Date Published: 01-04-2026
Publisher: First Legacy Publishing
Caught between international cybercriminals, New York mobsters, and the police, Ryan is desperate to recover the file and avoid being expelled — or worse, executed.
With the body count rising and a deadly showdown looming, the race is on to solve the mystery, recover the missing file, and avoid turning Lower Manhattan into a bloodbath.
Interview with Kevin G. Chapman
Could you tell us about any research trips you took for this story? Which places did you visit, and what made them essential to your writing?
For Treacherous Hack, all the venues are in New York City, where I have lived and know well. I “visited” a few specific places via google maps to make sure the streets and parks matched up with the descriptions in the book, but I don’t need to visit The Big Apple to know how it feels and breathes. It’s home.
What's the strangest thing you've ever had to research online for your book?
For book #6 in my Mike Stoneman series, Double Takedown, the plot required a character to die via poisoning. But it needed to be a poison that the killer could get easily and administer by slipping it into the victim’s drink at a cocktail party before a ballet performance, then cause death 30-45 minutes later. As you can imagine, the electronic data trail of somebody researching such a specific method of committing a murder would be incriminating (which was also a plot point in the story). As it turned out, I have a high school friend who is a professor of pharmacology at the University of Washington, and she was able to give me advice about how to solve my story problem with a combination of common drugs – one the victim was taking voluntarily, and another that could be slipped to him and would cause death within the timeframe of the story. An interesting bit of research for sure!
What research (history, mythology, science) goes into your world-building?
My books are set in the real world, but I still need to make sure that my plot points are believable and that I use realistic descriptions of the organization of my fictional police force, the weapons used in the stories, the coroner’s reports and findings, etc. I like to use people rather than internet searches as much as I can. I have a number of former cops who give me advice and check my work for accuracy, and I visit several Facebook groups where cops, medical examiners, and others provide advice and help to authors. It’s amazing how much people will give for free if you only ask politely.
Have any of the people you've known, past or present, left a lasting impression on your writing journey? If so, we'd love to hear about a memorable experience that stands out to you.
I had a professor in college named Wallace Gray, who taught literature and who instilled in his students a love and appreciation of a good story. During one early lecture in a course on James Joyce, he shared a story about how a student of his brought to him a theory about what was really happening during a bit of text from an early chapter of Ulysses. Now, this is a novel some consider the greatest of all time and it has been studied and written about for decades. But, this student had a new idea and Wally thought about it and concluded that his student was right. It was something he had never seen before, and had never heard any scholar say – but it was spot on. Since then, he had incorporated it into his teaching about the book. The fact that any new reader could see something in a story that nobody else had seen stuck with me as a writer. I hope that every reader of mine finds something in my stories that they relate to and maybe find meaning in that even the author didn’t intend.
Do you write in the same genre all the time?
I spent ten years writing my version of The Great American Novel, which was a bit of serious literary fiction filled with themes of self-determination, the consequence of our actions, being true to your own vision, politics, and morality. It’s a great book that nobody bought called A Legacy of One. Since then, I have focused on crime fiction (murder mysteries), which is much more popular. I have an outline done for an epic sci-fi series, but for now, I’m focused on the mysteries and thrillers exclusively.
If so, have you ever consider writing in another one?
As noted, I would love to write a multi-volume sci-fi epic and I have an idea for the story. It will take some time if I ever get to it. So, if I want a break from murder mysteries, that’s where I’d go for sure.
Which character, supernatural or human, do you enjoy writing the most and why?
Aside from the protagonist of my series (NYPD homicide detective Mike Stoneman), who has a lot of me in him, my favorite character is Mike’s boss. He’s the chief of the division and a Sargent named Edward Sullivan. Everyone calls him Sully. He’s cranky and a hard-ass but also fully protective and supportive of his detectives. He’s always worried about his budget and the ramifications of his decisions for his bosses on the force. He yells a lot, but ultimately has Mike’s back. He’s funny. I love voicing the character for my audiobooks, also.
About the Author
Kevin G. Chapman is, by day, a buttoned-down corporate labor & employment lawyer who works for a major US media company. He frequently speaks at Continuing Legal Education seminars, has taught legal writing to law students, and is the past chairperson of the Labor & Employment division of the global Association of Corporate Counsel. When the work day is done, however, Kevin lives a much more exciting fictional life of crime and romance as the author of the award-winning Mike Stoneman Thriller series and other novels and short stories. When not busy writing, he enjoys playing tournament poker and cheering on his beloved New York Mets.
The awards are still coming in for Kevin’s six-book (so far) Mike Stoneman Thriller series. This series of police procedurals includes the WINNER of the 2021 Kindle Book Award (Book #3, Lethal Voyage) and the WINNER of the CLUE Award for best police procedural of the year (book #4, Fatal Infraction). Find all the Mike Stoneman Thrillers at your favorite local bookstore. If they don’t have it – ask them to get it, or contact Kevin directly at his website to order copies.
Kevin’s two stand-alone mysteries have also garnered major awards. Dead Winner (2022) was named best Suspense/mystery of the year (CLUE Award best-in-category), while The Other Murder (2023) was the GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the CLUE Award (best suspense/mystery all categories) and a NEIA Book of the Year Finalist. Kevin also has several short stories and one novella, all of which are available on his website for free. Grab the prequel to the Mike Stoneman series, Fool Me Twice, for free: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086Z8GRCJ or at Kevin’s website: https://www.KevinGChapman.com
Contact Links
Twitter: @KGChapman
Instagram: @KGChapman
