ALMOST THERE!

by Earl Staggs
 
The idea came to me shortly after the tragedy of 9-11 when terrorists left a scar across the world that will never heal. I was equally horrified, heartbroken and angry. The angry part of me wanted to go out and find anyone planning to commit such a horrible, unspeakable act and exterminate them.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought, “What if a group of people did exactly that?”   What if a group tracked potential terrorists, and if they planned to take innocent lives, stop them before they committed their murderous act? Yes, there are agencies with that responsibility, the CIA, FBI, NSA and others, but they have their hands full with the major groups everyone knows about.  My group would concentrate on smaller groups operating under the radar.

The agency taking form in my mind would be secretive and also operate under the radar. If they were absolutely certain a terrorist group would attack and kill, this agency would stop them first – permanently with great prejudice.

I felt it was an incredible idea, but could I actually build a novel around it? Only one way to find out. Try it and see what happens. I worked on it along with other projects for ten years.

I created a main character with experience in Special Forces and named him Tall Chambers. When Tall retires from the Army at the age of 38, he joins the special agency. The agency has eyes and ears all over the world, and other operatives with skills and backgrounds similar to Tall’s fill out the unit.

As the story rolled out, the primary focus shifted from chasing terrorists and centered more to how the job affected him and those around him. The agency became only a backdrop for Tall’s personal story.  

 

When Tall loses someone very close to him, his focus becomes entirely personal. He uses the agency’s resources and contacts to find the people responsible and make it possible to get past his devastating loss.

I was pleased with how this story turned out and feel it could be my best work to date. I call it JUSTIFIED ACTION, and I’ll be announcing its publication in both ebook and print format very soon.  

This project has been in the works for a long time, but I’d happy to say it’s almost there, and that’s a good feeling.