Douglas Corleone
Author Interview - Douglas Corleone
Author of Falls to Pieces
For two years, Kati Dawes and her teenage daughter, Zoe, have lived off the grid in Hawaii, hiding from a past Kati must forget as if her life depends on it. New names. Anonymous online presence. So far, safe. Until Kati’s fiancé, attorney Eddie Akana, disappears along a popular hiking trail in a Maui national park. Now all eyes are on Kati. Exposure can make a woman with so many secrets very paranoid.
Eddie’s law partner, Noah Walker, is doing everything he can to protect his new client from the press that’s hovering like vultures and the authorities whose suspicions about Kati—and the disappearance—are rising. Then suddenly, Zoe goes missing as well. Kati will risk anything to find her. But the worst is still to come. Because Kati’s not the only one with secrets. And buried among them is a twist she never saw coming.
Author Interview - Mary Camarillo
Author I draw inspiration from:
William Landay, Defending Jacob
Author Interview - Douglas Corleone | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I once read a book -- Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye -- on an inflatable raft with a cup holder and cocktail, while afloat in a lagoon near my home outside Honolulu. It's my life's mission to repeat the experience.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Although I wouldn't like to be stuck in an elevator, I'd choose Victor Frankenstein. I have some questions for him, and I wouldn't mind hearing his story firsthand. If he were unavailable, I'd choose Henry Jekyll. I have some questions for him too. Since both are doctors, I'd hope they could help me through the severe panic attack I'd experience being stuck in an elevator.
Author Interview - Douglas Corleone | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I was in grammar school and I'd borrowed Paul Zindel's The Pigman from the library. I remember the idea coming to me while waiting at a gas station. I turned and told my mother, thinking she'd be excited. Instead, she said writing isn't a career, it's a hobby. From that moment, becoming a published author seemed impossible. So, I majored in criminal justice in college and went to law school. I even practiced law for several years before I finally realized she had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. I liked practicing law about as much as I liked going to the dentist, so in 2005, I wound down my law practice in Manhattan and moved to Waikiki, where I sat on the beach with a pen and notebook and handwrote the first draft of my first novel, One Man's Paradise, which won the Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award and was published in 2010. Ten novels later, my mother still isn't convinced writing is a career. But it's my career and, who knows? Maybe number eleven will convince her.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
My favorites are trade paperbacks. I usually read ebooks for convenience, but I love the feel of a trade paperback. While I'd choose a glossy cover, if it's going to be handled a lot, I prefer matte to avoid fingerprints. I primarily read ebooks because sometimes waiting 48 hours for a book just seems intolerable, doesn't it? And you can't beat transporting a Kindle when you like to have a selection. Hardcovers are beautiful to display but require dusting -- and space. Since I don't commute, I don't listen to many audiobooks. I've tried at home but found they're terrible to dance to.
The last book I read:
I recently finished Zoje Stage's Dear Hanna, which is a sequel to one of my favorite psychological thrillers, Baby Teeth. I loved Dear Hanna. When I know an author isn't bound by convention, I can't turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens next. Hanna, the narrator, is unlike any in fiction and I'm intrigued by every decision she makes. This book had a lot to live up to and succeeded beautifully.
Author Interview - Douglas Corleone | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
My writing process is constantly evolving. My early books required dozens of yellow legal pads, but I've recently become more comfortable working on screens right from the start of a new novel. I continue to edit on paper but I just received my first Kindle Scribe, so I may have a different answer for you next year.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
I'd like to be friends with Charlie Arglist from Scott Phillips' The Ice Harvest. Charlie is played in the movie by John Cusack. He's a mob lawyer who sets out to steal a fortune from mobster Randy Quaid on a very icy night in Wichita Falls. He's witty and he's a fellow attorney. And, in the film, he proves to be one hell of a good friend to Oliver Platt, who stole his wife and nearly gets him killed by being a drunken fool. I'd imagine Charlie is fairly forgiving. I like that in a friend -- we all make mistakes.
Author Interview - Douglas Corleone | Book Character I’d be Best Friends With
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I was a lawyer in New York before becoming a novelist in Hawaii. I practiced criminal and civil litigation. If I wasn't an author, I'd probably still be a trial attorney back east.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
Without a doubt, 1990's grunge. I went to college and law school in the '90s and I miss the flannels and Timberlands, the unwashed baseball caps and torn jeans. Of course, it may just be that I miss the times. My next book (due out in February 2026) is set on a college campus in rural Pennsylvania that bears a striking resemblance to my own. Writing it was like a trip back in time. Part of the story takes place in 1993 and I had a blast making the soundtrack and listening to it day after day to get pumped up to write. Just thinking about it makes me want to fill a red Solo cup with cheap beer and blast some Nirvana.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I was fortunate enough to travel a lot in my 20s, to cities like Paris, Milan, Lisbon, Madrid, and Dublin. I used many of those places as settings in my Simon Fisk thrillers. Since moving to Hawaii, I've traveled less. But I have my sights set on Tokyo and Sydney, cities unlike any I've ever been to.
My signature drink:
These days it's simply a tall Longboards lager from Kona Brewery, or Waikiki Brewery's blonde ale. Preferably with a burger and fries. An Irish coffee for dessert.
Favorite artist:
In 2025, Eminem will enter the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In my opinion, he's one of the most talented artists on the planet. I grew up in suburban New Jersey, listening to Dre, NWA, Tupac, and other rappers who told extraordinary stories through their music. Eminem is very much a product of his predecessors while being entirely unique with his material. His album Relapse blew me away, because he is constantly reinventing himself for the times and his life experiences. He also created a fascinating character in Slim Shady. His latest album is very much a Jekyll & Hyde story in which Marshall Mathers kills off his alter ego. Of course, you can't take his lyrics too literally, because he's not just a rapper and storyteller, he's a comedian. (And he gets to hang with Dre, whose album The Chronic is my all-time favorite.)
Number one on my bucket list:
I want to stay in a thatched roof bungalow in French Polynesia. I'm not sure why, and I'm certain I'd be terrified if there were any weather events. But I imagine the reading experience is unequalled. I'm assuming, of course, they bring cocktails directly to your room.
Anything else you'd like to add:
Falls to Pieces is a special book to me. It represents the start of Act II of my writing career. I've moved away from legal thrillers and espionage to psychological suspense, and I'm so far warmed by the reception.
Find more from the author:
https://www.facebook.com/doug.corleone1/
https://www.instagram.com/dougcorleone/?hl=en
https://www.threads.net/@dougcorleone
https://www.tiktok.com/@douglas.corleone
About Douglas Corleone:
Author Interview - Douglas Corleone
Douglas Corleone is the international bestselling author of Gone Cold, Payoff, and Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Equation, as well as the acclaimed Kevin Corvelli novels, the Simon Fisk international thrillers, and the stand-alone courtroom drama The Rough Cut. Corleone’s debut novel, One Man’s Paradise, won the 2009 Minotaur Books/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Award and was a finalist for the 2011 Shamus Award for Best First Novel. A former New York City criminal defense attorney, Corleone now resides in Honolulu, where he is currently at work on his next novel. For more information, visit www.douglascorleone.com.
