Tom Albright is the author of the thriller The Cassandra Unit. Albright self-published the thriller, was gracious enough to send me a copy, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The first thing this book has going for it is its protagonist, Clark Westfield, who is an intrepid journalist covering a horrific child murder case he’s been covering his entire life. As a former journalist, I’m a sucker for a journalist protagonist, especially in a murder mystery.
If you like murder mysteries combined with Cold War history and government experiments, this book is for you as well. As the debut novel from Albright, I’m expecting great things in the future.
One of the things I loved best about this book was the internal struggle Westfield has with wanting to do the right thing, wanting to reveal the truth, and where the line between those two falls. Journalists, at least the good ones, constantly have to consider the effects of their stories, and this struggle brought Westfield off the page and into my living room.
There are a few formatting issues in the book, but as every self-published author will tell you, there is a lot to learn to publish your own book. Fortunately, Albright spoke frankly with us about the challenges he faced and the inspiration behind his novel. I hope all of you aspiring writers find inspiration in his journey and readers will give this [soon to be] series a chance.
What inspired you to write this story and choose a journalist as the main character? How much does your own background as a journalist play into the story?
I chose journalism as a profession so I could explore and investigate topics without working in law enforcement. I was always a news junkie and grew up in a family of lawyers, so I saw that the press was a much more expedient way to work for social justice, reveal what’s going on behind the scenes or hold entities accountable. Reporters often uncover and learn profoundly private and important things about the topics and people they cover. We live in a time when the average person can social post a blog, call themself a reporter and incite great cause and effect – hopefully for good, but of course not always.
I’ve also worked as a publicist for 30 years, keeping journalists in check – LOL. So I see the good and bad on both sides, and I see how the press gets it wrong, and ruins lives and companies with careless mistakes or agenda-driven coverage, often with impunity. I also see what companies try to keep hidden, some for very appropriate and legitimate reasons and other times to hide completely depraved misdeeds or malfeasance. When you are a crisis manager for corporations or for hospitals, you see jaw-dropping situations that never make the paper.
But I always thought the moral dilemma faced by reporters was underrepresented and would make the perfect setup for a thriller. Reporters decide what you are going to read and, therefore, what your knowledge and perception are about a situation. We don’t realize how much implicit trust we give journalists to shape our world, our perception, our point of view, and our reality. And yet we each implicity agree to leave all that up to their personal biases, fears, fatigue, knowledge and life experiences. I was never comfortable turning over the keys to an anonymous person to simply shape my world – and this is before the internet and social media – now we are even less guarded!
Also, what detective story could I write that would be better than what is already out there? Does the world need yet another story of a conflicted detective who “gets personally involved in the case?” – not from me. I wouldn’t know where to start. But an investigative reporter…now we have someone interesting…at least, that’s how I felt. Also, I know what a newsroom looks like and how decisions are made, the good and bad qualities of editors and beat reporters, the influence of advertisers etc. I’ve also seen the influence of shadow elements like elected officials, government agencies, etc., on what is ultimately published. That’s a world few people get to see, and fewer writers try to describe.
Your protagonist often finds himself in dangerous situations while pursuing this story. What kind of research did you do to make those scenarios realistic?
Well, I really did knock over a box of files in my garage when I was 8 years old that contained the case records of a murdered child, and of course, I never forgot it. The impression that makes on you at such a young age never really goes away, and in a way, I’ve always been seeking some sort of recourse or cosmic explanation for how anyone could do such a terrible thing.
The abandoned iron mine in the story is an actual place in the woods, and I did search it out and hiked it several times. Harriman State Park is a real park in New York State where, since my early childhood, I have spent thousands of hours enjoying both the wilderness and the recreational activities. Researching the history of the park was easy. But the 17 million residents of the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area who live within an hour’s driving distance of the park have no idea who Averall Harriman was or what role he played in ending WWII and in managing the Cold War afterward.
Most people, especially younger ones – and I don’t mean this as a diss to the youth of today. They don’t realize the amount of power plays that were going on behind closed doors for the last century, during the Cold War, how high the stakes were and how it can be found just behind the simple name of a state park. There is an enormous history to it, which most people don’t pay attention to, but I always found it fascinating. There have been many, many murder victims, suicides, drownings and people gone missing over the years in that park – and those are just the ones we know about – so the setting was already very easy for me.
Ever since high school, I have been reading everything I could find about the real-life MK Ultra program, including the actual Congressional record of testimony from the hearings. When most people see it in movies or novels, most famously being the Manchurian Candidate (which originally came out at the height of MK Ultra’s operations), there is an assumption that it couldn’t possibly be real or there isn’t detailed documentation on what it was and how it was done. But it really did happen; it’s well documented. There really were hearings in the 1970s investigating the program and its scope, and President Gerald Ford really did apologize to some of the victims in the Oval Office in 1975.
So I’m fascinated by its residual effects – what is the legacy? What suffering did it cause? What did we learn? What happened to these people? Most are still alive. So I simply read all I could on MK Ultra, and it was very easy to find as most of it is public record. I can’t imagine what details are still classified, but I also can’t believe that I’m the only one compelled to put this in a historical context or the only person who finds it interesting. There are a few good documentaries on cable and also on streaming services, but they really only scratch the surface.
How did you go about developing the mystery/thriller plot? Did you outline, or was it more organic as you wrote?
I didn’t plot out a mystery in the classic sense – I started with a set of questions and worked backward. I started out with the question, “What if an investigative reporter discovered facts with enormous implications but couldn’t report them?” then I tried to fill in the blanks of how that might happen. That is the conceit for all the Clark Westfield books – a star investigative journalist will uncover mind-blowing facts and realities but face a gripping moral dilemma on whether to report them.
The second question that started out with was “What could possibly drive someone to murder a child?” – very simple. We are so desensitized to reading about murdered children, and reporting, documentaries and fiction about serial killers are so abundant that it makes the unthinkable feel routine. Perhaps these monsters will always exist – history certainly shows they are always lurking in the darkest corners of human nature. But I was never comfortable with such a simple explanation, and I kinda chose and fabricated the plot as a cathartic way of searching for an explanation that made more sense and that I could live with. Government mind control was the only thing I could come up with and seemed an acceptable boogeyman.
What challenges did you face in writing this book?
The challenge with the story was that I was always wondering whether my plot was believable and unique. Every time I decided on where the story would go next, I had to sit and reflect on whether this would be the moment the reader says, “Aww fuck it…” LOL, I had to learn not to obsess or wallow in being stuck and keep moving. For instance, a lot has been written about the MK Ultra program – is anything I’m going to write going to sound new? Who cares…keep writing…
Also, a personal challenge for me is that I don’t really like blood, gore or horror. I cover my eyes during violent scenes in movies and television. I find it very difficult to think about, let alone write about children being hurt in any way, yet those elements were necessary for the story, and inexplicably, there is an audience for that kind of thing. Usually, people who have seen blood, gore and violence up close in real life have no appetite for it in art or see it as fun in any remote way. And as I described, I really did see the case files of a murdered child as a kid, which is the whole premise. So I found that part difficult. The first 20 pages were the hardest to write.
There are a few other details, particularly related to Clark’s father, that are autobiographical, and in articulating them, I had to imagine what my father must have felt and gone through as they were happening. I like to think his spirit helped write that part, but it did kick up some long-settled sediments of grief.
How was your experience with self-publishing this book?
Well, so far, so good. I guess. I queried publishers for 3 years, and I kept “getting a bigger nail” on which to hang my rejections, as Stephen King says. At one point, I realized that it was the easiest and most affordable time in history to self-publish, as well as self-market your book, so I might as well do it, and I told myself I would be in charge of all deadlines, processes, content, etc. That’s a nice fantasy, but the reality is it’s very demanding, and there are a lot of elements that I found difficult to learn and still honestly don’t feel entirely comfortable with the whole process.
I honestly hate social media, I have no knowledge of digital advertising, and I have no desire to develop my personal brand as an author. But discomfort is nothing to fear, and I have pulled off harder projects in my work life and regularly preach “NO EXCUSES” to my kids about everything, so I had to turn all that inward. Also, one just needs to look at Colleen Hoover or EL James, and you’ll get over your discomfort really quickly. LOL
That being said, I am still learning. I have four more books ready to publish, and I need all the help I can get. I figured I would try to understand and master just one social media platform, in this case, TikTok, before I try the others. I grew up in a time before cable television and call waiting, so a lot of today’s world doesn’t make any sense to me. LOL
Your protagonist has some flaws but is overall a determined, justice-seeking character. How did you go about balancing their strengths and weaknesses?
Any writer who tells you there aren’t some autobiographical elements in their main protagonist is lying through their teeth. So there are many facets to Clark that are also attributes of Tom Albright, but I don’t need to say which, as the story is about him, not me..:-)
But as for balance, I want people to like Clark (and the others). But I want them to like him for his honesty. He sets out to do the right thing, but its harder than he thought. It’s like that wise Mike Tyson quote: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face..” And nothing has been more true in life! Some wisdom I’ve earned – and have the scars to prove – is that nothing is ever simple, all truths have a consequence, and just because you know the truth doesn’t mean you need to disclose it.
The morality we are taught as youngsters is often insufficient for the complexities life brings or the complex geometry of the human condition. Clark is no exception. He became a reporter to discover facts – it just leads to more confusion. He lived his life in a world with a certain societal infrastructure, but it’s not really what it seems. And most importantly, we are on our own in all of this, and we, like Clark, must navigate our own course and live with the decisions we make. I think every adult reaches a moment (usually around middle age) when you embrace character flaws rather than fight them, and you realize a lot of the things you thought were so important simply aren’t.
So Clark and his team – Elizabeth, Richie, Melody, and the mentor Steve Miller, are human, and they strive to do good and fail. They have fears and overcome them as best they can and succeed most of the time, but not all. They must cooperate with one another and trust one another, and they share the personal bonds to do so. They disappoint one another. They inadvertently hurt one another, they reconcile, and they earn redemption. Hopefully, just like all of us…
The settings feel very vivid in the book. How important was the setting to you in bringing the story to life? Did you have to visit the places you wrote about, or had you already been there?
Yes, I grew up exploring Harriman State Park and searching for the many abandoned mines. This was before GPS satellites, before YouTube, Before social media, where you could just click and find them. My professional work and advocacy work has taken me to more than one meeting at various prisons. And, of course, I work in newsrooms and with media outlets. So, I wanted to describe these environments and capture what life is like in each of them.
It’s interesting you say the details are vivid – the first compliment I ever got for a short story I published in my high school literary magazine was one of the teachers saying, “I felt like I was there!” I took that to heart and thought it was a positive skill, and kept trying to do better. That and when you work in television (half my career was network television), you simply must be a master of details.
But I just kind of assume every writer wants to be vivid enough to bring the reader into the world they create, especially if it’s a unique environment. I don’t see it as just telling a murder mystery story. Rather I want you to be trudging along in the woods towards the mine, I want you to be walking down the disgusting prison corridors and smelling the urine, I want you to feel the infuriating tension and the bullshit that pervades the very newsroom you rely on for your truth. I hope every writer sees that as a core part of their job. If I haven’t built a world that you can see, taste, smell and feel in my writing, then I haven’t earned the most precious thing you can give me – your time and attention.
What do you think readers will find most interesting about this book? What do you hope they take away from it?
I hope to remind readers that there are many forces, good and bad, that operate behind the scenes and under the surface that shape our world, and I hope they are intrigued enough to learn more about them. I also hope readers will go on hikes of discovery and consume details about places and people and want to walk in their footsteps, feel their intent and see what they left behind.
Also, as a Generation Xer, I grew up during the Cold War, and I want people – especially younger people, which is why Clark’s daughter plays such a prominent role – to realize that the entire global geo-political world order from 1948-1992 was shaped by the Cold War and the urgency to prevent a Nuclear War. Further, when it was over, the world got even more dangerous, yet the structural order was never reorganized or updated. We are living with the structural fallout from that period. I wanted to serve up some everyday elements that are presently in people’s lives that are a result of that period of history and describe the reverberations.
Lastly, and tragically, I wanted to capture the beleaguered star journalist and paint the demise of good reporting. The world Clark grew up in – the golden age of investigative reporting and news gathering – is long gone, and most people don’t even realize it. There are a few great reporters still working, sure, and some break big stories – but the importance and the impact are greatly diminished. Clark is a tragic dinosaur, and the world is better off preserving the integrity of reporting and bulldogs like Clark.
Journalists and media organizations used to be a checkpoint on government, power, and money – it was their vigilance that supported American freedom and protected you and me. Now, the media behaves more like an angry mob of teenagers in a food fight with no sense of responsibility or grace whatsoever. Today’s investigative reporters are allowed WAAAYYYY too much opinion and POV, and their work blurs into advocacy. They are undermined on social media and they aren’t given the recognition and elevation they deserve when they do something good. Could a Mike Wallace exist in today’s environment of social media and streaming? No. Bob Woodward wrote several books about more than one presidential administration with ENORMOUS reveals – some bigger than Watergate – and the world just goes on…sans a few CNN interviews… I don’t just want people to find that interesting, I want them to internalize its importance and to be outraged.
What authors or books inspired or influenced you in writing this particular thriller?
I always saw the Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy as a seminal thriller novel for me, as well as most of his other books. He had sources inside the CIA and was able to “reveal without revealing”. I read somewhere he even got a visit from some G-men because of the details in some of his books. I like how Clancy has recurring characters and how well they translate to film.
I’ve read most of Isaac Asimov’s major works, and in a few of the popular titles, he was able to pull off the “last page reveal,” which I attempted in The Cassandra Unit.
Michael Crichton was one of the first authors I read in the 70s with Andromeda Strain and Coma, long before he became a household name. But the problem he proposes in Jurassic Park – “You spent so much time seeing whether you could, you didn’t consider whether you should…” is an eternal theme and it’s the central tenet of the upcoming Clark adventure “The Smart Ones”. Crichton also takes time to explain complicated scientific and medical concepts to the average person, making them digestible and not losing the reader, making him a true master.
Lastly, Stephen King is a bit of a lighthouse for me, and whenever I am stuck or need inspiration, I listen to him narrate “On Writing,” which I kinda treat as scripture from a prophet. It’s a very kind, personal, generous and vulnerable treatise coaching writers like myself through self-doubt and giving us permission to fail. He also affirms that we don’t need to explain ourselves to everyone, and much of writing and the creative process can’t be understood. It can only be yielded to. He teaches that your skill and results as a writer are due to you learning how to LET IT HAPPEN rather than HOW TO DO IT. With his volume and quality of work, I would hope every writer wants to hear what he has to say.
Are there any plans to turn this book into a series? If so, can you give us any hints about what future books might explore?
Yes, and thank you for asking! THE ADVENTURES OF CLARK WESTFIELD series is currently five books, all thrillers. All are finished and will be published in the next 6 months. They all star Clark Westfield and his apprentice-turned-peer Elizabeth Cranford. Richie Byrne is also in all five, as is his daughter Melody. I wound up liking these characters a great deal, and I feel like I understand them, so they are great ambassadors to tell the next four stories.
The next four in the series are:
Do No Harm
This will be out shortly and is about the opioid crisis and accountability. Clark witnesses an overdose, and as he investigates the horrific underbelly of the crisis, he learns the lengths to which bereaved parents will go to seek accountability for this perfectly legal genocide that unfolded in broad daylight over a 20-year period and took more than 600,000 lives. He will face similar moral dilemmas of discovering truths he cannot report. Unfortunately, I didn’t have to invent very much in telling that story; the backdrop and setting are very real for all of us, and if you aren’t outraged, you simply aren’t paying attention.
The Smart Ones
Clark investigates gene therapy and consumer genetics companies that are now completely routine in all our lives. This is a story of how science got way ahead of moral and ethical evaluation, as it usually does. The book explores CRISPR gene therapy, which people don’t realize is going to change humanity profoundly. It also explores consumer genetic companies and the ethical considerations about what they do once they have your genome. Would you give a complete stranger the keys to your house, car, or bank account and ask them to babysit your children? No? Then why is your genome completely fine when it’s more valuable than all of those things? And who gets to decide who harvests and curates genetic information? Well, it doesn’t matter because it’s already happening, and we missed the boat, so… here are some of the disasters we are going to have to accept are inevitably on the horizon. This will be published before the end of the year.
The Seed Bank
This book explores climate change and some of the causes and power plays, as well as the contingency planning that is taking place behind the scenes. Clark goes to Alaska to study the actual Pentagon seed bank and realizes that the powers that be have known for decades what is coming and that it can’t be reversed and it’s really a matter of triaging the damage unfolding to our planet. The question is, who gets to decide? What is worth saving? Who are the culprits that did this? What parts of human nature make it so easy for us to simply ignore and deny the reality of climate change and the extremely complicated decisions that we will be forced to make as a species and to cope? Once again, there will be plenty that Clark learns that he can’t talk about. I describe it as a modern-day Lorax with murder. LOL. This will also be out before the end of the year.
Blood Among Brethren
This will explore, in essence – how good priests deal with bad priests. I grew up in a Catholic family and worked for a time for Catholic Charities, so I had a front-row seat to the morbid shitshow of the sex-abuse scandals and the cover-ups. The Boston Globe was utterly heroic in its reporting investigations that were the major turning point in public opinion, and most people are aware of this terrible piece of history. But what DIDN’T the Globe find? Clark finds that there is even more to the story, and long before the scandal was household knowledge, the good guys – priests who weren’t abusers and living the reality behind the scenes, watching the cover-ups, hearing directly from victims – how did they deal with it? How did they cope? How does a morally upstanding person deal with the reality that clergy really can’t be trusted and there will definitely be more victims..unless… And, of course, Clark has to live with the facts he finds but can’t publish them… This will be the last in the current series batch, and though the book is finished, I feel the topic is so delicate that I have to earn the reader’s trust in the first four books before dropping a thriller that questions religion, faith, and the memories they have of their own childhood experiences. If I’m going to take you there, I have to have shown myself as an author to be trustworthy, or I have no right to intrude on this part of your psyche. So that is chronologically the last of the series.
What has been the response from readers so far? What kinds of feedback have you gotten?
I have had generally positive comments, even from the early beta readers. Some had no stake in saying anything positive; they weren’t family or friends, so if praise is objective, then I like to think I did something right. Of course, as every author knows, there are many people in your life who can’t wait for you to finish, are excited to receive the book, hug and kiss you and then never mention it again. I think a huge portion never get around to reading it or don’t enjoy reading. They just care about you and want to encourage you. So, I learned to stop asking what they thought and not to take it personally. That being said, I don’t know that a lot of people have bought or read the book yet, so I don’t have a lot of reaction to measure. The feedback I do have is positive, however.
I do hope people like it and want to know what happens next to Clark, Elizabeth, Richie and Melody…
