R.J. Patterson’s path to becoming a bestselling thriller author is anything but ordinary. Growing up in a military family, he spent part of his childhood on an English estate, sparking his love for literature. After returning to the U.S., he pursued a successful journalism career, covering college football and winning multiple writing awards — but the pull of fiction was too strong to ignore.
Now living in Idaho with his wife and four children, Patterson crafts gripping thrillers full of action and intrigue.
In this interview, he talks about his latest series which kicks off with 5 Minutes to Die, and shares the inspiration behind Garrett Knox’s dangerous mission.
If Five Minutes to Die were adapted into a video game, what would the gameplay look like?
It would definitely be a mix of hunting for clues and action, kind of like The Agency, a solid MMO shooter game with plenty of stealth.
Is there a particular scene in one of your books that was especially fun (or hard) to write?
Action sequences are always fun but require plenty of research. The finale of the book was fun, though I don’t want to spoil it. But I will say that I interviewed some special ops agents to get it as realistic as possible.
What’s the key to keeping readers on the edge of their seats?
Keeping a story unpredictable tends to result in readers turning page after page on end. If you know what’s going to happen, it’s boring. But even sometimes, you know what’s going to happen, but not the how. Coming up with those ideas is part of the writing process that I enjoy.
Do you prefer writing psychological thrillers, action-packed mysteries, or something in between?
For me, psychological thrillers are fun to read, but a chore to write. I love action and I love mystery. Put those two together and I’m in my wheelhouse.
How do you craft twists and reveals that surprise readers without feeling forced?
You have to really know your characters and stay within them. Twists can feel forced when authors make a character do something he or she hadn’t been prone to do before and doesn’t make much sense—other than the author needed some twist. Surprising thoughtful readers isn’t easy, but if you create complex characters, it’s more likely you can pull it off.
What events in Garrett Knox‘s military career led him to transition from Army Ranger to leading wilderness expeditions?
Disillusionment is the simple answer. He found that his time in the military wasn’t helping people in a way that meshed with him. But his loyalty to his fellow soldiers—and his insatiable desire for truth—leads him back into that world.
How realistic are the bioweapons depicted in the novel compared to current scientific capabilities?
Research is key to making a story as believable as possible. I’ve spent time at the CDC and know people who work there who’ve helped me craft ideas and create plausible scenarios. That doesn’t mean that I think some of these things will happen but they could happen under the right circumstances.
What ethical challenges does Knox face when confronting former military comrades involved in the conspiracy?
Knox is a law-abiding man, but he’s often wrestling with getting justice the right way. He has to choose whether to let the system handle someone or handle the person himself.
How does the dense, unforgiving terrain of the Amazon jungle impact Garrett Knox‘s tactics and decision-making as he tracks the conspirators?
The Amazon is wild! I’ve spent time in the Amazon, and it’s unlike any other place on earth. You’re dealing with suspicious people, unfamiliar terrain, and a remoteness many people in the western world have never experienced. Every decision Knox makes is influenced by all three of those factors.
Were there any real-life locations or survival scenarios that inspired the portrayal of this setting?
Macuma, Ecuador helped inspire some of the Amazon scenes. I went there once, flying in and landing on a grass airstrip. It was wild to take off and twenty minutes into the flight, all the roads disappear. Then when you get there, you find this quiet little village full of interesting people oblivious to the world around them.
If one of your books had a soundtrack, what songs would be on it?
I listen to cinematic soundtracks when I’m writing, picking out music that fits the scene. I’d certainly have someone like Tony Morales or Atli Örvarsson compose the mood music.
Which book of yours has the most unexpected ending?
Dead to Rights was a book in my Cal Murphy mystery thriller series that has the most unexpected ending, mostly because I wrote the majority of the book thinking I knew who committed the murder. But then when I got near the end, I realized that couldn’t have been the person and reworked a few elements to make it work, providing a much better and far more surprising ending.
Which of your books or characters would you recommend as a starting point for new readers?
My Brady Hawk series really captures the style and pacing of my stories. I like the stories to start fast and deliver a satisfying ending. Brady Hawk does that—and it’s a series that has resonated with readers for almost a decade now.
Have you ever hidden a joke or a pun in your books?
I’m not sure it’d be considered a “ha-ha” joke, but one of my good friends and I used to talk back and forth about this mutual acquaintance who we both thought was insufferable. So, I patterned one of my villains after him. My friend and I still laugh about it as it’s definitely an inside joke.
What’s a fun fact about one of your characters?
I wrote Garrett Knox as an amputee after wanting to do something different with a protagonist. One of my friends from college, Scott Rigsby, who is now a motivational speaker and was the first double amputee to complete an Ironman Triathlon, talked with me several times about his journey losing both his legs—but also how it inspired him to live a better life.
Get RJ Patterson bestseller, Five Minutes to Die, available on Amazon
Forced to choose between loyalty and love…
2024 Book of the Year in the BestThrillers.com Book Awards!
The deadliest enemies are the ones we cannot see.
When Army Ranger Garrett Knox left behind his military career to lead wilderness expeditions, he thought he’d escaped the life-threatening missions forever. But his quiet world in the Montana mountains explodes one evening, forcing him to accept a persistent government agent’s dangerous mission:
Hunt down Knox’s former military buddy accused of treason and the murder of nearly their entire platoon.
Knox’s globe-spanning pursuit of answers soon places him in the crosshairs of a covert operation testing bioweapons on innocent civilians. As the body count rises, Knox assembles his own skilled team to expose the truth and topple the corrupt power-players behind the deadly conspiracy.
Racing from the halls of Washington D.C. to the unforgiving jungles of the Amazon and the hinterlands of Africa, Knox and his team find themselves in a do-or-die race to gather evidence and stop the devious masterminds before their sinister plans can infect the entire nation.
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