Opus Wright

Near the end of the first book of Jeremiah Stone a character is introduced with only a small part, however, in books ‘Limbus’ and ‘Azazel’ this person takes on a major role. This person is CIA operative/sharp shooter/assassin Opus Wright, a cold, calculating killer whose obsession with death (especially the fact death can be cheated) leads him towards Jeremiah Stone.

In ‘Jeremiah Stone’, Hades (the primary bad dude) gets frustrated by Jeremiah’s unpredictability and in turn seeks out Opus hoping the man straight-forward methods can provide the advantage Hades needs. Opus, on the other hand, thinks Hades is the incarnation of Death, a perception Hades encourages, and by doing Hades’ bidding Opus believes Hades will own him a life. For the most part Hades honors these agreements with Opus by protecting the man when tough situations arise. Another item of note is at this point in the series, Opus is still working for the CIA. He lives by societal rules, for the most part, and he knows there are limits to the freedoms he takes, which is why he helps NYPD Captain Eric Hallaman at the end of ‘Jeremiah Stone’ instead of killing the man.

This is not true within ‘Limbus’ and ‘Azazel’. After 15 years of relative peace, satellite communications, and the internets, Opus has become a dinosaur, a danger to the public, and an embarrassment to the CIA. In fact the CIA would love to be rid of their former tool, but Opus has been trained too well and stays under the radar. However, Opus’ obsession with Death has only increased during those years. Knowing Jeremiah Stone has died three times and somehow come back to life drives Opus to seek out Jeremiah’s secret. So when Jeremiah surfaces, Opus enters the picture in a bad way.

To describe Opus is to portray the man’s personality. In ‘Jeremiah Stone’, Opus is controlled using his high intelligence, fast reactions, and uncanny skills with handguns to capture the one person Jeremiah holds dear. But when Jeremiah escapes his grasp, Opus calculates the man’s odds of survival against Death (Hades) and offers Eric Hallaman help hoping it will even the odds. Just why he would do this? Because Jeremiah has avoided death before and Opus wants another crack at the man who seems unable to die. In the second and third books, Opus has changed. His years are waning along with his skills, so he’s become far more callous. He now has an utter disregard for human life beyond those who fall into his agenda. At the pinnacle of his list of those on his agenda is Jeremiah Stone, though when he believes Jeremiah Stone dies then his only option to discover Jeremiah’s secret lies within Limbus. Unluckily, the lives Hades owes Opus have run out which only makes Opus all the more desperate to discover Jeremiah’s power over Death.

Now just how do I come up with a character like Opus you may ask? It’s not easy, though I take the same route I describe when creating conversations (see the ‘Conversations’ blog entry). I think of specific character traits thus defining the person. In the first book, Opus is obsessed with the idea of conquering death. He is also at the top of his game so he sees no one as a true threat to him except Death (Hades). These two traits make him cold and calculating, especially considering his background within the CIA. However, in the second book, his obsession with death borders on insanity. And since he knows he is vulnerable, he no longer takes the same chances he used to.  Thus killing someone to reach his goal becomes all the more prevalent within his personality; a leave no loose strings approach to everything he does.

Out of the four Jeremiah Stone novels I’ve written, I like the novel ‘Limbus’ the best for two reasons. The two reasons are actually two of the characters within the novel. The first character is Opus because of the person he’s become due to his obsession with death. The second character is Jebediah Smith, the old coot who is far more than he appears to be. I think he may be the next subject of discussion.