When Delaware author Marc Avery saw “Bad Boys” for the first time, he knew he wanted to write a crime thriller.
“I was like, ‘Okay, I want to have my own set of cool detectives,'” he says.
The plan to write a detective story eventually led to his new release, “Discipline.” The plot follows the titular character—Giuseppe “Discipline” Cain—on a resentful murder spree in Philadelphia. Meanwhile, detective duo Aaden Bravo and Christian Bennett work to set aside their differences in order to track down the murderer who has turned Philadelphia into his personal killing ground.
“Discipline” is Avery’s take on some of his own favorite storytelling devices and character archetypes. He wanted to craft a cold, calculated villain—drawing inspiration from iconic antagonists like Hannibal Lecter and Anton Chigurh (“No Country for Old Men”). For his detective duo, he was inspired by “Lethal Weapon,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” and “New York Undercover.”
“Any ’90s action movie or buddy cop film,” he explains, “that was my aesthetic. I wanted to create two ‘good guys’ who don’t like each other initially, but are willing to work together for the greater good.”
“Discipline” was just released, but the story is 10 years in the making. Avery started writing the novel while he worked to secure a publishing deal for his first novel. The process felt like an uphill battle, and he was on the verge of giving up. That’s when Rebecca Dowling (the Hockessin Bookshelf owner at the time) encouraged him to try once more. “She said, ‘You should try it just one more time. You’ve come this far. What would it hurt?'” Avery says.
That’s when he sent the first three chapters of his first book to the person who became his agent. He got the deal for his first book as he was writing “Discipline.”
“This book would not exist without the Hockessin Bookshelf,” Avery says. “It took over 10 years to get this book to publication. For it to even exist is a huge accomplishment to me.”
Find “Discipline” on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, or at local bookstores like Hockessin Bookshelf and Browseabout Books.
Related: 2 Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List in Delaware
