There’s a certain point in writing a novel where the story becomes real—at least to you. You start hearing the voices of your characters in the shower. You wonder how they’d handle a situation in the news. And before long, the lines blur between imagination and lived experience.

That’s exactly how it happened with The Smoke Eater. It might be the first book I’m publishing in this series, but it’s technically the fourth I’ve written in this world setting. I guess you can think of The Smoke Eater as a prequel with teeth—a hard-hitting, character-driven story that introduces readers to the town of Hillfort, the people who hold power there, and the moral lines they’re willing to cross. Or erase.

And since this is the book that kicks it all off, (which I’ve targeted September for my release date), I figured now’s a good time to talk about where it came from—what’s true, what’s made up, and what was forged in fire (both literally and creatively).

This Book Started Backwards

Let’s rewind.

I didn’t sit down one day and say, “I’m going to write a book about a fire chief with a missing son, a police chief hiding a dirty secret, and there’s a meth-fueled power play that could collapse a town.”

It started after writing two other novels in the same universe. Those earlier drafts had a lot of characters development, they more entrenched, and dealing with the aftermath of everything that goes down in The Smoke Eater. But when I stepped back, I realized: the real story—the one that explains everything—comes first.

So, I did what all stubborn writers do: I hit reset and decided to write the prequel as Book One. Not just because the backstory deserved its own spotlight, but because the themes were too big to stay in the shadows.

Corruption. Loyalty. Brotherhood. Grief. Fire. And yeah, organized crime slipping in through the cracks.

Hell, I remember working up in Northern Canada, getting a major project ready for a pipeline, and somehow the Hells Angles beat us there and were all set up to sell their goods. (Fun times!)

Inspired by The Shield and Fargo (Season 2, Specifically)

This book was also inspired by the Sheild. And if you’ve ever watched The Shield—that gritty, no-holds-barred cop drama with Michael Chiklis at the helm—you’ll know what I mean when I say it’s not just about felony. It’s about moral compromise and the slippery slope or morally corrupt people trying to regain control. How easy it is to justify doing bad things for the right reasons.

I was fascinated by that show. The politics within the department. The way the characters wrestled with the systems they were trying to survive. That was the blueprint—and poof—I had my background for how my own secret world began.

And then there’s Fargo Season 2—probably the best season of the series in my view. Small town, creeping criminal influence, blurred lines between law and lawlessness. I didn’t copy it, but that tone? That tension? It stayed with me. Actually, I have made hundred of trips to towns like Fort Mac, Hardisty, Duluth Wisconsin, and countless others where this story could easily happen—and yet these places all seem cozy on the outside. So, I asked myself: What if we set that same sort of drama in a place that no one expects? A place that doesn’t show up on maps unless you’re looking for trouble. Somewhere like Hillfort.

(And Hillfort is not a town anywhere I could find in Google. It is a fortified refuge or settlement, typically built on elevated ground, used during the Iron Age across parts of Europe—which sounds good and harsh in real terms.

A Town Shaped by Industry and Shadows

I’ve spent a good chunk of my life working in and around the oil and gas industry. If you’ve been out in Alberta, Saskatchewan, northeastern BC, the Dakotas, Montana, or even parts of Alaska, you know what I’m talking about—those little towns that boom with money and danger.

The crews roll in, stay a few weeks or months, then vanish. But not before the bars fill up, the drugs find their way into work camps, and someone with a badge starts asking the wrong questions.

That transience creates opportunity. For dealers. For gangs. For anyone who can make fast cash and disappear just as quickly. And that kind of tension creates dirt bag-mothers that are great for fiction.

And so, I didn’t want to write a story about cartels or big city crime. I wanted to explore how organized crime can grow like mould in places where people are too tired, too underfunded, or too complicit to stop it.

The People Behind the Page

I’ve also spent nearly two decades working on the craft. Not just writing stories, but learning how to build characters that feel real—because, in many cases, they are. Not literally, of course. No one character in The Smoke Eater is pulled directly from a single person, but they’re composites of people I’ve met, worked beside, argued with, or admired. I also have to admit that there’s also a little bit of me in the characters too.

Fire Chief Dave Fulton, for example, carries the weight of every strong, silent type I’ve known—the kind of guy who’ll run into a burning building without hesitation but struggle to tell his son he loves him. Jim Harris, Hillfort’s Police Chief, is what happens when you mix ambition with regret. And Elijah? He’s the wildcard—charismatic, dangerous, and certain that he’s been chosen for something bigger—and the kind of guy who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else until things blow up in his face.

Just to be clear, they didn’t show up out of nowhere. They evolved. Slowly. Over years of outlining, rewriting, and imagining what makes someone click—or hold it together just long enough to get through the next disaster.

Setting the Fire, Then Letting It Burn

When I sat down to write The Smoke Eater, I knew I wasn’t interested in just plot. I wanted to explore cause and effect. Once you read it you’ll understand this better, but what if a town has been covering things up for years, what happens when the truth finally breaks the surface? That’s what this book does. It lights the match and we all get to watch the pages burn.

I gave myself permission to slow down, dig deep, and let the characters make bad decisions. Not for shock value, but because that’s how real people operate under pressure.

Bringing the World to Light

The world of Hillfort has been in my head for years. It’s got back alleys and firetrucks, family dinners and a stripper joint; good men doing the wrong thing, and bad men pretending to be saviours. Now I finally get to bring that world to readers—and I won’t lie, it feels incredible.

There were times I doubted if I’d ever get here. At times I threw out entire chapters. Other times I looked at my notes and thought, What am I doing? But the story always pulled me back.

Looking Ahead

Even though The Smoke Eater is the first book being published, it won’t be the last. The series is already mapped out and other books are getting ready to go. I know where these characters are going. Some will rise. Some will fall. And some will die. And for the town of Hillfort? It’s got a long memory and the impact will ultimately go global.

And coming next in the series? Book Two: The Expatriate. This one’s going to raise the stakes and the tempo.

Set in the Middle East, The Expatriate picks up the thread with some old faces returning—hardened, changed, and maybe a little broken—and introduces new characters who are as dangerous as they are unforgettable. It’s a hard-driving, high-stakes story that takes the quiet corruption of Hillfort and puts it on a global stage. Think war zones, oil fields, black ops, and decisions that can’t be undone.

If The Smoke Eater is the match, The Expatriate is the firestorm.

Again, The Smoke Eater will be good to go in September, while Book Two: The Expatriate will be out late Feb or March of 2026.

Want to follow the journey?
Stay connected here for udpates:
https://therealbenlucas.com/contact/ (Author info and updates coming soon)

Let the match drop.