Blood on the Veld: (A Christian Bekker Wildlife Crime Thriller) follows conservation director Christian Bekker as he returns to South Africa to investigate the truth behind a decades-old tragedy, only to uncover a deadly web of wildlife crime, corruption, and buried secrets. Author S.A. McLain talks to Book Glow about the novel.

Blood on the Veld opens with a life-altering moment from Christian Bekker’s teenage years. What drew you to the idea of a past event resurfacing decades later and forcing a character to confront long-buried truths?

Guilt and the need for redemption is a strong motivation. We’ve all experienced past life events that still haunt us and drive us to make choices. If I had caused my family to lose the home they love, the only one they’ve ever known, not to mention the family business, that one event would change me, and I would feel the weight of that guilt forever. As storytellers, we’re looking to give our protagonists as many flaws as we can. They then go on a journey, which enables them to face their problems and (hopefully) rectify them.

Everyone loves a mystery, something to figure out along the way, regardless of whether the book is classified as a mystery in terms of genre. The idea of secrets and long-buried truths is one that I often explore in my stories. It also adds complexity and depth to characters’ internal plotlines.

Christian returns to South Africa after years in exile following his father’s death. How did you approach building the emotional tension of someone revisiting a homeland tied to both trauma and unanswered questions?

I approach my characters’ internal struggles by thinking about how I would react and how someone in their situation (their job, life phase, personality) would react. Christian has two choices: ignore his father’s request and stay in the same world, one that, deep down, he knows he’s failing at, or go back, rip the band aid off the festering wound and try to heal it properly.

None of us really wants to revisit old traumas. It’s called trauma for a reason. More often than not, we don’t truly understand the root of the trauma – possibly by choice but usually because we weren’t given all the facts when the trauma occurred.

My approach was to take Christian through the emotional tug-of-war of knowing how painful ripping off the band aid was going to be versus the hope that he might be able to actually heal this time. I doubt most of us think the cause of our trauma is based on a lie at the start of our unraveling journey, and we won’t know this unless we try.

The novel blends a gripping thriller with themes of wildlife conservation and crime. What inspired you to explore the darker side of wildlife trafficking and corruption within this story?

I had just written my first book, which was a literary fiction story about a dysfunctional family dealing with alcoholism and mental illness. So, certainly not a light story – I think the natural fit for my voice is stories that center on dark themes. I decided I wanted to write in the action thriller genre, and I liked the idea of a series. There are a lot of how-to books for writers out there. James Scott Bell writes how-to books as well as novels. In one of his books, he wrote a chapter on finding inspiration. He suggested writing a list of things you hate and using one of those things as inspiration for a novel. Wildlife trafficking was the first item on my list.

I let the idea slosh around in my brain for a bit, then did some initial research, which gave me tons of ideas for developing the series. Then I played the “What if” game, so what if my protagonist wasn’t someone with all-of-the-skills, like an Evan Smoak or Jason Bourne, but an everyman? Of course, it makes things a lot harder because Christian needs to seek help from people who have the skills and contacts he lacks. But at the same time, the supporting characters have their own problems that I can weave into the main storyline.

I decided to have a feature animal that becomes a major part of each book’s throughline. I also felt that each book should stand on its own, rather than the reader needing to read Book 1 to understand Book 4 or whatever.  But most important, my books need to entertain. My goal is not to upset or depress people. Although wildlife trafficking is a dark subject, I want my readers to come away with hope rather than hopelessness. There’s too much hopelessness in the world already.

Christian Bekker is both a conservation director and a man haunted by his past. What challenges did you face in balancing his personal journey with the fast-paced action of the plot?

During the writing process, I was a bit worried that Christian’s introspection and the way he dwells on the past would slow down the pace more than I wanted. So I was surprised when the feedback started coming in, and some readers actually said they struggled to catch their breath in some parts of the book. I try to keep my chapters short, which forces me to write tightly and sharpen the scene progression. It’s one of the reasons the book feels fast paced.  However, Christian’s internal struggles are just as important as the external plotline, because readers resonate with emotional pain. His internal struggles are what drive him to take action throughout the book.

South Africa’s landscapes and wildlife play a powerful role in the story. How did the setting shape the atmosphere and stakes of the novel?

Strong setting descriptions enable readers to visualize the world I created and lose themselves in the story. I spent two incredible weeks volunteering at Kariega Game Reserve in South Africa’s Eastern Cape because I wanted to give readers an authentic view of that world. I really fell in love with the country and the people while I was there, and I hope my descriptions come close to conveying the wonder I experienced.

As Christian begins investigating what really happened years ago, he uncovers a web of corruption involving powerful figures. What interests you most about writing stories where the truth is hidden behind layers of power and influence?

The thing I find interesting, from a writer’s standpoint, is that wildlife trafficking rings involve so many types of people and so many layers of corruption. On the one hand, I’ll never run out of ideas and story lines. The down side is that, in order to write realistically, I need to involve several bad guys (poachers, law enforcement, customs officials, government officials, etc.), which can overcomplicate the story. With Blood on the Veld, I stayed fairly mainstream, but I plan on exploring less obvious criminal connections in future books.

The novel has been described as having a “Harlan Coben meets Tony Park” vibe. Were there particular authors or storytelling styles that influenced how you crafted this thriller?

I enjoyed Wilbur Smith’s books set in Africa but in terms of structure, Coben’s thrillers helped me understand how to write effective multi-viewpoint stories. A few years ago, I studied one of my favorite Coben books and broke down the techniques he used to create suspense and excitement. Growing up, I was a more of a fantasy fan, and read all of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. He also wrote multi-viewpoint, multi-subplot, so I guess I’ve always liked that structure.

Wildlife crime is a real and growing global issue. Did your research into conservation or poaching shape any surprising elements of the story?

I’m continually surprised, and then not surprised, by the lengths people go to wipe out an entire species. In its simplest form, wildlife trafficking is about money and power, and you could argue that crime in general is driven by these two things. Of course, government don’t do enough to stop it, or make laws with lots of loopholes to appease the businesses profiting from the trade. But one factor that most people don’t consider is that without demand, there would be no wildlife trafficking.

If we look at why people buy trafficked animals and animal body parts, then we get to the real heart of the problem. The Asian countries are by far the largest consumers of trafficked wildlife. China is the largest market, primarily driven by traditional Chinese medicine, exotic pets and luxury products. Setting aside the luxury items like ivory carvings, the demand for medicinal cures and exotic pets is based on misinformation. I think most people in Western countries, if you told them they needed to pay crazy amounts of money for ground rhino horn or pangolin scales to cure their cancer, would disregard it as nonsense. In fact, numerous studies have proven that keratin has no effect whatsoever. The same goes with tiger bones, and conveniently, now that tigers have been nearly wiped out, the TCM doctors claim that lion bones work just as well. I also don’t believe most people would purchase exotic pets if they knew how many animals were killed in the process of getting them their baby macaque, or whatever. They’re lied to about how the animals end up in the hands of the sellers.

I was surprised by an interview with a poacher in the book, Killing for Profit, which gave me an idea for Julius Kahili. The poacher being interviewed was in hiding because he had turned on his fellow poachers. He was religious and had dreamed that his god was going to seek vengeance on him for killing elephants. He tried to convince his friends to stop as well, but they didn’t want to give up the money, so they beat him up instead. Then he told the police about a poaching operation and his friends got arrested. I created a moment of reckoning in Julius’s character that I may play with in future books.

Blood on the Veld launches the Christian Bekker Wildlife Crime Thriller series. What can readers expect from Christian’s journey as the series unfolds?

Christian’s job as a conversation programs director is one that requires him to travel to countries that are home to endangered wildlife. Although trafficking isn’t the sole reason they’re endangered, where you find endangered wildlife, you usually find wildlife criminals. I have a few stories swirling around in my head that take place in parts of Asia and Africa. I’m also considering a book set in the UK and possibly South America. I went to Japan last year so book two is mainly set in Tokyo.

On an emotional level, Christian has more problems to work through regarding his relationships, and the series arc explores whether he will make peace with the life he’s created or attempt to regain his true self.

Finally, what do you hope readers take away from Blood on the Veld—both in terms of the thrilling mystery and the deeper themes at the heart of the book?

As I mentioned earlier, the most important thing is that my books are entertaining. I’ve tried to create a story that resonates on an emotional level and thrills on an action / adventure / mystery level. Although the entire series will be underpinned by the wildlife criminals and their crimes, I’m just a fiction writer and I’m not here to preach, though my characters are entitled to their own views on the subject.

Having said that, writing is communication, so verisimilitude, a.k.a. authenticity, is always at the forefront of my mind. I talk to experts, travel and do mountains of research to give my readers a world that is as close to reality as possible.

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