INTRODUCTION:

A sense of unease drives Fire Feud by Thomas Roehlk, where professional obligation, family history, and unresolved violence intersect. The story unfolds through methodical revelations rather than sudden answers.

Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, a crime was committed that would ripple quietly through generations. More than a century later, its consequences resurface when a skeleton is uncovered at a modern construction site. Attorney Mandy Doucette is assigned to handle the legal ramifications, only to learn that the remains are linked through DNA to her own company and her boyfriend’s family.
Reggie, Mandy’s twin and an FBI forensic pathologist, traces the forensic evidence back to the long-dormant feud between two powerful families. As the sisters investigate, they uncover layers of fraud, betrayal, and concealed violence. Their pursuit of the truth places them in direct conflict with influential figures who are determined to keep the past hidden—no matter the cost.

QUESTIONS &ANSWERS

What sets your book apart from others in your genre?
I consider my genre as thriller, with the sub-genre of legal thriller. I have much respect for women in the corporate law world, and I believe my work shines a light on this type of character in the crowded world of thrillers.

What’s your favorite compliment you’ve received as a writer?
My favorite was from a review I received on my first book, Red Deuce. It was “Red Deuce shows the author’s behind-the-scenes understanding of how corporations work, making it seem all too credible. The plot keeps you guessing until the very end. Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, he throws another curveball that leaves you eagerly flipping pages to uncover the truth.”

Why did you choose this setting/topic?
Choosing Chicago as a setting provides an amazing city with amazing history, and therefore amazing opportunities to build stories. My protagonist is a study in contrasts. She finds herself unable to poke the beast until it reveals its web of intrigue and illegality, and the story of intermingled crime and espionage allows the protagonist to push herself into solving the mystery.

Which author(s) most inspired you?
Michael Connelley, John Sandford and Steig Larsson.

Which three books would you bring to a desert island?
Caleb Carr’s The Alienist, Steig Larsson’s Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and Erik Larson’s Devil In The White City.

INSPIRING MOMENT

Every now and then a moment surprises me as an author with the gift of a story’s beginning. Recently I visited the local library in my town in New York and found a wall-sized recreation of an 18th-century town map. Realizing what it was, I examined it to find the original farm where my house now sits. In that space was a small regular information tag containing the words “pirate attack 1783.” Having no idea that pirates were operating in Long Island Sound then, I decided I had to research the issue.

Luckily the librarian archivist was able (enthusiastically) to provide me with a 1939 newspaper article explaining that a local 17-year-old lad was murdered by a band of whaleboat pirates. Unfamiliar with the term I dug into local history for the Revolutionary War period and found a treasure trove of information. Whaleboat pirates were a common phenomenon in that era, as were privateers, and pirates were in their waning moments in the so-called Age of Sail. I had been toying for some time with the idea of writing a pirate story, and now I had been dealt my opening hand.

My dive into the rabbit hole of researching the whaleboat pirates revealed to me the world of privateering, the conflict between revolutionaries in colonial America and the loyalists who clung to King George III, and the incredible role played by the seagoing men of that period. Once I understood how nations and citizens interacted in this time period, I was able to fashion a protagonist and a story. He would spring from the end of the Seven Years War (America called it the French and Indian War) and play a central part in the story of the attack against a coastal family. The murder of the teenager would be the decisive conflict in my story and I could wrap it up with the final departure of the British Royal Navy from the then-occupied Long Island. This was at the sunset of the Revolutionary War.

Then I wondered why I should stop there. A second part of the continuing story could be to take my protagonist to the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico and witness the end of the pirate era. That presented me with a promising volume two of my story, ending after the War of 1812.

Then I wondered why I should stop there. Further research taught me that, in the mid 19th-century, piracy continued in the American Great Lakes. I was able to find history that enabled me to fashion a third part of my story with ancestors of my earlier protagonists roaming those lake waters.

From an innocent visit to the library, my inspiration evolved into a three-volume story of pirates and privateers from the Revolutionary War era through to the Civil War era. Now I just have to write it!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Thomas M. Roehlk is a retired corporate attorney from St. Charles, Illinois, whose career spans major international corporations in the defense sector, consumer products, transportation equipment, and financial services. He spent more than 20 years serving as general counsel and chief compliance officer for a public company, bringing deep real-world legal and corporate insight to his fiction. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and John Marshall Law School, Roehlk also holds a Master in Management degree from Northwestern University. A devoted endurance athlete, he has completed more than 100 marathons and ultramarathons worldwide, as well as ten Ironman triathlons. After 46 years in the Chicago metropolitan area, he and his wife now split their time between Florida and New York. Visit Thomas at his website.

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4rWQP4L

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/243683449-fire-feud