There are many violent things happening in the world. The murderous actions of extremists are on the front pages of our newspapers on a regular basis. In reaction, governments pledge to drop more bombs in the places that the terrorists might be. The term is fighting fire with fire. In the real world, it's what the general public seem to require of our politicians.
In the fictional world of Jenny Parker, violence isn't an option for her. Even if it were available to her, which mostly it's not, she realises that the kind of people she has to deal with actually thrive on violence. It's something they understand. Jenny has to find other means of saving herself knowing that threats of retaliation in kind aren't going to change her antagonists' mindset.
If someone's trying to kill you shouldn't you just kill them first? Isn't that the only way?
I don't believe it's that simple. I find plots that rely on a hero being able to out-fight, out-shoot or out-muscle the villain somewhat unsatisfying. There is, of course, a degree of might-is-right inherent in the way we humans conduct ourselves and it's a horrible fact to contemplate. But that doesn't mean violence has to be the only way out of a difficult situation.
One of the reasons I write the Jenny Parker series is to get away from the convention that a hero has to be able to beat up the bad guys. My old karate teacher, Billy Higgins, used to say that a good big 'un will always beat a good little 'un. He also taught me that, regardless of how proficient I might be, someone bigger and stronger would most likely kick my ass. The point of the training was to be able to defend myself long enough to be able to run away. Sprinting is a noble form of defence, in my opinion. Mind you, I only progressed to the level of yellow belt which some might find highly appropriate.
Jenny Parker doesn't have super powers, nor does she wield a samurai sword to deadly effect. She has to think on her feet and talk her way out of danger. It doesn't always work, mind you.
In the world of thrillers as in the real world, I firmly believe that violence will never bring a satisfactory resolution to a conflict. There are more subtle and effective means. And these are much more interesting to me and, I hope, to my readers.
photo credit: Explosion (Verleitung, Ablenkung beim SEK-Einsatz) via photopin (license)
