I almost missed my plane because of today’s guest on HFMFF. I was so engrossed in his novel Cabin Fever I didn’t hear my flight called. Needless to say, he’s on my auto-buy list. Please welcome James M. Jackson back to my blog as he talks about his newest release, Hijacked Legacy. ~ Donnell
James M. Jack’s Freshmen ID
I have no recollection what indiscretion on my part caused my mother to pass on this tidbit of advice, but it turns out she was right in ways she could not have expected at the time. I was a teenager in the late 1960s (see my freshman ID – such a dweeb) when she said, “Don’t do anything or write anything you are not prepared to read on the front page of the local newspaper.”
Secrets have always had a hard time existing. Do you remember that time in grade school when you swore your best friend to keep a secret—and it came back to you from a third party? I sure do. Ben Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanac said that “Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.” That may have been true in the 18th century, but it is optimistic now. Electronic records can exist forever. Those with know-how can reincarnate erased files. Encryption assumes all parties keep their keys safe. Professional hacker groups have broken into federal, state, and local government computer systems. Banks have disgorged millions of social security numbers, usernames, and passwords. Medical establishments have accidentally released all that identity information plus personal medical information to hackers.
Our phones track us. Our cars track us. Our smart watches track us. In many cities and on the interstates, traffic cameras track us. We can track our luggage with AirTags—and stalkers can track us with surreptitiously placed AirTags. Our smart home records when we are present and absent, how we set our thermostats, and when our refrigerator needs refilling. Criminals can monitor us by hacking the security cameras we installed at home to protect us.
James M. Jackson these days
Some of these issues play a role in Hijacked Legacy, the eighth Seamus McCree novel. The Happy Reaper, notorious for his chilling efficiency and “Results Guaranteed” calling card, escapes prison. He’s sworn to kill Seamus McCree mano a mano because Seamus was responsible for his incarceration. However, the Happy Reaper discovered someone found and stole much of his money and later hacked the dark-web portals he used to allow potential employers to hire him to perform assassinations. Later, he discovers not even his medical records are safe.
Instead of killing Seamus McCree on sight, he offers a diabolical bargain with a heart-stopping proviso. To live, Seamus must help the Happy Reaper find and eliminate the upstart impostor who’s trashing the assassin’s reputation.
And Seamus must act quickly. Should the Happy Reaper’s bad heart give out or any harm come to him, the criminal underworld will wreak carnage on Seamus . . . and his loved ones.
Seamus’s only hope of accomplishing that task is to get help from his white-hat hacker son, Paddy, and friends. Killer against killer. Hackers against hackers. Plans and counterplans.
While I believe that these days it is nearly impossible to keep a secret forever, when a secret is uncovered and who uncovers it can make a huge difference. Too early ruins everything; too late, and only historians care. That tension, too, shapes the Hijacked Legacy story.
Donnell, thanks for letting me share my ideas with your readers. I’d love to hear from them in the comments if they think I’m spot on and, if so, what they are doing about it, or if I’m a candidate for tinfoil hats.
About the Book:
What you don’t know can kill you.
The Happy Reaper, notorious for his chilling efficiency and “Results Guaranteed” calling card, escapes prison. Instead of killing Seamus McCree on sight, he offers a diabolical bargain with a heart-stopping proviso. To live, Seamus must help the Happy Reaper find and eliminate the upstart impostor who’s trashing the assassin’s reputation.
And Seamus must act quickly. Should the Happy Reaper’s bad heart give out or any harm come to him, the criminal underworld will wreak carnage on Seamus . . . and his loved ones.
Can Seamus outsmart the impostor and appease the Happy Reaper without staining his soul with blood? The only thing Seamus knows for sure is that time is running out for him and his family.
Released on April 22, Hijacked Legacy is the eighth novel in the Seamus McCree series, which also includes two novellas and several short stories. His website includes links online retailers.
About the Author: Jim calls himself a snowbird with clipped wings, fleeing a remote home in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the civilization of plowed roads in Madison, Wisconsin. A life member of Sisters in Crime, he is a past president of the Guppy Chapter, for whom he teaches several classes each year. He spent thirty years working as a (yawn) consulting actuary. His stories explore financial crimes, family relationships, and what happens when they mix.
As Jim Jackson, he authored a book on contract bridge, One Trick at a Time: How to Start Winning at Bridge, which was published by Master Point Press (2012).
You can find out more about Jim or sign up for his newsletter at his website, https://jamesmjackson.com.
Welcome back, Jim. All I can say is there must be a shortage of aluminum foil these days and I don’t believe you’re wrong. You write you had the boring job of a consultant actuary. That stopped me because I think actuarial work is fascinating. Who did you consult for? Can’t wait to dig in to Hijacked Legacy!
Thanks for having me, Donnell. My actuarial consulting work involved the design and funding of pension and post-retirement medical plans for larger corporations, government entities, and nonprofits.
This is why the location feature is off on my phone and my house remains a dumb house…lol
Great post, Jim and Donnell. Just downloaded Book 1 in the series.
Hi Kass — you and I are the holdouts on “smart houses.” I just read that supposedly Russian hackers got into a municipal water system and opened the valves, so to speak. Imagine if someone nefarious figured out how to hack all smart homes and infected them with a virus that (say) turned on every appliance, furnace, air conditioner — the grid blacks out to protect itself — if we’re lucky.
Thanks for downloading Ant Farm. I hope you enjoy it.
~ Jim
No, no, Kass and Jim, I want to play. I do not have smart devices in my home. You’ve both read Until Dead and my hit man demonstrated what he could do with a smart “anything.” I’m so excited about both of your series.
I just live a good clean life and avoid robbing banks and killing people. That way, I hope I don’t get on anyone’s radar. As far as others stealing my info, I doubt they’ll want it when they see my bank balance and my medical reports.
Good plan, Kaye. Crossing my fingers for you that strategy works. Hoping you get your cataract appointment scheduled soon! BTW, I was fascinated by your comment about LLCs vs DBAs.
Hi Kaye — not to burst your bubble about low bank balances and high medical reports, but . . . with your info, someone could (say) set up a new bank account in your name through which the run their {choose your illegal business}. Or with your medical stuff, they “perform” numerous imaginary medical procedures for which Medicare reimburses them. And the list goes on. Even being dead doesn’t save us from nefarious schemes using our identites.
~Jim
Great post, Jim. While I’ve kept my “dumb” appliances, I’m aware my phone is keeping tabs on me and feeding that information to apps I’ve downloaded. I rely entirely too much on my phone—my mini computer.
Your latest sounds fascinating.