Chris Knopf’s New Thriller Offers A Protagonist On The Spectrum

Chris Knopf has made a career out of killing people. When you’re an author of murder mysteries, that’s just part of the job description and Mr. Knopf has a slew of thrillers, heroes, and dead bodies under his belt to show for his efforts.His protagonist Sam Acquillo, a 50-something ex-engineer, ex-professional boxer, ex-husband and current heavyweight drinker, has been the subject of eight sleuthing books set in the Hamptons. Sam’s friend, real estate attorney Jackie Swaitkowski, lives in Southampton and has been the star of three books of her own, and Arthur Cathcart, a Connecticut-based market researcher and occasional finder of missing persons, is another lead character created by Mr. Knopf with a trio of thrillers following his adventures.

Now comes “You’re Dead,” Mr. Knopf’s latest thriller—this one a stand-alone—published by The Permanent Press based in Sag Harbor. On Saturday, December 15, at 7 p.m., Mr. Knopf, who lives in Southampton and occasionally in Connecticut, will be at Southampton Books to talk about and sign copies of “You’re Dead,” which stars protagonist Dr. Waters, an organizational psychologist on the autism spectrum who lives in Connecticut.

“There’s no first name,” said Mr. Knopf, when asked about Dr. Waters’s given name during a recent interview in Sag Harbor. “He had one, but it never stuck.”

As is the case in many of his thrillers, Mr. Knopf sets Dr. Waters into motion by having an external evil come into his life—a force that personally threatens him, his loved ones and his business. In this case, after his boss, the CEO of a thriving high-tech aerospace company, turns up headless in Dr. Waters’ own bedroom, he can’t help but get involved in figuring out who done it.

“The fact he’s on the spectrum is important. To me, the autism spectrum is not a disorder, it’s just a particular kind of brain,” Mr. Knopf explained. “If you’re severely autistic it impairs your life, but it’s a huge spectrum and a large percentage of our tech people are on the spectrum.”

He adds that there’s a twist, however, in that being tech savvy is not Dr. Waters’ strong suit. Rather, it is his learned ability to decipher subtle variations in people’s demeanors that serves him well in the investigation that follows the murder of his boss.

“It’s risky, but I wanted to run against type,” Mr. Knopf said. “While many people on the spectrum are gifted in programming, Dr. Waters is terrible on the computer. His super power is that, as a young man, his brother helped him learn how to read social cues. Waters was fascinated and they made it a game with his brother helping to interpret it.”

As a result, Dr. Waters is very good at reading those social cues. It’s the same skill that makes him a fantastic gambler with an iron-clad poker face.

“He got thrown out of the casinos, he was such a good player,” said Mr. Knopf, who also made his character an avid weightlifter with a defined routine that helps him clear his mind. “He has some gifts that make him a formidable opponent. … He’s also very direct. He has no filters and says what he thinks. The lawyers go nuts.”

The idea of imbuing his characters with traits that most people would consider to be a handicap is something that Mr. Knopf does regularly in his novels. By way of example, he notes that Sam Acquillo is teetering on the edge of brain damage from his boxing days, while Arthur Cathcart once had a bullet pass through part of his head, which continues to affect him as his storyline progresses.

“Some people play golf, my hobby is brain science and neuroscience,” Mr. Knopf said. “All my books tend to take on a little piece of that.”

Last year, after more than 40 years in the advertising business, Mr. Knopf retired as CEO of Mintz + Hoke, a Connecticut-based ad agency he co-owned with his wife, Mary Farrell. The agency has been sold, and while Ms. Farrell is staying on to finish out another year as part of the transition plan, writing has become a full-time occupation for Mr. Knopf, who four years ago joined The Permanent Press as an editor and co-publisher.

Beyond Dr. Waters’ unique ability as a mystery solver on the spectrum, Mr. Knopf also gave his character some of the skills and traits found in a close friend, Mark Braunsdorf, an organizational psychologist who did quite a bit of consulting with Mr. Knopf’s ad agency.

“He wasn’t a staff member, but a regular fixture. Ad agencies are full of lunatics and people with emotional problems. We used to call on him to help us and we got to be friends,” Mr. Knopf said. “He was like magic, he would come in and fix things.

“He also worked for the Hartford police force. Cops have troubles. He would counsel them. Sometimes they’d be traumatized and he’d tell them if they needed to find another line of work.”

Among his close circle of friends in Connecticut, Mr. Knopf also counts several police officers. He has found their experience and knowledge in the way of crimes and those who commit them to be invaluable in fleshing out the details of a good thriller.

“You have to have cop friends to write these,” he said. “It’s not possible without them. I try to keep my books within the realm of the realistic as much as I can. If you don’t have good relationships with police, you can’t do this.”

Which brings up an interesting question. When it comes to writing a thriller, which comes first for Mr. Knopf—the character or the story?

“You start with the character. I think any novelist worth his salt would say the same thing,” Mr. Knopf said. “Plot is important, you can’t live without it, but the character drives the whole thing. I conceived of this guy and what would he be like. I put him in a bad situation and then I see how would he get out of it.”

With all his books, Mr. Knopf explained that he starts out knowing the beginning and the end of the story. The rest of it, however, is a mystery and how he gets his protagonist from point A to point Z in solving the case is something that he deals with as he goes.

“E.L. Doctorow once said: ‘Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way,’” said Mr. Knopf, who adds that when it comes to creating thrillers, there are two tropes in the writing business—pantsers and outliners.

“Outliners write the whole book as an outline. Pantsers write by the seat of their pants where you feel your way along,” said Mr. Knopf, who is an admitted pantser. “I always want my beginning and ending, but I like the process of finding my way.”

Now that Dr. Waters’ story is wrapped up with a bow and ready for readers of “You’re Dead,” up next for Mr. Knopf is “Deep Dive,” his ninth Sam Acquillo thriller, which will be published next June.

“Sam is my home turf. I finished the first draft about two weeks ago,” Mr. Knopf said. “It’s now with my favorite first reader who edits it before it goes on to the next step.”

In the meantime, fans of Mr. Knopf’s thrillers can settle into the cold months confident in the knowledge that the misadventures of Dr. Waters will be close by on their bedside table. Keep your fingers crossed that a headless body doesn’t show up in your own bedroom—and maybe keep the lights on, just in case.

On Saturday, December 15, at 7 p.m., Chris Knopf will read from “You’re Dead” at Southampton Books, 16 Hampton Road, Southampton. For details, visit southampton-books.com or call 631-283-0270.