Daniel Charles Ross
Force No One
DOSSIER: You were a US Army military police investigator who did a lot of undercover work, much of it in Germany. Do you still think of some of your old cases when you sit down to write?
ROSS: A kid who had been my CI strangled his girlfriend during a drunken fight, and he got 35 years in Leavenworth. That was close to home for me. I didn’t know the girlfriend and I wasn’t on the investigation, but I knew him, and that (re)opened my eyes to how little we know about people. I’m attaching a clip of a story I wrote about it for European Stars & Stripes. It ran on the front page on Christmas Day, 1979. My experiences do inform my writing, especially lately. My thriller work is transitioning from the familiar SEAL/Ranger/Spy protagonist to characters more regular readers can relate to.
My domestic terror plots involve domestic terrorists, and the first responders to those will be cops. One or two may still have military investigative backgrounds with curious parallels to my own history.
DOSSIER: How did those experiences influence your creativity and, more importantly, do you still have access to any good German beer here in the States?
ROSS: Five of my seven active Army years were spent in Germany in two trips. The first rotation was on the cusp of the transition from the draft era to the all-volunteer force. The last draftees were all getting high because they didn’t want to be there, and the early “volunteers” were getting high because they were in the Army instead of jail. My drug team was always busy. My exposure to these folks, to my fellow MPI and CID teammates—and to raids, surveillance, and door-kicking—gave me foundation on which to build stories. My debut is a hybrid of crime writing and techno thriller, where a Detroit FBI/DPD JTF work with feds and three-letter agencies to thwart a 9/11-style terror attack on the World Series. As for German beers, I’m partial to Becks, any of the dunkels, and apfelkorn.
DOSSIER: The folks at The Dossier may or may have not grown up as fans of the Detroit Tigers, so, for the story behind FORCE NO ONE, what kind of world do we live in when the World Series opens at Comerica Park where they Tigers pretend to play baseball? Is this a Sci-Fi thriller or are you going for some sort of alternate reality here?
ROSS: I told you FNO was fiction. LOL … It was driven, though, by the need to have a reason for bad guys strapped with IEDs to parachute into Comerica Park and blow themselves up on television. The opening ceremony of the World Series was the perfect reason. Plus, I’m a Detroit boy, and my work will always take place in, around—or because of—Detroit and Michigan.
DOSSIER: When and where do you write, and what kind of environment do you prefer? (Music/silence/the crumbling parking lot of an abandoned Chrysler plant?)
ROSS: I spend an hour or two most mornings reading a half-dozen newspapers and news sites, then write until 1700 most weekends and Saturdays. I have an office in our home; when we looked for homes three years ago, one of our must-haves was a dedicated space for me to work. The door even closes, though I’ve never closed it while working. My spousal unit also works from home—she’s commandeered the dining room table—and I sometimes close my door when she’s giving her Zoom lecture or conference call. I often have a muted cable news channel window open small on my second screen; I’ll also run satellite radio when I’m writing, usually the 60s channel, or my music playlists.
DOSSIER: For FORCE NO ONE and your upcoming thriller FORCE MAJEURE, how has your time as an Army MP and a US Navy Journalist shaped your writing? We get the Corvette Z06 scene and all the cool military hardware, but where does the Clark Kent / mild-mannered reporter fit in?
ROSS: Well, the car influences derive from nearly 20 years in car mags. I was the Detroit Editor at Popular Mechanics and National Editor at both Motor Trend and Car and Driver. The Navy in me informs a lot of my military references and is fundamental to my research on aspects of other services and federal agencies. Kirkus said in its review of FNO: “Ross is a retired journalist and Army police investigator, and his experience is evidenced by the expert descriptions of all things military, including the complex relations between the nation’s numerous law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies.” I’m mild-mannered enough in polite society, I suppose, but I spent most of my military police career in long-duration undercover drug suppression missions, so I can kick in a door when necessary. And I usually don’t have much trouble getting people to answer my questions.
DOSSIER: You made it through the East Detroit High School, went all round the world, then ended up back in Detroit working around the automotive industry through some big name trade publishing. You’ve been writing for a long time, but why did you decide to go back to Detroit and do it there?
ROSS: I’m a Detroit boy. I love Michigan and the Detroit area, and after 14 years living in Ohio (2006-2020), it’s terrific to be back home. As my thriller writing evolves into the crime/terror hybrid, I expect it will be influenced by other Michigan and Detroit writers I respect; Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), of course, but Stephen Mack Jones (the August Snow series), Steven Hamilton (the Alex McKnight Series), Donald Goines (Crime Partners, Never Die Alone – 1936-1974), and Loren Estleman (Amos Walker series).
Website: genuinedcr.com
Jeff Circle 