‘International Skullduggery’: Interview With Novelist Lou Aguilar On ‘The Washington Trail’

The following is an interview with journalist and author Lou Aguilar about his new novel “The Washington Trail: A Slade and Cork Mystery.”

* * *

Daily Wire: Lou, how long did it take you to write “The Washington Trail” and what sort of process do you use as a writer?

Lou Aguilar: Two years. It was my first tough guy mystery novel, although I love the genre and its icons — Hammett, Chandler, Spillane, Fleming, and Andrew Klavan, the modern master of the milieu. What I learned was that, unlike my three other novels, I had to do far more than advance the story with style. I had to leave clues that the reader could absorb leading up to the denouement and they had to be fair and not out of nowhere like “The butler did it.” I had intended to move to my Great Hollywood Novel next, but the publisher of “The Washington Trail,” Aethon Books, asked me to do two more Slade-Cork mysteries and I agreed. I hope everyone enjoys the characters and their adventures as much as we do.

DW: Tell us about your protagonist(s). Where do they come from and what obstacles do they face?

Lou: There are really two protagonists: private-eye team Mark Slade and Neil Cork. They were roommates at Georgetown University 12 years earlier — Slade an American History major, Cork English Lit. Slade comes from a long military family, Cork is a blue blood. After graduation, Slade joined the Army Rangers fighting in the Middle East, Slade became an FBI desk analyst. Slade had intended to wed his college girlfriend Nina Holt once back stateside, but she dumped him for her journalism career and is now a CNN Congressional reporter. Happy family man Cork reprimands Slade for his casual sex affairs to overcompensate for Nina. But Cork mainly lambasts Slade for his violent approach to solving cases, which undermines the agency’s sophisticated reputation. However, to survive their latest case, the two detectives must depend on one another’s distinctive skills — then just maybe save the country.

Courtesy: Aethon Books

DW: You’ve mentioned a love for Raymond Chandler’s pulp detective novels and his intimate knowledge of the city of Los Angeles and how the city sort of becomes a character in the story. How does Washington DC integrate into “The Washington Trail.”

Lou: Only in Washington can the seemingly trivial case of a young romance gone sour escalate to a national security threat. To make this contrast work, I had to physically describe the city as ground zero for such international skullduggery. DC seems to have more of a crisp, solemn spirit in wintertime, which enlivens sites like Georgetown, Rock Creek Park, and the C&O Canal, all significant in the story. The fact that Slade prefers traveling by bicycle highlights the setting.

DW: You’ve worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood. As a writer, what new tools did screenwriting give you and how have those translated into writing crime fiction?

Lou: I realize that the best suspense thriller movies – “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Seven Days in May,” “Three Days of the Condor” – were improvements on some decent novels (the film “Condor” cut three dull days out of James Grady’s “Six Days of the Condor”). So, I wrote the book thinking like a good screenwriter by making it impossible to improve upon it, only differentiate it. I’ve already turned it into a six-episode series script for some astute producer.

DW: You have also lived and worked in Washington DC in the past, how prevalent is the deep state?

Lou: Washington was liberal when I lived there but nowhere near as far Left as it’s become. I worked at The Washington Post as a cub reporter at the tail end of the Ben Bradlee regime, and the guys who brought down Nixon had journalism standards the young punks now in charge eschew. DC really is a Marxist swamp: From academia – even once staid religious universities like The Catholic University and Georgetown – to media and government, including the Pentagon and the intelligence branches. In my novel, the FBI showing up is not “To the rescue.”

DW: Did any unexpected surprises emerge in the story as you wrote?

Lou: Did they ever. My story became even timelier as I was writing it. Two years ago, I posited a senile, vegetating incumbent President losing in the polls to his suspiciously ousted predecessor, and the Deep State (FBI especially) freaking out about the latter’s possible return. Because this time, it’s personal! And they’ll do anything to stop him – even murder. Reality actually caught up with my fiction. As far as the new Democratic candidate goes, maybe the events of my novel forced the switch. Ha.

DW: Will you be hosting any book signings or events?

Lou: We’re mapping out a nationwide book tour now. I’m most delighted about the confirmed signing at the most prestigious bookstore in DC, Politics and Prose, on September 28th. I used to work there so it’s something of a dream come true. More book events to be announced soon.

DW: If (and when) “The Washington Trail” gets turned into a movie, which actors do you see playing Slade and Cork?

Lou: My trouble is that Slade and Cork are young men (32), and I haven’t seen a recent movie featuring a virile, commanding young white male lead in a decade. Most current actors are minority acolytes to the ubiquitous and ridiculous “non-toxic” girl boss protagonist. But if there’s a young Sean Connery out there, then I’d love to hear him say, “My name is Slade – Mark Slade.” And for Cork, I think a young Robert Downey Jr. would be perfect.

* * *

About the author:

Lou Aguilar was born in Cuba and lived there until age six, when his anti-Castro scholar father flew the family to America one step ahead of a firing squad (for his dad, not Lou). He attended the University of Maryland, where he majored in English, minored in film, and found both to be dependent on great writing. He became a journalist for The Washington Post and USA Today, then a produced screenwriter, then an established novelist. His debut book, Jake For Mayor, came out in 2016 to glowing reviews. His second novel, Paper Tigers, popularly fictionalized his Washington Post experience. And his third, The Christmas Spirit, is a perennial Yuletide favorite. The Washington Trail is his first political thriller. Lou is also a culture columnist for The American Spectator.