Book Title: FINAL APPROACH
Character Name: Kristine Duncan – Air Marshal
How would you describe your family or your childhood?
"Family? It was complicated after Mom died. Before that… we had moments, I guess. Dad was always hard on me and my siblings, but Mom buffered it. After the hijacking, it was just me, my twin brother and sister, and him with his unpredictable rage—or gaslighting. You never knew which one you were going to get. He blamed the world for taking her. I became a shield between him and the twins. I learned to redirect his anger toward me, to make sure Ethan and Emily could still have some kind of childhood. I grew up fast, making their lunches, helping with homework, bandaging scraped knees. They became my responsibility, my purpose. We formed our own little unit within that broken home."
What is your greatest talent?
"Reading people. I can walk into a room and know who's a threat within seconds. It started as survival with my father - knowing when to speak, when to disappear. Now it's my job. I notice patterns in behavior others miss. That hypervigilance… it's a curse and a gift, I suppose."
Significant other?
"There's Andrew Ross, an FBI Special Agent I met through mutual friends in Lake City, North Carolina. We were both off-duty, which is rare enough that it felt like a divine blessing. He understands the demands of the job better than most could. We both live in that high-pressure world of federal law enforcement; both carry the weight of others' safety on our shoulders. Our unpredictable schedules initially meant we sometimes could go for weeks without seeing each other, but then we got thrown together on a case, so we’ve spent loads of time together getting to know each other. And thankfully, Andrew's patient—maybe too patient—with my walls and my baggage. He doesn't push, and I'm grateful for that, even if sometimes I wonder if I need the push."
Biggest challenge in relationships?
"Trust. Plain and simple. I've spent my career identifying threats, looking for the worst in people. It's hard to turn that off. And after growing up with someone who was supposed to protect me but didn't… I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. For the mask to slip. It's exhausting sometimes. But Andrew is teaching me that I don’t need to do that. And I’m starting to believe he’s right. That’s nice."
Where do you live?
"I have a small townhouse in Lake City, North Carolina. Nothing fancy. I rent it from my father because…well, that’s a long story. Suffice it to say, I've been slowly making it a home over the past couple of years—planted some hydrangeas in the front yard, painted the kitchen a soft blue. It's close enough to the regional airport for my work assignments, but far enough from the noise. Some weeks I barely see it between flights, but when I do get home, there's something grounding about having my own space. I hope that maybe one day I’ll inherit it, or my dad will sell it to me, and it will truly be mine."
Do you have any enemies?
"Besides the terrorists and other criminals, I'm trained to stop? Nobody specific with a vendetta, if that's what you mean. But I've made arrests, testified in federal cases. There are people serving long sentences because of me. I try not to think about it too much, but with this latest case, it looks like I’m going to have to because someone keeps trying to kill me."
How do you feel about the place where you are now?
Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place? "My town house is my sanctuary. After years of feeling unsafe in my childhood home and then living out of suitcases, having this space that's mine in every way except a deed in hand means everything. I've painted each room exactly how I want it, planted those hydrangeas out front that remind me of the ones my mother loved. I have photographs of Ethan, Emily and me throughout the years on the mantel. It's the first place I've ever felt completely safe to exhale, to be vulnerable, to just exist without scanning for threats. When I unlock that door after a long assignment, something inside me settles. After a lifetime of chaos, this home is my anchor."
Do you have children, pets, both, or neither?
“Neither. My lifestyle isn't conducive to either. Though sometimes I think about getting a cat - they're independent enough to handle my absences. Maybe someday when things are… different."
What do you do for a living?
"I'm a Federal Air Marshal. We're the plainclothes security personnel on flights. Most passengers never know we're there unless something goes wrong. My job is to make sure it doesn't. I blend in, observe, protect. It's intense work, but someone has to do it."
Greatest disappointment?
"Not being able to repair my relationship with my father. I tried so hard to be perfect, to give him no reason to be angry. But it was never about me. It took years of therapy to understand that. He's still around, still as critical as ever, but we keep our interactions brief and surface-level. We never really addressed what happened after Mom died, how he changed, how he took everything out on me. I've accepted we'll probably never have the reconciliation I once hoped for."
Greatest source of joy?
"Those moments when I see families reuniting at airports. The hugs, the tears, the laughter. Knowing that I'm part of what keeps them safe, that no child will lose their mother on my watch the way I lost mine. It's not a loud joy, but it's steady. And seeing Ethan and Emily thriving despite their childhood. That’s pure joy right there."
What do you do to entertain yourself or have fun?
"I read a lot on flights - thrillers, ironically. And I've taken up cooking when I'm home as well as working out. But what really keeps me grounded is my friend’s group. We’ve been tight since I moved to Lake City - we meet for wine nights, weekend hikes, impromptu barbecues. Excursions to the lake, boat rides and so on. A lot of them are also in law enforcement so we also get to work together some too. With them, I can just be Kristine or Kris, not Air Marshal Duncan. They drag me out when I've been isolating too long and know when to let me be. Andrew has even started to fit in with them, which is awesome."
What is your greatest personal failing, in your view?
“My last words to my mom before she died. They haunt me. I don’t know how to get them out of my head. I’ve been trying to make up for them ever since.”
What is the most pressing problem you have at the moment?
“Figuring out why someone wants me dead—and what really happened the day my mom died.”
Is there something that you need or want that you don’t have?
For yourself or for someone important to you? "Peace. Closure. The ability to remember my mother without simultaneously reliving her death. And maybe… someone who understands this life I've chosen and why I can't walk away from it, no matter how much it costs me personally. I’m thinking Andrew might be that guy if I can get past all of my issues."
Why don’t you have it? What is the way?
"I'm in the way. My past is in the way. My father is in the way. He scares off anyone I might be interested in having a relationship with. I’m going to have to make some hard decisions about what I need to do about that in the near future if I want to marry, have a family and so on. It’s probably not going to go well. We’ll see.
Thank you so much for having me and chatting with me. I hope you’ll enjoy my story in FINAL APPROACH.
Lake City Heroes #4
Air Marshal Kristine Duncan is not on duty when a hijacker attempts to seize control of the plane she and her friends are on as they head out on a much-needed vacation. Jumping into action and aided by FBI Special Agent Andrew Ross, Kristine thwarts the attack and the plane lands safely. But as the investigation into the incident gets underway, Kristine and Andrew are confused at every step. Nothing about the investigation goes as it should, and each layer they peel back just reveals another layer of perplexity.
As the two work together to navigate a web of deception, blame, and personal reckoning, they find there's more to this story than meets the eye--and more to love and admire about each other. They'll have to put their skills to the test--and their hearts on the line--to unravel the truth and ensure that justice prevails.
USA Today bestselling author Lynette Eason is back with another edge-of-your-seat thrill ride as she brings her popular Lake City Heroes series to a shocking and satisfying close.
Christian Mystery | Christian Romance [Baker Publishing Group, On Sale: August 5, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9780800741228 / eISBN: 9781493450565]
Lynette Eason is the best-selling, award-winning author of over sixty books.
Her books have appeared on the USA TODAY, Publisher’s Weekly, CBA, ECPA, and Parable bestseller lists. She has won numerous awards including the Carol, the Selah, the Golden Scroll and more. Her novel, Her Stolen Past was made into a movie for the Lifetime Movie Network.
Lynette teaches at writing conferences all over the country and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Mystery Writers of America (MWA), International Thriller Writers (ITW), and Faith, Hope, and Love.
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