Interview with Kevin G. Chapman
The Mike Stoneman Thriller Series and book #7 – Treacherous Hack
{updated 10.31.25}
How did you get started writing this crime-thriller series?
A long time ago, in the mid-90s, I wrote my first novel, which was a mystery starring a New York Private Investigator named Rick LaBlonde. It was fun and a good try at a first novel. But it was before Amazon and before self-publishing was really a thing. I put it aside in about 1996 when I couldn’t get any interest from a publisher. Then, in 2003, my wife told me that for our 20th wedding anniversary, she was going to pay to have the book published by a new company that had come into existence called Xlibris, which was a division of a big publishing house and which was an early “vanity publisher” that would essentially allow you to self-publish a book. In those days, you had to order a minimum number of copies for printing. It was a lovely present, and I still have a few copies of that first book left on my basement shelves.
But by then I had a new job and three kids and I didn’t do any more real writing for many years. Then in the mid-2000s (the aughts?) as my kids were getting older, I got the itch again and I started working on my version of The Great American Novel. It was very, very loosely based on some autobiographical events in my life, but was mostly pure fiction. It’s about a conservative Senator who must confront his past and make hard decisions about his future. It’s about morality and politics and self-determination and identity. It’s a very serious book, but with some interesting characters and, I think, a compelling story line. It’s called A Legacy of One. It got some great reviews and some book award recognition, but didn’t sell. Part of that was my own lack of understanding about how to market a self-published book, but it’s also because the subject matter isn’t particularly popular unless you’re already a well-known author or celebrity. I spent 10 years off and on working on that and finally published it in 2016.
When the dust cleared from that project, I decided I still wanted to write, but I needed to get into something more fun, less serious, and hopefully something more marketable. Along the way, in 2012, I had written a short story for a writing contest where the subject had to be crime or law. I created a character named Mike Stoneman, an NYPD homicide detective. The short story, called Fool Me Twice won first prize in the contest. So, in 2016, I decided to take that character from the short story and work him up into a full-blown crime fiction novel. The short story is now available for free on Amazon and other sales platforms (and on my website), and I included it as an extra feature at the end of the first book in the novel series, Righteous Assassin.
Can you describe your main characters?
Mike Stoneman is a veteran homicide detective in the New York Police Department. In addition to being the senior detective on his team, he also teaches classes at the police academy and separate night classes for cops studying for the detectives exam. His classes are on things like evidence handling, crime scene protocol, witness interrogation, and how to testify in court. He typically gets assigned to work with the new detectives, so he can show them the ropes. He likes that work – teaching the younger cops and passing down his wisdom. He loves it when other cops come to him for his opinion on a tough case.
He’s also a Mets fan and likes classic rock music (both traits he shares with his creator). He wears plain slacks and sports jacket combos with non-descript ties and comfortable (old) shoes. He’s not flashy – he’s not trying to impress anyone. He’s just turned 50 (in book #3) and is a little overweight, but trying to work out more and get into better shape, especially since he has become romantically involved with Michelle McNeill, the county medical examiner. (Spoiler! -- By book #6, they are married.) But, he likes his pasta. He also appreciates a fine single-malt scotch.
Mike’s partner, Jason Dickson, is an African-American detective with a military background. He’s young and smooth and confident – but a little too cocky sometimes for Mike’s liking. There is some tension between them in book #1 (Righteous Assassin), but by book #2 (Deadly Enterprise) the partners fully have each other’s backs. In book #3 (Lethal Voyage), Jason takes more of the spotlight along with his girlfriend, Rachel Robinson. Their romance, which was briefly mentioned in book #2, becomes the emotional core of book #3. Then, in book #4 (Fatal Infraction), Jason decides to propose. In book #5 (Perilous Gambit), Jason and Rachel travel to Las Vegas to get married, with Mike and Michelle along as their friends and witnesses. In book #6 (Double Takedown), Jason is studying for a masters degree and is thinking about changing careers, while he and Mike face a crisis of confidence about their police work.
The dynamics between Mike and Jason and their relationship, as well as the relationship between Mike and Michelle and between Jason and Rachel, are the heart of the stories.
What makes them original?
Mike and Jason are both complex and “real” people. Neither is a super hero who takes on multiple attackers barehanded or outthinks an evil mastermind, or smoothly seduces the female spy. They are vulnerable and awkward and emotional. Their comrades in the precinct are similarly “normal” people who banter and argue and yell. They are very much New York-based people and I try to give an authentic feel to their surroundings and stories. Mike’s status as the mentor and senior detective give him a unique persona and perspective.
The relationship between the middle-aged couple, Mike and Michelle, starts out slow and then settles into a very comfortable ongoing romance, but they deal with their own issues. Jason and Rachel are younger and the discussion about whether to get engaged is a big topic, along with what it means to be married to a cop – and what it means for Jason to be a cop and also a husband and father. They are murder mystery stories, but the characters draw the reader into a real world, not a big-budget movie fantasy.
What makes them tick?
Mike is a very by-the-book guy for the most part, but we learn in all the stories that he’s willing to bend the rules when he feels that it’s necessary or justified. He also is concerned about his relationship with Michelle and how to keep that going, without putting her in danger. He’s also (surprisingly) concerned about Jason and his future and well-being. So, he’s both a crusty jaded cop and a sensitive, concerned person. He’s also now concerned about his own mortality and his own future to a degree that’s new to him, after 24 years on the force.
Jason has a chip on his shoulder about being a Black detective. He demands respect, although he comes to understand that he has to earn it. He’s also facing a cross-roads in his life where he must decide if he wants to be a career cop. He’s not sure he wants to be like Mike at age 50 – single. But, he and Rachel are married, with one child (JJ) and another on the way. Does he want to continue his rather dangerous occupation? This question, as well as Rachel’s career aspirations, are central to the story in books 6 through 10 (yes, there will be ten).
What is their biggest fear?
Now, Mike’s biggest fear is that something bad will happen to Michelle because of one of his investigations. It nearly happened in “Righteous Assassin,” and it became an issue between them in “Deadly Enterprise.” Unfortunately for Mike, there is more peril ahead for Michelle.
Is there a consistent bad guy in the books?
No. Each book has its own villains and challenges. Not every situation is clear-cut, which makes it fun. There is no super-villain who keeps coming back to terrorize the City. Each story is very unique. There is an organized crime family in New York – the Gallata family – that shows up a few times (including in book #7). And in Las Vegas there was a different organized crime boss named Freddy Costanzo, who has a link back to the Gallatas, but they are not consistent villains. Look for one villain in Treacherous Hack who might come back again in a later story.
Can the books be read in any order?
Yes. Each book is a fully stand-alone story. I’ve had many readers pick up the series at each point and nobody has had any problems enjoying the books separately without having read the earlier ones. But, there is some development of the characters going on, and there are references in each book to events that happened in the earlier books. Some are necessary for later readers, and some are Easter eggs for readers who will get the “inside” jokes. There’s not much of that, but enough to make my audience happy. But they definitely can be read in any sequence. I would not recommend reading book #5 (Perilous Gambit) before reading the first four, since there will be some spoilers about what is going to happen to the man subplots.
What is Treacherous Hack about?
The story centers around a data hack engineered by a Chinese organized crime syndicate called the Corporate Dragons, which is a de facto arm of the Chinese government. They break into sensitive data inside the servers at New York University through a student, Ryan Gelb. Ryan is dating Star Albertson, Michelle McNeill’s niece. Ryan and his friend, Will, realized the hack was happening and disconnected Ryan’s computer before the hackers uploaded the critical files. The file downloaded to Ryan’s computer by the hackers is encrypted, so Ryan takes it to his uncle, Lou Palazzo, who is a whiz at decrypting files – which was his primary value as a soldier in the Gallata organized crime family a decade earlier. Lou no longer works for the family, but he has connections, and arranged to sell the data file to an old colleague of his, Lloyd “The Cannon” Cannon. Uncle Lou didn’t know that his old Gallata friends were in business with the Corporate Dragons. When the Chinese boss finds out that Lou has the hacked data file, they want it back.
When the Chinese come for the file, Uncle Lou breaks out his trusty shotgun, but he ends up shot in a snowy intersection by his old friend, The Cannon. When Mike and Jason arrive on the scene, they have three bodies – Lou Palazzo and two unidentified Chinese goons. They think Lou killed the two Chinese agents, and a witness saw a large bald man leaving the scene of Lou’s execution. Mike and Jason must try to trace the killer, which seems unlikely if it was a mob hit.
Meanwhile, Ryan and his best friend, Will Scarano, need to hide the hack from NYU. They are terrified that the university will expel them, or at least revoke their scholarships, if it comes to light that Ryan and Will were responsible for the data hack. Their only chance to vindicate themselves is to recover the file, turn it over to the university, and prove that the hackers never uploaded the data – so the hack never actually happened. There’s one problem – they don’t know where the file is. But Ryan gets a cryptic message from Uncle Lou, telling him that Lou stashed the file somewhere before he died so that only Ryan would be able to find it. Now, Ryan and Will need to find the file. But the Corporate Dragons are watching Ryan, and want to steal the file back.
Everyone in the story has information they don’t want to share. But keeping secrets could get them killed.
If you and your character met in real life, do you think you’d get on?
Oh yes! I have given Mike many character traits from my own backstory. We would definitely go to a Mets game together and then share a high-end single malt. Mike’s a little younger than I, but we are both Boomers and share a lot of common experience. I’m not a cop, but that wouldn’t stop us from being friends.
Who would you like to see play them if your books were made into a film or TV show?
In the movie version of Righteous Assassin, if it were made soon, Michael B. Jordan would play Jason. For Mike, I think John C. Riley would be perfect. Maybe Brad Pitt. The casting director would have fun with the rest of the characters. I personally want Annaleigh Ashford to play Mrs. DiVito (only my biggest fans will understand that reference!)
How many books do you have in the series so far?
Books 1-7 are now published and available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook editions. I narrated the audiobooks myself. That makes it a 7-book series plus two stand-alone mysteries (Dead Winner and The Other Murder) in just about seven years. Not bad for somebody with a day job.
What’s in store for them next?
Book #8 in the series (tentatively titled Killer Pace will put Mike and Jason in the middle of another serial killer investigation, after several women runners are assaulted and strangled while running in New York parks. The killings put the running community on edge. Finding the killer is a priority for the Commissioner. The FBI will send in a serial killer profiler – Special Agent Angela Manning (who my readers will remember from book #1, Righteous Assassin). But Angela has doubts about the direction of the investigation. Readers will have to guess who the killer is, while Mike and Jason keep up a Killer Pace.
C:\KGC\KGC Writing\MST #7 - Treacherous Hack\Treacherous Hack Marketing\Interview w Kevin G. Chapman - Mike Stoneman Series and TH.docx
