Q&A With Dennis Dalton, Author of Unit 33

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Buy the book here. Book Description: From murders and kidnappings in South America to audacious bank robberies in California to extracting sensitive files from the Middle East, a privately owned secret intelligence unit in the heart of downtown San Francisco works covertly to assist various global banking corporations in their fight to maintain security for their clients and assets. 

Dan Holmes, security expert at 2nd National Bank, runs a private covert securities operation unit adjacent to his bank. Unit 33, often working with connections cultivated in government intelligence and foreign spy agencies such as Mossad, works to expose financial crimes and malfeasance. In this collection of nine stories, written in the sparse style of classic short crime narratives, Unit 33 and its agents interrogate criminals, skirt the edges of the law, and find their personal lives invaded by the violence of their professional lives.

Author Bio: Dennis R. Dalton is a retired Fortune 500 Corporate Security Executive and security management consultant, and is a published author of 4 non-fiction corporate security management texts and dozens of professional articles. Dennis has served as an expert witness in premises liability issues involving mass shootings, gang initiations, terrorists attacks on high-profile properties, including the World Trade Center, and served as Director of Academic Affairs for a large accredited private university. He currently resides in North Carolina.

1. How was the idea for Unit 33 born, and what inspired you to bring this collection of stories together?
   

Having been in the business as both a corporate executive and consultant in the security business, the collection reflects true-life episodes enhanced by a good dose of fiction to protect people and organizations. And, to make the stories interesting for the general reader. It came about through the encouragement of family and friends.

2. As a retired Fortune 500 corporate security executive and consultant, can you share how your real-world experiences and professional background shaped these stories?
   

As noted above, the stories are based on true-life experiences, only enhanced via fictional elements.  In short, these stories ‘wrote themselves.’ Think of me as Dr. John Watson in the Sherlock Holmes stories – just the narrator.

3. What was the experience of building a web of short stories that overlap and interconnect while still functioning as standalone stories?

The experience was fun, recalling specific events or assignments.  Whereas I could not get into many of the details behind some of the story lines for reasons of confidentiality, I found that each event was in and of itself freestanding, with the characters being the common denominator.

4. Can you talk about how you bridged the gap between thriller and crime in this collection?
   

The stories are in and of themselves centered on one or more crimes.  So, that part was easy.  To make the story interesting to the reader and provide some of the background leading up to the crime, I wrote them within the context of a thriller. In doing so, I found that I could move the storyline along while maintaining the reader’s attention. 

5. Why was it important for you to write characters with military backgrounds, and how do you think those experiences add depth and dimension to the story?
   

Giving key characters a military background provided both credibility and reflected the source of their unique skills.  Ellen Fischer, as a sniper, made sense because she was trained by an elite military group.  In the same way, Ron’s attitude from the very outset of the first story reflects his background as a Navy SEAL.  Dan’s military background, as reflected in the first and last story, provides an avenue for how he came to be both knowledgeable in clandestine operations and know some of the other key players.    

6. In the first story, both Abbey and Dan are shot and severely injured. It’s always surprising when main characters are hurt—especially so early in a story. Can you talk about your decision not to shield main characters from the dangers of the job, and how placing them in immediate risk reflects the reality of the work?
   

Putting them on the ‘frontline’, per se, reflects reality.  It is not unusual for corporate security managers to be ‘where the action is’ as opposed to being holed up in their office. Just like other company departments, Asset Protection/Security managers are out and about. Whether it is a simple lunch at a nearby restaurant or leading an operation anywhere on the global stage. As one corporate security executive quipped, “It goes with the territory,”

7. This collection includes many specific details that are crucial to each individual case. Can you share a bit about your writing process and how you kept track of all the moving pieces while crafting these stories?
   

A great deal of this comes from my background in complex civil litigation involving asset protection.  It was not unusual for there to be many plaintiffs and/or defendants and facts requiring analysis – often with very little notice before testifying in a deposition or actual trial.  It was not unusual to receive a deposition, for example, that might be a thousand pages or more. And then there were the hundreds of studies, reports, eye-witness accounts, and procedural or legal documents.  In short, I am fortunate to have had this real-life experience when it came to writing these stories. And then, there was my secret weapon – a very experienced group of editors who caught a lot of mistakes or raised questions when something was either missing, contradictory, or confusing.

8. Did you run into any unexpected challenges or surprises during the writing process?

The biggest challenge was keeping the writing conversational and casual. My background has been with formal business documents and the use of specific rules of grammar. Writing fiction means foregoing the active voice a great deal of the time and writing the way we speak, which is in passive voice.

9. Did you have one particular story that you enjoyed writing more than the others? If so, can you explain why?
   

My favorite character was Ellen Fischer. She was cool under pressure, always poised and one step ahead of others.  She was practiced, disciplined, and most importantly, deadly. She understood the risks and came prepared accordingly. So, I guess I enjoyed the very first story.

10. This book is very specific in its content and offers an educational look at corporate security in addition to its entertainment value. Who did you have in mind as your target audience while writing it?
    

Beyond the general reader, I would hope that business executives might read it, enjoy it, and ask if they understand the value of their own security operation. Corporate security is typically portrayed as the corporate thugs on TV. This is so far from the truth. Whereas someone must be the villain, it ought not always be Security. In today’s world, Security is commonly looked upon as the ‘guards, guns, and dogs’ guys or the paid clandestine thugs. I say, “What a missed opportunity by limiting their roles in organizations.” Here’s an interesting perspective: every night, corporate executives leave their Multi-tenant Class A Highrise Buildings – many soaring 60, 80 stories or more and turn it over to two or three $20/hr. security officers. When asked why? I typically heard from these executives, “Well, it’s not mine to worry about.  It’s the building owner’s responsibility.”  So, what about other departments involving high-value assets?

11. What do you hope is the main takeaway for readers of Unit 33?

Enjoy the book and learn a little about a slice of life they typically don’t run into.