BookView Review

Welcome to BookView Interview, a conversation series where BookView talks to authors.

Recently, we talked to D.C. Gilbert about his writing and recently released military thriller, Reciprocity: A Third JD Cordell Action Thriller, a high-octane blend of emotional depth, tactical precision, and unflinching realism (read the review here).

What makes this book important right now?

Reciprocity follows a retired US Navy SEAL to the Philippines on a mission to rescue a missing relative and her friend, who human traffickers have kidnapped. An old friend suggested the idea, saying that the ending of Montagnard, my previous novel in the series, was a perfect segue into the topic. Honestly, at first, I did not want to do it. Human trafficking is such a dark topic. Then, I saw the movie Sound of Freedom; that movie had a profound effect on me. Seeing that movie led me to do some research on trafficking. What I learned shocked me. I decided it was a subject that needed to be discussed, and maybe I could help in some small way to start that conversation. The story just naturally grew from there. ​My books tend to cover dark topics that some readers might find depressing or want to avoid. I get that. However, as one reader commented, moral or redemptive threads always wind through the story. I think those threads bring hope.

What do you hope readers will take away from this story?

Have you ever seen the phrase, “Don’t judge me by my browser history, I am a writer, not a psychopath?” I guess that could be me. When I started Reciprocity, I did a lot of research. I want my settings, situations, and characters to be real and pertinent, so I do a lot of research. The more I dug into the human trafficking world, the more I came face-to-face with what must be an absolute evil. It is the modern form of slavery. The trafficking of any human being is evil, but the trafficking and exploitation of young children is a true abomination. I think the story is, sadly, very relevant and timely. Yes, it is a work of fiction. But it is about a very real and serious problem. I hope that people will read the story and then make a stand.

Are any of your characters based on real people you know? 

Most of my characters are composites of the many people I have met, known, and been friends with. A few, like Pallie, whom you meet in the second book, Montagnard, are based on an individual. I would take my German Shepherd, Sophie, to a dog park nearly every night in North Carolina.  I met a gentleman named Joe Palazzolo there with his dog, a rescued Greyhound named Silver City Lou. Joe and I talked a lot, and he learned I was an aspiring writer. He told me he wasn’t much of a reader but would like to get a copy of my first book, Serpents Underfoot. So, I gave him one. A few days later, at the dog park, he laughed and pretended to be mad at me, saying he couldn’t put the book down. When he learned I was working on the second book, he wanted to be a character in the book … a SEAL. I agreed and asked him what name he wanted. He said I should use his real name, and we settled on Pallie for short. I have had several strong women in my life, and my female characters tend to model them; they are strong characters. Many women who have read my books commented on how much they love my female characters, such as Mai, Ellen, or Hana. So, all my characters are genuine to me. And I treat them as real people. I think that’s why so many readers love my characters; they are like real people caught in serious situations, and like all people, they have both good and bad sides. I think all people have the capacity for great good or great evil. Few people are completely good or evil. I believe my characters illustrate that idea.​

What is your favorite childhood book?

My favorite book as a child was Margaret Marshall Saunders’s novel Beautiful Joe. Published in 1894, it was based on the true story of a dog who lived in Southern Ontario. The dog was abused as a young puppy and rescued, as depicted in the story. The fictionalized version takes place in a small town in Maine where the rescued dog becomes a much-loved member of the Morris family. The story recounts the dog’s various adventures with the many people and other animals who are members of the Morris family household. It is a story that young and old readers have loved for many generations.

Is writer’s block real?

Writer’s block is very real, and sometimes, it isn’t easy to overcome. I suffered from it for several weeks while trying to finish Reciprocity; I could not get through the last few chapters. I tried and tried, but I was utterly stuck. Then I remembered what Stephen King wrote about writer’s block in his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. So, I returned to where the writer’s block problem began and deleted everything from there forward. A short time later, the story was completed. It seems my brain did not like where the story had gone, and therefore, would not let me finish it. Once that part was gone, I had no trouble finishing the story, with a different twist on the ending.

Do you read your book reviews? Do they please you or annoy you? Do you think you can learn much from reading criticism about your work?

I do read my reviews. Indeed, good reviews inspire us to work harder. It makes me happy to know someone has enjoyed reading my work. And I do feel you can learn from honest, constructive criticism. The trick is to spot the constructive criticism and ignore the spite and snobbery, which unfortunately, do show themselves sometimes. I had one atrocious review that another writer gave me. It was my first book … and this guy itemized and numerically counted every possible error he could find. I got suspicious and looked at the reviews he had gotten for his books, and there it was. He had given me, word for word,  the very same review one of his books had received, just slightly changing the numbers. Also, I write in the action/suspense/thriller genres. I do not write highbrow classical literary masterpieces, but I have had a couple of reviews where I think they were trying to compare my work to Tolstoy’s War and Peace or Homer’s Iliad. Needless to say, my writing did not stack up in their eyes. You need to ignore that stuff, concentrate on learning from the honest constructive criticisms, and sit back and enjoy the positive reviews you do get. 

What’s next for you?

I want to do the story of Ajax, the SEAL K-9, from the first two stories. I loved that dog’s character, as did most of my readers. Some were quite mad at me for how things unfolded in Montagnard. This was due to a newbie timeline error on my part in Serpents Underfoot, which caused Ajax to be an older dog by the second book. So, Ajax did not get the treatment he deserved, especially being such a loved and heroic character. I would not be surprised to see an ‘Ajax” story emerge in the future to correct this injustice.​

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