A conversation with Andrew Shaffer, author of Hope Never Dies
Where did the idea for Hope Never Dies come from? Have you always envisioned Joe Biden as someone who would make a good sleuth?
The first time I saw Joe Biden in his Ray-Ban aviators, I thought, “that guy’s an action hero.” The sunglasses, the suit, the dead-serious stare—you think you’re looking at James Bond. And then he opens his mouth and sticks his foot in it, and you realize he’s closer to Leslie Nielsen. I toyed with the idea of a solo Joe Biden novel for years, but it never went anywhere.
When the Obama/Biden “bromance” memes began circulating on the internet during their final months in office, I dusted off the idea of doing a Joe Biden send-up and tweaked it—namely, to add President Obama as the Sherlock to Joe’s Watson. Biden on his own doesn’t quite work as a character without a straight man to play off of. Obama was the missing ingredient, and he was right there all along.
The memes about this “bromance” have outlasted Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s time in office. What is it about this particular friendship that resonates with people?
Their friendship is genuine, and that’s something people can pick up on. Presidents and VPs aren’t typically close, but here are two guys who had lunch together once a week for eight years.
What kind of research, both into the life of Joe Biden and the genre of hard-boiled mysteries, did you do for this book?
I’ve always been a reader of mysteries and thrillers, so no research was required there! When you’ve read enough of one genre, you internalize the “rules.” As far as Joe Biden goes, that was a little trickier. I read his memoirs, both of which are more serious than the public perception of the character of “Joe Biden.” Even the behind-the-scenes biographies and articles about him paint him as a no-nonsense kind of guy—his verbal blunders are the exception, rather than the norm. The Joe Biden in Hope Never Dies is closer to the real Joe Biden than the Onion headlines or the bromance memes, but still fun.
What influenced you to choose a serious current issue like the opioid epidemic as the catalyst for this mystery?
Although the book’s premise and characters are humorous, the mystery elements aren’t played for laughs. My home state of Kentucky has been particularly hard-hit by the opioid epidemic. When I write, I draw from my life and what I see around me. Hope Never Dies isn’t autobiographical, but I’ve known overdose victims. I’ve found needles on sidewalks. You’re able to portray Biden’s love for and knowledge of Amtrak travel in realistic detail. Did you have to ride on a lot of trains to get the feeling and setting right? Did you learn anything surprising about our nation’s rail system?
While I haven’t been on the Acela Express (“Joe’s train”), I’ve been on enough trains to fake it. One of the great things about living in 2018 is that you don’t need to visit places to do on-the- ground research. There are hundreds of hours of video shot aboard Amtrak trains on YouTube.
The most surprising thing I learned about our nation’s rail system while researching this book is just how far behind other countries we are in terms of high-speed technology. It’s partially due to funding, and partially due to how spread out the United States is. Amtrak doesn’t own the railroads themselves, either, so they’re sharing them with freight companies who prioritize their own trains. There’s no easy answer to upgrading the whole system.
Hope Never Dies is full of chases and fight scenes. Was it a challenge to write action scenes for a protagonist who is 75 years old?
Surprisingly not! Joe Biden is in fantastic shape—not just for his age, but for my age too (I’m pushing 40 and am nowhere near as fit as Uncle Joe). I had to hobble him with a bum knee just to make things competitive between him and the bad guys.
You’ve made a career out of writing satire and parody, as evidenced in the success of your previous book, Fifty Shames of Earl Grey. What drew you to writing humor?
One of the earliest short stories I wrote was a parody of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse titled “Pee-Wee Penguin’s Igloo.” (Sharp-eyed readers will spot a nod to this story in Hope Never Dies.) All my writing in grade school through high school was humorous. In college, I tried to write “serious fiction.” It wasn’t a good fit. I was writing stories about middle-aged men in bad marriages because that’s what I thought literary fiction was supposed to be. It wasn’t until I gave that up and returned to my humor writing that I found my voice.
Given the current political climate, do you think a humorous look at political figures is something people crave?
The current political climate in America is more partisan than it’s ever been. There’s less and less of a middle ground between the two major parties. Political humor has become hyper-partisan as well—gone are the days of the newspaper political cartoonist mocking “both sides” in Washington.
Do you have a particular favorite Biden-ism that you wrote?
“Pie à la mode. Hold the pie.” Which crime-fighting duo do you feel that Obama and Biden best emulate?
Like many mystery writers, I drew heavily from Sherlock and Watson for Hope Never Dies. Sherlock and President Obama are both impenetrable. It’s more fun to guess at what’s going on inside their heads than to actually know. How can we, mere mortals, comprehend such genius? Watson and Joe Biden are both down-to-earth. The common man.
What other projects are you currently working on? Will Joe and Barack ride again?
Not only will Joe and Barack ride again, but readers aren’t going to have to wait long for the sequel! I’m currently writing the second book in the Obama/Biden Mysteries series, which will be released by Quirk Books sometime before the 2020 presidential election. I don’t have every twist and turn mapped out, but I can guarantee there will plenty of malarkey.