Addison native takes on Robert Ludlum franchise

When Jamie Freveletti used to ride her bike as a child in the summer over the bubbling tar roads in what was then rural Addison, there was an odd-shaped building that always caught her eye — and eventually her imagination.

“In the cornfield behind our house was a large installation, several stories high, that looked like a huge golf ball,” she wrote in a recent email exchange. “I was told it contained missiles and it would be used if the U.S. was attacked. Now, I can't be sure this story was true, but it captured my imagination.”

The lauded author of two successful thrillers is set to release her third book in September, but will also be putting that imagination to work as she takes over late author Robert Ludlum's “Covert-One” series.

Freveletti was hand-picked by Ludlum's estate to write the next book in the ongoing series about a team of political and technical experts who thwart corruption, plots and attacks as part of a top-secret government outfit. Ludlum, who died in 2001, authored the popular spy-thriller Jason Bourne trilogy.

“It was a very big deal,” Freveletti said of being tapped for the Ludlum assignment. “Robert Ludlum's ‘The Bourne Identity' and ‘The Matarese Circle' were two of my favorites growing up. I was so pleased to have been asked, and to see my name on the cover next to his is going to be wonderful.”

Freveletti said she gets “quite a bit of freedom in the creative process” when it comes to writing the story for the Ludlum franchise, but she knows she'll have to stay true to the characters that are already part of an eight-book series tackled by five other authors.

“Ludlum's agent and the editor at the publishing house have been incredibly supportive of me and my ideas for the characters,” she said. “I'm making the pacing of the book match his style, though. He was the best at capturing one's attention.”

The author captured a lot of attention in 2009 when her first novel, “Running From the Devil,” hit bookshelves. The novel garnered several awards from various writing groups. She followed that book with “Running Dark” the next year. Both books feature the character Emma Caldridge, a chemist and endurance runner, who becomes ensnared in potential international chaos.

The new Caldridge book, “The Ninth Day,” is set for release at the end of September. Freveletti said there's only “a little” bit of her in the Caldridge character.

“As a scientist, she's a lot less emotional than I am,” she said. “I made her a runner because I love it, but I also thought my hero would need some sort of skill if she was going to get out of dangerous situations.”

Freveletti is a lawyer by trade, but just a few months ago decided to switch her license to “inactive” to devote herself full time to writing.

“It's how I identified myself for a long while,” she said. “Being a lawyer is an intellectual challenge that changes often. I'll definitely miss some aspects of it, but I am thrilled to have become a full-time writer and I'm so lucky to be able to do it for a living.”

While her law license may be inactive, Freveletti is not. An avid long distance runner and aikido black belt, she contends staying physically fit helps the creative process.

“Just this morning I had a particularly tough scene to write and when I got stuck, I just quit and went out to run,” she recalled. “Halfway through, I had a possible solution. That's always a relief, and I've never forgotten a plot line conjured on a run.”

To test her creative and physical mettle, I asked her who would win if she squared off against famed tough guy Chuck Norris.

“Mr. Norris is formidable,” she understated. “One of the best. However, he practiced karate and I practice aikido. In aikido we're defensive only. In aikido you are better off with a committed attacker because you harness the attacker's own motion against him.

“In this regard, Mr. Norris' wonderful power would assist in making the aikido moves work even better, and I assume he'd bring it full force. However, Mr. Norris would have to attack me first. I would never be the aggressor.”

Your move, Chuck.