He wears black, studies guns and thinks about murder all day long. Joe Finder, we're a bit worried about you. Sure, we know you are a writer, and it’s all in your head. But come on, after eight best-selling books you're still coming up with fresh, grisly ways of offing people. It's disturbing.

Of course, that’s probably why several million readers race to the bookstore every time one of your new thrillers hits the shelf. We like disturbing. We like a blood-chilling mystery. We’re sick—just like you!  What did it, Joe? What pushed you over to the dark side? Your Yale and Harvard degrees? Growing up in Afghanistan and the Philippines and Upstate New York?

All of the above and more, says Joe. He’d planned on a career in the CIA, but realized that the life of fictional spies was a whole lot more exciting. Always a thriller fan, Joe voraciously read mysteries—followed by tireless complaining to his girlfriend, now his wife, that he could pen a better book. “Oh yeah?” she said. “Prove it.” So one day, while languishing on a hammock on Martha’s Vineyard after reading another lukewarm potboiler, Joe decided to write. He was still in graduate school when his first book was published. Red Carpet: The Connection between the Kremlin and America’s Most Powerful Businessman explored the relationship between multi-millionaire Armand Hammer’s ties with Soviet intelligence (He majored in Russian studies.) Hammer was not amused—he threatened a libel suit—but the reviews were glowing, and when the Soviet Union fell and the Kremlin’s archives opened, Joe’s research was verified.

Hmm, thought Joe. Let’s try nonfiction. Good call. Every one of Joe’s thrillers has roared up the bestseller lists. His fourth book, High Crimes, was turned into a movie starring Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. His most recent, Power Play, topped the New York Times list the week it came out. What separates Joe’s works from the rest of the espionage pack? Research. He immerses himself in the minutia of all of his plots--corporate security, spy satellites, Iraqi Special Forces. And sure, there’s a little blood. What would you do if you were held hostage by a band of savage hunters? Bake them brownies?

Actually Joe makes a great batch of brownies. There’s a softer side to everyone, Joe says. And then he confides that he’s also obsessed with flossing. Now, that’s scary.