A little over a year ago, Fort Collins author Shane Kuhn was anxiously awaiting the debut of his
A screenwriter and creative director, Kuhn had channeled his love of hard-hitting thrillers into a brisk but entertaining tale of a corporate minion (John Lago) whose secret life involved brutally efficient assassinations.
Entertainment Weekly called it “Tucker Max mixed with the satire of ‘American Psycho,’ ” a line as compact and descriptive as Kuhn’s own zippy prose.
With the July 14 release of “Hostile Takeover,” his second John Lago thriller, Kuhn is in a different but equally anxious place. His debut novel is being made into a Sony Pictures film with attached as the lead. Simon & Schuster, his publisher, has signed on for a third book — but not necessarily a John Lago thriller. And Kuhn is still juggling day jobs, including sitting on the board of the (which he co-founded), with his newly demanding novelist duties.
We caught up with Kuhn last week before his July 16 reading and signing at the .
Denver Post: Congrats on the second book. It sounds like Simon & Schuster was pleased with the first one, given that there’s a sequel. How well did “The Intern’s Handbook” sell?
Shane Kuhn: I’ve tracked 30,000 units sold in the U.S., and almost that same amount in the U.K., where it’s called “Kill Your Boss.” I don’t have the numbers for Norway, Germany, Italy or France, where it was translated, but at Simon & Schuster it’s considered an international bestseller. They actually green-lit “Hostile Takeover” and an unrelated book, “Business Class,” before the numbers were even this good.
DP: How has your life changed over the last year?
Kuhn:My work as a novelist has gotten exponentially more intense, so the balance has been more difficult because there was a lot of pressure on the second book. The company where I’m a VP ( , a large-scale event producer based in San Francisco) has grown pretty quickly. But in publishing, there’s just this weird expectation of critics and readers that the second book is not going to be as good, especially since this is supposed to be a series.
Q: Right, instead of a one-off visit to this world.
A: I was pretty adamant about calling it the next book in a series, not a sequel, because that’s my plan for it. I’d like it to continue similar to the Jack Reacher series (by British author Jim Grant), which is an ambitious goal. But what’s the point of not having an ambitious goal?
Q: What were some of the challenges in writing the second book?
A: The writing process was difficult because Simon & Schuster had very high expectations. I worked with their thrillers editor, Sarah Knight, and she was instrumental in getting me through all of that. But she left the company, which was a difficulty for me. They also wanted something fresh, so there was a balance there of creating something new, which I think I did with additional character layering, but also fulfilling existing fans.
Q: Sequels are tough, especially when the first entry establishes a strong voice, as yours did. Did that also weigh on you, given your film background?
A: As a film person, I go into a sequel with very high expectations, and it did resonate with me that it could be too much of a departure. When an artist comes out with a second album and it’s way different than the first one, that can be alienating. I love doing things that subvert the process creatively. But at the same time, it’s important to give this character a good shot at a long life.
Q: What about this third, unrelated book that Simon & Schuster bought?
A: “Business Class” is more of what you would call a mainstream thriller, told in the close third-person form of narration. With John Lago, the rules are few. But there isn’t as much creative freedom with a mainstream thriller.
Q: Why is that?
A: Evidently, it’s slightly passé or gauche to do first-person. I’ve literally seen reader criticisms — and yes, I do read those when I’m feeling thick-skinned — that said, “Even though this was written in first-person, I still liked it.” The mainstream thriller is a construct to a certain degree, because publishers look at what sells and readers go out and consume what’s published as a result. And “Business Class” is an espionage thriller that takes place in the world of frequent air travel, so that has its own set of rules.
Q: Are you trying to innovate within that, though?
A: The main character is a “normal” person, because I find that more relatable. When I read spy stories, like Ludlum or le Carré — whom I love — your avatar is the spy and that can be a little bit dull, because real spies’ lives are actually boring. But what if somebody like me was asked to be a spy on a temporary basis? It’s a great wish-fulfillment story. That’s why I love “The Matrix.” Neo is like you at the beginning. If the movie was told from Morpheus’ perspective, it would be a totally different narrative.
Q: And not being a spy, I’m guessing you’ve done a good bit of research to make it believable.
A: I do a lot of research about weaponry, anatomy and medicine to keep it as authentic as possible, and I have people, like this director of flight operations for a major airline (which Kuhn would not name) and an army flight surgeon that I consult. And when you’re Googling thermonuclear detonators and different international airports, I’m sure it shows up on someone’s radar screen — like the FBI.
Q: I also saw you had the cover image from “The Intern’s Handbook” (a skull and crossbones composed of office supplies) tattooed on your arm.
A: I wanted that tattoo but also wanted to make it a promotional thing while I was at it, being this shameless pusher and marketer. So I asked (a New York-based artist famous for her TLC, E! and MTV appearances) to do it, and we took lots of pictures. I’d like to get the “Hostile Takeover” one, but I’m not sure I want a handgun visible at all times on my skin. Maybe I’ll be stuffed or something after I die?
John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel
