Featured Interview: A Few Words with Psychological Thriller Author Rob Kaufman #interview @RobKaufmanCT

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Rob Kaufman

“Horror seized Jesse by the throat and he gasped as he slammed on the brakes. The car went into an immediate spin, flying directly at Danny whose eyes went wide in the headlights. Jesse felt a thud against the back panel of the car. He screamed, the view from every window only blurred streaks of light. He tried to focus, to spot Danny somewhere in the whirl of his surroundings. But the boy was gone. He screamed again, his cry now muffled by the airbag exploding against his face. He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the BMW skid off the side of the road and nose-dive into a shallow ditch filled with snow.”

–From A Broken Reality by Rob Kaufman

As a child, Rob Kaufman was always fascinated by the stories recited by those around him and the words used to tell them. As he got older, his need to tell his own stories grew, as did his ability to share them in exciting and captivating ways.

However, he wanted to share more than just stories. His primary desire was to create characters with whom people could relate, while at the same time bringing them through a journey from which most would crumble.

His degree in Psychology was the first step toward getting beneath the surface of the people in his life. What followed was a lifelong search for what makes people tick – what forces them to become evil when deep down in their heart of hearts, they are yearning for love. Rob’s characters walk this search with him, deep into the human psyche, creating psychological thrillers from every day events.

Rob’s second book “One Last Lie” continues to receive great praise and is selling well in both electronic and paperback formats. His current book, “A Broken Reality” is much darker than his first, with characters who hold bits and pieces of strangers he’s known, friends he’s had and personal tragedy he’s lived through.

“This book hits home for me,” says Rob. “There were a few pages that made me laugh out loud as I wrote them… and many that made me cry. And the great thing is, I’m finding that many readers of this book are experiencing the same emotions.”

Through social and other media, Rob hopes to get “A Broken Reality” into the hands of millions, so that they, too, can experience the ups, downs, twists, turns and final tragedy that has helped make this book a Five-Star contender.

Book Description:

A Broken Reality

On a fateful night in the dead of winter, an unimaginable tragedy changes the lives of two families forever. How will they manage to deal with reality while stopping the sociopath who is pushing them toward the edge of sanity?

Ten-year-old, Danny Madsen, has been missing for four days when Jesse Carlton begins his own search for his godson on a frigid, snowy night. Driving along a deserted rural road, Jesse hits a stretch of black ice at the same time Danny appears from the thicket. Unable to control the car, Jesse slams into the boy and watches helplessly as Danny’s body flies back into the dark brush.

When Jesse regains consciousness, he has no recollection of how he and his car wound up in a ditch. However, there’s a witness: Charles Hastings, the sociopathic kidnapper who chased Danny through the brush and into the path of Jesse’s car.

Hastings takes this chance to set up Jesse so he’ll take the fall for both Danny’s disappearance and death. And so the mind games begin–an onslaught of psychological manipulation that devastates Jesse, his wife, Danny’s parents and the cops’ investigation. Inexplicably, the torment continues even after the primary suspect is killed and the rollercoaster of emotions and confusion seems never-ending until the final and devastating truth is revealed.

Interview:

Welcome, Rob! Your new psychological thriller sounds exciting! Can you tell us how you came up with the idea?

Rob: One winter’s day, I was out searching for my friend’s cat that had gotten loose. I was driving quickly down the street and suddenly slowed down, realizing that if the cat made its way into the street, I’d hit him. Then I thought to myself, “What if I were searching for a person… a kidnapped child… and I did hit him”? Soon after came A Broken Reality.

Can you tell us a little about the main characters?

Rob: Although the book has quite a few characters, as the author, I see three of them as “main”. Jesse Carlton – the missing boy’s godfather who goes through a psychological trauma that affects his mental stability (decline) more and more as the book progresses. Once a happy-go-lucky man, Jesse turns into a shell of a person and cannot figure out why. Charles Hastings – the sociopath who tries every way he can to frame Jesse. He comes from a bad childhood that has worked its way into adulthood and he just can’t get rid of his demons. Antonio Rivera – the FBI Agent who not only does everything he can to find the missing boy, Danny, but also attempts to keep the other characters in the book “calm and stable” as his own family falls apart due to his continual absence.

They say all books of fiction have at least one pivotal point where the reader just can’t put the book down. What is one of the pivotal points in your book?

Rob: I feel it’s right at the start, within the first ten pages, when Jesse is looking for the missing boy, Danny… this is when the tragedy occurs. Many readers say although they know a lot at this point, they continue to the very end because of all the twists and turns along the way.

Do you proofread and edit your work on your own or pay someone to do it for you?

Rob: I proofread and edit about five times. I then pay someone to do it for me. Then I rewrite according to her recommendations and have her check it again. It’s a lot of work, but it’s part of the process.

Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?

Rob: Absolutely. Many of my readers tell me that the reason they chose to read my books over others was because of the visual on the cover. I think that says it all.

What did you want to become when you were a kid?

Rob: I’m not sure I was ever a kid. However, way back when, I wanted to be a writer. I still do.

Do your novels carry a message?

Rob: My novels carry different messages for different people. I don’t like to say they carry one particular message because everyone has their own perspective. I read all my reviews and take all of them to heart. What I find is that there’s a variety of things that stand out for certain people… messages I didn’t even intend. So I’ll leave it at that for now.

Is there anything you’d like to tell your readers and fans?

Rob: I’m happiest when my readers tell me one (or all) of my books/characters created emotions that stuck with them for days. For sure, my books don’t have happy endings. They have realistic endings because the people are real people (at least to me and my readers). I’ve had people from around the world tell me it took them a day or two for the effects of my books to start wearing off a bit. Though I don’t mean to make anyone suffer, it’s good to know that my stories have an impact and people keep coming back for more.

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