Last Seen, a standalone
The Wolves Come at Night, Taylor Jackson Book 9
J. T. Ellison
Last Seen by J. T. Ellison is a standalone novel. Her protagonist, Halley James, is not having a good year. She is getting divorced, has lost her job at the forensics lab, and her dad needs emergency surgery after a fall. But the biggest blow is when she discovers her mother died, not in a car accident, but was murdered by her sister. Since she was six years old her dad had lied to her, refusing to tell her the truth about her mother’s death. Halley is now looking for answers and knows she must find her missing sister to get to the bottom of what happened to her mom. Luckily, her soon to be ex-husband is willing to help her and protect her.
The Wolves Come Out at Night by J. T. Ellison is a sequel to Whiteout and was self-published last year. Thankfully, Taylor Jackson is back and hopefully there will be more books. Although in previous books she has been put through the ringer, including sparring with assassin Angelie Delacroix, Taylor is still the same tough, smart, and determined investigator she’s always been.
The Wolves Come at Night has two storylines that come together at the end. It may at first seem like each storyline is not related but they turn out to be connected in the end. One story has the murder of a country music singer by a supposed serial killer. The other story has Taylor making some big changes plus must team up with assassin Angelie Delacroiz. Taylor, now a Captain, is frustrated at having basically a desk job and during an impulsive moment she quits over a disagreement on how to pursue another case assigned to her, the disappearance of a murder witness.
It seems that Carson, the witness to the murder of country singer Georgia Wray, has disappeared. Worse, her mom, Dr. Avery Conway receives a ransom note. Through the course of the investigation, it is discovered that the same people who kidnapped Carson, also killed, her dad, Richard. Taylor suspects that the murder of Georgia Wray relate to Carson Conway’s disappearance. Along with Angelie’s help they pursue the kidnappers before they have a chance to do harm to Carson.
Both books are riveting and gripping novels. The twists and turns will keep readers guessing to the very end.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for the story in Last Seen?
J. T. Ellison: I dreamed this one. It happens sometimes. I had this wild dream about a romance in this town. I found a way to darken it up. I decided to use the same town of Brockville. I was with my sweet little cat Jamison. It was her last night, and we knew we would have to put her down the next day because she was sick. This was the original title for this story, ‘Her Last Night.’ She sat in my lap while I wrote the story. I swear she gave me the story. The main character, Halley James, finds out everything she knew about her life is a lie including the death of her mother by her sister.
EC: How would you describe Halley?
JT: I moved the entire story up ten years, so she is now 34. She is a trained forensic scientist. Her whole life is falling apart with a failed job, a failed marriage, not having a child she desires, her mother dead, her dad is in the hospital because of a fall, and her sister disappeared. She is still having grief. I wrote the book from a place of bereavement, having lost one of my furry muses. I was so sad and unhappy that I channeled that grief into the story. Halley is curious, suspicious, has a moral compass, and is damaged. She had a head injury and continues to have memory issues, blackouts, that make her feel panicky, fearful, and anxious.
EC: How would you describe Cat, the sister?
JT: She is a highly functioning well adjusted sociopath. She is jealous, mean, cruel, smart, stubborn, aggressive, has an impulse disorder, and is full of rage. Although things might not be as they seem.
EC: What is the relationship between Halley and Cat?
JT: Halley is obsessed with finding her because she wanted to know why she killed her mother. They have a very complicated relationship. Cat exists and functions in the darkness that is represented by Ian, while Halley is lightness. Cat is Ian’s servant.
EC: How would you describe the antagonist, Ian?
JT: He is a monster. He is evil. He is immoral. One of the darkest characters I have ever written.
EC: How would you describe Halley’s estranged husband Theo?
JT: He loves her deeply. He has his own demons. Theo supports her. He is gentle, concerned, caring, but stubborn. He is willing to lose his marriage instead of compromising his morals. Because he sees such horrible things in his job, he does not want to raise a child in this world.
EC: What role does the dad play in the story?
JT: He is Halley’s mentor. He is her savior and protector. The dad brought Halley up after her mother died and kept her safe. He had a big miscalculation in judgement in that trying to keep her safe he lied to her. He broke her heart and trust.
Elise Cooper: How did you get the idea for Whiteout and The Wolves Come at Night?
J. T. Ellison: It is part of an anthology I wrote, and the theme was having a white-out blizzard that crisscrossed a large portion of the county, to create isolation. The anthology written with Erica Spindler and Alex Kava features all our main characters in separate stories. Whiteout is a novella, the opening for the book, The Wolves Come at Night. Whiteout is a closed circle mystery, while Wolves is a bang-out thriller.
EC: What is the battle between the “two wolves?
JTE: It is the duality of the heroes. Both Angelie and Taylor struggle with doing immoral things for moral reasons. They both must kill, face evil, and must decide if they choose the good or choose the evil.
EC: How would you describe Angelie?
JTE: I wanted to explore how her backstory affected her and how this formative moment made her the person she is. Angelie Delacroix’s backstory is based on a real crime in France where a little girl watched her parents executed in front of her. Angelie is fearless, a predator, has a temper, can be reckless, has a darkness, unstable, ruthless, but has a sense of humor, and is a rogue assassin. I do not think she is a sociopath because she was made into someone who she is and was not born that way. She is doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.
EC: How would you describe Detective Taylor Jackson?
JTE: She is an idealist, instinctive, loyal, can read people, not a rule follower, sarcastic, wants to rid the world of those who do harm, and seeks justice. She is in a place she does not want to be. In the previous books she was traumatized. She was shot in So Close the Hand of Death, and in the book Where All the Dead Lie, she could not speak, incredibly traumatized. In this story, it appears she has lost a step. The Nashville Metro Police Department did not want to lose her, so they promoted her, because they did not want her in the field due to her unpredictability. She does not want to ride a desk but wants to be on the streets with her team.
EC: Do both characters have similarities?
JTE: Yes. In many ways they are a lot alike, but also completely opposite. Taylor always wanted to be a protector. Angelie would have gone down that road, had she not experienced such trauma. She idolizes Taylor and is obsessed with her and fascinated with her. Angelie looks in the mirror and sees a very dark version of Taylor. Yet, Taylor looks in the mirror and sees her own darkness. Taylor gets annoyed by her but respects her as an intelligent operative. Taylor learns from her. Both butted heads because they do not like how each questions the others authority. Taylor is old-fashioned, more predictable, while Angelie does not worry about legality and morality. This is why Taylor is a detective and not an assassin.
EC: What role did the Macallan Group play in the story?
JTE: It is an off-book organization that works for the government. It is a private powerful organization.
EC: Next books?
JTE: Taylor Jackson will be back in some capacity as a Lieutenant or a Private Investigator, based out of Nashville.
The next book is a standalone titled You Know Why. It should be out this time next year. It is the story of two women. One woman is going on a vacation with her husband and while on a plane another woman sees the murderer of her sister. When the married couple are heading for a connecting flight, the husband disappears. It all collides.
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