Author Ryan Steck first got the idea for Matthew Redd back in high school; now he’s the hero of four Western thriller novels, the latest of which, Gone Dark, is out now.
In this Q &A, Ryan explores what’s next for Matthew Redd, details how he keeps creating new Montana adventures for Redd, and why now is the perfect time for readers to jump in if they haven’t read the entire series yet.
If you want to learn more about Ryan’s thriller, start reading the first chapter of Gone Dark, or find your own copy in softcover, e-book, or audiobook at a retailer near you.
Gone Dark is a perfect book for new readers to join after the completion of the arc in the first three Matthew Redd books. What changes should we expect as the series moves forward?
When you dream about being an author, you never really stop to think that once you’re several books into a series, you’ll have to juggle the fact that not everyone who picks up your new book has read your previous books. There’s no question that my first three books—while they have their own beginnings, middles, and endings—all deal with the Twelve, a powerful cabal behind several government conspiracies that Redd inadvertently found himself in the middle of. So, Gone Dark marks the first book set after the Twelve trilogy within the overall series. And to be honest, I was excited to put that arc behind me so that I could move on to new threats and issues for Redd to battle.
The balancing act that you have to navigate as a writer when penning a series is how much backstory and recapping from previous books you need to include in each new book. With Gone Dark, it was almost like starting with a clean slate. I definitely packed some Easter eggs in there for my longtime readers, but really, I think newcomers can pick up Gone Dark and dive right on in, even if you never read my first three books. To that end, over the next couple of books, you’ll see Redd go through some career and life changes as he settles into a role that’s more sustainable long-term for the series as a whole. I’m excited about where things are headed, and I think my readers will be as well.
This is the fourth book in an action-packed series. How do you ensure the excitement remains vibrant throughout the series?
Great question! I think I’ve touched on this a few times above, but my goal was to reset the series just a little bit with Gone Dark, introducing new threats and challenges for Redd that he’s not faced in the first three books. And to me, that’s the key—find new types of bad guys and circumstances, and don’t be afraid to go in a slightly new direction sometimes. But also, as I touched on earlier, with Redd’s inner circle expanding, there’s more at stake for him . . . and he has more to lose. He also has more to fight for, and he goes to battle for someone in this book.
Which of the supporting characters has changed the most over the series? Why did you want them to grow in that way?
I think if I had to pick just one character to highlight here, I’d have to go with Emily Redd, Matty’s wife. Certainly, in this book, you see just how devoted she is to her husband, and I really love their relationship. In many ways, albeit with far fewer gunfights and bad guys, their relationship and what they deal with mirrors that of my own marriage with my wife. We, too, have a big family, so I’m familiar with those dynamics, but my wife has always had my back and supported me, just as Em does Redd. And in turn, I’ve always been there for her through anything she may face, including some really tough medical issues over the past few years. So, I do draw influence from my wife when writing Emily, certainly. I’d also say that Mikey, Redd’s faithful best friend, has really come a long way, too, and more than ever, you see him step up when Matty needs him in Gone Dark.
Many authors leave their couples in an almost perpetual will-they-won’t-they loop. But you have Matthew marry his high school sweetheart, and they are about to have another kid. What are the advantages and challenges of having a strong married couple in a novel?
I touched on the parallels between my marriage and Redd’s above, but this is a great question. I’ve covered thrillers for over a decade on The Real Book Spy, and I’ve worked as an editor for a long time as well. And I can’t tell you how many characters have had their wives or significant others killed at some point. In fact, many of them have lost several loved ones in a similar fashion, usually when the bad guys come looking for the hero and can’t get to them, so they kill the wife or girlfriend to hurt the hero and draw them out. I get it, and I appreciate those stories, but that’s not what I wanted for my series.
Now, I’m not saying that nothing will ever happen to Redd or Emily. I can’t make that promise, but I don’t ever want to leave readers hanging between books, and I sure don’t want my readers to always worry that their favorite character might be killed off. I’ll never say never, but I think Redd and Emily drive this series together, so it’s more about how will they get out of this? As opposed to will they get out of this?
All of that said, it absolutely can be a challenge to manage so many characters and relationships. I know other authors, friends of mine, who have killed off their hero’s love interest simply because they couldn’t find a role for them in future stories. And I get that, believe me, now more than ever. I’m currently writing the fifth Matthew Redd book, and trust me, it’s a challenge to account for everyone and all of Redd’s loved ones and family members sometimes, but I also think it makes for a richer reading experience.
You have described Matthew Redd as being “with” you for a long time. How has he changed from his original incarnation until now?
Well, in a sense, Redd has always been Redd. I’ve always heard his voice, and I usually tell people that in any given situation I might find myself, I know exactly how I should handle things . . . and I also know exactly how Matty Redd would handle things. His way is usually more action-packed than mine! But one thing that has certainly changed over the years is that Redd is now a family man. He’s no longer the lone wolf operator readers first met in Fields of Fire. He has a wife and kids, and their family is still growing. He has his war dog, Rubble the Rottweiler. He has his best friends, his biological father, and—in this book, without giving anything away—his inner circle widens a bit. So that’s all pretty new, and while I like seeing the side of Redd that cares for others and has even learned to trust them, his opening himself up like that is a bit of a double-edged sword because now he has more to lose when bad guys come knocking.
Matthew Redd doesn’t go looking for trouble. But this time, it’s found him anyway . . . and he’s not the only one in the crosshairs.
Late-summer wildfires are a fact of life in Montana. But as an inferno nears Wellington, Matthew Redd gets the unusual call that a team of smoke jumpers has suddenly gone dark. As head of the county’s fledgling search and rescue team, Redd drops into the fire zone and finds way more than he bargained for: a killer has taken out the smoke jumper team along with two civilians, and only a terrified young boy is left as witness. Redd and little Jack narrowly escape the raging fire, and Redd calls in Gavin Kline, now acting director of the FBI, to investigate the bigger forces at play.
That afternoon, during one of her last clinic shifts before the birth of her second child, Emily Redd loses a young patient to an overdose. Fed up with yet another loss to the opioid crisis—this one a former schoolmate and a wounded veteran—Emily tracks down and confronts the retired doctor responsible for feeding her patient’s deadly addiction.
Hours later, when their home is attacked, Redd and Emily wonder which of them kicked a hornet’s nest—or if they’ve both stumbled onto pieces of a much bigger puzzle. As the fire closes in, they follow the connections from a corrupt doctor and a local opioid supplier all the way to a murdered whistleblower for a Big Pharma giant. As Redd’s concern for young Jack grows, those who want to silence him forever hunt him down. Redd will do whatever it takes to protect the boy and his family . . . even if it means he’ll have to outrun an inferno and come face-to-face with his greatest fear.
Ryan Steck is an editor, an author, and the founder and editor in chief of The Real Book Spy. Ryan has been named an “Online Influencer” by Amazon and is a regular columnist at CrimeReads. TheRealBookSpy.com has been endorsed by #1 New York Times bestselling authors Mark Greaney, C. J. Box, Kyle Mills, Daniel Silva, Brad Thor, and many others. A resident of Michigan, along with his wife and their six kids, Steck cheers on his beloved Detroit Tigers and Lions during the rare moments when he’s not reading or talking about books on social media. He can be reached via email at ryan@therealbookspy.com.
