27th January 2024
A chance to catch up
with Patrick J Sacchetti, author of Circus Freak Nation.
Interview by
Richard Hinchliffe
The release of Circus Freak
Nation has given me the excuse and the opportunity to catch up with author
Patrick J Sacchetti. Some of you may be aware that I interviewed Patrick way
back in August 2022 for the release of his previous novel, Heaven’s Assassins.
If you didn’t catch that interview, or simply want to read it again, you can
click HERE
So, when I saw that Patrick had
released another title, I couldn’t wait to get hold of a copy, and to get in
touch with the author himself and ask him a little about it.
RH: Briefly, and
without giving too much away, what is Circus Freak Nation about?
PS: Circus Freak Nation starts out as a murder mystery of a
college girl murdered in the classic Chicago Holy Name Cathedral Catholic
church. The girl's family hires a private detective agency, Heavens
Assassins Detectives, to find out what is going on with the investigation into
her murder. This drags the agency, and its detectives, into a spider's
web of various dubious characters with a variety of evil acts simultaneously
taking place. The various characters and related insidious acts they are
tangled up in seem unrelated at first. Little by little, as they dig
deeper and deeper, all the characters and all their dubious acts really are connected.
Everyone is manipulated, controlled, bought, and sold, by a handful of
narcissistic power players in the United States. All the book's
characters end up being moved around a chess board in a game of toxic chess
where there is only a chosen few making the moves, letting a majority of the
American citizens take the losses, while the power players gain their riches.
Really, everyone is complicit in this, and no one is innocent. Except for
the poor, dead college girl, of course.
RH: How does this book relate to, or tie in with your
previous work, Heaven’s Assassins?
PS: Heavens Assassins was the group led by Luke
Augustine, who is now the main detective in Heavens Assassins Detective
Agency. Whereas in the book Heavens Assassins, the core group got
out of legal entanglements any way possible, in Circus Freak Nation the
group has to depend on the law and support law and order and become certified
private investigators in the process. Nicola Esposito is with the agency, as
well as Luke's neighbourhood friend since childhood, Anthony
Testicolli. Stephanie Bennavutti is still Luke's main girlfriend and
provides the support and guidance that the entire agency needs when things get
difficult.
The main difference between the two books is that in Circus
Freak Nation, this is more of a social and political satire, taking shots at
the power players and their followers who obediently take all the orders
delivered down from the top. I take aim at those who manipulate the
media, manipulate the political environment to fool people and are
simultaneously total hypocrites in the process. At times the social and
political climate in America has taken on more of a Circus Freak show than that
of a civilized powerhouse nation.
RH: How did you first get into writing books?
PS: Growing up as a kid I was fortunate to have a great local
library stocked with provoking books. The idea that there are people in
the US that want to ban books because a selected few individuals object to the
contents is beyond crazy. It's the Thought Police and fascism is what it
is. Growing up with books allowed me to expand my mind, laugh and learn,
and travel in my mind, leaving my small-minded Chicago blue collar suburb
behind without leaving the library reading room. Who could ask for more
than that? Rock music and local blues was big in my neighbourhood, and I
loved writing reviews of rock and blues albums while in high school and then
while at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale IL. I'm not a
professionally trained author and will never be compared to Cormac McCarthy or
one of the other greats. I've always had a lot going on in my mind and have a
touch for taking the stock of situations and satirizing them. Having
people interested in what I write, laughing and being scared at the same time,
is the ultimate reward.
RH: What are your
favourite books and authors, and why?
PS: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami is in my
opinion, one of the top five modern novels because of its dream-like
quality and ability to make the reader think, laugh and be afraid all in the
same chapter. The journey that Murakami sends the book's
protagonist on takes the reader along for the ride. You feel all the
thrills, chills and excitement and it feels like you're right there along with
the main character. And few books can do that. Another modern
classic, must read and favourite of mine is The Things They Carried by Tim
O'Brien that chronicles his adventures in the Vietnam war while in the 23rd
Infantry Division. The short stories are a collection of incidents, some
real and some made up, that enlighten the reader on what really went on in the Vietnam
war. And to realize that everything is not what it appears to be.
Tim O'Brien has stated his daughter asked him which stories were true and which
short stories were made up. He refused to tell her. He only said
the stories that seem too wild to be true are true stories, while the more
normal stories are the made-up affairs. The book came about because of what Tim
O'Brien felt was the public's opinions of the Vietnam war that were only based
on ignorance instead of reality. I feel the same applies to Circus Freak
Nation, that there are too many people in this country who wallow around in
ignorance like pigs stuck in mud instead of finding out what is really going
on.
RH: Which part of the writing/publishing process do
you enjoy most?
PS: The part of the writing/publishing process I really
enjoy is brainstorming and letting the words fly, hitting the page as hard and
harmful as they want to. One of my friends told me to just let it loose
when writing Circus Freak Nation. Meaning to let whatever I felt or was
thinking at the time to get it down and not be afraid of the appearance of
perceptions it may cause. Let my honest opinions and thoughts just
decimate the pages. Then fortunately for myself, I found a great local
Chicago editor by the name of David Aretha, to help me compile everything into
an interesting, messy but fun ride of a novel. That plus I get to
correspond with interesting, book loving nerds like me across the pond in the
UK, like yourself, Richard.
RH: Who is most likely to read and enjoy your book?
PS: The people most likely to read my book are the more
intelligent, liberal, open-minded people. People who love books and love
idea's and want to read something that enlightens them, frightens them and
makes them laugh, all within the front and back covers. Also, those who have
been wondering what the hell is going on in America will like this book tremendously.
RH: What do you like
to do when you’re not writing, and does it inspire you, or is it an escape from
writing?
PS: While not writing I really enjoy music and used to play
guitar. Played a lot of classic rock and roll and Chicago style
blues. My collection and knowledge of music is pretty large, and I still
have an appetite for what new music is being created out there. You know,
what are the kids listening to? I like to consider my writing to be
street savvy, rock and roll-based type, storytelling. So, music has had
an influence not only on my life but also on my writing.
RH: Do you have any
promotional events planned, or are you considering any marketing ideas for your
book?
PS: As far as promotional events or marketing events, I'm going
to reach out to Good Reads and put a description of Circus Freak Nation out
there. I'm going to ask some Marketing minded college graduates for some
of their marketing ideas. Google will be a resource used for a while until I
get a better feel for this part of the process.
RH: What are your plans,
especially in terms of other books or projects?
PS: I've already been thinking of the
next book and have been kicking around an idea where people who are shot and
killed in the Chicago area are brought back to life through a DNA
database. Their DNA is taken from this database, and they are brought
back to life in a factory that specializes in bringing the shot and killed
back. An expensive cost that only the Country Club set can afford.
However, I'm not sure if that is going to be the main topic or a secondary
topic in the book. All I know is that my good friends from the Heavens
Assassins Detective Agency will be involved somehow in some way.
Circus Freak Nation is available now.
You can purchase it from Amazon in the United States by clicking HERE
Or from Amazon UK by clicking HERE