Wolf’s Head Bay: Journey of the Courageous Eleven by Jeffery Allen Boyd
Wolf’s Head Bay (BookBaby) delves into the murky depths of the global criminal industry, intertwining a gripping tale of survival with real-world scandals and cover-ups. Author Jeffery Allen Boyd crafts a narrative that is both chilling and thought-provoking, drawing readers into a world where the line between fiction and reality blurs. We got a chance to talk with the author himself about what first inspired his story, what drew him to the action/adventure genre and why he thinks our society needs less fictional superheroes — and more real ones.
Q: What inspired you to write this book?
A: My first novel, Wolf’s Head Bay: The Journey Home, is an adventure revolving around a young cast of characters living in a small northern Michigan town. I love my characters and wanted to write a sequel. This time I wanted to write not only an action/adventure thriller, capitalizing on my aviation and helicopter background, but a story that is both relevant to our times and confronting what I believe to be the greatest threat to our society — globally — human trafficking.
Q: What led you to center the book around human trafficking?
A: I care passionately about how our society treats its children and I find it deeply troubling. I first became aware of human trafficking in the 1980s when TV news magazines like 20/20 began doing exposés about it. After the publication of my first novel in 2004 I came across something called the Franklin Credit Union scandal or the Franklin child prostitution ring — a true crime government conspiracy involving an embezzlement scheme that had connections to child trafficking, missing children and the White House. My extensive research revealed that human trafficking flourishes globally including here in the United States. Victims are mostly women, but to my shock, those numbers also include young girls and boys — children.
Allegations began to surface in 1988 in Omaha, Nebraska. At the time it attracted significant public and political interest until late 1990, when separate state and federal grand juries concluded that the ring was a “carefully crafted hoax — scripted by a person or persons with considerable knowledge of the people and institutions of Omaha,” but without identifying who perpetrated the hoax. I had never heard of this because of the alleged government cover-up. Wolf’s Head Bay: Journey of the Courageous Eleven is based on the Franklin child prostitution ring.
Q: Has your background informed the writing of Wolf’s Head Bay?
A: In the late 1970s while attending junior college I was involved with our local Youth Action Bureau and the Big Brother program. After moving to Miami, Florida in 1985 I eventually became involved and volunteered at the local Children’s Home Society. Then, after moving down to the Keys in 1992 I worked for four years at the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter. This shelter took in children ranging in age from infant to 17 years old. Some of these children came from heart-breaking backgrounds. A lot of anger and acting out. The teenagers though were the toughest crowd.
Q: Do you read the works of other authors in the action/adventure genre? And if so, have you drawn inspiration from any of them?
A: Growing up in Northern Michigan in the 1970s — the era of the “disaster movies” — I was influenced by two prolific writers: the Master of Disaster Irwin Allen, and adventure novelist Clive Cussler. I am most inspired by the action/adventure genre of books and movies like Key Largo, Mercury Rising, Breakdown, Firewall and Sound of Freedom, a true real-life story of the rescue of two siblings from traffickers. These have exciting and engaging storylines about people suddenly thrust into extraordinarily perilous situations fighting for their lives and usually the lives of others.
Q: What do you hope readers take away from the book?
A: The intent of my book is not to scare but to inform and entertain through compelling storytelling. My characters show great courage refusing to give up in the face of such evil as human trafficking. And sometimes that evil masquerades as good. Human traffickers are drawn to our open southern border while our leaders and representatives continue to put power, politics and financial gain over the lives of children. Throughout the United States both domestic and foreign organized crime cartels including gangs are able to operate unimpeded in several major metropolitan cities. Of their many criminal enterprises human trafficking and prostitution are #1. Drugs can be sold only once, but a person, a young boy or girl, can be sold many times over.
I can’t relate to the comic book heroes amplified by the movie industry because they’re not real. Our society needs real heroes. We hear about them in the news frequently, average people like you and I. They’re delivery service company drivers and mail carriers, first responders, paramedics, emergency rescue crews, firefighters, people on the street and yes, cops — those men and women in blue who don’t run away from danger but rather toward it to save others. We recently witnessed this in Kansas City on February 14, 2024.
With every purchase of my novel, I make a monetary donation to the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center which provides support to the Zero Abuse Project directly funding programs that help protect children. This is my way of getting involved and giving back by writing a thought-provoking and exciting novel bringing awareness to online exploitation, grooming and combating human trafficking.
Jeffery Boyd, sun-loving beach boy & wine enthusiast, was born in Homestead, Florida. After growing up in Traverse City, Northern Michigan — “picturesque, with a lotta cool hiking trails, dunes and lakes” — the inspiration for his action/adventure books, he headed to Miami, Florida. He eventually made his way farther south down U.S. 1 to Islamorada in the tropical Florida Keys after his car broke down on a weekend getaway and decided this is where he wanted to live. In 2020, he received the Readers’ Favorite Silver Medal & Bronze Medal award, respectively, for his action/adventure thriller Wolf’s Head Bay: Journey of the Courageous Eleven and The Race for Home.
Today, Boyd divides his time between Traverse City and Islamorada, with his partner and their thoroughly laid-back cat, Simon, living the island life while pursuing his passion for writing his Wolf’s Head Bay mystery action/adventure thrillers.
