ARTICLE FROM ‘STROLL’ MAGAZINE — OCTOBER ‘23

Anytime local author Sonny Hudson meets someone who has read his latest book, ‘The Murder Game’, he is invariably asked the same question: “Are you as dark and twisted as the characters in your books”? That always brings a smile, and he quickly assures them that the characters are just the result of a vivid imagination and not an innate character flaw. It’s easy to understand their concern. Even his first book, ‘Let the Truth Be Told’, a political-action thriller, didn’t shy away from characters that were, to put it nicely, a bit unsavory.

Hudson says that ‘The Murder Game’ is the first of several books planned that focus on two main characters, FBI Special Agent Jessica ‘JJ’ Jansen and Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Kristyn Reynolds. The second book in the series, ‘Glitz. Glamour. Murder.’ is complete and scheduled for release in September. “I really like being able to dive into these characters and watch them grow and evolve as they get drawn into new cases,” he explains.

When asked about his inspiration for ‘The Murder Game’, he explains that it actually started with an event that made its way into the book. “I worked in the technology sector for many years, and I traveled quite a bit, typically 2-3 times per month. On one trip, I was returning from California and changing planes in Dallas, as was typical. While taking the DFW Skylink train between terminals, I found a wallet that another passenger dropped as he exited the train. Unable to catch up to him, I planned to turn the wallet in to the TSA or DFW police when I got off at my stop, so I looked in the wallet to find a name, hoping that he could be paged. What I found froze me in my tracks: no money, no credit cards, no personal items, just three different driver licenses from three different states, with three different names and three different pictures of the same guy. My mind went to a lot of possible scenarios, none of them good, and I knew that I could take this strange event and build a story around it.”

Because of his career focus, Hudson likes to weave a bit of the latest technology tools and trends into his writing, but never to the point where the reader has to be a techno-wizard to understand things. For example, in ‘The Murder Game’ the Dark Web and Artificial Intelligence factor into the ‘game’ itself, and in ‘Glitz. Glamour. Murder.’ the killer leverages Deep Fake technology to lure one of his targets into a trap. “When I write, I have one guiding principle: the character is king, not the technology, and neither the characters or the technology can ever be infallible or omniscient. Perfection is boring: it’s our flaws and our challenges that make us human.”

Hudson says that he finds inspirations for new stories everywhere, whether reading books from top authors like David Baldacci, James Patterson, J.D. Robb, and others, or from current events. ‘Let the Truth Be Told’ is an example of the latter: it was inspired by conspiracy theories that have circled around the events of 9/11 for more than 20 years. Some ideas come from places he’s visited, as with his current work in progress and planned third book in the ‘Jessica Jansen Thriller’ series, ‘Wine Country Murders’. “I love California, especially wine country. We’ve spent a lot of time in Napa and Sonoma, as well as other top wine producing areas like Carmel/Monterey, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara, and more. There are so many beautiful places, and so many great friends. I think it’s the perfect setting for a murder mystery!”

Hudson’s books are available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other top retailers. You can follow him at www.sonnyhudsonauthor.com to stay up to date on coming projects and events.