Retired Long Beach police officer Janice Cantore draws upon twenty-two years of experience on the force to lend authenticity to her suspense novels. She wraps up her Line of Duty series with Cold Aim (Tyndale House): Police Chief Tess O’Rourke’s small town is still reeling from a devastating fire when the FBI asks for help: Would she shelter a witness in a high-profile human trafficking case? What she doesn’t know is that Rogue’s Hollow is already home to a suspect from a twenty-five-year-old murder case—and someone is taking cold aim at those Tess is sworn to protect. In this interview, Janice pulls back the curtain on some real-life events behind the story, explains the importance of communities, and reveals how writing the series has bolstered her faith…
Janice, Cold Aim is the final book in your Line of Duty series. How do you expect the novel to resonate with your readers?
Besides the spiritual message that God can be trusted even in the most difficult situations, one of the things I wanted to bring out had to do with human trafficking. Yes, the book is fiction, but the problem of human trafficking is very serious.
Young girls in all walks of life are targeted, not unlike in the manner my bad guy Ice uses in the story. They seek to separate children from their parents, at first in an apparently nonthreatening way. When the threat arises, it’s too late for the child. Parents need to be vigilant. Keep your children close and your eyes open.
Cold Aim delves into the mystery surrounding a twenty-five-year-old murder case. Can you share some of the real-life experience and research that went into crafting the plot of this novel?
I’ve always been fascinated by cold cases. In Long Beach, there were a couple of long-cold murder cases where officers were killed and their killers never caught. One was shot and killed in his driveway as he got home from work. My prayer is that the killer will be caught, someway, somehow. In my novels, my imagination can dream up ways for cold case killers to be brought to justice.
What lessons does the Line of Duty series teach about the importance of strong communities?
Disasters like fires can happen anywhere. Last year just about the whole town of Paradise, California, burned to the ground. It’s people pulling together in community that helps those suffering from great loss. Many people escaped the fire with only what they were wearing, and the community came together. People helping one another with the loss, with rebuilding, buffers the lost and helps everyone move forward.
Your books present strong female characters working seamlessly with strong male characters. Can you talk about why this is so important?
I really don’t like the war between the sexes which often seems to be perpetuated in the news. When I worked in uniform, I liked and appreciated the male officers I worked with and around. We might have had different ways of handling problems, but more often than not, we complemented each other. Some victims preferred talking to women while others were more comfortable with men. All in all, men and women working together, not competing, do the best job.
How have you seen your own faith grow through writing this series?
Writing in general strengthens my faith. I start with a blank sheet of paper and pray the Lord will help me put together 85,000 words into an exciting, inspiring story that people want to read. It’s always a leap of faith!
Visit Janice Cantore’s author page:
https://www.familyfiction.com/authors/janice-cantore/
Cold Aim
Line of Duty #3
Janice Cantore
Tyndale House