Pig farming thriller set in North Carolina, plus author Q&A

1st February 2017

Justice By Another Name by E C ‘Redge’ Hanes – pig farming thriller set in North Carolina.

Justice by Another Name is a well worked thriller set in the pig farming community of North Carolina. It is tense and it is exciting. Deputy Sheriff, Will Moser, had been suspicious of a farm ‘accident’ that killed his best friend, Paul Reavis. A year later Paul’s son, Paulie, is himself killed. This time it is certainly an accident – although malpractice in the construction of a slurry lagoon that burst its banks in a storm may have been a contributory factor. The lagoon burst and its contents – antibiotic laced pig excrement – gushed into a creak that Paulie and his friend, Hank, were exploring. Paulie died. Hank survived, but with nasty injuries. A chance comment makes Will realise that his suspicions about Paul’s death may have been well founded. He investigates. A potential witness is killed and Paul’s wife, Lana, is threatened. Lana is an old flame of Will’s – he was going out with her before Paul arrived in the scene, and does so again.

All the clues, and Will’s intuition, point to the mastermind behind whatever is going on being Oris Martin –  a highly successful industrial level pig producer. He, and his henchmen, are not the sort you want to argue with. No morals – towards either pigs or humans. Will searches for proof to back up his theories… It is dangerous. The book moves to a thrilling conclusion. Justice by Another Name equals ‘revenge’.

Redge Hanes only started writing in 1997 (Justice by Another Name is his second book) after he failed to win the State Senate nomination. He was, and is, an active politician. His first book, Billy Bowater, is a thinly disguised look at his journey through the political jungle of North Carolina. He is also a keen wildlife conservationist and environmentalist. I suspected (did not know until the Q&A below)) that he might not approve all that highly of the industrial level pig farming of the area. It is on a scale that is hard to credit… the industry is worth $1 billion a year with no less than 8 million pigs a year being processed through the system. They are moved from farm to farm as their short lives progress… Animal welfare is second to profit. They generate enormous amounts of excrement – more, for example, than the human population of the city of Philadelphia. Most of this is stored in lagoons alongside the processing sheds before being used as a fertiliser. The lagoons occasionally burst (as in the book). On one occasion, in 1999 after a hurricane hit the area, several lagoons flooded over causing massive environmental and wildlife damage down stream. And it not just the excrement – but also the vast amounts of antibiotics and other medications. Men have died just from inhaling the fumes… the stench is truly horrendous.

Justice by Another Name is a very good and exciting read. But I think it may also be intended as a great deal more… a real wake up call to the pork eating population of the States – where their meat comes from, and what is involved in its production.

Tony for the TripFiction team

Now over to our interview with Redge Hanes:

TF: Justice by Another Name is, I believe, the first thriller you have written. What brought you to start writing in this genre?

RH: I read all genres and especially enjoy a murder/mystery. Being curious about all forms of writing I write short stories, essays, and attempt to write literary novels, an effort that attracts the harshest critics. A good story is a good read and it can come in many forms. 

TF: The plot is quite a complex one. To what extent did you plan the book in detail before you started writing – or to what extent did you let the characters and plot develop as you wrote?

RH: I would love to have a perfect road map but it’s never happened. I know the people that will carry my stories but don’t really get to know them and what they are capable of until I spend time with them. Since all of my books are based on my own experiences, I have people in mind who serve as my models. If a character becomes a real SOB then perhaps the action will shift toward that character more than I originally thought. A good bad guy is the most fun. 

TF: You have created a very well rounded and believable cast of characters (if some are not all that desirable…). Are they all from your imagination or are some, even loosely, based on people you have encountered?

RH: As I said above, they are based entirely on people I have encountered. They may not turn out to be the people that their real mothers would claim, but to me they have given evidence of behavior which fits my purposes.

TF: What thriller writers do you most admire?

RH: Frederick Forsyth is my favorite and The Day of The Jackal his best. I like Jack Higgins, Nelson Demille, and Tom Clancy, alas we don’t have enough time to name all. 

TF: How do you juggle writing with rest of your life? Do you write for set periods each day – or do you take ‘sabbaticals’ in which you concentrate on writing?

RH: When I was working at my day job full time I would write in the early mornings and on week ends. Now that I am retired I write in the early morning, mid-morning, and anytime the spirit moves me. I am best in the morning.

TF: You were brought up in, and obviously know, North Carolina well. What sort of place is it? What are the people like?

RH: It is a wonderful place with wonderful story tellers, but like all places it is changing rapidly. It is not as nice in some areas as it was but I suppose better in others, still it is imprinted on me and is my home so I tend to overlook some of the less attractive attributes that it currently shows the world.

The people have always been hard working and generous of spirit; however as the population has grown and the economy changed, generosity as waned and fear has replaced it.

TF: I gather, from your environmental credentials and the way in which you write, that you may have concerns about the ethics of industrial level pig farming in North Carolina (and elsewhere). Am I correct?

RH: You are exactly correct, but then America’s view of ethics has changed. In one of my earlier blurbs for my book I was asked about the subject matter and the main theme. I said then that “ whether it has been greed, ego, or some psychosis, the human urge to accumulate power, which is at the center of my book, has been the main source of evil and fuel for mankind’s continual self destruction.”

Perhaps a bit too cynical, but then history is cynical and greedy self interest has always played a hand in the destruction of nations and civilisations.

TF: How does this sit  with being a local politician? Presumably, you are in danger of offending major local employers and a significant portion of the population?

RH: I am no longer a politician and perhaps being offensive to certain portions of the population is the reason; however if one looks at the current population’s tolerance for offensive language, my day may be here. People want straight talk and no PC speeches, until the straight talk insults them, then they take offense. Try telling one of the new President’s supporters that they are ignorant and bigoted and see how much they like straight talk.

TF: What are you currently working on? Will it be another thriller?

RH: I am currently working on a follow up to Billy Bowater where I get to skewer the financial world instead of industrial pig growers or career politicians and Washington bureaucrats. I haven’t decided whether one of my characters will plot the downfall of a major investment banking house with the possible murder of a whistle blower thrown in. Who knows?

A big thank you for Redge for his most informative answers.

You can follow the author via Twitter, Facebook, and find out a little more about him via his website.

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