Fugitive Family Interview

Today we're welcoming Alexander Cooke, the hero of Fugitive Family. His life went from riches to rags and then rags to riches in Pamela Tracy’s August Love Inspired Suspense.

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came to be in the midst of such suspense.
Just a year ago, I was an ordinary guy. Maybe too ordinary. I had a wife, a daughter, and a job – only I didn’t think of them in that order. I usually put my job first. I was a bank manager, a pretty posh position which allowed my family to enjoy a pretty posh life. Then, someone robbed the bank and framed me. Worse, that someone kidnapped my wife! Since blood – my wife’s - was found at the scene, the cops figured I’d offed my wife, intending to also take off with the bank’s money and start a new life. The cops didn’t seem to be able to believe I was innocent, and since I have a five-year-old daughter, I had to act quickly before whoever was doing all this got ahold of her.

2. So, during the book you Lisa Jacoby. Tell us a bit about her. What was your first impression? When did you know it was love?
After escaping from the police, I snatched my daughter and went into hiding – trying to do what the cops were not doing: find the real bankrobber. Amy and I took different identities. Amy became Amber. We met Lisa because for Amy’s well-being, she needed to be in school, around kids her own age, and have a somewhat normal childhood. Lisa Jacoby, the heroine (not a strong enough word to describe who she really is) was Amy’s first grade teacher. My first impression wasn’t too wonderful. I plowed into her car the day they discovered my… my wife’s body. I was trying to escape what I’d just heard on the news. Even then, Lisa was a study in patience. See, I didn’t have car insurance. I’m pretty sure most fugitives don’t! My real first impression concerned just how she brightened my daughter’s world. Pretty soon – thanks to a church softball league we were both on – she started brightening mine. Only I couldn’t let her know. Whoever killed my first wife was still out there!

3. What strengths/skills do you have? What is your greatest weakness?
Strengths? Well, I get things done. From work, and then when I was first arrested, until now. As a bank employee, I was highly respected, honest, and progressed up the ladder quickly. When I was first arrested, I quickly figured out if the killer was going to be found, I needed to do it, and I did. That leads me to my greatest weakness. I always that ‘I’ had to be in charge. I didn’t rely on God, only self – which lead to selfishness. Throughout this whole ordeal, the one plus has been the relationships I’ve built not only with my daughter, but with God.

4. What scares you?
Are you kidding? What scares me is knowing a madman can change your life in a blink, leaving you vulnerable and your family at risk.

5. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
How long I relied on self. My first wife never had my full attention, devotion. Now, thanks to my daughter, her teacher Lisa, and God, I know the power, the wonder, of devotion.

6. Where are you in your faith at the start of your story?
LOL. My faith was non-existent. I only knew about God because of one foster family. A family I didn’t manage to keep for long. My God was money and position.


7. Where are you in your faith at the end of the story?
“Fear thou not: for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yah, I will help thee; yeah, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
This verse from Isaiah says it all.

8. You've got a scripture at the beginning of the story. Tell us why this scripture is significant.
After I escaped from police custody and grabbed Amy, I was truly alone. I had never felt so alone, not even when I traversed through the foster system. I first attended church because I knew to keep my identity a secret, I needed to do everything I could to ‘not’ be the old Alexander Cooke. Alexander Cooke, a year ago, was not a church goer. Alexander Cooke, today, is not a church goer, he is a church.

9. If you could be a dessert what would you be and why?
I’ve not told you enough about Lisa Jacoby, and how she’s a rock in my world. If I have to be a dessert, I want to be whatever dessert she’s drawn to.

Thank you Pam for sharing Alexander with us. This sounds like an exciting read. Can't wait to get my copy.