Character Spotlight ~ Rick Acker's Allie Whitman & Connor Norman

Connor & Allie

I'm a big fan of Rick's books and his latest, When the Devil Whistles is terrific and as soon as I can get my review together you will see how much I enjoyed it. For now, meet the dynamic duo behind Devil to Pay, Inc. Over to you, Rick:~

Brief physical description

What Allie looks like depends on where she is. If she’s in the office of a company she’s investigating, she’ll have mousy brown hair pulled back, minimalist makeup, and a conservative suit that hides her tattoos. When she’s between jobs, she’ll probably be blond, have a ski tan, and wear something appropriate for a night of club hopping.

Actor/famous person

When she’s not on a job, she looks a lot like Kate Hudson. When she’s working, she looks like nothing in particular—which is the point.

Strengths and weaknesses

Allie is funny, caring, and whip-smart. She also genuinely wants to do the right thing, but she has difficulty making hard choices. She tends to ignore them and hope they’ll go away—which has devastating consequences.

Quirk (if any)

For an accountant, she’s not very responsible with money. Not only does she take lots of expensive vacations with her “pet rock star” (as Connor calls him), she makes extravagant gifts to her mother and sister. As the reader discovers, though, there are reasons why she acts the way she does.

Your inspiration for the character

Allie is inspired by the real whistleblowers I deal with every day. They’re a colorful bunch—inspiring, flawed, courageous, untrustworthy, smart, and off-beat.

Background to the story

Allie Whitman is a professional whistleblower with a knack for sniffing out fraud in government contracts. Connor Norman is a gifted litigator with courtroom polish to spare. Together they formed Devil to Pay, Inc., a shell corporation that files lawsuits based on Allie’s investigations—and collects a generous share of the proceeds when the defendants settle. Allie and Connor have made good money making the devil pay, as they like to think of it. But then one of Allie’s targets turns the tables and blows the whistle on her, threatening to expose secrets that would ruin her career and put her in jail—unless she does them one little favor . . .

Allie and Connor soon find themselves fighting desperate—and potentially fatal—battles in and out of the courtroom. Their foe is a company that will go to any lengths to protect secrets much darker than padded bills.

Connor

Brief physical description

Connor is a wiry 5’10”. He has unruly brown hair and intelligent, gold-flecked brown eyes.

Actor/famous person

Jude Law or (for classic movie buffs) the great British actor and patriot Leslie Howard.

Strengths and weaknesses

On the positive side, Connor is a modern day aristocrat in the best sense of the word. His father is a retired senator and his mother is an heiress. As a result, Connor has gotten the very best education, both in and out of the classroom. His background hasn’t made him arrogant. Instead, it made him an idealist with a strong sense of right and wrong—which sometimes gets him in trouble at his law firm.

The big negative in Connor’s personality is that he’s not tolerant of people who make bad choices. When the story begins, he has never faced a hard decision. As a result, he’s not particularly sympathetic to people who do.

Quirk (if any)

This isn’t really a quirk, but Connor occasionally moonlights as a stunt pilot, flying his vintage P-51 in World War II movies. (Yes, there’s a little author wish fulfilment in those scenes.)

Your inspiration for the character

Connor is something of a composite of some of the better attorneys I knew during my days as a big firm lawyer in San Francisco. Specifically, I’m thinking of the members of the BT. You know who you are.

Background to the story

Allie Whitman is a professional whistleblower with a knack for sniffing out fraud in government contracts. Connor Norman is a gifted litigator with courtroom polish to spare. Together they formed Devil to Pay, Inc., a shell corporation that files lawsuits based on Allie’s investigations—and collects a generous share of the proceeds when the defendants settle. Allie and Connor have made good money making the devil pay, as they like to think of it. But then one of Allie’s targets turns the tables and blows the whistle on her, threatening to expose secrets that would ruin her career and put her in jail—unless she does them one little favor . . .

Allie and Connor soon find themselves fighting desperate—and potentially fatal—battles in and out of the courtroom. Their foe is a company that will go to any lengths to protect secrets much darker than padded bills.

Thanks for having Connor and Allie on Relz Reviewz!

Always a pleasure, Rick :) Keep writing great books!


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Interview with Rick

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BONUS: When the Devil Whistles is currently free to download to Kindle, Kindle for PC & more. Click here to download