Taylor Moore is a former CIA Intelligence Officer who worked in both analysis and operations and later consulted for the Department of Defense in Theater Security Cooperation, Force Protection, and Counternarcotics. He now lives in the Texas Panhandle with his wife and two children, where is a full-time author and screenwriter.
Q: What inspired the idea for this story?
Taylor: This finishes up Garrett Cole, at least for a while. I live in the Texas High Plains, where it’s either oil and gas or agriculture—the lifeblood of what everyone does here. This is on everyone’s mind, including mine. Garrett started out as a DEA agent, but because of misfortunes, he is in debt. To get out of it, he had to team up with his nemesis, the Kaiser Family. This story involves a domestic terrorist where gas pipelines are blown up. Garrett has to return to his investigative skills and connect the dots to find out who is behind this.
Q: Are there three plotlines happening in the story?
Taylor: Yes, they are going on simultaneously. These are only somewhat related. Each of the characters from previous books is endangered and facing their own peril. The continuing storylines play out unrelated to the major crisis. I wanted the readers to have the satisfaction of knowing what happened to the characters. What I left dangling in the previous books, I wanted to wrap up with this one.
Q: How would you describe Duke Kaiser?
Taylor: Duke was mentioned in the first book, Down Range, just once. In this book, he is brought back as a major character. He is a bully, arrogant, selfish, uncaring, and a scumbag. He’s not a villain for villain’s sake. Part of his DNA is being a bad human being, and part of it comes from growing up with no real direction or guiding force.
Q: How would you describe Garrett’s sister, Grace?
Taylor: I wanted to bring her back into the picture. She returns under mysterious circumstances. She always had a taste for the finer things. Her story in this book is about coming home and reintegrating into the family. She is somewhat self-centered with questionable motives, devious, stubborn, and put money ahead of her family. She looks more selfish than she was. She had big dreams and aspirations, which she achieved at a cost to her own happiness. The whole family was broken. When it is all said and done, they became a tight family.
Q: What about Kim, a returning character from previous books?
Taylor: Kim was someone who was the face of the CIA. I think readers really like her. In the second book, Fire Storm, readers see her point of view and recognize her as a really good person with a good heart. At her job, she could be cold, capable, and calculating. She longs for a family and stability.
Q: Why did you partially set the story in Afghanistan?
Taylor: Kim and her partner, Mario, went back there to get closure. This is the same for me. When I started this series, the US was still in Afghanistan. Now, four books later, the Taliban is back in charge. There are a lot of people like me who worked in the CIA or military and felt very let down. There were national strike units in Afghanistan that Kim and Mario dealt with, knowing they had questionable unsavory tactics. In the book, I wrote that it takes a monster to kill a monster. I wanted to show how there were Afghans who worked to protect US forces and to get rid of the Taliban.
Q: You also explore Garrett and his friend Kai’s backstory in Afghanistan. Can you elaborate on that?
Taylor: They were on a particular mission there. It was Kai’s responsibility to save some people, and he failed by making a bad decision. Garrett is living with the aftermath because so many people died in that mission, basically survivor’s guilt.
Q: Can you explain the role of Faraz, the brother of the Afghan child Asadi, whom Garrett adopted?
Taylor: Asadi had a wonderful life after their parents died, while Faraz was made into a child soldier helping the Taliban. He had to survive by his own wits. He is still a good soul who went down a dark path through no fault of his own.
Q: What can we expect from your next book?
Taylor: It will involve a CIA shadow government. It’s more of a mystery than a thriller. It will take place in the Chesapeake Bay area.
Cold Trail by Taylor Moore is the last book in the series. On leave from the DEA, Garrett Kohl is ready to settle down and build a stable foundation for his family. But that’s easier said than done. To give his girlfriend, Lacey, and adopted son, Asadi, the life they deserve, and get out from under crippling debt, some risks have to be taken, and shocking alliances must be formed. First, Garrett partners with an old nemesis to form his new energy venture: Savage Exploration. Then his estranged, aloof sister, Grace, reemerges, keen on brokering a contract to connect the Kohl Ranch energy play to a pipeline on the Texas coast. But the company’s earlier success is endangered when an explosion at a nearby natural gas plant injures several workers. Garrett begins to suspect foul play and embarks on an investigation, teaming up with his old war buddy, Kai Stoddard, and reaching out to his CIA contacts. They uncover a sinister conspiracy overseas. There is also Asadi’s brother being rescued by CIA officer Kim Manning. This last book in the series neatly wraps up all the loose ends of the previous stories and characters’ backgrounds.
