Miles Archer is the pen name of a Pacific Northwest writer who cut his mystery teeth on the classics in the genre, ie. Christie, Gardner, Chandler, Hammett, Stout, et al. Like many authors, Archer has had a checkered career: reporter, sales clerk, process server, free lance undercover operative, sales executive and registered nurse. More than enough careers for three lifetimes. He lives on five acres in the woods and loves the rain.

That was a pivotal time in the history of the culture. The politics of the time were extreme and extremely important, there was war in almost every quarter of the globe, racial and social conflict was at a peak, many of the attitudes and policies of today were given birth in that period. Besides, I remember it, so the research is a little easier.

McCool makes some questionable moral decisions in the course of his adventures. Would you like to rationali-er-explain?

Yeah, letıs call it rationalization. We all (well, many of us) make questionable choices at times, and have to live with the consequences. In terms of things like sex and drugs, well there a lot of people who seem to have forgotten what they did when they were young. Were those choices poor choices? In the light of todayıs attitudes toward drugs and sex, yes, they were. But this was a time before AIDS and when many, many people were using drugs more or less casually. I wanted the reader to understand that what now is not politically correct was pretty common behavior then. I hate historical revisionism, you know, rewriting history to suit todayıs attitudes.

In terms of his other behaviors, Doug is trying to work out a moral code in the post-Viet Nam era. He is an essentially good person who sometimes does bad things.