ROBERT WERNLI

1. Why did you write Sunrise Cartel?

 

Well, as a very competitive person, I don’t like to lose. And I carry that trait over to my characters. In this case to Nomoto from Second Sunrise. Although he went free, he lost his goal of destroying the U.S. In this novel he is again working on that goal through drugs, however, he had not had a chance to get even with Chad. When an opportunity arises for him to use his underwater technology to once again “compete” with Chad, he wasn’t about to pass up the chance. May the best man win!

 

2. How did you come up with the plot?

 

They say there are only about twenty-something plots. The difference between them is location, characters, description, voice, etc. You can be searching for a treasure on another planet, a mountain, in the ocean depths, or .. . . in my case, it was to be another underwater thriller. The great thing is that with today’s technology there are amazing things being discovered throughout the world’s oceans. One of those was the discovery of the I-52 submarine from World War II by Paul Tidwell. It supposedly had a shipment of gold on board. Unfortunately, none was found. With permission, I rewrote history and changed the discovery of the I-52 to my team, led by Chad Donegan.

 

3. But you loaded the boat up with students? Why?

 

I’ve worked a lot educating students on underwater technology and through a technical society working on scholarships, internships, etc. A lot of students go to sea to support their research. So, by mixing in some bureaucracy for those trying to reach a higher status level in the government, students who become the pawns in the game, some very hidden agendas, and there you go. All the necessary ingredients to put the ship, its crew and all the other players on that roller-coaster thrill ride.