SOMETIMES A HERO JUST WON’T GIVE UP

By Dee Davis

I’ve been a storyteller all of my life. When I was a kid, my dad and I used to sit in the mall or a restaurant and make up stories about the people walking by or sitting around us. So it really wasn’t much of a leap to find myself a novelist. But what was interesting to me was that no matter what kind of story I was telling, the characters all seemed to know each other.

Sometimes people from other novels were simply mentioned in another of my books in passing. Sometimes they actually had cameo appearances. And several times now, a person I created to be a secondary character in one story has demanded his own book. Such was the case with DEADLY DANCE’s Harrison Blake. Harrison first showed up in my Last Chance Series, working as that team’s computer forensic expert. It even turned out he’d also worked for MIDNIGHT RAIN’s John Brighton at his Phoenix organization, even though the company is created at the end of the book and never actually appears on paper.

Originally, Harrison was intended to be the hero of the third book in the trilogy. But I wound up falling in love with another secondary character, and so it was Nigel who wound up as the leading man in the third book. Still, even though Harrison had lost his starring role, he was a heck of a supporting player. And as such, he has received more mail than any of my other characters. And almost all of those letters are from readers asking when he’s going to have his day.

So when A-Tac found itself in need of a technical guru, it was a no-brainer for me to bring Harrison into the fold. As he became an integral part of the team, Harrison demanded to have his day. After all, he’d done his time—five books as a secondary character not to mention the off-screen stint in MIDNIGHT RAIN.

And of course, as his story developed, he needed help from his old friends. So enter Madison Roarke and Tracy Braxton. Madison was the heroine of the first Last Chance book, ENDGAME. And like Harrison, Tracy had been placed in the role of supporting character, as a world-class forensic pathologist.

What can I say? It’s a small world, and they all know and help each other. And finally, of course, Harrison needed to meet the girl of his dreams. And imagine my surprise when I realized she was already right there in front of him. Hannah Marshall has been at the heart of all the A-Tac books. A long-time A-Tac member, she’s always there with the answers when needed. With her quirky way of expressing herself (eyeglasses and streaked hair) and her well-developed intellect, Hannah seemed perfect for Harrison. The two of them just didn’t know it yet.

So I threw them together, and as they say, the plot thickened, and DEADLY DANCE was born. Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading Harrison and Hannah’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it—and Harrison enjoyed starring in it. Sometimes perseverance is the name of the game. Heck, I even dedicated the book to him!

Here’s to Harrison!♥



When bestselling author Dee Davis isn’t sitting at the computer, she can be found exploring Manhattan with her husband, daughter and Cardigan Welsh Corgi. For more on Harrison Blake, look for the re-released digital versions of the Last Chance series this summer. DEADLY DANCE is on sale now! www.deedavis.com.



TOMORROW!   Men Who Inspire My Heroes by Catherine Greenfeder.