Hold on, forget the Nibelungenthingy, did you just say you were inspired by Jane Austen?

Of course. I think Jane and I are very simpatico. She used quips in the drawing room, I use a bullet in the head. Given my access to hardware, I’m sure she’d have shot the place up a bit.

Are you on medication?

Would you like to be?

Okay, just kidding. Er, why the fascination with hitmen?

It’s not a fascination. I’m interested in death and isolation, and the hitman fits in very nicely with those themes. The other thing I like about hitmen is that there’s no buffer between them and death. A police officer or a soldier has duty, procedure, even moral righteousness between him or her and death. The hitman’s contact is direct, and that makes for a much more interesting exploration.

So we can expect more hitmen books from you?

They’re not hitmen books. They’re books which feature hitmen.

Is there a difference?

Well that depends. If you think “The Old Man and the Sea” is a fishing book, then no, there probably isn’t a difference.

I get you. So, will there be any more?

My next book has a hitman as a central character. After that, who can say?

One of the themes in this book is the belief that it’s never too late. It seems to be something that runs through your work, this question of whether it’s ever possible to go back and right the wrongs and mistakes of the past. Some characters find a way back, others know that the door’s closed forever.

If you have a question, ask it. I’m not here for Wignall 101.

I was just wondering how you felt about it yourself. Is it never too late?

I don’t know. I like to think so, but I also know that some of the things you’ve done in the past can never be made right, and that’s a very difficult thing to accept. That’s why I find it interesting.

Would you like to elaborate?

No.

But you did sound like you were talking about yourself, rather than your work.

It’s time for you to leave now.

But I still have a few more questions.

Best that you leave, before it’s too late for you.

Okay, okay, just one last thing. Why “For the Dogs”?

Read the book. And tell them not to send me a moron next time.