When people ask me what the hardest scenes in The Catalogue were to write, they usually assume the answer involves a gunfight, an explosion, or one of the novel’s larger twists.

Those scenes certainly take work.

But they don’t make me question whether they belong.

The scenes that make me nervous are the quiet ones—the conversations where the plot pauses and the characters take over.

This scene between Jake and Parker was one of those.

There were several revisions where I seriously considered cutting it. Not because I disliked it, but because I worried it interrupted the momentum. Thrillers are built on movement, and here I was asking readers to stop for several pages while one man told a story from his childhood.

The more I revised, however, the more I realized this conversation wasn’t slowing the story. It was adding layers to one of the most challenging characters I ever wrote.

Parker.

A Man Who Doesn’t Seem Afraid

One of the things readers often notice about Parker is that very little seems to rattle him.

He walks into dangerous situations with an almost casual confidence. He rarely gives people the reaction they expect, and he has a habit of treating life-and-death moments as if they’re minor inconveniences.

Some readers mistake that for arrogance.

Others see it as humor.

But I always knew there was a reason beneath the surface.

This conversation was my chance to reveal it.

“You know,” Parker continued, turning slightly toward him. “I met this so-called God once. When I was a kid.”

Jake sighed. “I really don’t want to hear about your near-death experiences.”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Parker said, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. “I had trouble sleeping as a kid. Fidgeting, noises—couldn’t sit still to save my life. Until one night, something came to me. A presence, right by my bed. It placed a hand on my face. It was strong but gentle, like a pillow. The smell was… sweet, familiar, but I couldn’t place it.” His eyes drifted, reliving the memory. “In the beginning, my heart would race, but after a while, I got used to it. Hell, I even grabbed onto it, thinking it was my guardian angel. My mother told me it was the hand of God coming to protect me.”

When Parker begins telling this story, it sounds almost innocent. Strange, certainly—but not threatening.

That’s intentional.

I wanted readers to experience the conversation exactly the way Jake does. At first, it feels like Parker is wandering into another one of his odd stories. The kind that starts somewhere unexpected before circling back to whatever point he’s trying to make.

Neither Jake nor the reader realizes they’re about to learn the single most important truth about Parker.

The Moment Everything Changes

Good twists don’t simply surprise readers. They force readers to reinterpret everything they’ve already seen. That’s what I hoped this moment would accomplish.

Jake stared straight ahead, listening but not reacting.

Parker’s smile turned cold. “One night I had trouble sleeping, and sure enough the hand of God came to calm me. This particular night, though, was a full moon, so I had a better visual. As this presence approached me, I could see his eyes contrasting with the moonlight. At first, I was shocked to see that God had soulless ice-blue eyes with a scar going through his left eyebrow. But then it didn’t take long for me to figure out it was my actual old man.”

This wasn’t written to shock readers.

It was written to answer a question.

Why doesn’t Parker seem afraid of anyone?

The answer isn’t that he’s fearless. It’s that the greatest fear of his life wasn’t waiting somewhere in the future. It had already happened long before he entered the shadow world. Long before he crossed paths with spies, assassins, or criminal organizations.

By the time Parker became the man readers meet in The Catalogue, fear had already introduced itself.

The Philosophy Behind Parker

Everything Parker believes about the world is contained in what comes next.

His fingers clenched the steering wheel.

“Turns out, dear old Dad had a trick for getting me to sleep. Chloroform.” He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Then it hit me like a continuous wave of clarity. The pastors always preached for people to be God-fearing. It’ll bring you salvation if you’re obedient and surrender to God. That was partially true because God was my father, and he struck fear in me like no other human could every day of my life. That is, of course, until he passed away. Heart attack. I watched God get buried like the rest of us, and I told myself I would never fear anyone like that again.”

This is the paragraph that made me fight to keep the scene.

For me, it isn’t a story about abuse.

It’s a story about perspective.

Parker spent his childhood believing the most powerful person in his universe was his father. Every day, he lived under someone who seemed larger than life—someone who controlled everything.

Then one day…

“God” died.

Not in some dramatic showdown.

Not at the hands of a hero.

A heart attack.

An ordinary death.

That realization reshaped the way Parker sees everyone else.

World leaders.

Crime bosses.

Intelligence agencies.

Terrorists.

They all project power. They all demand respect. They all want people to fear them.

Parker can’t.

Because compared to the man who raised him, they’re just people. That’s why he walks into dangerous rooms without reverence. That’s why threats rarely affect him. And that’s why he often seems amused by situations that leave everyone else on edge.

It’s not because he thinks he’s invincible.

It’s because he’s already met the person he considered God…

…and watched him lowered into the ground.

Jake Finally Understands

Sometimes what’s left unsaid carries more weight than dialogue ever could.

They sat in the stillness. The only sound was the wind howling through the trees.

Jake doesn’t offer advice.

He doesn’t tell Parker he’s sorry.

He doesn’t try to make sense of what he just heard.

He simply lets the silence exist.

I think, in that moment, Jake realizes something the reader does too.

He hasn’t been traveling with a man who believes he’s untouchable.

He’s been traveling with someone who stopped believing fear deserved his obedience.

Those are two very different things.

Why I Couldn’t Cut It

On paper, this scene doesn’t accomplish very much.

No clues are uncovered.

No conspiracy advances.

No action sequence begins.

If I had removed it, the plot of The Catalogue would still work.

But Parker wouldn’t.

This conversation isn’t there to explain his past. It’s there to explain every decision he makes afterward. Once you understand where Parker’s worldview comes from, the sarcasm, the confidence, and the calm under pressure stop feeling like personality traits.

They become consequences.

That’s why this scene ultimately stayed.

Sometimes a thriller needs to stop chasing the next twist long enough to answer a more important question.

Not what a character is doing.

But why.

For me, that’s what separates memorable characters from memorable plots. The plot keeps you turning pages. The characters are what stay with you long after you’ve closed the book.

Ready to see what you missed the first time?
Check out The Catalogue and step into the shadows for yourself.

“Mitchell’s plot is interesting and carefully crafted, with several points of tension that work together harmoniously.” – Booklife Reviews

“Ty Mitchell’s pacing is near perfect in his propulsive thriller, THE CATALOGUE. Fans of fast-paced thrillers pegged to elite international skulduggery will enjoy this frantic ride.” – IndieReader

“Mitchell delivers a fast-paced conspiracy thriller. No one knows who they can trust right up to the final surprise twist.” – Kirkus Review

“The Catalogue is the type of novel that provides suspense, thrills, plot twists, and understanding of the complexities of the law and the lawless. It is perfectly made to order.” – Julie Porter, Reedsy

“The Catalogue by Ty Mitchell is a wonderful and gripping thriller with the appropriate amount of action, twists, and turns. Ty Mitchell deserves high praise for his writing.” – Reader Views Book Review

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