We chat with author S.E. Redfearn about Two Good Men, which is a searing drama about two men on a quest for justice—from opposite sides of the law.
Hi, S.E.! It’s been a few years since we last spoke! How have you been and what have you been up to?
Hello, thank you. I have been wonderful, living the dream in Laguna Beach and continuing to be inspired to tell stories.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: I don’t know if it was the first book I ever read, but I distinctly remember hearing the story of Little Red Riding Hood and being terrified by it. I was probably around six. The first book I remember that truly moved me was The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. I probably read that in middle school.
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Power of One, by Bryce Courtenay. It was such a powerful story. It was Mr. Courtenay’s debut novel, and he was in his fifties when he wrote it, proving it’s never too late to become an author.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck. Who can forget Lennie or George? It was such a simple yet complex story. Steinbeck was the master of the moral dilemma.
Your latest novel, Two Good Men, is out October 8th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Cat-and-mouse moral thriller.
What can readers expect?
To be taken on a rollercoaster ride of impossible choices that will force them to question the law as it stands and whether or not it’s okay to step outside the rules of society if it’s the only way to protect it.
Where did the inspiration for Two Good Men come from?
My initial concept for the story was to take an everyman on the razor edge of despair and create a set of circumstances that provoke him into doing something so extraordinary it alters his course and profoundly affects the lives of others. I’m a big fan of pivotal moments, second chances, and unlikely heroes. I believe it is often when someone is at their lowest and with nothing to lose that they shed their inhibition and reveal their greatest self. The concept evolved into being a dual story about two men rather than one, each in a very dark place, who end up pitted against each other in a battle in which only one can prevail.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love the characters in this story. The two protagonists are extraordinarily different but both in need of something drastic to happen to give their sad lives a reboot. I loved making that happen. Leo Tolstoy once said, “The best stories don’t come from ‘good versus bad’ but from ‘good versus good.’” This story epitomizes that. Both these men are good, which is what made writing the story so much fun.
How do you maintain the suspense to keep readers engaged?
Thanks to the premise of the novel, there was always another potential young victim in danger and a potential predator to be stopped. Even when I was done, the story didn’t end. The two protagonists were still on the journey, and it was left to the reader to determine how the future would unfold from there.
This is a darker novel for you in comparison to your previous releases. What was the journey like diving into the thriller genre?
You are right that it was quite a departure from my previous work. My prior six novels sat squarely in the mainstream book-club fiction category, and I’d say my brand was character-driven, family-focused stories with underlying themes of morality. This story started out the same. I thought I was writing about a down-on-his-luck guy who, through a remarkable set of circumstances, is given a second chance at life. It was only after I was well into writing the story that I realized I was writing a thriller. But if you look past the ratcheting suspense and high-stakes danger, the story isn’t so different from my other work. It’s all about the characters, the moral conundrum they’re faced with, and their evolution over the pages.
What’s next for you?
Next year, I return to my mainstream fiction roots with a heartfelt story of transformation of two women’s transformative journeys as they walk the Camino de Santiago a generation apart.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I just finished All the Colors of the Dark, by Chris Whitaker, and it was outstanding. Another favorite was a non-fiction story by Lulu Miller titled, Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life.
Currently, I’m reading The God of the Woods by Liz Moore and really enjoying it.
I’m not sure what I am looking forward to in the future. I tend to grab books as they come.
