James P. Sumner - When Two Deadly Killers Collide

James P. Sumner has wanted to be a writer for as long as he can remember. He finally took up the pen in 2013 and began bringing Adrian Hell to life. Since then, each entry in the series has been an Amazon bestseller. His writing is fresh and original, and he always delivers fast-paced action that keeps your pulse pounding from start to finish. If you're looking for the next big thing in thriller fiction, look no further. As our Author of the Day, he tells us all about his book, Hunter's Games.

Please give us a short introduction to what Hunter's Games is about.

Hunter’s Games is the first sequel in my Adrian Hell thriller series, set a year after the first book. We see Adrian planning what should be a standard hit. But five minutes after he carries it out, he’s picked up by the FBI. A dangerous psychopath is terrorizing the city, and he’s asking for Adrian. What follows is a fast-paced, action-packed game of cat and mouse between two of the deadliest killers the world has ever seen.

What inspired you to write about a dangerous psychopath who is terrorizing a city?

I wanted the stakes to be high for Adrian. I needed something that was bigger than anything he had ever dealt with before, and I didn’t want it to feel too contained — I wanted a big playground where these two killers could go at it. I also wanted enough to be on the line that Adrian had to step back from being an assassin and put himself on the line… to be a hero and protect innocent people. This was something he hadn’t really done before, and this book was the first step to evolving the character to do that.

Why did you pick San Francisco as the backdrop for your story?

It’s a beautiful city. There’s a reason all good car chases in movies happen there! There are a lot of landmarks to play with. There are a couple of blockbuster-level action sequences in this book set against these landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge. The location had everything I needed to make this book feel like a big-budget action movie.

Your protagonist, Adrian Hell is an assassin — why did you create him this way?

I’ve always been interested in the culture of assassins — throughout history, in books and movies and video games. I wanted to explore the mindset of one. I wanted to look at the real reasons behind how and why someone would get into this line of work, then I wanted to get the audience connect with him and empathise with him. I wanted people to support him and understand him, despite what he does. That idea was so interesting to me, and I just kinda ran with it.

What's an aspect of being a writer that you didn't know about going in?

As much as I’m introverted, I wasn’t fully prepared for how much time you need to spend alone with your thoughts when you do this for a living. I have no issue with it now — in fact, I embrace it. But in the beginning, it was difficult learning to focus on the writing with so much time to myself.

What drew you to this genre?

Action-based thrillers are what I grew up reading. They’re what my father read when I was a kid. The classics, like Robert Ludlum, Alistair McLean, and Jack Higgins, to the more modern thrillers, like Lee Child and John Locke. It’s what I know, what I understand, and what I like. It felt natural to contribute to the genre with my own work.

Do any of your characters ever take off on their own tangent, refusing to do what you had planned for them?

All the time! Haha! Moreso in my earlier work, before I honed my storyboarding skills, my stories would never end up where I expected. I view writing as me simply following these people around and tell you, the reader, what they’re doing. I’m not controlling what they’re doing… just watching. People are complex and unpredictable, and in the situations I create, you never know how they will react. I might think they will do or say something, but when we get there, it might feel natural to do something else, which immediately takes the story in a whole new direction. There’s that element of discovery for me that I find exciting, and I like to think that translates for the reader to feel the same.

Why did you title this book "Hunter's Games"?

I wanted something that embodied the idea of two killers… two apex predators of their world going head-to-head. I also wanted the high stakes to be obvious, but of no real concern to the characters. To them, it’s a deadly game they were both born to play. The title came quite easily from that.

You decided to get the FBI involved in this story. Why did you take this approach?

I wanted to throw a curveball at the audience really early on, to show that this isn’t going to be just the same type of story as the first one. I also wanted to sow the seeds for the series, which sees Adrian the assassin involved in increasingly big storylines that don’t necessarily focus on the fact he’s an assassin. His deadly skillset is almost like qualifications that justify him being involved in these incredible, high-stakes stories. Having the FBI intervene early (in both the story and Adrian’s career) establishes that there’s a larger, real-world that his exploits are a part of, and he’s not immune to the consequences of his actions.

This is the second book in a series. Can it be read as a standalone? How do the other books in the series tie in with this one?

For the most part, yes, it can. While there is a larger, underlying storyline in later books, each novel is simply another chapter in Adrian’s life. There’s reference to his past, but you don’t necessarily need to know what happened to him before to appreciate what’s happening to him now.

Where do you get your best ideas?

Planning as far ahead in my series as I do, ideas tend to happen naturally for the most part, as it’s a progression of a larger story. I know where things are going from the outset, so I don’t always need to think of new things book-to-book. That said, when I do, I tend to ask myself: what would I like to see? What do I think would be cool to know? I draw inspiration from movies and shows that I like, and basically try to entertain myself. If, at the end, I enjoy what I see, the chances are my readers will too.

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, how do you combat this?

People think writer’s block is purely when an author has no idea what to write. That’s part of it, sure, but a lot of it isn’t a lack of ideas… it’s a lack of focus. I almost always know what I want to write going into a project, but when I struggle, it’s with actually focusing on the task of writing. Procrastination isn’t laziness, it’s a genuine mental struggle, borne from anxiety and, in my case, mild ADHD. I always use the old analogy of my mind being like a web browser with 45 tabs open — everything’s running slow, a couple are frozen, and I don’t know where the music is coming from! To me, writer’s block isn’t the lack of ideas, it’s the excessive noise that prevents focus. When this happens, I step away from everything and try not to be too hard on myself. I know it’ll come to me, I just need time to reduce that noise. I do this by listening to music, walking, or gaming… anything to take myself out of my own head for a while. I know some authors will say you should just power through and get something down. Any words are better than no words. But I don’t agree. If it isn’t feeling natural for me, the words will only have to be re-written later anyway. Forgive the crude metaphor, but writing is like a fart: if you have to force it, it’s probably sh*t.

What are you working on right now?

As I’m coming to the end of the prep stage for my next release (the tenth and final novel in the Adrian Hell series), I’m beginning the storyboarding process for my next novel, which will be the fourth and final novel in my GlobaTech series.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

The best place to find everything you need to know is https://linktr.ee/jamespsumner/.