by Nolon King
Still, it was one of those moments you can’t walk back from. A moment from where there is No Return.
I worried if people would still like Mal. If her choice would disappoint you as a reader. I also wondered if having her kill Paul would erase the line between her and Jasper.
Being worried about these things, I briefly thought about trying to have my cake and eat it too.
(I do like cake. But that’s another story.)
So, I thought: Well, we could make it so she wouldn’t have a choice. Where it was either pull the trigger or Paul kills her, Jessi, or Jasper.
But that would’ve been cheating.
It robbed Mal of her agency, in having to make that difficult choice.
Also, I hate when fiction takes the easy way out of tough dilemmas.
Still, I wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing.
Even up to writing the chapter, I considered having her not pull the trigger. Nolon said he’d back whatever choice I made. Not killing Paul was a way to keep her “good,” and would’ve had our hero sticking to her principles.
However, we already did that ending in the first book. No Return’s ending wouldn't be nearly as powerful if she made the same choice the second time around.
So, she had to do it.
Had. To.
And, now a couple of months removed from the first draft, I like that Mal pulled the trigger.
I feel bad for her, of course. I love her character, and I know that this action will have some deep ramifications for her. And things are not going to be easy.
However, I’m guessing you read books for the same reason we do — to see people get into shit and try to find their way out. It’s kinda what makes thrillers work.
Another concern I had in this book was whether or not Paul was “too evil” this time around.
I liked that he was a realistic villain in the first book. He was conflicted about the things he did. He was a victim who grew into a monster. We could never condone the horrible things he did, of course, but we could almost understand what made him what he was.
We always try to get in our villain’s heads and see them as they see themselves, to treat them as the hero of their own story. That makes for some very uncomfortable scenes — especially in this book — but I think the best fiction is complicated like that.
Still, we needed to make him even worse this time around, so far gone that you’d be begging for Mal to pull the trigger by the end. Yet, a few times, I thought, Um, is this going too far?
It’s tough to balance character versus story needs. We tend to err on the side of letting things go too far than playing it too safe. But then we remind ourselves of some of the real-life monsters out there and realize that we probably could’ve made him even worse.
But, in the end, we go with the characters as they exist in this world.
Characters are what make this series so much fun to write. I love Mal and Jasper because they’re flawed and struggling. And no matter how many times they get knocked down by what life is throwing at them, they keep getting up to fight again.
It’s not the best example, but I sort of see Creek County as a less political, more thriller version of The Wire, a living, breathing world with characters that continue living even after each book is over. A world where small bit characters will play bigger roles down the road, allowing us to tell the sort of stories that work as standalone books, but also reward those who pay attention to the little details. A world I look forward to returning to, to finding out what’s going on.
How will Mal bounce back from this moment?
What will Jasper do with the list?
What’s going to happen with the upcoming election?
We’ll be exploring all this and more when we return to Creek County.
Thank you for joining us on this journey into darkness.
Thank you for reading.
Dave (and Nolon)
A quick favor…
If you liked No Return, then would you kindly* consider taking a few minutes to leave a review on Amazon. If you’re a book blogger, we’d love any mentions on your blog or YouTube channel, also. Every bit of word-of-mouth helps to introduce us to new readers.
As always, thank you for reading,
David Wright (and Nolon King)
(* Bonus points if you got the Bioshock reference.)
Want More?
Sign up for the FREE newsletter and get a free copy of the King & Wright novel 12.
Join the list and be the FIRST to get the latest news, sneak peeks at what’s coming next, and free books and short stories. Our subscribers make our careers possible, and we’ll never spam you.
GET YOUR FREE BOOK NOW!
About the Authors
Nolon King writes fast-paced psychological thrillers set in the glitzy world of entertainment’s power players with a bold, insightful voice. He’s not afraid to explore the darker side of human nature through stories featuring families torn apart by secrets and lies.
Nolon loves to write about big questions and moral quandaries. How far would you go to cover up an honest mistake? Would you destroy your career to protect your family? How much of your soul would you sell to get the life of your dreams? Would you cheat on your husband to keep your children safe? Would you give in to a stalker's demands to save your marriage?
David W. Wright is the co-author of edge-of-your seat thrillers including the best-selling post-apocalyptic series Yesterday’s Gone, the paranoid sci-fi WhiteSpace series, and the vigilante series, No Justice, as well as standalone thrillers 12, and Crash which was recently optioned for a movie.
David is an accomplished, though intermittent, cartoonist who lives in [LOCATION REDACTED] with his wife and son [NAMES REDACTED.]
He is not at all paranoid.
He is “the grumpy one” on the The Story Studio Podcast with fellow Sterling and Stone founders, Sean Platt and Johnny B. Truant.
You can email him at [email protected]
We swear, he almost never bites. Unless you feed him after midnight.