Interview: Ray Ellis, Author of N.H.I.: No Humans Involved

Joining us today is Ray Ellis, author of N.H.I. (No Humans Involved) (A Nate Richards Novel). Ray began his law enforcement career with the Orange County Sheriff's Department in Orange County, California. After working for a number of years in the maximum security facility, he transferred to patrol working along Orange County's coast as well as the inner canyons and barrios. After 8 years he moved to Idaho and continued his law enforcement career, serving as an instructor for the Idaho POST Council.


Ray was first ordained into the ministry while living in Orange County and now serves as the Associate Pastor in his home church in Nampa, Idaho. A former United States Marine, he is a public speaker, communicating to groups of all sizes on the topics of community and personal safety. Since 1999 Ray has been a primary instructor for the Idaho POST Academy – Police Training Institution for Idaho- instructing on subjects of Arrest Control, Cultural Diversity and for the last five years exclusively on the topic of Instructor Development, where he teaches other officers to be POST certified instructors. He is currently serving as the lead sex crimes investigator for the agency where he works. He has been married to the same woman for 27 years and has three children; two sons and a daughter. Ray lives with his family in Idaho.

Welcome to The Book Connection, Ray. It's wonderful to have you with us. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I am forty-seven year old husband and father of three. I have been ordained as a Christian minister since the spring of 1989 and a police officer for about the same amount of time. I work as a sex crimes investigator and also do public speaking and instruct for the Idaho POST, the organization for training police officers in the state.

When did you begin writing?

I began writing in the spring of 1995, working on a science fiction manuscript. Although the first story I ever wrote was a comic book written when I was in sixth grade. I also began work on a graphic novel that I am still working on.

What is this book about?

This story is a police procedural/urban fiction: Christian Noire. Set in the Treasure Valley region of South West Idaho, Nate Richards a new detective finds himself stuck in the middle of a murder spree. The body of a teenage boy is discovered dumped in the streets of Meridian, a midsized town just west of Boise, and the next morning a police officer is discovered murdered near the same area. Nate Richards is tasked with solving the murders. A new street gang is on the rise and a turf war erupts. In the middle of all this Nate’s partner is shot and is lingering in a comma, his girlfriend is kidnapped and Nate is under pressure to solve the murders before the city tears itself apart.

What inspired you to write it?

The inspiration for NHI came from my experience working as a police officer and serving as an ordained pastor. Seeing the code of NHI in operation and knowing what I do about human nature, I decided to explore the dynamics of what would happen if these two world collided.

Who is your favorite author?

My favorite author is probably C.S. Lewis, but then again Francine Rivers is right there with him.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

NHI is released as an eBook at this time and is listed for sale at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Smashword.com.

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

Yes, my blog site is called Urban Fiction Unleashed and can be found at http://authorray.blogspot.com/.

My web site is located at http://urbanfictionunleashed.webstarts.com/.

What is up next for you?

The second book in the Nate Richards series, DRT: Dead Right There, is due for release in the fall of this year and I am writing the third in the series, IAI: Internal Affairs Investigation, now.

Thanks for spending time with us today, Ray. We wish you great success.