My guest on the Crime Cafe this time is bestselling crime writer David Putnam.
Here are a few excerpts from our talk:
David: Bruno Johnson … is an ex-cop, ex-con who rescues children from toxic homes in South Central Los Angeles. He couldn’t do it when he was a cop because there’s too many rules and regulations. So now he goes outside the law to rescue the children.
I chose Bruno and made him an African-American, because it adds an extra layer of conflict. When I was working for the sheriff’s department, I left the jail after six months and went to work patrol in South Central Los Angeles. I went out with two African-American deputies and one was a good friend of mine. I got to see firsthand the added layer of conflict that he had to deal with.
I always try to put my actual experiences in the books. For instance, The Innocents I would say is 50 percent true, even though I fictionalized it, there are actually scenes, 50 percent of book actually happened. The Reckless is about 90 percent true.
Intrigued? Check out the interview!
