In numerous interviews Clive Cussler answers the question of where he gets his plots from by saying he thinks up a “What if?” scenario. I can imagine him thinking “What if something of extreme value had gone down on the Titanic? From that simple question grew his break-out, and some would argue his best, novel.
For Havoc I had a question. What if the Hindenburg was intentionally destroyed? Okay, cool idea, but why and by whom? There’s a guy on board with a secret. What could he have back then that could be relevant today? By asking then answering a series of questions like this the basic plot grew. It was from an article I read years ago in a science magazine about the naturally occurring nuclear reactors at Oklo, Gabon that gave me what his secret would be and the hows and whys for Mercer’s involvement.
Since the fall of Communism thriller writers have had to stretch themselves to find worthy adversaries for their heroes. Gone are the days of East verses West, and KGB verses CIA. We had to be clever to find motivations for our villains to want to do despicable things to gain money, power, or a combination of both. Then came the terrorist attacks that culminated on 9/11 and authors had ready-made villains again. You don’t have to put any thought into their motivations. You just write that they are crazy fundamentalists who want to destroy the United States and you have an instant antagonist. In the post 9/11 world I have intentionally avoided using middle-eastern terrorists because I think to do so is laziness on the author’s part.
With that said, for Havoc I knew I had to use them, but I wanted to expose what I believe is the more sinister motives of the people behind the suicide bombers and jihadist. Those that see themselves as holy warriors and blow themselves up at bus stations and night clubs really do want to bring about the destruction of the West, but the powers behind them know this isn’t a feasible goal, especially through terrorist tactics, so what is it they really want and how do they see funding and training terrorists as getting them nearer to their goals. This is what I was more interested in and this is what Havoc touches on, albeit a little more subtly than what I just wrote.
As for the whole homage to Homer’s Odyssey sprinkled throughout the novel, it was my way of having a little fun. I’ve always wanted to write an adaptation of the epic poem, substituting modern day places and technology for the mythic events and monsters Odysseus faced in his struggle to get home. And maybe some day I still will but in the mean time I wanted to make sure I showed some reference to what I consider the first great thriller novel.
So where does Mercer go from here? Now that I am co-writing with Clive it takes me longer to complete one of my own titles but that doesn’t mean Mercer’s done. I have one more book in my current deal and feel pretty confident there will be more to follow.
