A Study Atonement, Confession, Revenge, and Evil

Fox LA Interview July 26, 2012

La Salle, Eriq. Laws of Depravity (Martyr Maker Series). Create Space: 2012. ISBN: 1-4775-8211-8 (p) $15.00 ISBN-13: 9781477582114 (e) $3.99

Father O’Conner, found flayed in his office by the janitor, brings Detectives Quincy Cavanaugh and Tavares “Phee” Freeman to the scene of the brutal slaying. They follow the corpse to the city morgue. There they discover FBI Agent Janet Maclin who hopes to relate this murder to The Martyr Maker. This serial killer is Maclin’s only open case.

 Over a period of thirty years, thirty-six priests and preachers have been murdered in ways reminiscent of the martyrdom of Jesus and twelve of the major and minor apostles, twelve murders every ten years.

Dr. Kravitz, New York City’s chief coroner, following Maclin’s direction, finds a plastic capsule in O’Conner’s stomach containing a rolled up piece of paper with a passage of scripture written on it, confirming the perpetrator’s MO. Maclin, Quincy and Phee now work together in this police 

procedural trying to get ahead of a killer that is now threatening the clergy of New York City.

Coming from diverse backgrounds each individual peopling this book is flawed and complex. Each character deals with the evil in his or her background, as well as its cost on the present, in different ways. The depth of the story and its expected and unexpected twists and turns, makes for a highly enjoyable read.

La Salle spent two years at the Juilliard School’s Drama Division. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Best-known as Dr. Benton in the television drama ER, La Salle has acted on and off Broadway and in films. He has produced, directed and written screenplays. Laws of Depravity is his first novel.

Drawing on his years of experience in storytelling on the stage, television, and movies, this novel is highly visual and visceral. This is a “modern day parable cleverly masquerading as a crime novel:” a study of atonement, confession, revenge, and evil. Its characters are multi-layered bringing depth and vivid reality to this police procedural.

Each must confront not only with the depravity of a twisted mind, but also the defeated or suppressed depravities that have shaped their own lives and families, that have made them who they are. The reader is in for a page-turning experience that leaves supper dishes undone and creates bleary-eyed days at the office.

                                                                                                       

An Interview with C. Kevin Thompson

C. Kevin Thompson
The Serpent's Grasp
2012 Oak Tara Publishers

Q: What truth matters the most?
A: John 18:37. Jesus said He was the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), but He also said in John 18 everyone who know the truth listens to Him. That is the most important truth of all to me, for with out Jesus what other truth really matters?

Q: Did you write The Serpent's Grasp and then choose Romans 1:25 as the basis for the novel, or was it the other way around? How is this scripture important to the understanding of the double-entendre of
the book's title?
A: Romans came first. It was always in the forefront as I wrote the novel. Paul speaks of people who worship created things rather than the Creator. Evolution has promoted that very well, to the point that man is the ultimate created thing to be worshiped. The ancient serpent, the devil (Rev. 12:9) has been at the helm of this plot.  Evolutionists look and look for the missing link so when they find it, they can say we are now complete. We can now evolve, too. But, in reality, the only place for mankind to evolve is spiritually. Hence, in the novel, Dr. Harry Landover's conclusion that the missing link is actually God. If evolutionists would realize the spiritual component they so deeply desire to find is found in God, they could stop searching and start living.

Q: In your introduction you include quotes on evolution and paleontology from great thinkers of the 19th and 10th Centuries. Why did you choose these particular quotes?
A: These quotes showed how mankind has come to view creation. Bertrand Russell saw how the glorification of mankind had taken on a whole new dimension with evolution. But he saw it would take some time for the belief to be ingrained into the psyche of our cultures. He was right. It took about 150 years. Steven J. Gould was talking about Christianity and all other belief systems so dogmatic in their world view they are not open to new thought. He saw these systems as restraining and harmful to what evolutionists were trying to do. Max Planck was just being honest. If you keep serving up the sugar water eventually people will just drink it without thinking about it. Evolution is a theory, but you never hear it mentioned as a theory anymore. Everyone talks in evolutionary terms accepted as scientific fact although it has never been proven. Our entire biological, chemical and physical views of how the world and the universe works is predicated on that belief.

Q: Which of your characters do you see as being in the "serpent's grasp"?
A: The antagonist, Anthony Fontaine, for sure. He's the fanatic. Think of him as the abortion clinic bomber of Evolution. Eric Gilliam is the poster child for evolution. He truly believes in survival of the fittest and natural selection, assimilate or annihilate. As for other characters like Antonella, Schmidt, Kensington, they are along for the ride for profit's sake. They believe in evolution, but only because it suits their purposes.

Q: What is the one thing you would like to leave your readers pondering?
A: How much of the evolutionary framework and verbiage have you adopted and aren't even aware of? How has it affected your faith?

Q: What can you tell us about your next project?
A: 30 Days Hath Revenge, an international thriller, is based in Jeremiah 7and 8 with Jeremiah 8:15 as the focal verse. The entire six-book series covers the span of thirty days. I hope this novel will cause readers to question the alliances, allegiances, and allies. It may even cause them to not want to open their mail, step out of their houses or send their children to school. It is due out this Fall (2012).