CONTENTS
Another
page here
Management Alternatives
is honored to sponsor the content of this site.
|
|
The Doug Carlson Fan Site
everything you ever wanted to know about a fictional
character
Last update:
07/14/06 12:34:23 PM.
Visitors: 
Doug Carlson,
O'Neal's lovable main character, is finally getting well-deserved
attention. He is 40-ish and pretty much an average guy. Doug
was a Marine when he served in the undeclared war in Vietnam, but that was
a longtime ago. Since then, much has changed. When the trilogy
begins, Doug is a banker who's life seems to be going nowhere; that is
until he meets Mr. C, a Mafia boss from Los Angeles.
The following
is a collection of often asked questions about Doug, and why he did what
he did in the series. Most questions have been answered by the
author, except when the answer is cleverly hidden in the story. In
those cases the reader will have to email the author with their comments
and the author will discuss the issue privately (so as to not give away
that particular point to other readers who have not arrived at that
point). (NOTE: WGA = What Goes Around, Pact = The Pact
With Bruno and CTK = Choosing To Kill.)
How do you come up with the titles for you
books? I think they're so cool.
As you'll read elsewhere, the
original title was to be The Dying Game for the death that occurs
in the first three books. Later, when the plans changed and the
trilogy was born, I sought titles that conveyed the bigger message of each
story.
What Goes
Around was chosen because of my vision of the world. I believe
there is something very metaphysical about our existence. We
refer to those kinds of happenings as strange and seldom look behind them.
Over the years, I've investigated such things a bit, but only enough to
believe that something of substance exists there that is beyond us and our
current mind set. Getting back to reality, I picked that title for
the repetitive nature that life seems to bring to us. The saying,
what goes around, comes around, may have been with us for centuries.
My story in that particular book has multiple examples of it.
Near the end
of book 1, a scene with Bruno makes it clear why such a title, as The
Pact With Bruno, was chosen. For the most part, the pact is
unspoken between these men and it signifies the bond that men (and
probably women) make to those around them that they learn to love.
Again, in
book 1, Doug spends a bit of time discussing his first-kill in Vietnam
with Catherine and over the years since Vietnam, he had decided that even
that battlefield death involved a choice by him. For me the title,
Choosing To Kill, was the only way Doug would have conducted the
missions that eventually become the subject of the story in book 3.
In the
beginning of the series, why did Doug fail to go to the police about his
conflict with the Mafia?
In the first part of WGA, Doug
commented more than once in dialogue or internal dialogue that getting the
police involved was too much trouble. Also, he thought the whole
thing was over after each of the primary incidents.
I've heard
that there's a lot of foreshadowing in the series. Can you explain
where it happens?
There is a significant amount of it
in my work, but I won't tell you where to find it. That'll take all
of the fun out of reading the books and finding the connections yourself.
However, I will give you some clues.
1. How was Doug's love interest after WGA foreshadowed? 2. Why did
Doug save Jerry's life? 3. How many examples of 'what goes around,
comes around' can be found in the trilogy? 4. What's the
significance of Mr. C in the trilogy? 5. What's Doug's middle name?
6. Which mission in CTK becomes the subject of book 4? Why and what
went wrong? 7. Each of the Vietnam flashbacks precede another scene.
What do they each tell us about Doug or about what is expected to happen?
8. What was Doug's service number in the Marines? 9. What does
'brass' mean? 10. How any of Bruno's properties can you name?
Can't get the
answers even with these clues? You still stumped? Contact the
author at
oneal@managementalternatives.com but with only one question per email.
After
everything Doug suffered in WGA from the Mafia, why does he still get
involved with Bruno?
If you remember, Bruno was quite
insistent. Doug's direct refusal at the end of WGA and his inner
conflict in the Pact was clear. Even as Bruno pulled him into the
same type of bear hug he had just shared with his son, Doug struggles to
reconcile his feelings. Eventually, Doug decides to make things
happen on his own terms and is surprised to see Bruno agree to most of
what he asks.
What drove
Doug to become a vigilante hit man in CTK?
In the Pact, readers quickly discover
along with Doug that both the Mafia and the Los Angeles Police Department
are corrupt in many ways. By that time, even Jerry is opting out of
the Don's chair that he is about to inherit because of such feelings and
growing pressure from his wife. Together, they form a new alliance
(that's shared with their wives) to conduct the missions of CTK.
In the
Kely/Doug/baby situation, it seems she was totally disrespectable of the
feelings of her three closest friends. What caused her to be so
inflexible, insisting that everything be done her way?
Kely's history with Doug goes all the
way back to WGA, where they were as close as two people could be without
being romantically involved. On the cruise they come close to having
an affair, but each decides to let it pass. Kely was never as
assertive as her sister, but when she began aiding Doug to get Mr. C, she
began to change.
Later, when she and Sammy go into
business, the assertiveness continues to grow. By the 3rd book, Kely
is doing what she thinks is correct, but eventually, she says, "I've been
a total bitch with my rants for a baby at your expense." I think
that says it all.
If you have other questions about
your reading of the Doug Carlson novels, it's easy to get an answer, just
ask the author. Contact him at
oneal@managementalternatives.com
Copyright 1996-2003. Management
Alternatives. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
