Matt Hilton is the Cumbrian author of the Joe Hunter thriller series, including Dead Men’s Dust, Judgement and Wrath, Slash and Burn, and Cut and Run, with further books in the series coming soon. He is a high ranking martial artist and has been a police officer and private security specialist, all of which lend an authenticity to the action scenes in his books.
From his Q & A with Barb Ettridge:
BE: How much of you is in Joe Hunter? He brings your experience from working in private security, being a police officer and your training in martial arts, but do you have the same views on life? Or do you find yourself writing thoughts and principles that you personally don’t hold, but that Joe does?
MH: Joe Hunter is a younger, fitter, better-looking version of me. Though he’s not as charming. Seriously, though, he is possibly an idealized version of myself – in some, but not all respects. He is more right wing in his attitudes to how to treat the bad guys, but in the respect of hating bullying in any form, or in standing up for those weaker than himself, Joe and I are very alike. I was bullied as a child, and learned early on that the only way I could personally defeat the bullies was to fight back. I’m not advocating violence – certainly not – but I am about standing up for one’s character and rising above the insults and such that I had to endure. I took up martial arts to not only learn how to fight, but to also strengthen my confidence, in order that I did not have to fight. In one respect, Joe is a metaphor for everything that I stood for. I first got into private security work, and then the police force, through my desire to help people in need. Sounds corny, and sounds like I was viewing the world through the proverbial rose tinted spectacles, but it is true. So, yeah, at a basic level, Joe and me share the same principles; it’s just about how we put our actions into motion that we differ. For the record, I’ve never killed a bad guy.
BE: You’re a focused writer with the schedule of publishing a new title every six months. Has the discipline that you learnt from studying Kempo Ju-Jitsu given you skills that you apply to achieving this output?
MH: Definitely. With martial arts training, you’re...[read on]
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The Page 69 Test: Judgment and Wrath.
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