By the Blood of Heroes by Joseph Nassise

JN: The opening line came out of an exercise I was asked to do as a participant at the Borderlands Books Writers Workshop back in 2005. SP: Where did you get the idea for Eyes to See? Redemption does not come easy and the darkness of the novel is intended to illustrate that. Eyes is, at its core, a story of redemption, but there are many flavors of redemption and not all of them come with brass bells and sappy smiles. Jeremiah takes things to excess in his search for Elizabeth and I wanted that desperation and self-loathing he feels to come out loud and clear to the reader. JN: I plan out all of my works in detail before I begin, including the various character arcs, so the darkness of the novel was intentional right from the start.

Was this overall darkness an intentional decision from the beginning, or is the road you went down as the novel progressed? These things are nicely balanced at times by Denise's level head, Dmitri's thoughtful intimidation and Whisper's quiet calm, but overall the novel is not very happy-go-lucky.

Jeremiah is rightfully pissed, the detective who, let's face it, uses Jeremiah just for his skills is always scowling, Scream's rage, the final reveal at the end is, while not mean spirited, just sad. SP: Eyes to See seems to have an angry tone going on throughout. Understanding what motivates Jeremiah and what has made him into the person he is at the start of the book is one of the key journeys I wanted the reader to take over the course of the novel and that emotion is fundamental to making that work. Eyes is full of raw emotion, particularly when it comes to Jeremiah and his relationship to his missing daughter, and it was difficult at times to get that emotion out and onto the page in such a manner that it would ring true to the reader. As a father yourself, did writing about his missing daughter affect you at all? SP: The book's protagonist Jeremiah Hunt is a father who has gone to extreme lengths in order to search for his missing daughter.

Unlike some of my other recent works, such as Cradle of Solitude or the forthcoming By the Blood of Heroes, the title for the first Jeremiah Hunt book came to me right away and I didn't struggle to come up with one with which I was comfortable. Joseph Nassise: Titles are pretty important to me, as I find it hard to get underway on a project unless I have the right title attached to it. Did you put much thought into the title, or did it just hit you? Eyes to See is a fantastic title considering the multiple meanings it has within the novel's context.

Steve Pattee: Titles are often an under-appreciated part of books and film. Former president of the Horror Writers Association, two time Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee and author of more than a dozen books, international bestselling author Joseph Nasisse sits down with Horror DNA to talk about his latest work, Eyes to See.

By the Blood of Heroes by Joseph Nassise